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Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge
Long paper by Stephen Downes on the nature of knowledge, connectivism, learning, and e-learning 2.0
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Add Sticky NoteIn other
words, cognitivists defend an approach that may be called ‘folk
psychology’. “In our everyday social interactions we
both predict and explain behavior, and our explanations are couched
in a mentalistic vocabulary which includes terms like ‘belief’
and ‘desire’.” The argument, in a nutshell, is that
the claims of folk psychology are literally true, that there is, for
example, an entity in the mind corresponding to the belief that
'Paris is the capital of France', and that this belief is, in fact,
what might loosely be called 'brain writing' - or, more precisely,
there is a one-to-one correspondence between a person's brain states
and the sentence itself.- I've never heard cognitivism compared to "folk psychology" before. I'm not totally convinced by this argument. Cognitivist methods do have some research support, after all. (Think multimedia learning, Clark & Mayer's "ELearning and the Science of Instruction.") But their methods could (at least sometimes) be right even if their explanation of the underlying mechanism is wrong. - on 2009-10-06
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Add Sticky NoteWe may contrast cognitivism, which is a
causal theory of mind, with connectionism, which is an
emergentist
theory of mind. This is not to say that connectionism
(see also)
does away with causation altogether; it is not a ‘hand of God’
theory. It allows that there is a physical, causal connection
between entities, and this is what makes communication possible. But
where it differs is, crucially: 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. The contents of communications, such as sentences, are not
isomorphic with some mental state.- From Wikipedia: "A property of a system is said to be emergent if it is more than the sum of the properties of the system's parts." If I understand Stephen's argument correctly, part of what he's saying here is that rather than knowledge being exactly what we perceive it to be (a sentence like "Paris is a city in France"), what's happening in our brains is more than that. When a teacher shares knowledge with a learner, it doesn't work like a copy machine where the teacher gives the learner a duplicate of the original and then both people have discrete copies of that knowledge. - on 2009-10-06
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CCK09: What about teaching?
Stephen Downes on connectivism and teaching, arguing that this theory isn't really about classroom teaching.
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This theory is, first and foremost, a theory about learning. This is why I tweeted a few weeks ago that people - including teachers - should be viewing Connectivism as a theory describing how to learn, not how to teach. And what it says about learning, essentially, is that you should immerse yourselve in the relevant environment, observe and practice the common actions in that environment, and reflect on that practice.
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So - insofar as there is a pedagogy attached to Connectivism, I content that it involves more and more removing students from a structured and managed classroom environment, and more and more providing means for them to be immersed in communities of practitioners, and for this to happen at a younger and younger age, and in addition, to more and more create in practitioners the expectation and responsibility of working openly and including new and inexperienced members into their communities.
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21stcenturylearning - home
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach's wiki with workshop and web 2.0 resources.
eLearn: Best Practices - Discussion Management Tips for Online Educators
Tips for online facilitators, especially relevant for those used to teaching in a physical classroom who are moving online. Good practical stuff here like saving some of your best stories to re-energize students when motivation is lagging late in the course and preparing discussion questions and replies in advance.
Some myths about online teaching
Debunks myths about online teaching like "posting lecture notes is pretty much good enough."
100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You a Better Teacher | Best Universities
Video lectures for teachers on creativity, technology, special needs, specific subjects, classroom management, and more.
Facilitating_online.pdf
Course leader guide for an open course for online facilitators with week-by-week notes and activities. CC-By-NC-SA
Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning - Emerging Technologies for Learning
George Siemens and Peter Tittenberger have created this wiki handbook for educators who want to incorporate technology into learning. Looks at how and why change is happening in education and how technology can help meet the educational needs of a changing world.
Possibilities Abound--: Exploring, Considering and Proposing--- CCK08
Collection of metaphors for new roles for teachers and instructional designers from a number of sources. Includes sharer, pattern builder, curator, organic gardener, wizard, and environmental engineer. Interesting place to start if you're looking for different ways to think about our roles and who has the power.
Paper 2: Welcome to the Exploratorium! « Arieliondotcom the LORD-loving Learning Lion
Ideas on changing the role of instructional designer and teacher to a "sharer," focusing on creating the environment where learning connections are made and setting up guideposts to help learners find their own way.
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I believe that the roles of the Instructional Designer and Teacher are changing and must change in the face of the ever-increasing onslaught of information every human being faces today. Those roles must merge into the Sharer, who shows new technologies and connections to information to others while always keeping in mind his/her own role as perpetual student.
To do this, the Sharer must, at least in some respects, plant the environment for others, set up what may grow into connections and give opportunity for emergence in ways even the Sharer may not envision yet, but in a reasonably “safe” environment for exploration.
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The Teacher/Sharer, parents and student collaborate on ensuring that whatever method the student is using is assisting in wayfinding toward those goals. If more connections are made, so much the better. But along the path, like signposts, each of the connections (parents, Teacher/Sharers) and each tool (video, Second Life, writing, drawing, blog, podcast, etc.) used to connect to people will prompt the student for responses (dates, opinions, responses to readings) of the set curriculum, but framed in the context best suited for that student. A record of the waypoints shows how the student connected and which connections seemed to spark the most activity and best learning. If the student misses a certain number of waypoints, the direction of the connections is adjusted until success is achieved.
CCK08: Connecting for Change: The New Role of Educators
Another response to Nancy White's CCK08 discussion on how to get change to happen. Also includes an interesting graphic with overlapping skills of "social fluency" based on work by Chris Lott.
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Change has to start with an identified need, not with a good idea. Generally, we only change when we must. Listen for needs.
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Brave New Classroom 2.0 (New Blog Forum) | Britannica Blog
Discussions pro and con about technology in the classroom, in response to this question: "Do the new classroom technologies represent an educational breakthrough, a threat to teaching itself, or something in between?" Michael Wesch and Steve Hargadon are two of the educators included in the discussion.
Online Teaching/Learning Quotations
Collection of quotes related to online teaching and learning
When Things Go Wrong: Handling Problems During In-Class Group Work
Ideas on how to address issues with small groups in courses. This is written for face-to-face learning, not online, but a number of the tips still apply or could be adapted.
Working with Small Groups in an Online Classroom
Quick overview of small groups in online learning, plus a collection of strategies for working with groups.
Group Work in Distance Learning Courses
Nice list of different types of group assignments that can be used in online learning. Includes tips for facilitators to manage group work.
JOLT - Defining Tools for a New Learning Space: Writing and Reading Class Blogs
Examines blogs as learning tools for creating a "community of discourse." This article focuses more on the role of the facilitator in shaping the learning community than on the instructional design of assignments using blogs. There's some interesting ideas about evaluating success and determining whether students are reading blog posts beyond just how much commenting happens.
Facilitating online communities - WikiEducator
Course from Wikieducator on communication and community for online facilitators. Offered as a formal course with a facilitator or informal participation at your own pace.
Online Tutoring e-Book 6 - Culture and Ethics - Facilitating Online Learning
Although this is written specifically for online tutors, much of the information and advice applies to online facilitators as well. The authors examine cultural differences in the online learning environment, including how diversity affects language, written text, images, metaphors, communication style, and online presence. Appendix B is a chart comparing different linguistic groups and cultures.
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- Is it easier to work across cultures free from visuals cues, which tap into our prejudices?
- Is it harder without visual cues so that we miss sensitive cultural cues?
- Just how do we maximise the diversity and respect for cultures while tutoring online?
Some of the key questions revolve around how culture is, or is not, experienced online:
- Is it easier to work across cultures free from visuals cues, which tap into our prejudices?
Adopt and Adapt: Shaping Tech for the Classroom | Edutopia
Marc Prensky on uses of technology in the classroom, moving from simply dabbling to doing "new things in new ways."
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- Dabbling.
- Doing old things in old ways.
- Doing old things in new ways.
- Doing new things in new ways.
First, it helps to look at the typical process of technology adoption (keeping in mind, of course, that schools are not typical of anything.) It's typically a four-step process:
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