CONNECTIVISM

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I responded to Duane and Kimberly

* How has your network changed the way you learn?
My network has allowed me easy access to information. As a busy mom who works and goes to school full time, and is a part-time real estate agent, I would not be able to function without my network. I can do things form home that were virtually impossible to do a few years ago. Just the fact that I am doing this assignment proves that I am learning in new ways. The online university has afforded me the flexibility I need to pursue a higher degree, which will afford me more professional and financial opportunities at work.

* Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you?
If you look at my mindmap, you will notice that I have definitely become more connected since becoming a student at Walden. As I am introduced to new technologies, I find one more fascinating than the next. The wiki is my new favorite. As you can see, I use it at Walden and in the school where I work.

* How do you learn new knowledge when you have questions?
I do what everyone else does, I Google it! I also learn a lot by trial and error. I have been able to teach myself a lot just by playing around, and using online tutorials. I find that I may spend a great deal of time teaching myself how to do something, but once I get it, it's great! I taught myself how to do an imovie a few years ago because I wanted to make a unique wedding gift for someone. Now, people actually pay me to create movies for them.

Collaboration

I do believe humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group”. When you think back to how the Pyramids, or even this country was built, there had to be collaboration of individuals working together to reach a common end. Technology has rapidly increased our ability to work collaboratively. In the past, people would fly all over the world to hold business meetings. Now the same meetings can be held from the comfort of one’s home or office. I can now be in the same class as someone on the other side of the earth, and we can be working on solving the same problem.

Rheingold discussed hoe people use collaboration to feed their own self-interests, but when you can find mass groups of people with the same interests, the payoff for the individual can be even greater. Technology allows people with a common cause to unify easily, form groups, and attract more individuals. With different members of the group having strengths in different areas, they can teach others, who will then construct new knowledge for themselves. This is more likely to happen because the individual already has an interest in a given topic. The technology allows the person to find many experts from which to learn.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

I responded to Duane Coleman and Shane Fairbairn