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connectivism, information overload and contact overload November 15, 2006

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I just came across this post by George Siemens on Connectivism vs. constructivism:http://connectivism.ca/blog/2006/11/connectivism_vs_constructivism.html

and some of what I read here brings me back again to my refelction son our natural limits:

…For me – call it whatever you want – connectivism, social constructivism, navigationism (pick your own)…learning today must be seen as social, knowledge distributed across a network, capacity
enhanced by enlarging the network, learning/knowledge as multi-faceted and complex, incorporating technology, etc. I’m generally not in a mood to argue against other learning theories (though, at times, it’s
required simply to achieve a frame of reference). I’m much more interested in arguing for effective learning representative of what learners require in order to stay current today. Evangelizing connectivism is a secondary concern as compared with discussing effective, relevant, “sustainable” learning.

The challenge involves creating models in order to cope with information overload and complexity. For example, ineffective models of learning function are not noticed for their weakness when they are not under pressure. When, as we are seeing today, the climate of knowledge and information changes, then the weaknesses of those structures are more pronounced. Connectivism is simply about forming connections -
between people and with technolgy. Constructivism, for example, relies on social dimensions of learning as a means of internalizing knowledge – i.e. in the end, constructivist knowledge ends up largely situated in
a persons mind, while using the social space as a means to mediate and define the knowledge…..

So, ok. We – at least some of us – agree that we need to find new models in order to handle the information overflow and complexity. To me, however, the opportunities that information and communication technologies, and especially social software, provid me for establishing social contacts and for expanding my social network also brings me into a new dilemma. How many contacts can I deal with? Forming social connections takes time, and establishing trust and confidence takes time. I like to “live” in networks, but I think this need a specific approach and mindset, not only towards learning, but it effects us more generally on all levels. Work, Leisure, …..

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always on the run…

Posted by kieslinger in : Uncategorized , add a comment

.. this is also my mood message in skype these days. It seems that I am traveling a bit too much lately. At least my blog entries are usually related to events I am planning to go and events that I am returning from.

This time it is going to be Helsinki. I am heading there next week for the IST 2006 Conference. I will be participating in a networking session organised by the PROLEARN Network of Excellence and then I also hope to meet some interesting people to talk to, to discover Helsinki in November and to promote the Centre for Social Innovation -ZSI as a reliable partner in IST projects.

natural limits II November 7, 2006

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this is not going to be another post in the reflections that we had when considering our natural processing limits.
I am back from some traveling and experiencing my natural time limits once more. I have not posted for a while.
So recently I was attending a conference – eChallenges2006 – in my all-time favorite city in Europe, namely Barcelona. The conference was not too exciting in terms of content that was presented there (although I was a presenter myself and I talked about the truly exiting iCamp project), but of course these events are always good for social networking.

So I met some nice people there from my previous employer in Spain, namely the people from the Research & Innovation department of Atos Origin. Was great to see my old colleges again.

Then I met Paolo Martinez from Firenze Tecnologia who gave an interesting and exciting talk about Open Future Centers.

And finally I had a nice evening and some beers with Graham Attwell and Raymond A.J. Elferink (not so easy to find you on the web, Ray). Dai Griffith, who is now working for CETIS, and Julia Silies also joined in. One of the things we talked about it the Bazaar project and some things that we could organise together. These are all great people and it seems that there are quite some points of interest.

I hope that I will just have the time to follow-up on all this. Natural limits striking back again ;-)