(Please explore the interactive mind map above. It represents my personal learning network. Using the buttons at the top you can zoom in and out (as will your mouse's scroll wheel), fit the entire chart to the screen, and others. You can also use your mouse to drag the map around and expand each node. Nodes with a circle at the end can be expanded. Nodes with a red arrow inside of them have a link to follow. To open the link, please click the red arrow and not the node name. Thanks!)
Networking is not new. To become the best, individuals have networked with each other and master teachers for centuries. So what is new?
- We no longer have to move to study with masters. We can study and connect with them from our homes – with our families in the next room.
- We can study and connect with peers and masters on our own time, and often in our own way.
- We can study and connect with peers and masters from anywhere a mobile network signal will reach … even on top of the Mogollon Rim.
- We can reach students in the variety of ways necessary to keep them engaged in difficult academic pursuits.
- We can build a personal work environment tailored to our learning needs and style.
Has this changed the way I learn? I do not know yet. What I do know, is I have expedient and nearly instant access to any piece of information I need to fuel my learning. Whether it is peers, instructors, professional connections, or anything stored in the mass of the internet, when I have a question I can connect and ask just one, or practically all simultaneously.
In a post on a Walden University discussion board, Dr. Moller (2009) posits technology is an “enabler instead of a driver” of learning strategies. A fantastically hopeful comment, as it implies we have much more potential to unlock and fill. I feel the key lies in the continued growth of collaborative technologies, and the many conversations taking place about how we learn.
References
Moller, L. (2009, July 20). Course Home Page. Retrieved July 23, 2009, from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=3470109&Survey=1&47=4198219&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1.
Brad,
ReplyDeleteYour mind map was very informative. Both it and your post seemed reflective. One thing that stood out to me was the over lap of technology in all aspects of your learing; academic, professionally, and socially. Your 5 points on how learning has changed were very insightful.
One thing that I can't wait to do when I get back to the States is get a mobile phone that has internet connections and can keep me connected :) That was a great piece to bring into the equation...
Brad,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, what did you use to create your mind map?
Second, I agree that we have a powerful tool with our Smart Phones. My question is, how do we bring those tools into the classroom to allow our students access as well?
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteThe amount of technology integration surprised me a little too. I have always been a bit of a geek, but I was not aware it was that pervasive.
And be careful what you wish for. Mobil technology can be freeing and restrictive at the same time. There was a time I characterized myself as an addict to my phone. I actually traded it in for a simple one for about a year just to reset my behaviors to ones more conducive to a healthy family and social relationships. Balance is key.
Brad
Jen,
ReplyDeleteI used FreeMind to create the mind map. I then used a separate HTML/Flash package called FlashBrowser to create the dynamic view in my post.
I think bringing any phones into the classroom is as simple as taking advantage of their collaborative natures. Students could use SMS to answer polls, have WebQuest races, or create Twitter Groups that allow small collaborations to thrive.
Brad
Brad:
ReplyDeleteTwo topics:
1. Halleluiah, jump up and down, put your hand on this mobile device and say, "I BELIEVE!" I think of you as a technology genius. Yet I was so glad to hear you "downgraded" capabilities on your handheld device for a healthy family and social life - for balance.
2. I was really progressing along nicely in this 8845 class in that I am very cautious about technology in many ways, but I am starting to get more on board. I always had this view that the technology money makers are dictating our lives. But with time, I was loosening my viewpoint on that. But then you wrote: from anywhere a mobile network signal will reach.
Now, I am swung back to the skepticism side because the hardest part for me in this learning environment at Walden is being able to easily get online. I travel a great deal. Within the U.S., I seem to have easy access, but of course, at a high cost (have to pay a monthly bill to Verizon for a card). When I go overseas, the cost is very high. Perhaps if online access is soon free or extremely expensive from anywhere or everywhere, like a pen, pencil, or calculator (other tools), then . . .
Koh,
ReplyDeleteI think mobile is just one tool in the grand scheme of possibility. And you have to find the ones that will work for your life and learning. I am still noodling around the idea the connectivist principles have been around since before networking had anything to do with computers, and how that informs what it is today.
Brad
Brad
ReplyDeleteYes, I think Dr. M's comment (enabler vs. dictator) started to open my mind too in that technology has started to enable us to view a perspective that was perhaps around before but we did not have the mindset to realize it. By "mindset" I mean, for example, the ability to create this mind map project so easily and readily to understand how we learn!
Koh
I think that your use of technology will inevitably affect the way you learn. I am sure that early on when you were still using that 2400 modem, you were doing different things with technology than you are doing now. I think that you are probably doing more. Technology allows us to do more. Exposure to more information and many more personalities as well as their ideas means that you can probably learn more, about any topic, faster than you could have done during the 2400 modem days.
ReplyDeleteGSucre,
ReplyDeleteMost certainly I agree. However, as Peter Parker's father said "with great power comes great responsibility!" As we are able to expose ourselves to a greater diversity of information and opinion, we must be more vigilant in our pursuit for ACCURATE and GOOD information. And while we can do more, we must not lose focus on the greater questions of whether or not we SHOULD be doing more.
Thanks for your post!