Connectivism Reflection for Week 5

I truly believe that I am a sum of all my parts.  Although my mom and close relatives have had a huge impact in my life, it is my multiple life experiences and connections that have molded me into the man I am today.  Our cultural identity "gives us a set of beliefs and assumptions that guide how we view the whorl" (Dobkin and Pace, 2006, p. 45).  The culture that I have around me greatly influences my view on the world around me.  Who I believe I am matters to me and thus I have created a valuable network of connections that keeps me in check, guides how I proceed in life and motivates me to do more.

"Motivation often determines whether and to what extent we actually learn" (Ormrod, Schunk and Gredler, 2009, p. 224).  My network of connections helps to keep me motivated by staying connected with the latest news and updates.  My network is my library of resources that I can go to to ask questions.  When I ask questions, I seem to get several different responses that cover multiple aspects.  Instead of having just one source to go to, I have multiple sources to pull information and guidance from.  For example, if I go to Facebook and create a post asking my friends advice on a topic, I immediately receive multiple answers that range from crazy to very applicable.

My personal learning network supports the central tenets of connectivism by just being there for me.  The fact that I have such a great network of resources around me supports the idea that connectivism still has authority in our learning process.  In short, my connections make me a better learner because I have a diverse group of connections.  If I asked a question to one person and only got their advice or level of experience, I might be cheating myself out of other experiences that my network my be able to deliver to me.  Part of my job is staying connected to my connections.  I must always be there for them as well.  I must reach out and keep the social ties alive and well so that when I need them, they are there for me.



References


Dobkin, B.A., and Pace, R.C. (2006) Communications in a Changing World (2nd Ed). Boston:    McGraw-Hill

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction

(Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.