Connectivism

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  Take a look into my mind.  I designed it in black for a purpose.  It's a secret and I am trying to remain stealth.  You see, I have most of my colleagues convinced that I am just "smart" in actuality, I have an amazing personal learning network.  Take a look at every all of the avenues I have to learn.  
  
  I really enjoyed this assignment because I really has no idea how connected to connectivism I am.  
  
  
  One of the blogs I read, Learning for Life, pointed about a that Connectivism is not  new idea, but new technology has given us ways to “connect” or “interact” faster and more easily. (Richard, 2012)  I am old enough to really understand that statement.  My "mind map" would of looked much different just 10 years ago.  There would of maybe been two stems, one for the professional development and one for the teachers lounge.  Amazing!  No wonder I love technology! 
  
  
  Twitter is my top tool.  I enjoy using it because of the 140 character restriction.  You need to get straight to the point and many times I am in the middle of a project and I need a quick answer.  
  
  
  Connectivism refers to the capacity to form connections between sources of information, and thereby create useful information patterns is required to learn in our knowledge economy. George Siemens (2004)  All of my learning about connectivism  tells me its' not about just the individual but about the broader environment, and all aspects of my learning network have some type of social dimension to them that encourage connections to my environment.
  
  
  
  
  Richard, J. (2012, may 18). [Web log message]. Retrieved from Connectivism and Global Collaboration in Education
  
  
  Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. ElearningSpace. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from Google Scholar.