Learning from Your Network: This is How We Are Connected
Please use this link to populate the class network. Week 2 blog will be posted later this week...
--Lukas
====9/3 Updates===
I am thrilled with the commonalities among us (see the pic below)! I knew there is going to be a lot of connections, but I didn't expect a messy network like this even if only two out of 19 knew each other before taking this class. This result is certainly exciting because we have already connected with each other in one way or another. Although what we have shown in class is not technically the real six degrees of separation or the small world effect, it demonstrated how close we are.
Think about the online world: people around the world may live in different time zones, speak different languages, and enjoy different food, but we all use the Internet, which helps to bring everybody together. You can now reach out to much more people and get much more information than people who lived in the time without the Internet.
But, wait... why? Why bother to connect with others? I just want to live alone.
Here comes the idea of the Personal Learning Network (PLN). One of the epistemological beliefs in cognitive psychology is that human knowledge originated from the social interaction we experienced. I don't want to go too deep here but here is a quick example: Toddlers learn the language from their family. Parents may show them an apple and repeat the word "apple" again and again. Eventually, they start to be able to say "apple" when they see the red sweet round thing. However, does a toddler really know the biological definition of an apple? Probably not even for an adult. We just associate the phonetic sound "apple" with the thing and establish a connection. However, suppose nobody shows a toddler what an apple is (missing social interaction), or there is just no apple in the place he/ she lives in (missing the social context). You would expect him/ her has no idea about the fruit.
That is the idea of PLN because although you might be aware of it, we all have one already. It may be not necessarily well-defined, but the information feeds back to us through this network. It can be your neighbors, classmates, friends, or even the person sits next to you on a plane. Besides, each community in the network carries some unique information and knowledge. For example, you recently join a student club (a new community or some new connections). You will start to pick up jargons (knowledge) that only the club members would understand. You will behave like everyone else in the club (skills). You will start to know the norms of the community even if you don't like it. It is nothing else but human nature.
Most people have no idea about their PLN even if they might have already maintained a very large one. We are now facing a huge amount of information thanks to the Internet. Everyone's PLN has expanded tremendously. Therefore, we need to be aware of it and maintain it consciously. In addition, teachers need PLN because that is probably the most natural and sustainable way to keep learning even if you are out of school.
--Lukas
--Lukas
====9/3 Updates===
I am thrilled with the commonalities among us (see the pic below)! I knew there is going to be a lot of connections, but I didn't expect a messy network like this even if only two out of 19 knew each other before taking this class. This result is certainly exciting because we have already connected with each other in one way or another. Although what we have shown in class is not technically the real six degrees of separation or the small world effect, it demonstrated how close we are.
Think about the online world: people around the world may live in different time zones, speak different languages, and enjoy different food, but we all use the Internet, which helps to bring everybody together. You can now reach out to much more people and get much more information than people who lived in the time without the Internet.
But, wait... why? Why bother to connect with others? I just want to live alone.
Here comes the idea of the Personal Learning Network (PLN). One of the epistemological beliefs in cognitive psychology is that human knowledge originated from the social interaction we experienced. I don't want to go too deep here but here is a quick example: Toddlers learn the language from their family. Parents may show them an apple and repeat the word "apple" again and again. Eventually, they start to be able to say "apple" when they see the red sweet round thing. However, does a toddler really know the biological definition of an apple? Probably not even for an adult. We just associate the phonetic sound "apple" with the thing and establish a connection. However, suppose nobody shows a toddler what an apple is (missing social interaction), or there is just no apple in the place he/ she lives in (missing the social context). You would expect him/ her has no idea about the fruit.
That is the idea of PLN because although you might be aware of it, we all have one already. It may be not necessarily well-defined, but the information feeds back to us through this network. It can be your neighbors, classmates, friends, or even the person sits next to you on a plane. Besides, each community in the network carries some unique information and knowledge. For example, you recently join a student club (a new community or some new connections). You will start to pick up jargons (knowledge) that only the club members would understand. You will behave like everyone else in the club (skills). You will start to know the norms of the community even if you don't like it. It is nothing else but human nature.
Most people have no idea about their PLN even if they might have already maintained a very large one. We are now facing a huge amount of information thanks to the Internet. Everyone's PLN has expanded tremendously. Therefore, we need to be aware of it and maintain it consciously. In addition, teachers need PLN because that is probably the most natural and sustainable way to keep learning even if you are out of school.
--Lukas
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