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Charmian LORD

Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? | Kop | The Interna... - 1 views

  • To what extent do existing learning theories meet the needs of today’s learners, and anticipate the needs of learners of the future?
  • If older theories are to be replaced by connectivism, then what are the grounds for this measure?
  • If connectivism is to build on older theories, how is the integration of the old and new theories to be conducted?
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • The wide range of approaches and learning paths that are available to redesign curricula cause friction for educators and instructional designers who are required to deliver course materials in accordance with learning outcomes prescribed and mandated by educational institutions.
  • Connectivism stresses that two important skills that contribute to learning are the ability to seek out current information, and the ability to filter secondary and extraneous information.  Simply put, “The capacity to know is more critical than what is actually known” (Siemens, 2008, para. 6)
  • The developmental implications of Downes’ definitions of learning and knowledge are far-reaching.  If learning transpires via connections to nodes on the network, then it follows that the maximization of learning can best be achieved through identifying the properties of effective networks, which is precisely what Downes sets out to achieve in Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge.
  • Siemens (2006b) highlights other factors that may inform the development of a new learning theory, namely “how we teach, how we design curriculum, the spaces and structures of learning, and the manner in which we foster and direct critical and creative thought in our redesign of education” (p. 6).
  • roponents of connectivism are “exploring a model of learning that reflects the network-like structure evident in online interactions,” (p. 12) but is this enough to constitute its formulation as a new learning theory, and does connectivism have anything new to offer?
  • the way in which global networks and communities of interest are currently being formed through emerging technologies is encouraging young people, in particular, to develop new, creative, and different forms of communication and knowledge creation outside formal education
    • Charmian LORD
       
      do I classify as young? :)
  • his will undoubtedly cause friction in institutions and class rooms, particularly as (adult) educators themselves do not always feel comfortable with the new developments because they have not been shown adequately, or explored for themselves, how the new and emerging technologies could enhance their working practice.
    • Charmian LORD
       
      This is the issue I am facing.  People need time to work it out, good questions about the use of technology and information about how it will not increase their workload or decrease it (leading to a lack of work).  Is this possible?  How possible?
  • A paradigm shift, indeed, may be occurring in educational theory, and a new epistemology may be emerging, but it does not seem that connectivism’s contributions to the new paradigm warrant it being treated as a separate learning theory in and of its own right.  Connectivism, however, continues to play an important role in the development and emergence of new pedagogies, where control is shifting from the tutor to an increasingly more autonomous learner.
Brendon Willocks

iThink, iTeach, iTeens | Slide to unlock…learning… - 3 views

  • previous Blog post
    • Brendon Willocks
       
      Reference to previous thinking in relation to NGL. Not 100% sure here how to add the spta tage. #spta
  • r 8 Humanities class and also my Yr 12 ITS classes
    • Brendon Willocks
       
      Turn to face-to-face network for information first. Perhaps this is just a comfort zone. I need to a more PCP approach. #spta
  • Flappy Golf
    • Brendon Willocks
       
      Multiple links to external sites. I wonder if this link opens in a new browser window, or if it is the same. ??? Dont want it to be the same window becasue we always want to keep the user on the original blog. #spta
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  • poll.
    • Brendon Willocks
       
      Created a poll to see what game to learn to play. But given the size of my current network the number of votes is less that optimal. Still need to work on expanding my network and connections.
    • djplaner
       
      I probably would have suggested "Clash of Clans", which wasn't an option. But then perhaps that's just because my boys enjoy it.
  • “Attempts at integrating technology within education, however, have often focused on enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the status quo, replacing traditional instructional approaches with ones that are technologically reinforced, yet qualitatively similar” “Research continues to show that access to technology alone has limited impact on learning outcomes and instructional methods and is often used to support passive, teacher-centered, and didactic instruction”
  • learning is often seen as a single and sporadic classroom activity as opposed to an endeavor that is ongoing, lifelong, and independent of educational institutions and age
  • it is important for learners to understand, and instructors to acknowledge, that knowledge is distributed and that the instructor is not the sole source of knowledge on a topic
  • We should aspire for learning that changes the ways a learner acts in the world. We want learners to talk, discuss and share their learning with family and friends, rather than compartmentalising
  • “transformative learning experiences cannot be”imposed” on learners.” invited, and encouraged, and facilitated.
  • Siemens (2005) describes the following characteristics of connectivism: Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions
  • Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources
  • The near infinite potential of dancing with anyone, anywhere, anytime coupled with the vast sound tracks and light shows (open educational resources) accessible on the Net, demand that learning be an experience of connecting and applying resources, rather than memorizing particular tunes or steps. The art of improvisation, of learning to dance, becomes the life learning skill – accumulating static data or memorizing scripts becomes obsolete.
  • When I reflect on other courses of formal study that I have undertaken at this university there are a diverse array of online teaching practices evident. Some model, facilitate and challenge learning just like this one; while others have an approach of ‘here is the assessment, good luck…see you at the end’. I need to make sure that all of my teaching is supportive and challenging to students learning – there is limited learning with the ‘here is the assessment…enjoy’ approach.
  • ‘As Student’
  • “It is through writing our ideas down that we make what we learn explicit, thus enabling us to “reflect upon it, and reanalyse it in light of new and sometimes conflicting information” (Goal et all., 2008).”
  • Riel and Polin reading is that we are a knowledge-based community given we “construct, use, reconstruct, and reuse knowledge in deliberate, continuous cycles” (p. 32).
  • ‘As Student’
  • sharing our ideas in PCP is not scary and threatening, but can help ourselves and others. Everybody’s ideas seem obvious to them. What is obvious to me is amazing for someone else.
  • I continue to do my work, I tell my little tales and share my point of view. Nothing spectacular, just my little thoughts.
  • ‘As student’ I was initially hesitant to share my thoughts opinions and ideas because I wasn’t sure if they were worthy of sharing. They are nothing different or innovative. But through engagement in Blogging and the non-threatening nature of the task – just blog, it doesn’t have to be perfect – has assisted a great deal. Overtime I have noticed that I am more comfortable sharing ideas.
  • feeding forward’, as identified by Downes (2011).
  • “We suggest three distinct but overlapping forms of learning within communities (task-based, practice-based; knowledge-based learning) and discuss practical design implications of these distinctions.”
  • learning theory has evolved from a cognitive theory of acquisition of knowledge to a social theory of increased participation in activity (Bruner, 1973; Cole, 1988; Lave, 1988; Mehan, 1983; Nonnan, 1980; Rogoff, 1994; Wertsch, 1997).
  • ntellectual development becomes a process of negotiation of meaning in everyday practice with others (Dewey, 1916; Vygotsky, 1978).
  • Learning occurs through engagement in authentic experiences involving the active manipulation and experimentation with ideas and artefacts – rather than through an accumulation of static knowledge (Bruner, 1973; Cole, 1988; Dewey, 1916).
  • Wenger (2000) uses the metaphor of a garden to describe the nature of support that works for something as delicate as a community of practice. You cannot, he says, make the flowers grow by pulling on their leaves. You can, however, keep the flower beds free of weeds and pests, ensure there is water and sunlight, and you can even apply some plant food. But the flowers must do their own growing. What does that sort of support for the flowerbed look like in an isolated and troubled profession such as teaching?
  • ‘As Student’
  • ‘As Student’
  • sharing our ideas in PCP is not scary and threatening, but can help ourselves and others. Everybody’s ideas seem obvious to them. What is obvious to me is amazing for someone else.
  • feeding forward’, as id
  • We suggest three distinct but overlapping forms of learning within communities (task-based, practice-based; knowledge-based learning) and discuss practical design implications of these distinctions.”
  • earning theory has evolved from a cognitive theory of acquisition of knowledge to a social theory of increased participation in activity (Bruner, 1973; Cole, 1988; Lave, 1988; Mehan, 1983; Nonnan, 1980; Rogoff, 1994; Wertsch, 1997).
  • tellectual development becomes a process of negotiation of meaning in everyday practice with others (Dewey, 1916; Vygotsky, 1978).
  • Learning occurs through engagement in authentic experiences involving the active manipulation and experimentation with ideas and artefacts – rather than through an accumulation of static knowledge (Bruner, 1973; Cole, 1988; Dewey, 1916).
  • Wenger (2000) uses the metaphor of a garden to describe the nature of support that works for something as delicate as a community of practice. You cannot, he says, make the flowers grow by pulling on their leaves. You can, however, keep the flower beds free of weeds and pests, ensure there is water and sunlight, and you can even apply some plant food. But the flowers must do their own growing. What does that sort of support for the flowerbed look like in an isolated and troubled profession such as teaching?
  • d social bookmarking in t
  • “Learners need to find their own unique pathway to transformative understanding of networked learning. There’s no simple and straightforward way to mastery that can be taught.”
  • ‘The past always looks easy and the future always looks challenging’.
  • Our information overload is a filtering issue and we are having filter failure.
  • lexibility is the greatest strength.
  • online learning is that it is asynchronous and students can participate and engage with content anywhere, anytime. I believe the f
  • Siemens (2004) also notes that learning occurs in informal and non-formal learning contexts.
  • “Knowledge is contained in the links between interconnected nodes and learning is the creation of these connections and the ability to traverse these connections. “For an individual this is about growing the connections in the mind by growing the connections.”
  • Alec Couros pointed out in a keynote from FUSION 2013 that – “There is strength in weak ties. Our acquaintances, not our friends, are potentially our greatest source of new ideas and information” (paraphrased from Gladwell, 2010).
djplaner

European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning - 3 views

  • The three generations of technology enhanced teaching are cognitive/behaviourist, social constructivist and connectivist.
    • anonymous
       
      Note: 3 Generations of technology enhanced teaching 1. cognitive/behaviouralist 2. social constructivist 3. connectivist
    • djplaner
       
      That prior note is not a great example of value adding - just repeating what was in the text.
  • tools can be used and optimized to enhance the different types of learning that are the focus of distance education theory and practice.
  • pedagogy and the technology must create an engaging and compelling dance
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  • postal correspondence
  • three (or more) overlapping generations
  • mass media including television, radio and film.
  • interactive
  • Indeed, though the authors of this paper are not in complete agreement about this, it is possible to think of pedagogies (considered as the processes and methods used in an attempt to bring about learning) as technologies, integral parts of a technological assembly that must work together with all of the other technologies to bring about a successful outcome
    • anonymous
       
      Note: Connection between technology and pedagogy
  • technologies evolve not through adaptation but by assembly, incorporating pieces of earlier designs
  • We will see that the ubiquitous capacity of the Internet is creating very profound opportunities for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of all three pedagogical models.
  • instructional designer
  • positivist research paradigms and methodologies.
  • From behaviourist pedagogy emerged the cognitive learning theories that focus on how processing within the individual brain effects comprehension, understanding, storage and retrieval of information. Cognitive pedagogies arose partially in response to a growing need to account for motivation, attitudes and mental barriers that may only be partially associated or demonstrated through observable behaviours – yet they are directly linked to learning effectiveness and efficiency.
  • empirical testing
  • Methods that relied on one-to-many and one-to-one communication were really the only sensible options because of the constraints of the surrounding technologies.
  • “scientific models”
  • that guided the development, application and assessment of learning.
  • CB-based distance education is often developed in the suggested order
  • The model begins with designers selecting instructional goals. Instructional designers identify goals in discussion with subject matter experts with an eye to finding deficiencies in learners’ behaviour that can be rectified by new learning.
  • This is particularly salient when applied to a new generation of large scale MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
  • ext and usually multi-media learning content. The effort and cost of “developing and selecting instructional
  • creation of brainstorming lists of possible goals, documentation of subject matter priorities, flow charts, gathering of lists
  • Today each of the instructional design activities (see figure Figure 1) is enhanced by a host of Web 2.0 tools.
  • f primary use are distributed text tools such as Google Docs, DropBox and wikis
  • As importantly, collaborative work and negotiation is not confined to text. Collaborative graphic tools, concept and mind mapping tools allow graphic representations of ideas and processes.
  • Low cost distributed project management tools allow teams to design, create, produce and distribute content at costs much lower than in pre internet days.
  • gh quality content defines CB models of distance education, its effective management and control is extremely important
  • the capacity to re-use content created by others is compelling – if not without its challenges.
  • multiple ways of sharing content
  • blogs to Facebook to YouTube and content management systems
  • Perhaps of deeper concern is the reluctance of distance educators to consume and customize content already created by others.
  • Many content developers define and pride themselves on the production of quality content – not by the consumption and customization of works that they did not produce.
  • The final affordance of the net – with tremendous, if as yet little demonstrated capacity to improve CB distance education pedagogy – is learning analytics.
  • mining information about patterns of behaviour in order to extract useful information about learning which can then be applied to improve the experience.
  • In this model, CB pedagogy may be adapted to service the unique learning needs, style, capacity, motivation and goals of the individual learner.
  • strive to create instructional designs that change and morph in response to individual learner’s needs and behaviours.
  • Open Learning Models (Bull & Kay, 2010; Kay & Kummerfeld, 2006) increase learner control and understanding of the system. Open models can also be used by teachers and other support staff to better understand and respond to individual learner needs, although there are potential and as yet unresolved issues with making such models intuitive to understand and control effectivel
  • important source of data to constructing the model is the user’s current and past activities with content in the learning context.
  • data minin
  • data mining
    • anonymous
       
      Note: Data mining provides an opportunity to identify patterns of student behaviour. This can be used to help teachers better tailor learning and resources to the student. I can see that online tools providing access to metadata, tools for running site-access reports, and and even tagging, might be relevant in this context.
  • From the brief examples above we can see how technologies and especially the Net afford multiple ways in which CB pedagogies and related instructional designs are enabled, enhanced and made more cost effective.
  • MOOCs
  • CB models are inherently focused on the individual learner. While there is a tradition of cognitive-constructivist thinking that hinges on personal construction of knowledge, largely developed by Piaget and his followers (Piaget, 1970), the roots of the constructivist model most commonly applied today spring from the work of Vygotsky (1978) and Dewey (1897), generally lumped together in the broad category of social constructivism.
  • groups of learners, learning together with and from one another.
  • Social-constructivism does not provide the detailed and prescriptive instructional design models and methodologies of CB driven distance education.
  • efines social constructivist learning contexts as places “where learners may work together and support each other as they use a variety of tools and information resources in their guided pursuit of learning goals and problem-solving activities
    • anonymous
       
      "social constructivist learning contexts...places 'where learners may work together and support each other as they use a variety of tools and information resources in their guided pursuit of learning goals and problem-solving activities" Sounds a lot like the NGL course!
  • eachers do not merely transmit knowledge to be passively consumed by learners; rather, each learner constructs the means by which new knowledge is both created and integrated with existing knowledge.
  • New knowledge as building upon the foundation of previous learning Context in shaping learners’ knowledge development Learning as an active rather than passive process, Language and other social tools in constructing knowledge Metacognition and evaluation as a means to develop learners’ capacity to assess their own learning A learning environment that is learner-centred and recognises the importance of multiple perspectives Knowledge needing to be subject to social discussion, validation, and application in real world contexts (Honebein, 1996; Jonassen, 1991; Kanuka & Anderson, 1999).
    • anonymous
       
      Note: Characteristics of Social Constructivism
  • learning is located in contexts and relationships rather than merely in the minds of individuals.
  • leave more room for negotiation about learning goals and activities among teachers and students.
  • less prescriptive
  • Social-constructivist models only began to gain a foothold in distance education when the technologies of many-to-many communication became widely available,
  • that being the loss of freedom associated with a commitment to meeting at a common time.
  • Time constraint issues are especially important to distance students, most of whom are juggling employment and family concerns in addition to their formal course work.
  • ata mining and learning analytics are not only used to support independent study based on CB models but are being utilized to support and enhance group work.
  • extract patterns and other information from the group logs and present it together with desired patterns to the people involved, so that they can interpret it, making use of their own knowledge of the group tasks and activities” (Perera et al., 2009).
    • anonymous
       
      Example of using data mining and learning analytics with the group.
  • LMS Moodle
  • Standard Moodle analytics allow teachers to view contributions or activities of individual learners
  • Google Analytics
  • Constructivist pedagogies use the diversity of viewpoints, cultural experiences and the potential for divergent opinion that is best realized through interactions with group members from other cultures, languages and geographies.
  • Naturally, technological affordances of most relevance to constructivist pedagogies focus on tools to support effective establishment, operation and trust building within groups. The technologies that support rich social presence, including full range of audio, video and gestures, are associated with enhanced trust development and increasing sense of group commitment
  • connectivism
  • learning is the process of building networks of information, contacts, and resources that are applied to real problems.
    • anonymous
       
      connectivism = learning is the process of building networks of information, contacts, and resources that are applied to real problems.
  • communities of practice
  • Connectivist learning focuses on building and maintaining networked connections that are current and flexible enough to be applied to existing and emergent problems.
  • capacity to find, filter and apply knowledge when and where it is needed
    • anonymous
       
      role of the learner is to have "capacity to find, filter and apply knowledge when and where it is needed"
  • The crowd can be a source of wisdom (Surowiecki, 2005) but can equally be a source of stupidity
    • anonymous
       
      "The crowd can be a source of wisdom (Surowiecki, 2005) but can equally be a source of stupidity"....a nice reminder
  • iticism of connectivism as being merely an extension constructivist pedagogy and those who argue that it is not really a complete theory of learning nor of instruction
  • gain high levels of skill using personal learning networks that provide ubiquitous and on demand access to resources, individuals and groups of potential information and knowledge servers. The second is the focus on creation, as opposed to consumption, of information and knowledge resources.
  • Bloom’s (1956) cognitive taxonomy place creation at the highest level of cognitive processing
  • elies on the ubiquity of networked connections – between people, digital artefacts, and content, and thus can be described as a network centric pedagogy and thus may be the first native distance education pedagogy, without previous instantiation in classrooms.
  • Effective connectivist learning experiences demand that learners have the tools and the competencies necessary to effectively find, sort, evaluate, filter, reformat and publish content on the net.
  • hese capacities rely on effective tools, high skill levels and a developed sense of network efficacy.
  • individuals and groups are helped to create and continuously augment, adapt and use a personal learning environment (PLE)
  • second key defining characteristic of connectivist pedagogy is the import placed on creating, sharing and publishing learner artefacts.
  • Connectivist learning designs, like constructivist ones, often involve collaborative or cooperative work between many learners. However, contribution often grows beyond the group to further encourage collaboration across time and space.
  • eyond the tools of creation instantiated within a PLE is an understanding of the technical and legal means to distribute work, while maintaining appropriate privacy levels and not infringing on the copyright nor plagiarizing the work of others.
  • The only solution to the privacy dilemma is to let each student and teacher set the level of access that they feel is most appropriate for them and more explicitly for the nature of the content being distributed.
  • Privacy concerns are also being recognised by the social networking giants.
  • Connectivist designs also involve the discovery of and contribution to new learning communities.
    • anonymous
       
      connectivist pedagogy encourages contribution to new learning communities - make your work accessible to others!
  • Learners are encouraged to make themselves, their contributions and their personal learning environment accessible to others. T
  • create and rate bookmarked resources t
  • hat others find useful, document their learning accomplishments via blogs, and share their discoveries and insights via micro blog feeds. In this manner they create and sustain learning networks that begin at the course level, but grow and evolve as the course of studies ends.
  • the emphasis is far more on the individual’s connections with others than with group processes designed to enhance or engender learning.
  • arder to apply analytics than in the more contained contexts of CB and social constructivist models.
    • anonymous
       
      It is harder to apply analytics than with CB and social constructivist models.
  • There is no central course, few common materials, no central binding point where interactions can be observed apart from each individual learner.
  • edagogy is, at heart, entirely focused on the individual learner.
  • The bottom three of Blooms original levels of learning – acquiring knowledge, coming to understand something or some process and applying that knowledge to a context – are clearly within the domain of CB pedagogies.
  • Moving up to the analysis, synthesis and evaluation levels brings us to the need for social perspective. This is often acquired through group and networked interactions characteristic of constructivist and connectivist pedagogical models.
  • Creation can be entirely original or as is more usual, creation involves the building upon, reinterpretation and contextualized application of older ideas to new contexts. Creation, the highest level of cognitive functioning usually requires mastery of the lower levels but, in addition, requires at least a small flame of creativity and insight.
  • Obviously the focus of connectivism with its inherent demand for students to create and distribute for public review and augmentation, fits well with the final creation level of the revised taxonomy.
  • here are many domains of knowledge in which creation of new knowledge is of much less importance than remembering and being able to apply existing knowledge.
  • No single generation has provided all the answers, and each has built on foundations provided by its predecessors rather than replacing the earlier prototype (Ireland, 2007).
  • As new technological affordances open up, it becomes possible to explore and capitalize on different aspects of the learning process.
  • For each mode of engagement, different types of knowledge, learning, and contexts must be applied.
  • students be skilled and informed to select the best mix(es) of both pedagogy and technology.
  • from the student-content interactions of cognitive-behaviourist models to the critical role of student–student interaction in constructivism, and finally, to the deeply networked student–content-teacher interrelationship celebrated in connectivist pedagogie
  • which students become teachers and teachers become students,
  • Connectivism is built to some degree on an assumption of a constructivist model of learning, with the learner at the centre, connecting and constructing knowledge in a context that includes not only external networks and groups but also their own histories and predilections.
  • he late Boston scholar Father Stanley Bezuska assembled a series of humorous quotes (see http://www.slideshare.net/committedsardine/funny-predictions-throughout-history) illustrating the doomsday predictions of teachers as they have been forced to deal with educational technologies.
    • djplaner
       
      This particular set of quotes has since been identified as a hoax - but an illustrative one. http://boston1775.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/the-myth-of-students-today-depend-on.html
  •  
    One of the readings from the course. Sharing it now as a little experiment in sharing annotations. In theory, if you view this page, you should be able to see the bits that I've highlighted and shared with the group.
djplaner

Activity theory - 0 views

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    A page of resource links around activity theory
Charmian LORD

Critical Theories on Education and Technology - PhD Wiki - 0 views

  • Feenberg and other critical theorists such as Ellul, Ihde and Irrgang maintain that technology is neither neutral nor autonomous but ambivalent. Ambivalent technology is distinguished from neutrality by the role it attributes to social values in the use and the development of technical systems.
  • technology is not a thing in itself but is inherently a process of social, historical and political cultures.
  • technology mediates experience, and through this mediation, it alters the experience of the phenomena.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • Arisaka (2001)
  • The future development of educational technology will not be determined by the technology itself, states Feenberg, but rather the politics within the educational community and national political trends. In taking a dialogic approach, he stresses educational technology of an advanced society should be shaped by educational dialogue rather than the production-oriented logic of automation.
    • Charmian LORD
       
      If this is the case, I may be "won over" by Feenberg's dialogic approach.  Let's see :)
  • According to Feenberg (1991), critical theory explains how technology is embedded in society through ‘technological code’ that is dialectical, contextual, aesthetic, and humanly, socially, and ecologically responsible.
  • In summary, Feenberg (2002; 5) calls for a profound democratic transformation of technologies, asking “can we conceive an industrial society based on democratic participation in which individual freedom is not market freedom and in which social responsibility is not exercised through coercive regulation?” He argues a good society should support the personal freedom of its members enabling them to participate effectively in a range of public activities. This can be manifest in democratizing technological design; pursuing a ‘democratic rationalization’ where actors participate in the technological design processes. For Illich (1973), ‘tools of conviviality’ produce a democratic and convivial society in which individuals communicate, debate, participate in social and political life, and help make decisions. Convivial tools free individuals from dependency and cultivate autonomy and sociality.
  • Don Ihde (1990)
    • Charmian LORD
       
      I think he missed the idea that some people like to learn online.  It may have come about for (mostly) financial reasons but has been put to good use by many.
  • E-learning literature increasingly perceives the role of the tutor as facilitator (Salmon, 2004), whilst in a connectivist learning environment, it may become further marginalised or even obsolesced (Siemens, 2004). This emphasis on informal and autonomous learning and student engagement with experts outside their formal educational institutions also recalls Illich’s (1970) community webs. Critical educators such as Freire and Feenberg are critical of the diminishing of critical engagement by the tutor and believe it is essential that teachers continue to have a directive role.
  • Friesen (2008) explores three myths pertinent to current e-learning literature: Knowledge Economy Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime Learning Technology drives Educational Change
  • Kellner stresses that multiple literacies, such as media, computer, and information literacies are required in response to emergent technologies and cultural conditions to empower students to participate in the expanding high-tech culture and networked society.
  • Karlsson (2002) however, suggests so called web literacies should be recognised and studied merely as print literacies that appear on the web. Feenberg (2002) reminds us arguments emerging around new educational technologies are nothing new. He suggests writing was one of the first (narrow bandwidth) educational technologies, and describes how Plato denounced writing as destructive to the dialogic relationship between teacher and student evident in spoken discourse. (Noble (1997) points out the irony in Plato using written text to critique writing, suggesting that similarly, the majority of current attacks on web-based media circulate online.)
  • What originated as a hastily-conceived title for a conference presentation has since become a catch-all term for a range of ‘ontologically non–compatible’ elements (Allen, 2008). In an attempt to conceptualize the meaning of Web 2.0, Allen identifies four key components: Technological implementations that prioritise the manipulation and presentation of data through the interaction of both human and computer agents. An Economic model. Using the Web to put people and data together in meaningful exchanges for financial gain. Users are perceived as active participants, engaged in creating, maintaining and expanding Web content. The politics of Web 2.0 are expressed in traditional democratic terms, which emphasises freedom of choice and the empowerment of individuals.
  • Under a critical perspective, the democratic forms of media consumption and production of Web 2.0 are challenged by the underlying “dictates of a neo-liberal socio–political hegemony” (Jarrett, 2008), as evidenced in the exploitation of user–generated content by major corporations (Petersen, 2008). As Silver (2008) reminds us, “when corporations say community they mean commerce, and when they say aggregation they mean advertising.” Scholz (2008) contends the Web remains largely the domain of “professional elites that define what enters the public discourse,” In addition, social conditions inherent in Web 2.0 practices such as personalization (Zimmer, 2008) and participatory surveillance (Albrechtslund, 2008) require a rethinking of traditional notions of identity, privacy and social hierarchies. As educationalists demonstrate an increasing determination to tap into the apparent technological and sociological affordances of Web 2.0, these are issues that cannot be ignored.
  •  
    PhD students article summarising critical theories.
djplaner

Half an Hour: Connectivism as Learning Theory - 1 views

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    Downes describing in more detail what makes Connectivism a learning theory and in passing it's relationship to pedagogy.
djplaner

Rhizome | Laurel Felt - 0 views

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    Reflection about some of the 21st century learning theories connected with networked learning. Rhizomatic learning in particular.
djplaner

Critical Theory - Ideology critique and the myths of e-learning - 0 views

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    An example of the application of critical theory to the use of ICTs in education.
djplaner

A Design-Based Approach To Teachers' Professional Learning | Canadian Education Associa... - 1 views

  • Yet school leaders and classroom teachers often fail to see a connection between educational theory and research conducted in universities and the real-world, complex and contextually rich teaching, learning and leading contexts in schools.
  • “Best practice, evidence-based practice, and reflective practice all refer to ways of making optimum use of know-how”[3]; however, while necessary, these are insufficient for creating new insights into practice, or “know-why” directed towards advancing practice
  • Design-based professional learning, which builds upon design-based research findings and theories, provides the bridge for teachers to advance practice in a principled, practical way.
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    Article arguing/explaining the value of design-based research to classroom teachers. The link with NGL is that the course uses DBR as the method by which you consider how to apply NGL principles to interventions in your role "as Teacher".
paul_size

Educators as Social Networked Learners | User Generated Education - 3 views

  •  
    A nice blog about another Social Networked Learning course being run at Boise State University.  This course explores collaborative and emergent pedagogies, tools, and theory related to the use of social networks in learning environments. Participants gain hands-on experience with a variety social networking tools, create their own personal learning networks, and have an opportunity to develop a MOOC-inspired course for their learners.
djplaner

In Connectivism, No One Can Hear You Scream: a Guide to Understanding the MOOC Novice -... - 0 views

  • I’m not a Constructivist, Behaviourist, Cognitivist, or Connectivist. This is not a call for a return to an older theory. I’m a pragmatist, like many educators. I flirt outrageously with every theory that will have me. I’m ideologically promiscuous.
    • djplaner
       
      "All models are wrong, but some are useful"
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    An article sharing problems facing a novice (technology novice and unconfident learners) in a connectivist setting and the implications that has for learning
djplaner

Education in the information age: is technology making us stupid? - 2 views

  • A recent study suggests that our modern lifestyles are making us “less intelligent” than our ancestors, at least at a genetic level.
  • When it takes a mere few seconds to find information about almost any topic, the value of knowledge and expertise is being devalued as information becomes cheaper and more accessible.
  • Our relationship with and understanding of knowledge and expertise has struggled to keep pace with the rapid democratisation of information.
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  • Although there is little conclusive evidence to support some of the more outrageous claims being made, there is at least a distinct possibility that while information is everywhere, knowledge is declining and technology is to blame.
  • So perhaps what is more important is not whether technology is making us stupid but if educational systems need to shift from teaching us what to think, to showing us how to think
  • In terms of what this means for education, psychologist Robert Bjork and his team at UCLA have been investigating what they call “desirable difficulties”. A desirable difficulty is a feature of a learning situation that is deliberately made more challenging to enhance learning.
  • Kahneman’s research on dual process theory suggests we mostly rely on what he calls “system one” thinking. That is thinking that is fast, efficient, mostly automated, and very good at detecting patterns, relying on short cuts or heuristics wherever possible. “System two”, on the other hand, requires slow, deliberate thought and is much more taxing of cognitive resources. System two is where the heavy lifting is done.
    • paul_size
       
      Dual process theory...interesting way of viewing thinking processes.
djplaner

Critique of Connectivism - PhD Wiki - 1 views

  •  
    A collection of critiques of connectivism (more as a theory than anything else) written as part of a PhD thesis. One of the readings for week 7 (at least in 2015) and one of the list of "issues" links I'm (overdue in) creating.
debliriges

Teaching in a Digital Age | The Open Textbook Project provides flexible and affordable ... - 0 views

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    Fundamental change in education The nature of knowledge and implications for teaching Theories of learning for a digital age Methods of teaching
laurac75

http://theory.cribchronicles.com - Part 2 - 1 views

  •  
    Written by someone researching the twitter and online identities, this blog provides some alternative perspectives and articles.
djplaner

Explanation - What is Design-Based Research (DBR)? - 5 views

  • iterative analysis, design, development, and implementation,
    • djplaner
       
      For netgl you won't be doing "full/real" DBR. It won't be iterative and you won't be doing the development and implementation stages. Just the analysis and design. Mainly due to time constraints.
  • contextually-sensitive design principles and
    • djplaner
       
      One of the challenges you'll face is identifying the design principles that will underpin your intervention. It is important that these design principles be based on good "theory"
  • current real-world problems
    • djplaner
       
      Identifying what your problem is and how other people have understood it and how they have attempted to solve it, is a very useful first step in the analysis phase.
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  • Design-based research requires interactive collaboration among researchers and practitioners
    • djplaner
       
      Hence the peer review element in Assignment 2. Actively trying to encourage you to share your ideas and approaches with others, from both within and outside the course.
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    Page used in the "what is DBR" week.
Linda Raymond-Hagen

Differences in Understandings of Networked Learning Theory - Connectivity or Collaborat... - 0 views

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    Defines Networked Learning, compares NL, connectivism, and constructivism
rebeccalwhite

Technology and education - why it's crucial to be critical | Neil Selwyn - Academia.edu - 1 views

  • not assume the future to be any less problematic than the present).
  • Instead, take this as a challenge to talk through some alternate ways of approaching our field and our work … these are discussions that certainly need to ‘cont’.
  • For instance, technology and education remains an area of academic study, policymaking, commercial activity and   popular debate where promises of what might/could/should happen far outstrip the realities of what actually happens.
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  • This marginal standing is reflected in the tendency for educational technology academics to be located often within ‘support’ units and divisions, such as cross-faculty ‘Teaching & Learning Divisions’ or departmental ‘E-Learning Units’. Physically as well as intellectually, then, the field of technology and education is often found to be operating on the peripheries of academe
  • In short, we need to accept that academic work in the area of technology and education is currently falling short of what should now be a significant and substantial area of contemporary education scholarship.
  • Instead, the academic study of technology and education should be developing as much along the lines of critical social science as it does in the guise of a cognitive learning science.
  • attempting to move “outside the assumptions and practices of the existing order and struggling to make categories, assumptions and practices of everyday life problematic”.
  • As Sonia Livingstone (2012) puts it, this problematizing of technology and education usually pursues three basic lines of inquiry: What is really going on? How can this be explained? How could things be otherwise? As these questions imply, a critical approach also involves speaking up for, and on behalf of, those voices usually marginalized in discussions of what technology and education ‘is’ and ‘sh
  • What to do about digital technology?’ remains a high-profile
  • As Alison Hearn has argued, contemporary higher education is now predicated around ambitions to produce human capital rather than critical thinkers; and to foster creativity, innovation and knowledge rather than critical thinking.
  • This stems, at least in part, from the fundamental desire amongst most educational technologists to improve education through the implementation of digital technology. For many academics, then, technology and education is approached as an inherently ‘positive project’. Indeed, I suspect that most people working in this area are driven to some degree by an underlying belief that digital technologies are capable of improving learning and/or education in some way
  • to ‘harness the power’ of technology.
  • I would argue that any academic who is working in the area of technology and education should feel obliged to be critical, or at least justify why they have chosen not to be critical
thaleia66

The Global Search for Education: Can Tech Help Students Learn? | C. M. Rubin - 0 views

  • teachers who are more inclined and better prepared for what are known as student-oriented teaching practices, such as group work, individualized learning, and project work, are more likely to use digital resources. But in many cases, teachers were not adequately prepared to use the kind of teaching methods that make the most of technology
  • Overall, the most successful plans were incremental and built on lessons learned from previous plans.
  • There is increasing recognition of the important role of teachers in education. But we need to go beyond the idea that teaching is an art that requires exceptional talent. There are exceptional teachers, but we need to support the professional development of all teachers, and we can do so if we invest in the scientific base of the teaching profession and empower those very exceptional teachers to become leaders who inspire other teachers.Technology offers great tools in this respect. I'm thinking of platforms for collaboration in knowledge creation, where teachers can share and enrich teaching materials; of the amount of data that can be collected to measure students' learning; or of the increasing use of blended learning models in teachers' training, in which online lectures are combined with individualized expert support and feedback from peers. Because they enable feedback loops between theory and everyday classroom practice and are supported by a network of like-minded peers, these models have been found to be much more effective than the traditional model of courses, workshops, conferences and seminars
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  • Integrating technology successfully in education is not so much a matter of choosing the right device, the right amount of time to spend with it, the best software or the right digital textbook. The key elements for success are the teachers, school leaders and other decision makers who have the vision, and the ability, to make the connection between students, computers and learning.I would encourage all educators to invest in their professional knowledge about how technology can improve their work practices.
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