Connectivism

The network hasn't changed the way I learn.  I have gotten better at networking and using one group to another. I have realized that everything is interconnected and interwoven one way or another.  The tools that I absolutely LOVE, are the social networking sites such as Facebook, and sites that facilitate higher order thinking: Blogs!  These two sites have so much potential for learning new material, it's unbelievable.  If I want to share some new knowledge with others, all I have to do is log into Facebook, and post it online for everyone in my network to view.  Same thing with blogs-- if I have something to share with people, all I do is just log on, post, and tag the words people are interested in.  Networking these days is the key to getting ahead personally, academically, and professionally.  If you don't have the proper networks set in place, you will be going nowhere fast!

http://www.rileyguide.com/network.html

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm

Module 3

The following link is a video of Howard Rheingold discussing the natural instinct of people to seek groups and collaborate. Technology provides tools for collaboration across time and space, as exemplified in Wikipedia.

Howard Reingold on Collaboration

Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group,” as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia? How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles?

I believe that humans do have a basic instinct to interact & work as a group.  It's a survival instinct, just like the human foragers.  Group dynamics yield better gains, so when pre-historic mammals needed to be brought down for food/fur, groups worked together to complete this task.  An individual could not accomplish hunting and killing a mammoth.  Now throw technology into the mix, and you get the online learning communities such as online schools where the interactions are all done on the community boards and discussions take place where everyone responds to the initial discussion question.  This furthers the intellectual interaction amongst peers and allows for collaboration amongst people from all over the world!