The word "network" reminds me of the spider web. To me, learners are very like spiders, using webs to acquire information and knowledge. As it has been stated by Siemens (2005) in Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, "The starting point of connectivism is the individual.” From this point of view, individual learners are at the center of the web, all the information and knowledge are to serve the individual learner and are chosen to be acquired or be neglected. However, the metaphor above is more suitable for learners in traditional learning ways. The learners of today are not as passive as in the past. They are connected with the information more directly and actively. They have become part of the web to capture information. And the information is to be shared by the whole web.
Besides being more directly connected with information, the learners are forming a circulation which is good for transition of information. The learners create new ideas and pot them onto the net, they get new information or reflections about their posts from the network, and then they reply the reflections or generate new ideas from those. In this way, the learners are always connecting to the newest information in the fields they interested in, and their contribution to the network help to keep the fields fresh. “This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed (Siemens, 2005)." There are many ways for learners to keep updated to their field, but no other ways are as direct and rapid as network does.
1 comment:
I like your idea that learners are actually an integral part of the web itself both receiving, transforming and transmitting information. That analogy works well.
Post a Comment