Connectivism-Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions.

I sometimes read a paragraph over and over again and my brain still feels fuzzed! It is only until I connect with the information that knowledge starts to becomes apparent to the mind.  Connection is an important way to learn and that is why I can relate to the theory connectivism as I have to understand something before any learning really takes place. It took me a while to understand the meaning and nature of the theory of connectivism but then I realised I need to to use this theory to understand it! "learning is knowledge transferred from teacher (or book;webpage etc) to student needs to be modified" (The Networked professional,2010) Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned. The wider connections you have the more you are going to benefit as there are more people which equals more experience. "Connectivism is a learning theory influenced by the spread of the Internet and digital technologies especially social media like web2.0" -Siemens,G.(2004) Being part of this BAPP course this is the way we are learning, we are using digital technologies not only to enhance our knowledge but to gain access to all our work. You can learn via blogging, facebook, web searching, e-mail etc so there are so many sources that are easily accessible that you can gain fantastic knowledge from. Also the web offers opinions,beliefs and perceptions from others which is very helpful as it inspires you to think and go for more.

Thinking back to the last campus session we looked at "nodes" as connection points. Before the campus session I wasn't aware of this mark however after the tube map feature I am fully aware of  my current connections even if some of them are in the distance. I am going to increase and develop my nodes for the future as I feel these could be stepping stones to a possible job. The connections I do have I will maintain and nuture to ensure maximum benifit. "Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. A learner can exponentially improve their own learning by plugging into an existing network"

http://www.connectivism.ca/about.html

Cerys Dixie quoted that "On the other hand technology can be a very useful tool when it comes to learning. With the vast amount of information available to us we no longer have to experience things for ourselves to be able to learn about them" She is completely right however I feel if we are asked to learn about "how vegetables grow" then you could just type it into the computer and let google do all the work for you. Definitely computers have made our lives easier and a lot more convenient both physically and mentally. Its effortless and saves time but is that what we want in order to be well educated?

"The capacity to know more is more critical that what is currently known. Knowing where to find information is more important than knowing information" http://www.connectivism.ca/about.html

References

The Networked Professional Reader 2010/11-http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/data/files4/133682/The%20Networked%20Professional%20Reader.pdf  - Accessed- 15/12/10

Connectism-http://www.connectivism.ca/about.html- Accessed- 15/12/10

Cerys Dixie Blogspot-http://cerysdixie.blogspot.com/2010/11/theories-relating-to-networking.html- Accessed- 15/12/10

Siemens,G.(2004)-http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/data/files4/133682/The%20Networked%20Professional%20Reader.pdf- Accessed- 15/12/10