Prior to 2001, a cell phone was a foreign object to me. I saw it as an elitist device (funny, I know). Additionally, the quickest way for me to gather information on a topic was a quick trip to the campus library. If I wanted to purchase a book, I had to drive for thirty minutes to the nearest bookstore in hopes that they had a copy. Today, almost everything I need to know is at my fingertips. If I am interested in a certain book, I can read a great portion of it online using Google books (which happens to be my favorite feature of Google). Throughout my enrollment in this graduate program, I continue to search for scholarly articles using EBSCOhost. Communication among group members (professional and academic) occurs mainly through email with collaborative projects conducted via Google Docs or wikispaces.
When I consider which digital tools best facilitate learning for me, I lean more towards any tool that does not require interaction to be synchronous. I prefer asynchronous tools such as email, discussion boards, wikis, and blogs because of the freedom given to each member of the learning community. Additionally, it provides for more meaningful interactions because members have more time for reflection prior to providing responses.Through my connections, I am often able to acquire the necessary knowledge when I seek answers to my questions.
More information about connectivism:
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm (article from class)
Angela,
ReplyDeleteGood job on your mind map. I forgot to put podcasts and discussion boards in mine, however, I also use them. Your reflection is similar to mine in the area of describing technology in the past. It is amazing how fast technology has progressed over the years and how fast it will continue to progress. I was also surprised with cell phones and how fast they became popular, after they were made more affordabe and smaller in size. They are a part of life now.