Honestly, this week has been an interesting one for me philosophically. I may as well start by saying that I have some philosophical disagreements with George Siemens, a prime proponent of Connectivism. Siemens was a featured guest speaker for our class meeting this week, I read several of his articles in preparation for our online discussion forum, and I also watched a couple of videos where he shared his views.
On the surface, I agree that we learn as we connect with other people. And, we are able to “connect” now more than ever. The acquisition of knowledge, in many respects, has never been easier. So, this is not what bothers me about Seimens’ view. What I have issue with is the notion that we are “creating” knowledge as we connect with others and collaborate, share ideas, etc. Catherine McLoughlin and Mark JW Lee, in their discussion about Connectivism, say, “Students are no longer passive consumers but active producers of knowledge” (emphasis mine) (2008).
The way I see it, knowledge is knowledge. Truth and information is out there…maybe I don’t know something yet, and maybe I need to connect with other people before I discover it, but to say that I will “produce” or create my own knowledge goes against some of my foundational beliefs. I have a similar philosophical disagreement with Constructivism as well. I feel that it’s important to at least state my disagreement, but I don’t want that to be the focus of my blog post. So, I’ll move onto how I might be able to incorporate Connectivist methodology.
First, for my own children, I can see how Connectivist methodology can be of benefit. Internet resources for collaboration and social networking allow us to take advantage of the opinions and knowledge of other people. Even in our local setting, outside of the Internet, we are able to collaborate and share ideas. Encouraging children to value and seek out learning with others cannot be a bad thing. The videos I found online that show the practical side of Connectivist methodology were helpful to me in gathering practical ideas.
As I’ve alluded to in previous weeks, I think that I would be doing my children a disservice to not allow them to access the multiple resources available to them on the Internet. In fact, I am becoming more and more convinced that this is not a luxury; Internet access is a necessity. However, this access cannot be completely open, without limits. While my children are young, I must monitor the online resources they are accessing. Also, while they are younger, I need to be vigilant to equip them with the critical thinking skills they will need to self-monitor later on.
Some practical ideas that I would like to implement in my home school:
· blog for learning and sharing purposes
· encourage my children to email authors and publishers of the books they read
· utilize document sharing tools for collaboration (within and even outside of our family)
Connectivism….I’m not sure that I agree with the underlying philosophies regarding the nature of knowledge and learning , but I can still glean practical ideas to enhance teaching and learning. I have certainly learned something this week and am very thankful for the connections I am developing with others who teach me so many things!
References:
Catherine McLoughlin & Mark Lee (2008, June/July). Future learning landscapes: Transforming pedagogy through social software. Innovate. 4(5). http://www.innovateonline.info/pdf/vol4_issue5/Future_Learning_Landscapes-__Transforming_Pedagogy_through_Social_Software.pdf
Lynn,
ReplyDeleteAgain, your reflections and depth of thought are shown in your post. Connectivism is a theory that is being questioned by many - theory or strategy?
It's a topic that is difficult to form a strong opinion about in a week as there is so much to discuss and investigate. As usual you continue with an open mind.
~Cyndi
Lynn - I composed a long reply to this several weeks ago and then lost it before it could be posted. Although that is a very frustrating experience, I have come to believe that perhaps there is something mystical about it - that the post was never meant to be. In this case, I would say that I have a more positive approach than I did during my first attempt. I think that's a good thing.
ReplyDeleteThen and now, the first thing I would like to do is laud you for your ability to take what you need from a theory and apply it constructively, even if you don't accept the theory as a whole. I, too, struggle with connectivism (and social constructivism as well). Perhaps I am too much a product of Cartesian method, still expecting someone to transfer those knowledge absolutes to me rather than participating in forming new knowledge. In any case, I am trying to adapt and I think that you provide such a good example of keeping an open mind and trying new methods while still giving logical and thoughtful consideration to the validity of underlying philosophies.
In short - I like the way you think.
Happy Easter! I am afraid I may end up being one of those annoying critical friends with lots of comments at the end of class. I apologize for that. It has been delightful to have your insights on my blog posts.