Reflection on Siemen’s “Connectivism”

I liked the flow of the paper once he got into the background. Introducing definitions of learning, knowledge, and learning theory was essential to the rest of the paper.

My favorite two questions to explore were (emphasis mine):
* What adjustments need to [be] made with learning theories when technology performs many of the cognitive operations previously performed by learners (information storage and retrieval). and
* With increased recognition of interconnections in differing fields of knowledge, how are systems and ecology theories perceived in light of learning tasks?

‘I store my knowledge in my friends’ reminds me of the society set up in Fahrenheit 451 in which (I believe) all books were memorized and kept in the minds of people to access from each other. Now the store has gone a step further than books, to digital and global storage.

“Chaos” – Our brains form connections from a chaos of neurons. The ‘wiring’ gets selected and reinforced with repeated use. I’m curious if, using technologies, what “wiring” will be reinforced and if it will alter people’s capacity for passion, commitment, and depth of thought. Flexibility, adaptability, and diversity will be characteristics that will be selected for success.

I love the social ant behavior as a model for human community digital interactions. Ants actions have implications for digital community success.

The concept of ‘organizational ecology’ is attractive. I support, “Creating, preserving, and utilizing information flow should be a key organizational activity.” In this course we are now doing the ‘creating’ step.

“The internet leverages the small efforts of many with the large efforts of few” reminds me of the Obama campaign and the action emails since that are mobilizing people to do the ‘small efforts’. “Diverse teams of varying viewpoints are a critical structure for completely exploring ideas.” is also consistent with Obama’s choice of cabinet members and how to work through conflict and resolution.

My compliments to the individual who selected this article for us to review. It took over an hour for me to read, synthesize, reflect, and ponder on it; the time was like a good movie. Thank you.