DigitalLiteraciesReview.pdf. Why universities should acquire – and teach – digital literacy. Students are digital natives. Photograph: Alamy Sebastian Faulks observed recently that ease of access to the internet is leading to a "net loss of knowledge" in this generation of adults, leaving the modern intellectual world in a "kind of catastrophe". But is there another side to this gloomy story? Once time and brainpower are freed up from memorising, will other skills come into play, bringing hitherto unimagined benefits? One such skill is broadly labelled digital literacy. The phrase is used to cover everything from grasping the basic functionality of a computer/tablet/smartphone, to mastering the sophisticated techniques and attitudes needed for online collaboration and communication through social media. Widely understood to be essential to success in the workplace and modern life, it is a subject that is beginning to emerge as key in the world of higher education.
However sensible this might seem, the reality is somewhat different. Welcome to ds106. Rhizomatic Learning – Why we teach? It’s my week at #change11. My topic? Rhizomatic Learning. Rhizomatic learning is a way of thinking about learning based on ideas described by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari in a thousand plateaus. A rhizome, sometimes called a creeping rootstalk, is a stem of a plant that sends out roots and shoots as it spreads. It is an image used by D&G to describe the way that ideas are multiple, interconnected and self-relicating. A rhizome has no beginning or end… like the learning process. I’ve been talking about rhizomes and learning for about five years now. Why do we teach? Why do we teach? What does successful learning look like? The rhizome pertains to a map that must be produced, constructed, a map that is always detachable, connectible, reversible, modifiable, and has multiple entryways and exits and its own lines of flight.
It is that map that I think successful learning looks like. Sounds a bit like networked learning…? What does a successful learner look like? Activity. Resources on rhizomatic learning. Why Rhizomatic Learning? #etmooc. Okay, so I enjoyed the conversation about rhizomatic education over at Christina Hendricks' blog, You're the Teacher.
In the conversation, I'm definitely championing rhizomatic, connectivist education, but why? I've been writing about this for a couple of years now, but can I state my point of view succinctly and reasonably clearly? Well, I can try. Learning is a network phenomenon. That's rather succinct, and owes deep apologies to neuroscientist Olaf Sporns, but I can say it with a bit more texture: learning is a function of our complex interactions across multi-scale physical, cognitive, technological, and social networks. For me, this is the DNA of a connectivist and rhizomatic view of learning, and everything else I say about learning will follow from this core idea. But can I defend my claim that learning is a network phenomenon?
Networks provide me a most useful model of how the Universe/Reality/Everything works, including learning. Rhizomatic learning. I recently watched Dave Cormier‘s “Intro to rhizomatic learning” presentation as part of my participation in etmooc. Here, I’ll explain what rhizomatic learning is as briefly as I can, discuss what it might look like in a university level philosophy course, and ask a few questions.
In the next post I explore a possible critique that I’ve been mulling over. I’m not just assuming here that rhizomatic learning is a good thing (though obviously I find it interesting enough to write about), but rather just at this point examining the idea to help me better work to evaluate it. What is “rhizomatic learning”? (according to Cormier) I expect there are numerous views on what rhizomatic learning (or rhizomatic education) are, so I’ll just stick to Cormier’s view here for the sake of clarity. Cormier then introduced the idea of the rhizome, and rhizomatic learning, as “a model for learning for uncertainty.”
“Iris Rhizomes,” by Rhian vK, from Flickr (links below) Rhizomatic learning in philosophy. Rhizomatic Learning. Connectivism. Connectivism is a hypothesis of learning which emphasizes the role of social and cultural context. Connectivism is often associated with and proposes a perspective similar to Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal development' (ZPD), an idea later transposed into Engeström's (2001) Activity theory.[1] The relationship between work experience, learning, and knowledge, as expressed in the concept of ‘connectivity, is central to connectivism, motivating the theory's name.[2] It is somewhat similar to Bandura's Social Learning Theory that proposes that people learn through contact. The phrase "a learning theory for the digital age"[3] indicates the emphasis that connectivism gives to technology's effect on how people live, communicate and learn.
Nodes and links[edit] The central aspect of connectivism is the metaphor of a network with nodes and connections.[4] In this metaphor, a node is anything that can be connected to another node such as an organization, information, data, feelings, and images. Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? | Kop. About — Connectivism. Description of Connectivism Connectivism is a learning theory for the digital age. Learning has changed over the last several decades. The theories of behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism provide an effect view of learning in many environments. They fall short, however, when learning moves into informal, networked, technology-enabled arena. Some principles of connectivism: The integration of cognition and emotions in meaning-making is important. Thinking and emotions influence each other.
Jan05_01. Editor’s Note: This is a milestone article that deserves careful study. Connectivism should not be con fused with constructivism. George Siemens advances a theory of learning that is consistent with the needs of the twenty first century. His theory takes into account trends in learning, the use of technology and networks, and the diminishing half-life of knowledge.
It combines relevant elements of many learning theories, social structures, and technology to create a powerful theoretical construct for learning in the digital age. George Siemens Introduction Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime. “One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. Some significant trends in learning: Background An Alternative Theory Connectivism. Dyads & Triads — The Smallest Teams. (by Christopher Allen with Elyn Andersson and Shannon Appelcline) Two years ago, the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (www.BGI.edu) faculty gathered to radically reinvent their sustainable business curriculum for the next decade. Our goal was not only to update course content, but also to significantly update how the material was taught.
We wished to make our teaching process (our pedagogy) more interactive and also more effective for students graduating into a 21st-century work environment, where people increasingly work in teams-both online and offline. As a specialist in group interactions, I was asked by the faculty whether formal graduate student study groups (called "Study Buddies") should consist of two people or of three.
I did not have an easy answer to this question. My expertise with group dynamics comes from professional experience as an entrepreneur and from considerable experience both building online communities and helping others to do the same. Emotional Support Commitment. Welcome to Connectivism! Connectivism & Connective Knowledge. Week 9 is a conference week, focusing on Net Pedagogy. This will be a great opportunity to reflect on how social networks and networked technology impact how we teach and learn.
We’ve lined up five excellent speakers for the week: Martin Weller Title: Is there a pedagogy of abundance? Description: In a digital age we have seen a fundamental shift in many of the basic economic models underlying industries as they move from an economic model based on scarcity to one based on abundance. This is a discussion based session in which I wish to explore whether the same transformation is occurring in education, and are our existing pedagogic models based around an assumption of scarcity, rather than abundance? Time: Wed, November 11. Frances Bell Title: Transparent Teaching and Learning: what remains when the teacher disappears Description: This session’s deliberately ambiguous title (is it a statement or a question?) · Do we need teachers? · What remains when the teacher disappears? Stephen Downes. What Connectivism Is. Posted to the Connectivism Conference forum (which hits a login window - click 'login as guest' (middle of the left-hand column) - I'm sorry, and I have already complained to the conference organizer).
At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks. It shares with some other theories a core proposition, that knowledge is not acquired, as though it were a thing. Hence people see a relation between connectivism and constructivism or active learning (to name a couple). Where connectivism differs from those theories, I would argue, is that connectivism denies that knowledge is propositional. That is to say, these other theories are 'cognitivist', in the sense that they depict knowledge and learning as being grounded in language and logic. Connectivism is, by contrast, 'connectionist'. Response to comments by Tony Forster Response (1) to Bill Kerr.
Stephen's Web ~ Stephen's Web. Role of the Educator. How often do we read about the importance of teachers in education? It must be every day, it seems. We are told about "strong empirical evidence that teachers are the most important school-based determinant of student achievement" again and again.
The problem with the educational system, it is argued, is that teachers need to be held accountable. We are told we must fire incompetent teachers. Not just in the United States, but in the UK and elsewhere, the concern is that bad teachers must go. Even here on The Huffington Post, the emphasis is on defining teacher accountability rather than understanding what teachers in the 21st century are supposed to do. The problem with focusing on the role of the teacher, from my perspective, is that it misses the point. Let me tell you how I know this. Each of these has contributed in one way or another to an overall approach not only to learning online but to learning generally. It's an approach that emphasizes open learning and learner autonomy. OLDaily ~ by Stephen Downes. By Stephen Downes April 8, 2014 What Books Should Every Intelligent Person Read?
: Tell Us Your Picks; We’ll Tell You OursDan Colman, Open Culture, April 8, 2014 I find the lists offered by Dan Colman and Neil DeGrasse Tyson to be a bit parochial, steeped in (their) local culture and issues of the day. Why else include Darwin and de Tocqueville? Why else include the Bible but not the Qu'ran or the Upanisads, or Sun Tzu but not Lao Tze? So, what would my list of (say, top ten) must-reads be? Rene Descartes, MeditationsDavid Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingJohn Stuart Mill, On LibertyUrsula K. Why these? [Link] [Comment] Digital Canada 150Press Release, Government of Canada, April 8, 2014 The Canadian government announces its digital economy strategy: "our vision is for a thriving digital Canada, underscored by five key pillars: connecting Canadians, protecting Canadians, economic opportunities, digital government and Canadian content.
" [Link] [Comment] [Link] [Comment] An Introduction to Connective Knowledge ~ Stephen's Web ~ b. You are not logged in. [] [] Revised and Updated (minor corrections and typos only) and placed in MS-Word Document form, November 27, 2007. Click here . The version that follows below is the original (uncorrected) version). Yet another article, describing new forms of knowledge as probablistic , has crossed my desk today, and consequently it seems appropriate at this time to type a few words on the nature of distributed knowledge. It should go without saying that these are my own thoughts, and this discussion should not therefore be considered an authoritative reference on the subject.
A. You probably grew up learning that there are two major types of knowledge: qualitative and quantitative. Distributed knowledge adds a third major category to this domain, knowledge that could be described as connective. This is more than just the existence of a relation between one entity and another; it implies interaction. Probabilistic knowledge is a type of quantitative knowledge. B. C. D. E. F. G. Connectivist Learning Theory - Siemens. Connectivist learning theory, by George Siemens "A central tenet of most learning theories is that learning occurs inside a person. Even social constructivist views, which hold that learning is a socially enacted process, promotes the principality of the individual (and her/his physical presence – i.e. brain-based) in learning. These theories do not address learning that occurs outside of people (i.e. learning that is stored and manipulated by technology)… In a networked world, the very manner of information that we acquire is worth exploring.
The need to evaluate the worthiness of learning something is a meta-skill that is applied before learning itself begins. When knowledge is subject to paucity, the process of assessing worthiness is assumed to be intrinsic to learning. When knowledge is abundant, the rapid evaluation of knowledge is important. Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories… 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. My MOOC tech ecosystem. On my open course H817Open I use a mixture of technology, and thought it might be useful to describe these here, and also to indicate what I'd like to do beyond this. The technologies are: OpenLearn - This is where the bulk of the content is hosted and also forums. It is provided by the OU for OU content only, so not an open content system. It made sense to use this, but some recent changes have made the page rendering slow, and the design is suitable for a one-off visit to find an OER in that it prompts you to find other resources, it uses up too much screen real estate on this for a MOOC.
WordPress - this is the blog aggregator, based on the DS106 model. Students blog on their own spaces, but they register their blog with us. Mailchimp - I send a weekly email outlining what is coming up and addressing any issues. GMail - I set up a generic email account for the course to handle queries. MOOC Essays. Learning Theories. Educational Theories. Learning theory (education) Education theory. Andragogy. Bloom's Taxonomy. Educational-origami - home. Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and Web 2 Tools by pip cleaves on Prezi. The Padagogy Wheelhouse | A collection of knowledge about the Padagogy Wheel and all things digital that enhance learning and teaching. Introduction to the Padagogy Wheel.
Keynote. Education Theory - UCD - CTAG. Fluid and crystallized intelligence. Educational technology. Learning styles.