Connectivism

Connectivism, as Wikipedia states, is "a learning theory for the digital age." Today in our new "digital age" technology plays a major role in our lives. It affects how we live, how we communicate with others, how we teach and how we learn. Technology is everywhere and we have the whole world practically at our fingertips. Connectivism, to me, is a new way of learning using this technology to benefit and further our understanding and knowledge. I feel this is an excellent thing and I hope to incorporate Connectivism into my own classroom.

As shown in the class slides on Connectivism, Teachers have a network of ways of getting information. Before this theory, the network of information only came from their curriculum, media, fellow colleagues, family and community, and other resources. Now, after this new digital era, teachers have those resources plus many, many more; including digital data, pictures and messaging, networking, blogging, wikis, and many other aspects due to web 2.0.

Here is a great video explaining this concept and what it means to be a networked student or teacher.....

Web 2.0 - Great Info.

Click here to see a great website I found with definitions. It defines Web 2.0 along with many other media terminology.

Also, here is a video describing the concepts of Web 2.0, it is very detailed and helped me A LOT!! It is a bit long but very worth it...

The positives and Negatives of Technology Advances

Before this class, and even up until today, I believed the new advances in technology to be all positive and beneficial to our generation of teachers. However; after today's lecture discussion, I now feel that there can be a downside to this "revolution."

Advances in technology have enabled the world to communicate faster and easier. Teachers may now find it easier to develop lesson plans and provide learning materials for their students. A big plus, as stated in today's class, is that if a student asks a question that a teacher does not know the answer to, the Internet has made the information readily and easily accessible. Also, the advances of how a teacher displays their lessons to the class has come a long way from the old chalk and blackboard. Today, you will see dry-erase boards, power-point presentations, and the newest of all - Smart Boards. These Smart Boards are interactive whiteboards with a touchscreen feature allowing many hand-on learning experiences.

For the most part, these advances are great for teachers and students to learn and share information; however I feel there may be a few negative aspects. As stated in today's discussion, a student having the answers right at their fingertips may be a bit to easy for them. They may just look up all the answers and never actually know how they got it or why. Teachers will now have to alter their teaching methods to ensure that their students are not cheating and are getting the full benefits of the lessons.