Reflection

How has my network changed the way I learn?
First of all I have always had a desire to learn new technologies. When I was a young adult the first jobs I ever had evolved around technology or the use of manipulatives. I was always eager and ready to learn what button to push and impatiently wait for the results if I was fortunate I remembered which buttons yielded desirable results. I spent many hours on the Internet and working with different software bundles on my personal computer in addition I took advantage of professional developments in order to advance my career and better myself, earning professional certificates in Micro Soft Word, Excel, and Access (which no one ever uses). After many years of experimental fun and technological advances I can honestly say that networking has seriously changed the way I learn. Examples of that would be the on-line courses I’ve taken from several universities and of course www.google.com, who hasn’t learned a thing or two from the Internet?

My favorite digital tools are:
Google Tools Knowledge
Google Earth Knowledge
Wiki Knowledge
Blogging Knowledge
Spreadsheets Skills
Database Skills
Social Bookmarking Knowledge
Social Networking Knowledge
Web Resources in content area
Web Searching skills
Web2.0 Tools
Interactive White Board skills (SmartBoard and Promethean)
Presentation Tools
Video and Podcasting
RSS feeds
Mobile and Handheld Computing
Virtual Worlds
Collaboration & Communication Tools

When I have questions I resort to social networks, learning networks including blogs and of course help pages and of course Google as a last resort to gain knowledge.
Based on the principal tenets of connectivism

 Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
 Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
 Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
 Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
 Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
 Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
 Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
 Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Because as an individual I am the starting point of connectivism, my personal knowledge feeds back into the network and by forming a connection with others since we “derive our competence from forming connections” (Siemens,2004)

Karen Stephenson states:
“Experience has long been considered the best teacher of knowledge. Since we cannot experience everything, other people’s experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge. ‘I store my knowledge in my friends’ is an axiom for collecting knowledge through collecting people (undated).”

So I suppose the answer is YES, my personal learning networks support the central tenets of connectivism