This link has been bookmarked by 24 people . It was first bookmarked on 02 Oct 2007, by Christy Tucker.
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04 Feb 17
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connectionism
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The theory, stgated simply, is that human thought amounts to patterns of interactions in neural networks.
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knowledge is subsymbolic
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knowledge is distributed
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knowledge is interconnected
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knowledge is personal
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What online learning does is not merely to communicate information but to create such a network. Prior to the advent of online learning, all such networks were local - they were, even in instances of distance learning, physically constrained. But with online learning comes not only a much wider, more diverse network,
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05 Feb 12
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10 May 10
Giorgio BertiniJoseph Beckmann wrote: Philosophy is a much larger, much deeper and much more complex activity than "constructivism" could ever encompass. It involves a worldview that is so much more a challenge than neurology's current state that Paul Allen's billion d
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30 Jun 09
Tania ShekoAre the basics of instructional design changing? by Stephen Downes
instructional design Stephen Downes downes learning pedagogy distributed immersion teaching internationalplp21
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01 Dec 08
Michael M GrantStephen Downes writes against learning theories.
ID instructional design Stephen Downes learning theory distance education online constructivism
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30 Nov 08
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- fifth, what we call 'knowledge' (or 'belief', or 'memory') is an emergent phenomenon. Specifically, it is not 'in' the brain itself, or even 'in' the connections themselves, because there is no 'canonical' set of connections that corresponds with 'Paris is the capital of France'. It is, rather (and carefully stated), a recognition of a pattern in a set of neural events (if we are introspecting) or behavioural events (if we are observing). We infer to mental contents the same way we watch Donald Duck on TV - we think we see something, but that something is not actually there - it's just an organization of pixels.
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emergent phenomena are not causal pheonomena. That is (say) the picture of Richard Nixon does not 'cause' you to think of the disgraced former president. They require a perceiver, someone to 'recognize' the pattern being dispayed in the medium. And this recognition depends on a relevant (but not strictly defined) similarity between one's own mental state and the pattern being perceived. That's *why* perception (and language, etc), unlike strict causation, is context-sensitive.
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When I see people use a phrase like 'construct meaning', it is, to me, quite literally meaningless. Meaningless not merely because no process of construction occurs (the acquisition of memory, etc., is an associative process, a natural function of the brain, rather than an intentional process), but because meaning is quite literally not something that can be constructed at all, no more than (say) we can construct 'distance' or 'school spirit'. The meaning, quite literally, does not exist in the mind; saying that we are 'constructing' meaning is to (illicitly) appeal to a folk psychological theory of mind, whether we intend to or not.
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learning is the result of a process of communication, and this communication is improved - observably and measurably so - through a process of interaction.
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Two major sets of affordances offered in online learning are not found in traditional learning. First, online, communication occurs not through a channel, but through a network. And second, communication flows not merely through a passive medium but through a computational environment.
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The type of learning enabled by, and made more likely by, the use of computer networks is more like the learning of common sense than it is like the learning of facts.
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knowledge resides in the network as a whole - the physical network composed of learners, teachers and practitioners, and not in any given part of the network.
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even our basic bits of factual knowledge rest on a set of assumptions, a theoretical framework, if you will (or as Quine styles it, a 'web of belief'), not all of which may be contained in the mind of the individual making the assertion. In order to know that '2+2=4' one needs to know a great deal surrounding the concept of counting, symbolic representation of physical quantities, the verbal signals associated with those symbols, and more. There is a clear distinction to be drawn between a child being able to utter the words '2+2=4' and knowing that '2+2=4', and that difference lies in the cultural or community surround in which the child is immersed.
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What online learning does is not merely to communicate information but to create such a network. Prior to the advent of online learning, all such networks were local - they were, even in instances of distance learning, physically constrained. But with online learning comes not only a much wider, more diverse network, but also the idea that (a) the network may be based on non-physical (or emergent) properties, (b) that the individual may choose to belong to or not belong to a network, and (c) that an individual may assume multiple identities or memberships in multiple networks.
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The theory of distributed representation has a profound implication for pedagogy, as it suggests that learning (and teaching, such as it is) is not a process of communication, but rather, a process of immersion. Put loosely, it suggests the idea of teaching not by telling or even demonstrating but rather through the creation (or identification) of an environment into which a learner may be immersed.
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it suggests that the traditional distinction between teaching and practice ought to be collapsed, that there is no distinction in kind between, say, being a 'practicing physicist' and 'practising being a physicist'. Learning to be a physicist is to place oneself inside the community of practice (as Etienne Wenger would say), to learn as if through osmosis how to solve 'the problems at the end of the chapter' (as Thomas Kuhn would say). In contemporary learning theory, it involves the design of such environments as games or simulations (Prensky, Papert, Gee, Aldrich) or the explicit immersion of the workplace into the communty (Cross).
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21 Oct 08
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To return to constructivism. When I see people use a phrase like 'construct meaning', it is, to me, quite literally meaningless. Meaningless not merely because no process of construction occurs (the acquisition of memory, etc., is an associative process, a natural function of the brain, rather than an intentional process), but because meaning is quite literally not something that can be constructed at all, no more than (say) we can construct 'distance' or 'school spirit'. The meaning, quite literally, does not exist in the mind; saying that we are 'constructing' meaning is to (illicitly) appeal to a folk psychological theory of mind, whether we intend to or not.
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Whether or not we use a book, an instructor, or a wire, learning is the result of a process of communication, and this communication is improved - observably and measurably so - through a process of interaction.
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Watts and Buchanan
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03 Sep 08
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24 Aug 08
Lani Ritter Halldistinction between teaching and practice ought to be collapsed, Learning to be a physicist inside the community of practice, to learn as if through osmosis. learning theory,games or simulations (Prenslu) or immersion of the workplace into the communty.
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23 May 08
Victor KotusenkoAre the Basics of Instructional Design Changing?
connectivism downes Canada philosophy authoring instructional_design psychology
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28 Mar 08
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30 Oct 07
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21 Oct 07
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10 Oct 07
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The Network Phenomenon
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The theory, stgated simply, is that human thought amounts to patterns of interactions in neural networks
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patterns of input phenomena - such as sensory perceptions - cause or create patterns of connections between neurons in the brain. These connections are associative - that is, connections between two neurons form when the two neurons are active at the same time, and weaken when they are inactive or active at different times. See, for example, Donald Hebb's 'The Organization of Behavior', which outlines what has come to be called 'Hebbian associationism'.
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four major implications of this approach for edeucational theorists:
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knowledge is subsymbolic
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first,
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second
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, knowledge is distributed
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third, knowledge is interconnected
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It is important to note that this is a non-symbolic interconnection
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fourth, knowledge is personal
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fifth, what we call 'knowledge' (or 'belief', or 'memory') is an emergent phenomenon
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Specifically, it is not 'in' the brain itself, or even 'in' the connections themselves, because there is no 'canonical' set of connections that corresponds with 'Paris is the capital of France'. It is, rather (and carefully stated), a recognition of a pattern in a set of neural events (if we are introspecting) or behavioural events (if we are observing).
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emergent phenomena are not causal pheonomena.
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They require a perceiver, someone to 'recognize' the pattern being dispayed in the medium.
-
And this recognition depends on a relevant (but not strictly defined) similarity between one's own mental state and the pattern being perceived. That's *why* perception (and language, etc), unlike strict causation, is context-sensitive.
-
To return to constructivism. When I see people use a phrase like 'construct meaning', it is, to me, quite literally meaningless. Meaningless not merely because no process of construction occurs (the acquisition of memory, etc., is an associative process, a natural function of the brain, rather than an intentional process), but because meaning is quite literally not something that can be constructed at all, no more than (say) we can construct 'distance' or 'school spirit'. The meaning, quite literally, does not exist in the mind; saying that we are 'constructing' meaning is to (illicitly) appeal to a folk psychological theory of mind, whether we intend to or not.
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Hence
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The mere use of a computer network to facilitate communication adds nothing new over and above what we have seen before. There is abundant evidence that the processes and mechanisms that inform traditional distance learning theory may be accomplished online.
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'using new technology to replicate old processes'
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'traditional online learning'
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affordances
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Two major sets of affordances offered in online learning are not found in traditional learning.
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communication occurs not through a channel, but through a network
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communication flows not merely through a passive medium but through a computational environment.
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They are also aggregationist; the presumption, for example, is that knowledge is cumulative, that it can be assembled through a series of transactions, or in more advanced theories, 'constructed' following a series of cues and prompts.
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allure
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f a causal theory is also that there appears to be no alternative. If there is no causal connection between teacher and learner, then how can any learning take place, except through some sort of divine intervention?
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And indeed, the proposal that learning is supported using 'computers in a network' does not take us out of the causal realm; it does not involve a mystical hand of God.
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But the transfer of information does not reduce to this physical substrate; contrary to the communications-theoretical account, the new theory is a non-reductive theory.
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Philosophically, there is substantial support for emergentist theories of knowledge.
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Thus
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Computationally, the theory also enjoys support. It is based in one of two major approaches to artificial intelligence.
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Against this, however, and arguably superior, is the 'connectionist' approach to AI, as described above in the work of Minsky and Papert or Rumelhart and MacClelland.
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Overall, what emerges from these separate strains of thought is a theory of learning that:
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(a) is distinct from the communications-theoretic approach postulated by Moore and others, and demonstrably so,
(b) is enabled uniquely through learning using 'computers in a network',
(c) is created as an artifact of learning using 'computers in a network', that is, is a predictable consequence of the use of this technology, even if not explicitly designed,
(d) has enumerable pedagogical consequences, and
(e) is such that these consequences, and their relation to learning, can be observed and empirically measured (though not in a straightforward causal analysis, but rather through a process of recognition).
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(a) is distinct from the communications-theoretic approach postulated by Moore and others, and demonstrably so,
(b) is enabled uniquely through learning using 'computers in a network',
(c) is created as an artifact of learning using 'computers in a network', that is, is a predictable consequence of the use of this technology, even if not explicitly designed,
(d) has enumerable pedagogical consequences, and
(e) is such that these consequences, and their relation to learning, can be observed and empirically measured (though not in a straightforward causal analysis, but rather through a process of recognition).
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The type of learning enabled by, and made more likely by, the use of computer networks is more like the learning of common sense than it is like the learning of facts.
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First, as mentioned above, and key to much of what follows is the idea of 'distributed representation'. What this means is that there is no 'place' that knowledge resides in the first place. Rather, as George Siemens outlines in 'Connectivism', knowledge resides in the network as a whole - the physical network composed of learners, teachers and practitioners, and not in any given part of the network.
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The communications approach presupposes (at least in part) that there is some entity, a 'teacher', in whom the knowledge resides; the process of learning is therefore a facilitation of channels of communication between teacher and learner (at a minimum). But if knowledge resides in the network as a whole, it is much less clear that there is sense to be made of the role of the 'teacher', much less of creating a channel through which the knowledge provided by a teacher can flow.
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Moreoever, this concept - the distribution of knowledge - applies not only to obviously complex bits of knowledge, such as 'flying to Europe', but also even to basic bits of knowledge, such as '2+2=4' or 'this is a rabbit'. As theorists such as Quine have shown, even our basic bits of factual knowledge rest on a set of assumptions, a theoretical framework, if you will (or as Quine styles it, a 'web of belief'), not all of which may be contained in the mind of the individual making the assertion. In order to know that '2+2=4' one needs to know a great deal surrounding the concept of counting, symbolic representation of physical quantities, the verbal signals associated with those symbols, and more. There is a clear distinction to be drawn between a child being able to utter the words '2+2=4' and knowing that '2+2=4', and that difference lies in the cultural or community surround in which the child is immersed.
-
What online learning does is not merely to communicate information but to create such a network. Prior to the advent of online learning, all such networks were local - they were, even in instances of distance learning, physically constrained. But with online learning comes not only a much wider, more diverse network, but also the idea that (a) the network may be based on non-physical (or emergent) properties, (b) that the individual may choose to belong to or not belong to a network, and (c) that an individual may assume multiple identities or memberships in multiple networks.
The theory of distributed representation has a profound implication for pedagogy, as it suggests that learning (and teaching, such as it is) is not a process of communication, but rather, a process of immersion. Put loosely, it suggests the idea of teaching not by telling or even demonstrating but rather through the creation (or identification) of an environment into which a learner may be immersed.
-
Indeed, pushed further (as the concept should be) it suggests that the traditional distinction between teaching and practice ought to be collapsed, that there is no distinction in kind between, say, being a 'practicing physicist' and 'practising being a physicist'. Learning to be a physicist is to place oneself inside the community of practice (as Etienne Wenger would say), to learn as if through osmosis how to solve 'the problems at the end of the chapter' (as Thomas Kuhn would say). In contemporary learning theory, it involves the design of such environments as games or simulations (Prensky, Papert, Gee, Aldrich) or the explicit immersion of the workplace into the communty (Cross).
-
Indeed, pushed further (as the concept should be) it suggests that the traditional distinction between teaching and practice ought to be collapsed, that there is no distinction in kind between, say, being a 'practicing physicist' and 'practising being a physicist'. Learning to be a physicist is to place oneself inside the community of practice (as Etienne Wenger would say), to learn as if through osmosis how to solve 'the problems at the end of the chapter' (as Thomas Kuhn would say). In contemporary learning theory, it involves the design of such environments as games or simulations (Prensky, Papert, Gee, Aldrich) or the explicit immersion of the workplace into the communty (Cross).
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02 Oct 07
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Two major sets of affordances offered in online learning are not found in traditional learning. First, online, communication occurs not through a channel, but through a network. And second, communication flows not merely through a passive medium but through a computational environment.
-
The theory of distributed representation has a profound implication for pedagogy, as it suggests that learning (and teaching, such as it is) is not a process of communication, but rather, a process of immersion. Put loosely, it suggests the idea of teaching not by telling or even demonstrating but rather through the creation (or identification) of an environment into which a learner may be immersed.
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28 Feb 07
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