Jan05_01

Origins of the Term 'Personal Learning Network' I intended this to be a comment to Dave Warlick's post on the subject, but his comment system won't accept my submission. I think that this post shows the futility of anyone trying to claim credit for the term. I have found a reference to a 'personal learning network' in a document dates April 8, 2000, by the Treasury Board Secretariat, Government of Canada. This use, although dates, is consistent with uses of the term today. "Personal Learning Network has PC based, multimedia learning activities that employees can tailor to a learning map. There's another resource, dated 1998 (but the metadata says 2001-08-05, which is still pretty early), Building Your Personal Learning Network, by Daniel R. In 1999, something called a 'Personal Learning Network' actually won an award for a company called Quisic. Milton Ramirez (tonnet) uses the term on June 10, 2003.

Connectivism et enaction...mon cheminement Quand j'ai commencé à travailler sur le concept d'énaction de Francisco Varela, il y a eu un moment de profonds questionnements pour moi...j'ai eu le sentiment que les repères sur lesquels je m'appuyais tombaient les uns après les autres...un peu comme si je vacillais mentalement...presque physiquement d'ailleurs...impossible de dormir pendant près de deux semaines ! Ce qui émergeait pour moi à ce moment là, c'était l'idée qu'aucun modèle pré-existant n'est indispensable à la construction de mes propres représentations....c'était l'idée que l'on peut apprendre de façon autonome dans un couplage permanent au monde...coup de tonnerre dans mon ciel ! Cette idée s'imposait comme une évidence et tous mes repérages se déplaçaient et prenaient sens autour de cette approche...je ne maîtrisais rien et cela se faisait...il faut dire aussi que ce concept résonnait largement avec ma pratique et trouvait là sa cohérence ! Je me suis remise à dormir ! A lire en parallèle :

The Future of Learning in a Networked Society “This is the first generation of people that work, play, think, and learn differently than their parents … They are the first generation to not be afraid of technology. It’s like air to them.” – Don Tapscott This powerful video has some of the worlds best educators and thinkers outlining their view on the ‘future of learning in a networked society’, including the likes of Stephen Heppell, Sugata Mitra, and Seth Godin: YouTube: The Future of Learning, Networked Society Again, here are a few choice quotes that I like from the video, but watch it yourself for their context and many more I didn’t have time to write down: “We are probably at the death of education right now. Thank you to Grianne Conole for tweeting this earlier today.

User:Shelly Terrell/Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) "For the first in history, we know now how to store virtually all humanity's most important information and make it available, almost instantly, in almost any form, to almost anyone on earth. We also know how to do that in great new ways so that people can interact with it , and learn from it." One aspect is that the learner contributes and derives knowledge in a PLE through various nodes. [1] In this way, the learner chooses which PLEs, VLEs, and social mediums to build a PLN. PLNs are becoming an important part of professional development in several fields with some businesses creating their own e-learning content and PLEs for their employees. ^ Jump up to: a b c Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Vol. 2 No. 1, Jan 2005Jump up ^ Tobin, Daniel R..

PyBrain Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge Stephen Downes October 16, 2006 I have a lot of mixed feelings about this paper but it is an honest and reasonably thorough outline of my views. The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the thinking behind new e-learning technology, including e-portfolios and personal learning environments. Parts of this paper are drawn from previous papers (especially Connective Knowledge and Basics of Instructional Design, neither of which are published). The Traditional Theory: Cognitivism The dominant theory of online and distance learning may be characterized as conforming to a ‘cognitivist’ theory of knowledge and learning. In other words, cognitivists defend an approach that may be called ‘folk psychology’. One branch of folk psychology, the language of thought theory, holds that things like beliefs are literally sentences in the brain, and that the materials for such sentences are innate. Again, though, notice the pattern here.

Shelly Terrell: Global Netweaver, Curator, PLN Builder When I started using social media in the classroom, I looked for and began to learn from more experienced educators. First, I read and then tried to comment usefully on their blog posts and tweets. When I began to understand who knew what in the world of social media in education, I narrowed my focus to the most knowledgeable and adventurous among them. I paid attention to the people the savviest social media educators paid attention to. I added and subtracted voices from my attention network, listened and followed, then commented and opened conversations. The Case for a Personal Learning Network (PLN) I got to know Shelly as a global network weaver when she invited me to participate in an online webinar with 150 educators and librarians from the worldwide #edchat community that had coalesced via Twitter and Ning and reconvened regularly via Elluminate. For Shelly Terrell, PLN = Passionate Learning Network Winning Over Skeptics in Schools Building A Personal Learning Network

An Introduction to Neural Networks Prof. Leslie Smith Centre for Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Department of Computing and Mathematics University of Stirling. lss@cs.stir.ac.uk last major update: 25 October 1996: minor update 22 April 1998 and 12 Sept 2001: links updated (they were out of date) 12 Sept 2001; fix to math font (thanks Sietse Brouwer) 2 April 2003 This document is a roughly HTML-ised version of a talk given at the NSYN meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 28 February 1996, then updated a few times in response to comments received. Please email me comments, but remember that this was originally just the slides from an introductory talk! What is a neural network? Some algorithms and architectures. Where have they been applied? What new applications are likely? Some useful sources of information. Some comments added Sept 2001 NEW: questions and answers arising from this tutorial Why would anyone want a `new' sort of computer? What are (everyday) computer systems good at... .....and not so good at? Good at

Connectivism: Its place in theory-informed research and innovation in technology-enabled learning | Bell Special Issue - Connectivism: Design and Delivery of Social Networked Learning Frances Bell University of Salford, United Kingdom Abstract The sociotechnical context for learning and education is dynamic and makes great demands on those trying to seize the opportunities presented by emerging technologies. Keywords: Theory; learning; implementation; research; evaluation; connectivism; actor-network theory; social shaping of technology; activity theory; zone of proximal development; change management Those who struggle to create an adequate theory of learning must admit that the process is much like stumbling in the dark. Introduction From its origins as a network for sharing data and software amongst scientists, the Internet has become commonplace in the developed world and is growing rapidly in developing countries, as shown in Table 1 (Internet Usage Statistics, 2009). Connectivism as a Learning Theory Connectivism Connectivism as a Phenomenon

Survival Tips for Building a PLN For the past 4 years, I have researched the what, who, how, and why of Personal/Professional/ Passionate Learning Networks (PLNs). We have seen the benefits of the people we choose to connect, collaborate, and problem solve with through social media. The educators, subject matter experts (SMEs), authors, and mentors we choose to derive knowledge from help us self-reflect on our methodologies and beliefs. They support us, remember our birthdays, celebrate our accomplishments, and stir within us a passion to improve the status quo. Within one year of connecting with a PLN, I jump started many projects at my school and in the past 5 years I’ve organized many free incredible professional development events with the help of my PLN. My PLN helps me be a better educator and prepare my students and trainees. Below are several resources I have collected about the history of PLNs, how to build a PLN, and the tools needed to build a PLN. Connected Learning- My interview with Harold Rheingold

A Non-Mathematical Introduction to Using Neural Networks The goal of this article is to help you understand what a neural network is, and how it is used. Most people, even non-programmers, have heard of neural networks. There are many science fiction overtones associated with them. And like many things, sci-fi writers have created a vast, but somewhat inaccurate, public idea of what a neural network is. Most laypeople think of neural networks as a sort of artificial brain. Neural networks are one small part of AI. The human brain really should be called a biological neural network (BNN). There are some basic similarities between biological neural networks and artificial neural networks. Like I said, neural networks are designed to accomplish one small task. The task that neural networks accomplish very well is pattern recognition. Figure 1: A Typical Neural Network As you can see, the neural network above is accepting a pattern and returning a pattern. Neural Network Structure Neural networks are made of layers of similar neurons. Conclusion

Stephen Downes: 'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge On Jan. 17 George Siemens and I will launch the third offering of our online course called 'Connectivism and Connective Knowledge' -- or CCK11. We use the term 'connectivism' to describe a network-based pedagogy. The course itself uses connectivist principles and is therefore an instantiation of the philosophy of teaching and learning we both espouse. If you're interested, you can register here: The course is a MOOC -- a massive open online course. What this means is, first, that it may be massive. It also means, second, that the course is free and open. The way CCK11 is set up is that we've defined a twelve-week course of readings. What is important about a connectivist course, after all, is not the course content. Let me explain why we take this approach and what connectivism is. What we learn, what we know -- these are literally the connections we form between neurons as a result of experience. Of course, all this is the subject of the course. 1. 2. 3. 4.

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