Education and learning – on connectivism

My focus is on how education and learning with technology as enabler and networking could add value to my learning, and could also add value or contribute to the network, not just with connectivism. 

When it comes to my own learning, it is the “I” only.  When it comes to network learning, or Wisdom of the Crowd, “I” cannot represent the “voice of the crowd or crowd’s views”.  So, I said it is a useful theory in my context.  Your and other’s experience are very important for its justification as a valuable theory.

I am now considering these:

• education needs leadership (so there is educational leadership) (a vision and a mission)
• learning needs management (so there is learning management system or personal learning management system), at neural, conceptual and external – social, network levels

So, connectivism or network learning is part of that management.  But it requires leadership to make it happen.  And both management and leadership must go hand in hand to make “connectivism” happen in networks, institutions and the business world of learning.

What is more important is education (leadership) (the means) which could transform the educational infrastructure (the big picture).  And that learning (the process, and the experience you and I value) via networking will/has become a critical success factor for life based or life long learning.

How do you see education and learning under connectivism?

Advertisement

Is knowledge power in network learning?

May I quote this one which echoed my thoughts:

“By high school and college I learned that while I could not be popular, I could be useful.  Being useful by doing all the work earned me a certain level of leadership potential because I became visible to the kids who cared about a certain club.  My new strategey was to trade work for attention.  I still use that strategy more than I should, and I’m guessing there are a lot of men and women who do….

By the time I hit the working world I had tried lots of strategies.  It wasn’t until I studied group process that I realized that groups have patterns, and if you can predict the patterns of the group you can be in the right place at the right time.  That sort of knowledge is power. 

I also learned about how ruthless groups can be to members who are innovative (deviant) or perceived as weak.  Different behaviors will be interpreted differently depending on the stage of the group’s development.  That’s what we are here to learn.  No matter what strategies you currently use, this one will only add value and save time.”  What is this one to you?

Are you in a group or in a network?  Or are you in both? What stage of group’s or network’s development are you in? 

How do you interpret this? Is this view reflective of what happens in the business world (in a group),and/or in a network?  Or is it dangerous, foolish or simply not worth it, because….it may be going against the organisation’s mission or network’s ideal?  Wow…. caution! alert!!!

What’s your experience?