Connectivism the new constructivism?

I understand that the students we teach today may have jobs that have not even been invented yet and they they will probably change careers several times in their lifetime and that as educators we need to provide them with the tools to be successful in jobs that may be beyond our imagination. 

However, what if the future looks more like "Soylent Green" and less like "2001 A Space Odyssey"? 

I think about Indigenous people in various parts of the world who have incredible knowledge of the natural world and how that knowledge is passed down from generation to generation-the old fashion social learning network.

I think about the 'useless bits of information' that I had to learn in college a quarter century ago that I can still pull out of my head and that on occasion do serve me well.

I was reading Chrissy's blog about putting all her eggs in one technology basket and wonder what WOULD happen if the world had to be internet free for a day or a week or a lot longer? 

I guess since I entered adulthood in a pre- internet world I would attest that learning can and does take place off line and maybe, I would argue, in a more visceral way. I will never forget the first time that I saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. It had to be at least 20 years ago and I remember waiting on line to see it and being surprised at how small it was and being distracted because the painting was under glass and there was glare on the glass. It was summer and there were a lot of tourists and I remember looking at the other people who were sharing this experience with me. Is this just me sharing a memory or is this an example of me constructing my own knowledge? Was this a pre-web 2.0 social network?

I'm trying hard to be open minded and excited about using social networking as a positive and powerful tool to help students construct or if you insist connect to form knowledge. I do see the power of making sense of new information with others- I have read several of my colleagues blogs on this article-thanks Harvey, Vu, Teresa to name a few. This has helped me in my thinking about the reading so I guess there is something to be said about connectivism.

I would just hate to think that those who do have the opportunity to see the Mona Lisa face to face would choose not to because it would be easier to do a google search and pull up an image. 

World without walls...

This article provided me with a lot to think about. Some quotes that resonated for me are ;"We must find our own teachers, and they must find us".  " We need to think of ourselves as connectors first and content experts second". I guess I'm trying to figure out how to be an effective connector."More than learning content, the emphasis is on using social networking tools to teach global collaboration and communication, allowing students to create their own networks in the process". I hope that if we are communicating with people from around the world then we will think more about global issues as being our issues. 

However, what I find disconcerting is that if you think about the number of people NOT connected through social networking,if the world were a village of 100 people only 1 would have a computer, then does this method of educating ourselves and our students continue to exclude the majority of the world's inhabitants? 

I agree that in our current world  thinking critically, being skillful at sifting though all the info out there to focus on the 'good stuff' is essential. After all content is just a google search away. I guess I can accept that since it's not humanly possible to sift through all the info on the web  alone we need to rely on our social network to help with this herculean task. We need to be discerning about who our social network consists of, another herculean task. 

 I'm pleased to see the human elements of nurturing relationships, negotiation, communication, planning and healthy balance between screen time and face to face time are considered essential.

Why AM I taking this class??

I'm not taking this class for credit. I'm not taking this class because I am a techie or plan to become one soon. I'm taking this class because when I read articles like Engage Me or Enrage Me I realize that I have a lot to learn in order to catch up (is it possible?) and then keep up (impossible?) with  technology that  is changing my life in the classroom and outside of the classroom.

Chris Betcher's Presentation

Good practical information. I learned some good strategies for doing a google search. The hoax websites were interesting and could be a good teaching tool for getting students to evaluate websites- a valuable tool. I enjoyed learning more about wikipedia and how to follow the history of how an entry is constructed. Interesting discussion about the reliability of wikipedia.

Comments on Clarence's presentation

This morning before class I went to my classroom to pull out some papers to photocopy for Monday's class. After Clarence's presentation I'll put those papers away and post the task on the class wiki. Kids will plan their rice negotiations on the wiki and do their reflections on the wiki. Kids will comment on each others reflections- Much better than paper and pencil. However, will the internet be working on Monday??? Will the wiki cooperate??? Do  I remember how to embed a video on the wiki? We will need to have a plan B just in case technology doesn't work for us.

I want my students to be 'hubs'. I agree with Clarence that students need to understand that there is a big world out there and that students need to develop a global perspective. Technology can be the tool to allow that to happen.

I'm excited about having kids read current info about the environment, innovations- good and bad in science, technology. 

 Some questions- How do you sort through all the info to get the best , most accurate, reader appropriate stuff? This seems like it could potentially take A LOT of time to manage and just read all the info that could come my way. How do I keep up with all of this? I've heard of delicious and twitter. However, what are these 'tools' and what is the potential of these tools? I realize that teaching kids how to access relevant info is the key. The content that we teach today may very well be totally irrelevant  in 5 years but the skills to access, sort and evaluate info are the way to go. I know I need to 'be present in the network' to facilitate kids learning with technology and being active, productive participants in the social learning network. However, I have so much to learn to get up to speed and then I worry about keeping up with the speed at which technology is changing.