Network Connections

My Network Connections

I have had or been part of networks for as long back as I can remember.  These networks help me to navigate new environments; assist me in attaining my academic and professional goals; serve as a source of encouragement and support; and keep me connected to the goings-on in the world.  So, I can’t say how my networks have changed the way I learn but I can tell you how they have been part of my learning.

I am a learner that needs to interact with my learning material.  When I am not given the opportunity to talk to a video or to argue with a podcast, I reach out to my network to find people that will talk through concepts, events, formulas, and the like, with me.  That usually starts with some kind of random question that I post to my Facebook status and typically results in comments and lists of resources from various friends.  When I don’t have time to wait, I will reach out to classmates via text message or Skype.  Oh, and for those times when I am so far from understanding something that I don’t know how to even ask the question, Wikipedia and You Tube have been there for me every time!

You can’t hunt mastodons while your fighting with other groups

You can’t hunt mastodons while your fighting with other groups and you probably can’t catch one by yourself either. Collaboration is the key to finding food, health, wealth, and your way in society. Collaboration, also referred to as collectivism, isn’t a new concept; it’s something we humans have been doing throughout all our years. Is it innate as Rheingold suggests? Well, I can’t answer that. It seems that many in the world get by with little to no human interaction but maybe I’m wrong. And I don’t know if they are happy or not, so please don’t ask me. The only thing I do know is that they would have more if they were willing to collaborate.

That “more” can be defined as pretty much anything you want. More information. More money. More education. More travel. More food. More friends. More technology. More freedom. More A’s in your Quantitative Reasoning course (shout out to my Cohort Crew!)…OK, maybe that last one is just about me but I think you get the point.

Technology makes getting groups together, to work toward common goals, easier than it has ever been.

I’m not exactly reaching out to the masses with this blog but it does allow me to communicate ideas and even ask for input from my peers. Wikipedia is another example of the power behind collective action… an online encyclopedia with a level of accuracy that is comparable to the print versions we always thought to be The Truth but with entries and revisions that are real-time (there’s even a wiki page for that!).

How do constructivist principles come into play? That’s easy. Technology allows people to develop their own background knowledge and to create their own experience. Collaboration tools allow learners to reach out to one another, to share and gather more information through a variety of dialogue styles, and also provide a platform for self-reflection.

Want a tangible example? Chile mine rescue spurred unprecedented global coordination