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The largely unitary voice of the traditional teacher is fragmented by the limitless conversation opportunities available in networks. When learners have control of the tools of conversation, they also control the conversations in which they choose to engage.

For educators, control is being replaced with influence. Instead of controlling a classroom, a teacher now influences or shapes a network.

we find our way through active exploration. Designers can aid the wayfinding process through consistency of design and functionality across various tools, but ultimately, it is the responsibility of the individual to click/fail/recoup and continue.

Our inferences, therefore, are based on salience, where salience may be thought of as the importance, relevance or vivacity of some property or perception. We 'pick out' those perceptions that will be of use to us, and disregard the rest.

This is not often even a conscious process; it is based in part on innate reactions (such as jumping when we hear a loud sound) and largely on prior expectations. Our past knowledge has led us to recognize that something that looks and sounds like a tiger is something we should pay attention to, and so our inference engine kicks into high gear.

I must admit that I struggled with some of the basic concepts when I first read Siemens’ paper, and I found the lack of practical examples frustrating.

At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse these networks

social network analysis

to discover how A, who is in touch with B and C, is affected by the relation between B and C” (John Barnes)