Mind Mapping

This week we looked into the connectivist learning theory and it helped me truly examine all of the connections in my life that contribute to my bank of knowledge. This week I realized, while examining my networks, that the older I get the larger my networks become. It is partially because I acquire more network resources as time goes by, as to be expected, but it is also because as we become more technologically knowledgeable it becomes easier to share information with others; this is the most prominent element of connectivist theory. The advances in technology have made information more accessible but I believe that this has its pluses and its minuses. On the plus side it clearly allows us to acquire a wealth of knowledge that we were not able to before. On the other hand it also can be quite overwhelming trying to rationalize so much information some of which may be contradictory and confusing. In order to make sense of the vast amount information out there I have had to develop some essential skills, one of which is organization and the other is filtering. For all of this data to be useful I have had to learn very quickly how to sift through a large amount of data then locate useful information and store it in an organized way so that I am able to revisit it later. There are many resources available to us bit the ones I find useful are the ones that allow you to build a detailed understanding of the targeted topic. I think I find web articles and blogs most useful to my learning. Blogs allow you to read and comprehend the writers’ thoughts in detail. Unlike a discussion board, where writers tend to shorten their responses, and rightfully so, blogs allow them to freely make a point at length. Similarly, web articles can give the reader a deeper sense of the topic and help them to develop a full understanding but as opposed to text books web article allows you to gather information from the perspective of many authors and not just one. There are some social barriers that come with connectivism. If you are in a classroom setting it is much easier to ask a question if you are confused about a top but when connecting virtually it can be a bit more complicated. I find that I usually have two options in solving this kind of issue, one is by contacting a professor or classmate and the other is by doing my own independent research. I prefer to do my own research. I find that when I do my own work in finding data I am able to comprehend it much better and remember what it is I learned. Although connectivism has its downside I believe that the good outweighs the bad and it gives the learner more control over what he/she is learning.