CCK09 Connectivism and Connective Knowledge '09

[Kae]

CCK09 First Week

This week a couple of us EduPunxers began a open course from the Univeristy of Manitoba. It's titled Connectivism and Connective Knowledge. The instructors are Stephen Downes and George Siemens.

To learn more about connectivism feel free to watch the following videos:

Richard Schwier interviews George on Connectivism

Stephen Downes presentation: A quick introduction to connectivism

So the question for the first week is: Does the concept resonate with you? Why or why not? Are you learning through different methods than you did 5 or 10 years ago?

Feel free to post to your ideas or response to this blog.

Quite honestly, connectivism gives me a reason or an answer to instructors who are skeptical of using twitter, Facebook, wikis, Wikipedia in their classes. When you consider connectivism and the learning that takes place in a networked environment, then when you neglect using these tools in your class you are isolating your student from another form of learning. A few weeks ago a video came out on YouTube, when you watch the second and third examples it really seems to show instructors and schools who do not value networked knowledge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxHb5QVD7fo If we don't teach our students how to objectively evaluate learning networks where will they learn? And why are we neglecting this?

[Abacus Capalini]

Connectivism makes sense for allow students to access social networks. By restricting or disallowing social media, you handicap your students by cutting off an additional avenue for learning and put them at a disadvantage to those who have access. Social networking allows a more fluid exchange of ideas and a greater collective pool of knowledge for the learner. Social networking applications encourage active and participatory learning styles as opposed to passive or “teach to the test” styles. Each piece of data collected in a socially networked environment requires the reader to critically assess the data and determine context, meaning, and validity.


Additionally, this fluid environment also serves to strengthen communication as social media typically limits the number of characters allowed to convey an idea. This requires quick recognition and crystallization of concept. You have to know that you are talking about to convey an idea or concept in 140 characters or less. The rapid fire nature of social media also lends itself to concentrating attention and focus on one intense conversation that allows a deep investigation of the issue and quick aggregation of network knowledge.


An issue with Social media is and will be intellectual property. If you are developing a model and you have 20 people “collaborate” with you, do you “own” the intellectual property? This issue must be resolved to allow academic and scientific research to continue progressing within the narrowly defined concepts of today’s legal framework. How much contribution warrants co-authorship / co-patenting rights?