Mod 4 - Exemplar on Delicious

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Imagine... how could you use delicious to plan an event? write a paper? organize research topics with a small group?

MOD 3 - exemplar

After watching The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature and reading Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age (Seimens, 2005), my perspective and unquestionable faith in "constructivism" as the ultimate learning theory has swayed a bit.

As Seimens' noted in Connectivism, "A central tenet of most learning theories is that learning occurs inside a person." (3) This grabbed my attention.

For the analogy, I chose to compare a learner to an alchemist. My vision of an alchemist is connected to what Seimens discussed in the video, The Conflict of Learning Theories and Nature. He referred to Vygotsky's stance that our use of "language gives birth to our thoughts" and I think this is what learners/alchemists do.

We have the desire to externalize our thoughts and Seimens invites us to see that it is the theory of connectivism that will transform our learning and our thoughts beyond ourselves.

I took this picture in San Miguel Allende, an artsy community in the mountains of Mexico. I walked by this woman every morning on my way into town. She stationed herself on the stoop outside a convenience store and collected spare change. One day I sat down with her. I used the display screen on my digital camera to show her pictures I had taken throughout my stay in San Miguel. Although, my spanish is not so good, I could tell she like what she saw. Magdelene agreed to let me take her picture. It is one of my all time favorites.

Like an alchemist, I considered what was separate (my existence in her world and her in mine) and I joined together a moment that could have been left behind.

As Seimens reflected, "Learning theories are concerned with the actual process of learning, not with the value of what is being learned."(3) I agree. This picture is an example of connectivism and the value inherent to a thought/moment that I externalized and learned.