Reflecting on my Connectivism

My mind map displays how I use various networks to gain knowledge and information. Before I enrolled into graduate school to pursue a master's degree, I really didn't explore the web for vast amounts of information. I have used educational websites to gain information to get new lesson plan ideas. I also use social networks like Facebook, yahoo, or GMail  to communicate with family, friends, and old classmates. I'm currently at Walden University where I'm majoring in Instructional Design & Technology. So now I am networking more to gain the knowledge on material I've never been introduced to. Not having prior knowledge in the field of technology, is very difficult, but I'm using the online resources to help me propel through this wonderful learning adventure. Walden provides great online resources that allows me to gain unlimited amounts of information. Online learning is new to me, but having podcasts, online articles, e-books, videos, and classmates' discussions, I know I will reach my learning objective goals.  Connectivism has three major components; chaos theory, importance of networks, and complexity of self-organization. Information is abundant, cognitive capacity is transferred onto a network, and networks connect with people and data sources ( George Siemens 2009). According to Siemens "connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired and the ability to draw distinction between important and unimportant into is vital (Davis, Edmunds, & Kelly-Bateman 2008). I'm a visual and hands on learner, so the podcasts, videos, and printing out online articles help me learn best. My personal learning networks displayed on my mind map allow me to retrieve information from diverse resources. My networking sources have increased since I've enrolled in graduate school. In my current class, I've learned how to blog and use RSS feed to gain information and to express content knowledge I've gained. I'm excited and on my way to conquering the technology world.