I am uneasy as I write this post, because I am writing it last minute, simply as a means to cross it off an ever growing To-Do-List. Having said that, I really want to be involved with Connectivism and Connective Knowledge the online course being offered by Stephen Downes and George Siemens. I have been regularly reading Stephen’s blog and following George on Twitter. I hope that by taking this course I will get a better understanding of Conectivism as defined by Downes
At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks.
I am already intimidated by the readings and the workload, but I will try and stay caught up. If knowledge is truly distributed across networks, then at minimum this course will expand my network, or at least teach me to more effectively use the network I have already built for learning and acquiring information that I find meaningful. I haven’t much time so let me start with the first assignment:
Where you’re from?
I am originally form Iran, but grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have worked in Mozambique, New York, Malaysia, and I am now in Doha, Qatar.
Why you’re interested in this course?
As I mentioned above, I hope this class will enable me to make better use of my network, as well as teaching me how to most effectively use online tools to communicate, collaborate, and learn from other members of this network. In short, I want to practice what I preach, and see what it looks like from a student angle to be immersed in online tools for learning.
What has to happen in order for you to consider this course a success?
I hope that I can finish the course and not fall too far behind. I guess I just want to meet a few new people, learn to use a few new tools, and make some new or strength some old nodes in my network.
Random information about yourself – your work, your experience with networked technologies, etc.
Take a look around this blog and its “About” page. I have also started an online class, called Intrepid Classroom which tries to implement many of the core concepts of what I believe is connectivism. I use a variety of social networking sites like Twitter, Flickr, Youtube, and a personal blog. If you are interested take a look around and comment. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes.
If you excuse me, I have to get started on the pile of PDF readings, I have yet to even download!
Hi – welcome to the course!
The traffic and discussion volume is a bit intense on the course moodle right now, but as things settle down, it’s a great place to connect with others. The intros provide an overview of learners…and reflect the global nature of the course. You mention that you’re hoping to be able to keep up…a very natural concern. I’ll suggest, however, that there’s no “keeping up” any more :). By my standards – and for my sanity! – I see participation as the new goal. Participate at any level that you find suitable, we’re all missing part of the conversation. None of us is truly caught up…
George
Hi Jabiz,
I came across your Intrepid Classroom blog just by chance last spring (might have been through Jen Jones’ injenuity blog). And now I found out who the mysterious Intrepid Teacher actually is through the CCK08 course. Fascinating how these connections work, isn’t it?
I am very interested in the way you have set up the Intrepid Classroom, but I would like to ask you for some advice. Just some background first. I am planning a new school project (high school kids, 14-17-year-olds) in a network of European and Asian schools. I have coordinated a few projects before, but keep modifying the process and trying out new tools to make it work more smoothly. Last year I tried to use a combination of Ning and Wikispaces, but it wasn’t a great success, partly due to a very limited time frame and many of the participants across the continents simply being unavailable to collaborate at the same times. Ideally, I would like to develop a platform/online environment/forum/classroom that could exist and keep developing and reshaping from year to year.
Have I understood correctly that your Intrepid Classroom is a truly open global classroom, ie. any student anywhere at all can join? Do many of your own students participate? Do you encourage some of your students to participate, or is it solely down to each individual student to take an interest? Do participating students get some credit for it in their school work, or is it purely self-directed study for their own personal learning? You use many different forums and tools. Do you think this may be distracting to participating students? Do you feel that having a structured network with given groups in different schools defeats the underlying principles of connectivism? Just that in regular school life, schedules, curriculum etc. etc. don’t easily allow fully open learning environments. How about participation in the Interepid Classroom – is it regular enough for students to stay motivated? From my experience young people soon lose interest if participation in an online environment is too sporadic.
I hope you don’t mind me asking such straight-forward questions. I’d love to hear your ideas if you have the time some time. I am hoping to find colleagues to share these ideas with, as I believe very much that this type of learning, at least some of the time, is the future of education. I also like your passion for promoting peace in the world. In my Asia-Europe connections we did a Peace project (somewhat naive, but sweet) for some years until we lost touch with the Japanese teacher involved, and the momentum sadly faded. Here is the URL for a compilation wiki of this project, if you are interested to have a peek (I don’t know how to make a link in this field!).
http://sinikkaenglish.wikispaces.com/
Hoping to connect with you somewhere!
Sinikka