Education: An ecology of connectionsGeorge Siemens

May 14, 2008TLt Summit

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

1. Let’s have a revolution!! (but they take time)2. Complex and complicated3. What technology does to/for us 4. Ecologies5. The person formerly known as teacher6. The Learner

CHANGE

Social and technological collisions

Technological revolution Year

Industrial from 1771

Steam/Railways from 1829

Steel/Electricity from 1875

Oil/Automobile/Mass production from 1908

Information/telecommunications from 1971

Perez, C. 2004

TechnologicalConceptual

Why change?

Class

Divine Right

Unfair system: Access Barriers

Resonance

But, these things take time

Tension points of education

Open/ClosedAmateur/Expert

Foster/CommandNetwork/Hierarchy

Reduce barriers

Increased opportunities

Increased participation

Where are we now?

TechnologicalConceptual

Here

Here

Here

1. Let’s have a revolution!! (but they take time)2. Complex and complicated3. What technology does to/for us 4. Ecologies5. The person formerly known as teacher6. The Learner

Complicated

To know the right answer

Complex

When we see complex as complicated…

Satisfied with false knowns

Creation of new frameworks, desire to simplify

When we iconosize concepts, we strip them of the opportunity to morph

Nothing is more pernicious in science than attempts to establish adherence to doctrines

Radcliffe-Brown (1940)

1. Let’s have a revolution!! (but they take time)2. Complex and complicated3. What technology does to/for us 4. Ecologies5. The person formerly known as teacher6. The Learner

Technology as blessing and curse

Balance is the new extreme

Boundaries between people

But what happens to us?

What of community?

Fragmentation

Information

Identity

Understanding

The more we become distributed, the more we yearn to centralize

But individual centralization

1. Let’s have a revolution!! (but they take time)2. Complex and complicated3. What technology does to/for us 4. Ecologies5. The person formerly known as teacher6. The Learner

Learning as network formation and navigation

Connection are sufficient

Networks occur within ecologies

Ecologies: environments that fosters and supports learning

ChaoticStructured informality

AdaptiveAlive

DiverseEmergent

Self-organizing, individually directed

Education as ecology

Classroom, courses, programs, system

Beyond formal

Beyond myopic view of learner

1. Let’s have a revolution!! (but they take time)2. Complex and complicated3. What technology does to/for us 4. Ecologies5. The person formerly known as teacher6. The Learner

Instructor’s role

Educator as scaffolder? Accreditor?

Network administrator

Curator/concierge

Product/process…content/interaction

Blend, spectrum

Formal to informalGradients of technology use

Contextual

EC & I 831

http://eci831.wikispaces.com/

How are ideas vetted/validated?

Source of validation: By experts? Amateurs? Unwashed masses?

Method: By networks? Openness? Hierarchical?

1. Let’s have a revolution!! (but they take time)2. Complex and complicated3. What technology does to/for us 4. Ecologies5. The person formerly known as teacher6. The Learner

“people have much more knowledge than appears to be present in the information to which they have been exposed”

Landauer and Dumais (1997)

Biggs SOLO

Learner’s role

Wayfinding

Darken, R. 1996

On becoming…

Move to exploration

Websites and Newsletters

www.elearnspace.orgwww.knowingknowledge.com

www.connectivism.cahttp://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wordpress/

gsiemens AT elearnspace DOT org