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!