The following image formed during week 2.
I placed myself (my mind) in the middle, surrounded by the three main areas, or networks, where I interact. Where two networks connect, the color changes, the kind of knowledge I acquire changes too.
Learning depends on the point of view, on pre-conceptions. Connectivism postulates that learning is distributed across the networks. I am still trying to work around this idea. I do not have it clear. Besides, at this point, I do not really see that "knowing" how and where is that knowledge distributed will help my learning process. As in week three we will revise the properties of networks I may gain more understanding.
Before I joined this course I found a way to make a picture of my connections using a Facebook application. Most of those connections are meaningful, we share common interests or have similar beliefs and values.
I wonder if at the end of the course I will manage to do it again taking into account the new connections I am making in Facebook. It is too early to say which of those new connection will become meaningful for me.
What kind of network is reliable? It has been put forward that diversity, interdependency, interactivity and openness are the key conditions to achieve reliability.
Stephen Downes wrote an interesting Analysis on Online Communities.
The subject for the week was: Rethinking Epistemology.
Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, "logos") or theory of knowledge is a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. Another word that came up in the live sessions and the forums was Ontology.
In philosophy, Ontology (from the Greek ὄν, genitive ὄντος: of being
(part. of εἶναι: to be) and -λογία: science, study, theory) is a branch of metaphysics,often considered the most fundamental. It is the study of the nature of being, existence, or reality in general and of its basic categories and their relations, with particular emphasis on determining what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how these can be grouped and related within an ontology (typically, a hierarchy subdivided according to similarities and differences). Though distinguished from epistemology, as theories of knowledge typically involve some assumptions about existence and what exists, these can be seen as complementary disciplines.
The proposal this week was to move from knowing to being better persons. That is from Epistemology to Ontology.
As a Psychologist inclined towards a Humanistic Approach, one of my idols is Carl Rogers, I can easily relate to that.
As I believe in the "Third Force" in Psychology, Rhizomatic Education fits in the pattern, will Connectivism fit too?
