18 July 2013

The Eight Tenets of Connectivism

I am seeing Seimens' (2004) eight tenets of connectivism with fresh eyes today:
  1. Learning and knowledge rests in diverse opinions; Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources
  2. Learning may reside in non-human appliances
  3. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
  4. Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning
  5. Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill
  6. Currency (accurate and up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities
  7. 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

16 July 2013

Teaching Philosophy Distilled

The following quote is a great distillation of my teaching philosophy:
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.
It comes from an article I read on the TLT website.