The learner of today is like a person who is playing with a puzzle. A puzzle consists of lots of pieces and we need to fit each piece together in order to complete a puzzle. When I play with a puzzle, I, first, sort pieces according to colors, similar lines, etc. Then, I seek out right pieces to get together. Completion of a puzzle is done by trial and error. Siemens (2005) said, “… the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill.” There are many sources in front of learners when they need to connect information to work on what they need to do. Finding necessary sources and plugging into them resembles playing with a puzzle: Typing key words to find sources and checking which one seems to be relevant is like classifying pieces of a puzzle, visiting and checking information is similar to trying to find right pieces to connect each other, and saving related information analogizes with a gradual process of completion of a puzzle. Different puzzles require us to use different analysis of colors, sequences of lines because they have different pictures, but we can apply our previous experiences to find right ones to connect. Likewise, learners need to analyze different information based on what they are looking for in accessing information and choosing related things, but they can use their previous experiences and knowledge to do so.Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm
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3 comments:
Nana,
What a very appropriate analogy. Putting together the pieces of a puzzle is very much like the decision-making involved in choosing which networks will help us solve particular problems.
Dr. Burgos
I think your analogy is interesting because our views of learners are based on our own experiences. Certainly, students don't know what the knowledge connects with or how useful it is while their studying. Your idea enabless me to understand students' feeling very well.
This is a very clear analogy. This is exactly right because if one piece of the puzzle or source doesn't fit what the learner needs, he/she can keep trying other pieces or sources until it fits the need of the learner. In life, one source could work for a particular situation, but might not work for another and that leaves us to decide how credible the source is for learning. Decision-making, as Siemens put it, is a learning process in itself.
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