Reflections on Connections

In one sense, the way I learn has not been changed by my learning network - I have always sought out written materials and subject matter experts when learning new subjects.  What technology has changed is that material and expertise have become ever more abundant and readily accessible.  Thus, my learning network has evolved rapidly over the last few years.

With regard to experts that I know personally, I make an effort to touch base periodically.  I use the networking sites LinkedIn and Plaxo to keep track of people and know that they are still receptive to a friendly email.  For experts that I don’t know well, there some Yahoo groups that I belong to where I can post a question.  Beyond that, there are discussion forums and blogs with active comment sections that I will also use to pose a question.  So really, this is my social/professional network that I sometimes use for learning.   As such, there is some work involved in keeping the network alive, namely keeping track of people as making useful contributions to discussions.

With regard to published materials, search engines like Google are a valuable resource.  If need to answer a question, often I will start a search by just typing the question into Google.  For fairly simple questions, this approach will usually locate an answer for me.   For more detailed subjects, finding a good book on the topic is most helpful.  So the library is the natural place to start.  Also, my social network is good place to get book recommendations.

Depending on the topic, there may be videos or podcasts available.   I have found YouTube to be a helpful resource in my recent endeavors in home improvement and playing bass guitar.  In sum, my digital world is my laptop and what I can find on the internet.

Given the above, my learning network is an example of connectivism in action.   When I have to learning something new, I have a variety of resources that I can quickly call upon to help shape my understanding of a topic.  I frequently used connectivist learning when I was developing training classes in the technical software industry.  For example, when the company was introducing a new software package, how would I go about learning about it in order to write the training class?   The first step would be to assemble a team of subject matter experts.  Often these experts were located in different locations around the world, so most communication was asynchronous, electronic communications.   Once my team of experts was in place, I would need their help to arrive a consensus as to what to present in the course material.   This consensus could (and often would) change as the software came closer to final release.  Thus, connectivist learning was the best approach in this case.   I had to communicate with a diverse set of experts and use technology to reach them in order to formulate the conclusions presented in the training.