linarmstrong’s posterous

CCK08 New potential for tutors by examining if the mind is really a container for knowledge? In the following post I shall elaborate on these kinds of learning that do not fit the container metaphor. They prove to cover much more educationally important territory than we might at first imagine. At the same time I shall try to show how concepts drawn from connectionist approaches to artificial intelligence. sociocultural theory, and philosophy of science provide ways out of the mind-as-container trap, enabling us to better comprehend human learning in its full range. Beniter and Scordamalia (1n 1996 )suggested the way we look at learning could disadvantage new and innovative tutors from reaching full potential by using old theories that might be fixed in folk psychology. We certainly still use Jerome Brunner (1990)who supports a mentalist level of description to make sense of human behavior and Stich 1983 who supports the idea that educational theory needs a concept of mind when teaching new teachers. Then we use taxonomies that suggest learning is done in order and levels, and one level is better than another . Then we use social learning theories that suggest we can guess what’s in the mind from observing behaviors. In 1996 ,when this paper was published the fiber optic technology could influence and suggest newer ways of looking at learning from being an individuals concern to being expanded to learning for societies , institutional memory, corporal learning and distributed expertise The theory did not seem to develop because e- concept of earning was grounded in theories that revolved around human mental activity for application to networks of people. The paper by Beneiter and Scordamalia “Rethinking Learning” suggested a new view of learning and labels such as constructed, socio-cultural and situated but they are grafted onto old ideas about how we learn so they loose their innovative potential. Mind as a container and an entity distinct from the brain is a strand of folk theory. The question is weather education theory should be limited to the concept of mind that comes from folk psychology that has not been eliminated yet even though its not proven in a scientific way? The way the majority of educators ,nursery officers, health visitors, people who work with people, see the container theory so use it -missing important theories or ways of looking at how people take on and remember information. Theory that could be inclusive and liberating for some learners who have struggled with the way the teaching is done because of the influence of the mind as a container theory. In dyslexia there is considered to be (in the medical model) something wrong with the container! Theory of dyslexia. “The diagnosis of dyslexia is itself a theory. Distinguishing reading failure arising ultimately from internal rather than solely external reasons ,but a rather unspecified one” …(PAGE 558 FIRTH ,U.2001) So why do we hang onto he theory? Well most influential researchers said it is true! In folk psychology beliefs and desires have been researched and are believed to be part of the mind. (Lakoff and Johnson 1980) Freud would also see unconscious motives as being part of the mind. Piaget saw “structures d,ensemble” as being part of the mind and Newell and Simon thought the mind has purpose production systems. Some objects reside in the mind permantly and this is called learning. The most notable effort to disprove the container theory was behaviorism and neuroscience (Churchland 1986.). How do the objects get to the mind is a matter of learning theory. Could be knowledge is produced within the mind though mental activities of the learner or knowledge is transmitted from the tutor through spoken word. In these theories mental abilities are defined in terms of doing things with specific mental objects. Beniter and Scordamalia 1n (1996) examined this view; “memory involves retaining and reviving such objects classification and sequencing abilities (favorite components of thinking skills programs)”…pg2 Mental abilities that can’t be specified tend to be neglected or treated as mysterious gifts and here I will examine the case of dyslexia. The gift of dyslexia is that the learner tends to think latterly or creatively according to many including Evertt and Smyth2002. Not every person with a diagnosis of dyslexia will have the gift and this is suggested because of his or her networks or help in the environment when trying to make sense of the education they received. If sequential thinking is an outcome of literacy then lateral thinking might be necessitated by lack of literacy; creative thinking might be an adaptive strategy in people who become accustomed from an early age to devise solutions to problems (especially where there is no help forthcoming from others) Tested results show there are some with container difficulties and these are labeled dyslexic. Long term or explicit memory defects are seen in learners with dyslexia when they have difficulty in reciting months of the year forward (Vinegrad 1994), Direct learning 2002 British Dyslexia association 2002 and Dyslexic Institute 2002. They find it difficult to recite the alphabet (Everetta and Smyth 2002 . They find it difficult according to OTT 1977 to keep control of personal possessions often loosing them. Verbal short term memory is also ambiguous In that “assimilation and “retention” may not be simple. These are cognitive functions but generally people are perceived as having a “dyslexic learning style” issue where there is a preference for visual over verbal presentation. Tutors in these special cases will turn to mind maps to see if they would help to build up a story and help the poor learner to memorize information. So learners with dyslexia can learn when information is presented one way but not another according to research from US National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center (ALLDC) 2000 . A learner who has dyslexia finds it difficult to memorize information according to ALLDC Vinegrad(1994), Ott (1997),Adult Dyslexia Institute (2002) and Everatt and Smyth (2002). An interesting paradigm is to view a dyslexic or any other “difficult “ learner as an individual that needs a multiple sourced rich environment to learn. This paradigm could be a way to stop the degradation of those who have something wrong with heir containers , an oddity, to be put in lower level courses. When stating their case to rethink the way we learn Beneiter and Scordamalia (1996) said :”Generally, It appears that educators are most comfortable dealing with cognitive issues when they are formulated in ways that fit with the mind-as-container metaphor. Hence: • Knowledge is most readily conceived of as specifiable objects In the mind, such as discrete facts, beliefs, Ideas, or Intentions. Less specifiable sorts of knowledge, such as Intuitions or understandings, are harder to hang on to, and so are any sorts of knowledge not assignable to Individual minds, such as the "state of knowledge" in a discipline. “ They go onto suggest several ways of learning that do not suit the container metaphor and they include all the ways people labeled with dyslexia learning style use to learn. The knowledge of the streets or the way a taxi goes over and over will be built up in a muscular memory ,the knowledge built by being creative ,intuitive and feeling around things in a meta cognitive fashion. The knowledge that’s built up by being and knowing networks .The knowledge of a plasterer or floor layer who can feel how much material will be needed without doing the moths- knowledge from experiences can not be seen as items in the box or the mind as a container of retrievable bits. The container metaphor is thus severely limited in its applicability to human learning and Intelligence. But what alternative is there? A monumental two volume work firmly established a second game, now generally known as connectionism (McClelland, Rumelhart, and PDP Research Group, 1986; The idea that one piece of knowledge connects to another could be seen as anther metaphor for the mind holding onto strings of things but the really big leap of faith is the idea the patterns and connections give rise to the knowledge .The gift of dyslexia is seeing patterns and connections where others do not. The innovative, original break thoughts in any growth of knowledge requires a new /different way of thinking.the learner with dyslexia is often off target because they see the wrong part of the pattern required to keep group and tutor happy. The new metaphor suggested by connectionism is mind as pattern recognizer. There have been important proposals along this line that preceded the rise of connectionism (Lakoff, 1987;) Margolis, 1987; Shaw and Turvey, (1981), but it required connectionism to provide a conception or how such a mind could actually work. The idea is not that the mind stores up patterns and matches new experiences to them (that is how folk psychology would conceive of it). The idea is that the mind acquires abilities and dispositions to recognize and respond in various ways to various patterns, but the patterns are not in the mind. We can say that the patterns are In the environment or, more cautiously, that the patterns are a way for us as observers to describe relations Between the mind and the environment. None of this seems as easy or natural as defining learning in terms of mental content, might seem like an excuse for poor learners but until educators can begin to think about learning in this way many of the most important kinds of human learning will remain In the shadows. Although folk psychology treats knowledge as objects In individual minds, there is another way of treating knowledge. The cultural practice for adults who have dyslexia means they find their own way to gain a foothold in their world they practice ways that help them survive and learn strategies to keep them selves hidden and safer in the learning society that requires we all learn how to spell ,read and write to a certain standard but denies any other skills or calls them special gifts because they cant be defined in the mind as a container metaphor. The new learning theory in 1966 was connections in the environment teaches. Knowledge embedded in social practices needed as we change from societies that are going through a shift from manufacturing based to knowledge-based economies (Drucker, 1994). The teacher therefore changes from trying to find the answers inside an individual’s head to a more subservient role –negotiating, flexible and without confusion between different theories about where the knowledge is to be found. Mental models are in the student’s minds and tutors are expected to see the differences or model by the mistakes made by the learner. Mental models are especially applicable in cases where students’ behavior appears to have some logic to it, but not of the conventional or intended kind-when they commit nonrandom errors in arithmetic or understanding. The adult learner with dyslexia has often learnt their comments make the class laugh and the tutor frustrated because they often have the wrong end of the stick. references Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1996). . (1996). Rethinking learning. In D.R. Olson, & N. Torrance (Eds.), The Handbook of education and human development: New models of learning, teaching and schooling (pp 485-513). Cambridge, MA:Basil Blackwell.

CCK08 Complexity, chaos and randomness reflection on tutors role.

There are advantages and disadvantages to opening up the classroom walls and having access to a greater group of people or number of connections and there are disadvantages and I will consider some of them here. ELLUMINATE SESION reference in here. With the greater use of IT tools the ability to connect with others has expanded.

Adaptability to various learning tools will help all learners but especially those who need context or a story with words –multi-sensory teaching so the use of you tube, u -stream my space Bebo and many others for videos that can be watched over and over and the use of others’ blogs and web sites in the course will supply context. The quality and trustworthiness of these sites do need an ability to judge if the knowledge being shared is useful or not. This does give some equality in that the minor voice can be heard through personal non-expensive self-publishing sites.

In a situation where the learning outcomes are decided the year before anyone even enrolls on the course the access to varied information may prove chaotic and too complex for the tutor to iron into an expected response and the expected curriculum outcome and finishing line might become derailed.

The curriculum develops then as individuals access the various parts of the course at their own personalised pace. Groups create an expectation that a group of people will learn from the tutor but networks would have to challenge assumptions around knowledge and how to design teaching. The tutor in a network would have to have empathy for the digital learner and at least try to connect with the new forms of teaching and the new tools such as c map, flicker, twitter, eluminate, delicious etc. this could well lead to a change overload and a tool overload that confuses the tutor and the learners. So on one hand the new tools could influence pedagogy negatively by leaving big gaps between the use of and the thinking behind the tool but on the other the tutor and learners could have authentic conversations with each other through blogs, wikis and social network sites.

The open walls of the learning communities are uncharted territory so people will be anxious the class does not follow the time served model of tutor and enrolled group in a room at the same time and all at the same point of the course.  The new lessons to be learned are not just about using the tools but also about digital citizenship. In classrooms with walls some like to challenge others work and debate in hostile and raised voices and the same is true for those who like to cyber bully but learners might fear this more as it is new and the tutor may not be aware of it going on-much the same as in any other group.  Also there can be such a lot of connections that filtering or ignoring distractions and setting own work pace can be a skill that must be taught to help new digital learners. The same as in a traditional classroom it is the teacher’s role to create a priority list or hub for the learner’s study. The learner with a dyslexic learning style may be more prone to socializing and less focused to the reading list so the order of work which would be agreed in the session would help learners to navigate towards the reading and mind-mapping and include a feedback space to refresh all memories in the next taught session.

 The notion of complexity and chaos is easily seen when the environment includes agents or participants and tools reacting and responding to stimuli that unfolds on multiple platforms and various times. Open content on blogs is advantageous only if the individuals are brave enough to challenge IF learning can take place. This challenge or alternative voice is fully expected in politics and threads for social justice but is it less expected on educational blogs? Polite writing that does not debate becomes a diary of soft stuff so the teacher’s role can be to define rules and digital manners when commenting and shaping knowledge between the nodes. This may become too chaotic for some and they may never add to or comment about others writing. Also with the dyslexic learner the work of reading, remembering or scribbling notes then typing up to blog may take much, much longer than those who have literacy skills.

The open environment does not have a ready made model for ideal behavior such as traditional classrooms have. Educationists and parents are so scared of technology they would rather children did not go on the web and therefore the parents may not  model how to participate and keep themselves safe. The role of the tutor is to help the learner to examine the way we look at a friend and the idea of privacy because the move to widening participation in conversations and social networks may mean we have to redefine the idea of digital citizenship as we tutors are not the experts.

The openness may be too much for some in terms of all personal details can be on a tutor’s or learners face book and this may cause feelings of unease with each individual deciding on their ideal limits. A learner who shares her love life with the world might invite the tutor to become her friend on face book so creating professional dilemmas over too much information.

The softer skills for employers might mean a tutor insists the learners open a collaborative wiki but the learners may expect the tutor to transmit and mark work in a traditional manner. The learner with dyslexia may find the whole on line in multi-faceted way totally chaotic and actually forget to join in assessments by forgetting to post the assignments or post bit by bit and loose the coherence and relationship of each part to the whole work.

A last note about complexity and chaos is that the taxpayers pay for education but if the learner has to pick it up on the web who owns the curriculum? In an open network it may be parents could see their child’s class work and home work and how others in the class are doing and an open network would help when copying a school play and sharing data (allowing for digital copyright). At the moment the institution filters what parents can have and the parents are the ones summonsed to evenings dictated by the college to receive reports written by the college .it could be argued they are not invited to add to or put their child’s learning into their own cultural context . 

Learning and knowing in networks;changing roles for educators and designers.George Siemens (2008)

This paper discusses the role of the educator in a world increasingly defined by networks. Global competition puts pressure onto countries to develop and this puts pressure onto learners to be equipted for roles that tomorrow's job market need covering. Education is seen as the source to equipt  learners to meet skill sets for the unknown employer. I see the paradigms when the question is asked what is education for..the individual learners need to become eployed and the institutions need to churn out learners with transferable skills such as being able to work as a team.The interesting point is the individual learning plans ,individual teaching and learning styles, customised responses to individuals are all expected to create a team players who can co-ordinate innovative responses to challenges at work. This is I suspect why networks will work better than groups.Centralised learning aims in decentralised environments of learners creating their own dialogues is a terrific ,new challenge to my role as a tutor.

Curatorial roles.Siemens 2007. experts with advanced knowledge of a domain will bring the map in the form of known papers and historic research and help learners to use the freedom of networks to explore futher. By putting relevant materials in front of the learner like a curator at the museam the tutor can guide and foster independant learning but help to ensure the space does not get too big or so noisy so that the learner gets daunted with the amount of information. The hierarchy of tutor (expert) and learner(novice) is flattened but the tutor is still expected to interpret and engage with the subject matter when all the learners bring knowledge to the space.

When I  try to use this model there is always some in the class who feel the tutor is paid and expected to deliver the right answers. The design of the lesson plans and schemes of work have an idea the whole course will go a certain way and outcomes will be covered .So again the role is needed but careful design is all about addressing needs of dependent learners at least for the beginning of the course and meeting the needs of inspection. This can be done but requires a shift in behaviours and a stout drive to persevere in the face of prevailing cultures.When learners have had years of being told what to think it is very scary for them to be co-constructing the knowledge. Some learners real get excited about their learning when introduced to the idea we will all use their finds and artefacts to add to the class knowledge and i have found especially amongst the first years degree students they search far and wide and really stretch my knowledge and ability to engage with new materials.

Atelier roles-An atelier is an artist's studio or workroom. ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atelier" ...-John Seely Brown 2006 . If all learners and the tutor blogs the papers they read it could be just like viewing others art work i a studio. the power is diffused as the tutor does not just sell their own work but displays and points at effforts of others. This raises esteem as well as points out good practice. With the uses of IT the dual role of expert and guide is much easier but this form of exhibition is not for every one. The blogs of students are very new to me -since I started this connectivism course and I am really excited about keeping the different years of the same course in touch.

The additional admin roles to distribute learner's blog is fine but the unwritten rules about confidentiality are a concern, In uncharted territory I usually go for transparency and admit i dont know the answer. So should I ask the learners if it's ok for others to access their work?this would create a network problem  if half the learners refused due to embarrasement over their writing or thinking .then we would not have a balanced network. I know one can be part of a network by lurking. We can gain knowledge from a blog and the writer may neve know we were there.But i have opted this first time to ask all to make a blog for sharing.This has proved much more succesful than facebook or msn that i used last year amongst learners because more content has been tackled than context.

This case study shows how connectivism can align itself easily with equality of opportuntity

for those whose primary learning style is dyslexic.

Case history: being dyslexic  

Living in a literate society 

It really is a difficult question: to explain what it’s really like being me. Dyslexia 

is central to the whole self process. It changes the way you think, in the sense 

that you have restricted access to insight; it’s a literate society and the whole 

process of knowledge is based on that …It’s what makes us different from the

animal kingdom. Profe ssor Grace stated that the difference between animals 

and the human species is actually the ability to write things down, but writing 

that lasts for more than a generation. When we think of knowledge, it’s 

reporting on ourselves. It outlives our personal being which goes on to the 

next generation and which we build on. I think that whole process of physically 

writing – in the past – is what is expected of knowledge.  It’s thought of as a 

human function which makes us different from animals and if you can’t do 

that, it changes the way people actually perceive you.  

Reading process 

When dyslexic people read things, we don’t read exactly what everyone else 

reads. For example, with something like a newspaper, we’ll look at it, read 

completely the wrong thing, pass on and never know that we’ve read the thing 

wrongly. We’ll be thinking about it, and it’s built into our knowledge but it’s 

slightly off. So that changes your whole perception of the world because 

you’ve read something slightly differently from everyone else. You will never 

pick up on it, I will never pick up on it so nobody else will either.  

Value of dyslexia 

For me dyslexia is normal. The positive aspects is that, unlike neurotypical 

people, I’m not tied down by the shackles of literacy.  I can think outside of the 

written word. When I read books, I have a very vivid imagination so the books 

become real. When I’m thinking of writing, the writing bit is unimportant. It’s 

the image that I’m writing about which is important. So writing is secondary to 

the actual prediction of thought. 

The process of writing 

For people who are dyslexic it’s all about getting it down on paper, it’s all 

about the written word. But actually it’s not about the written word; it’s about 

reality - and the written word is just a form of description of reality. So I think 

that – for example, like the builder who does not read instructions but he sees 

what he has to build - when I’m writing about social interaction, I’m seeing the 

visual in my mind about the social interaction which I describe through the 

written word.  I think that people don’t see the whole context of the words they 

read, that words have double meanings and everything’s subjective. You can 

twist words to any meaning so it’s subjective. So it’s impossible for human 

beings to interpret objective reality. I’m not 100% sure that’s true but I think 

that, because we are so concentrated on the written word , that we actually 

think that the written word is reality. Whereas the written word is not reality; 

it’s just a description and an inadequate form of description of reality. 

I can picture social interaction; what I write down is the images. It’s almost like 

a film which I am describing through the written word. Because of my subject, 

I’m always writing about the human species. The theory always comes 

second whereas, especially in academia, theory has to come first because it 

doesn’t matter if it’s wrong or right. But I think it’s social interaction you build 

theory on. You’re going to get nearer to reality if you build your theory on 

social interaction. 

Organisation  

Dyslexic individuals organise themselves differently. If I’m doing something, 

while my friends would go A, B and then C, I would go A, D and F. because I 

go round it. But for me that’s A, B, C. I’ve got same outcomes but I go round it 

a different way. But by going round it a different way, if someone’s teaching 

you, they’ll tell you straight away, ‘That’s wrong’. But if it’s the outcome they 

want, and that’s the logical way for me to go to get that outcome, I don’t see 

why I am told you can’t do it the dyslexic way, you have to do it the 

neurotypical way. That is a lot more difficult for me because I don’t think in 

that way – not ABC but maybe ADF.  

That’s the barrier that no one even realises is there because it’s natural for 

people to go ABC. But it’s a case of people learning to work round those with 

dyslexia. 

Assistive technology 

The computer is the dyslexic person’s wheelchair. It has enabled us to 

progress through education, to enter these jobs we couldn’t have in the past. 

It has enabled us to become doctors, enabled us to get Masters degrees. 

We’ve never had a tool to overcome the barrier of literacy before.  Now we’ve 

got the computer which is the tool to overcome it.  People who have dyslexia 

are progressing through to these top jobs - but very few. Until people get to 

these top jobs and people work with dyslexic people, it’s very difficult for 

people to see that different methods of approaching ideas are all right.  

Teaching dyslexic people 

It’s about a diverse way of teaching rather than the standard way - using 

multiple methods rather than the average way. Lateral rather than linear 

thinking. Thinking of academia is like Darwin theory of evolution. In academia 

- and I do the same – we have pushed to one side anything pre-science like 

early philosophy, religion. Contemporary science is built on the idea that when 

we first wrote, that was the start of science. The distinction between two 

points: once we were like animals and then we were an enlightened species. 

But we are still a species built on to this notion that, when we first wrote, that 

was the start of science. And that’s why writing is so key to the way we think 

about intelligence. It’s not an issue in other cultures which are built on a more 

spiritual philosophy and writing is not seen as central. There are other forms 

of communication, like music that are just as descriptive as the written word.  

We are very conservative in that we can only see science as valid and not 

other forms of knowledge. We refuse to see knowledge as other than science. 

In schools music and art are seen as secondary. But they are all forms of 

description of life and reality. Why is the written word chosen over music and 

art? But unfortunately it is in our society.  You find some dyslexics have the 

ability to produce a very detailed description of reality through art and music. 

I’m not sure whether that is nature or nurture. Is it because the barriers in 

literacy are so large to overcome that people automatically go into art and 

music to describe reality? 

Dyslexic learning management strategies 

From the outset neurotypical people get taught coping strategies to survive 

within society. Dyslexic people don’t meet other dyslexic people; they don’t 

get taught any coping strategies for interpreting how to proceed in society.  As 

dyslexic people, we have to try to take bits and pieces from the neurotypical 

coping strategies and combine them to make our own coping strategies. 

These strategies are very fragmented because that’s all the individual can 

amass. Until we start coming together as a community, until we get dyslexic 

professionals in teaching, passing on learning strategies, drawing on the 

strategies of the mass of dyslexic people, then we will have the isolated 

individual dyslexic person struggling on their own through society.  

That’s probably key to the struggle that a dyslexic person has to overcome 

because you are so isolated in your own self processing using the little bits of 

information you’ve managed to interpret from a system that is not yours.  

The research community and dyslexia 

In a neurotypical research environment there are even fewer dyslexic people. 

I have never known anyone else on a course who was dyslexic. I therefore 

came from a position where I was lacking something that everyone else had. I 

was disabled and it was nothing to be proud of. People say and do 

discriminatory things. Until people come out as dyslexic, that won’t change.  

For me I am no longer as isolated. If I hear that someone is dyslexic, I make 

sure I talk with them and that they have all the software they need - like I 

have. What I have been able to do in the research environment is to be rid of 

exams; they discriminate against dyslexic people. We have a short term 

memory defect, a difference. There are things which we cannot do just as 

there are things that neurotypical people cannot do. But we do have problems 

with organising things and short term memory.  You do an exam and then you 

forget what you learned. What exams are about is cramming into the short 

term memory as much as possible and turning it out again over a small period 

of time.  That doesn’t prove anything about intelligence. For example, in my 

first degree, I went from a high 2.1 in my assignments to a 3rd for the exams. 

That means I got my final grading because of exams.  When I went to do a 

research masters, I got a first where there were no exams. And that makes 

you think that exams are very discriminatory for dyslexics.  

When you do an assignment over months,  you do the reading once and then 

you write it down. Afterwards you can go back to it.  You always remember 

your assignments and you never remember your exams. I am surprised you 

even have them.  I have to use voice recognition software, and it’s not good 

enough to have to sit and say out loud so that others can hear. I know that 

some people use scribes - that must be a nightmare. I couldn’t bear for people 

to hear what I was saying.  I would be so embarrassed. 

Doing research was much better for me. It’s isolated but I didn’t have a 

problem because I always felt isolated in a sense. It didn’t affect me as much 

as others. It’s isolated but I just get on with it because that’s what I’ve always 

had to do. I think it hits my peers harder than me.  

Support from the disability service 

When you go into a disability unit, they expect you to know what you want. If 

you don’t, you may not get adequate equipment. I think that every dyslexic 

person should have a laptop. A laptop has enabled me to participate in 

academic life. I take it everywhere and, whenever I need to do something, I’ve 

got my reading software and my writing software. And I can even take brief 

notes down on my laptop. I’ve got my digital voice recorder so I can record 

everything and put it straight in. Just listen, speed over the parts you don’t 

need and input what is needed.  

So all these things make life easier in academia.   

Conectivism; new theory of learning or not the concept of how we learn is so interesting . Vygotsky ,Bloom or any of your favoutite explainations about levels of cognition will not fit exactly for people with dyslexia. The adult with dyslexia has specific ways of learning and it is usually unique to them depending on their coping strategies and history or context in which they live . my web site has a lot more an dyslexia but the story here is how does the theory of connectivism help or hinder the learner with a specific learning style?

The weakness of using networks to learn for a person with a short memory span ,disorganised ways and wide jumps to links is that  they tend to get confused / forget what reading and connecting they have already done and mix people and names so badly they can get frustrated by the fertile environment and give up.

There are  strengths of i the theory also specifically  teaching through peers and multi-sensory learning styles. On this connectivism course here are plenty of real examples of how to tackle the readings ,how to analyse and stay on track and a space where people can be valued for the reflective practice and application in a novel way. Materials of various sizes and levels can be accessed . The discussions through varied media helps the student who MIGHT struggle to remember whats been read so giving a greater access to knowledge.

However Obsessive multi-tasking is not helpful and Downes did comment on ustream that connectivism does not have to be about technology  but if a tutor/peer/connection/node takes time to teach the person with dyslexia how to get to grips with technology it can be the very memory shelf they need to achieve organised work that has half a chance of being spetlt and written well.

Teachers roles in the connective network would be to help facillitate and mentor whilst reassuring not every page has to be read and a lot will be caught from browsing and lurking. The idea that every tree in the wood does not have to be individually recognised and tagged but the walk itself will impart knowledge-loved this  as it frees peopel to learn, in their own way and time and pace and level. Yeah! .

The hub would settle the learner with dyslexia to see any of the reading and watching on the perifery that is off target and will help to prioritise the time to hit main ideas and issues. If mindmaps were not taught the learner with dyslexia would be severly disadvantaged but the "Normal" educational approach teaches the writing and note taking for years so its hard to break the habbit and learn how to map ideas not the reading itself. Making links ,putting in themes and patterns is a real "forte" of some people with dyslexia-they think wide and unique so are worth hiring for the organisations who need people to think outside the box. Richard Branson ,Picasso, Michael Angelo are famous dyslexics but if you have a  friend with dyslexia you will probably value them already for this skill.

The idea of connectivity bringing a new skills set to usual learning situations or classrooms is one that resonates with me and the learners whom I teach. Some worry their part of the bri-collage is not big enough or accademic enough others worry they are doing other students' work for them and this culture is from the competitive commercial world -measured by exams and the  culture of education.  connectivism means the learning cannot be measured in the same ways.Pehaps becomming a catalyst for change to a more Zen like culture/ LOL  . the other supportive nature of connectivism is the fact a person might get tired whilst learning so can just save and file and if the item is lost a peer might also have the story.

The draw back with networks that I can feel and see is the distractions offered to the learner who will be required to show internal knowledge with assignment criteria.Perhaps too much time would be spent making the visual blog areas perfect and too little time reading and analysing. So the tutor's role may sometimes be to check and direct or accept some won't pass the course because they cant self direct or need extra time??

In todays culture none are allowed to change their learning journey;if they signed up for the hair dressing course they will finish it!!

Without multi-media homes the power of connectivism is not so hot . The study I am doing shows digital divide is not about having technology or not but about not having the latest models with the quickest processing speeds and mainly about not having someone at home to show and guide learners from frustration to sucess. the structure seems to be if your parents/ brother /sister do not have an interest in technology that supports networking the student is poor in collatoral for starting the course.(Many older students' homes just have technology that supports groups -transmitting not networking; Mainly just TV ,Xbox that supports listening and watching not doing or connecting)

Parents and college staff often see Facebook U_tube etc as a waste of time in terms of learning yet many learners with dyslexia have used them to meet their social networking needs.The reading "teens and social media" show a rise in participating culture (Must find notes and expand later) Oli Manpaa 's study (will find references) did a brilliant study on middle class use of technology to ensure equality and access to civic services like the council house-have your say type of democracy. The interesting bit is the working of a computer to have a say was beyond the very people who would be disavantaged in society so the use of tech ology to include people was actually excluding them! Reflect if this happens amongst poorer students at college??

Those seen as "educational failures" .low ecconomic situations and poor educational collatoral may be helped by the learning theory connectivism -if tutors and learners can use it without power laws...hmm...

references olli Maenpaa e-governance ;effects on civic society,transparency and democracy. Accessed 12th March 2008

my web site www.linarmstrong.co.uk

teens and social media www.pewinternet.org/ accessed 19th September 2008

 http://www.ustream.tv/channel/connectivism-and-connective-knowledge

I love the connectivism course I am exploring from the university of Manitoba because they offer all sorts of ways to learn. Twitter, videos, podcasts mind maps papers and meetings on line.

This will sound daft but I forgot the ustream video transitions on Friday and mixed them up with Wednesday eluminate sessions. Now I have stumbled upon a whole nest of them I am delighted to listen scribble and learn from this wonderful connection.

I am interested in the idea of deschooling society (Illich) and also wonder if can this be implemented to meet the needs of the stakeholders; Government, employers and tutors and to some extent student (remember making a mind map about this must check where I put it so the jigsaw of my cognition will be all together.)

 A programme design that fosters connectivist learning is connecting classrooms around the world. Learners can recognise cultural distinctions at a peer level-rather than learn at a desk with peers this would enhance the knowledge. Lots of this has been done already .my eldest son, through school, connected by mail with someone in a developing country but he understood and analysed the conversations from his 9 year old / white /middle class/Anglo-Irish perspective. So I would argue, just like Maria Montessori we should facilitate these practical life experiences and be at hand to help in the construction of knowledge.   The role of the tutor is not to transmit knowledge but to try and see the lens used by the learner and add another dimension by enriching the environment with artefacts.

George Siemens says on this ustream that setting this class to class experience up is artificial but scheduling experiences for real people in real places would help students gainful employment and real life experiences that can be used in communities to enhance local offers. The examples he gave were a genuine environmental survey to map the locality is done by students and included in tourist or community maps.

Also worth more reflection is the design of my study. (Dyslexia and IT PhD)

In year one the degree group shared a Moodle and used face book and MSN for contacts with each other. I found they e mailed me rather than used face book. The Diplomas rarely hit Moodle,  used face book more than e-mail to get help for their course. Both group’s predominately female but older people study on the  degree.  George Siemens in the ustream discussed the idea that learners will be shaped and formed by people they associate with so the degree students in year one are joining in blogging and will “meet” year two and three from university. The design should prove there is a real development of knowledge if they do mix. My first thoughts are the students could hinder each other by describing unbelievably hard marking, terrible tutors and drop out statistics or they could enable the first years to do a smooth transition. I await the patterns with keen observations. Stephen Downes does argue it’s not who you know but the knowledge will come from the experience in being part of a learning community and knowing the university is joined to the college might be the impetus the first years need -but for my money if I was mentored by a positive, hard working second year I would develop knowledge better than being linked with a negative, poor student lurking in a network.

The shifting basis of certainty is a theme of the late 20^th centaury. We are in an era of radical doubt and there are no grand narratives and there is no means to construct knowledge about the future world because technology will change everything radically. I would argue the impact on knowledge will not be as damaging and radical although the use of IT is a step change from which there will be no return but usual regard for a mixture of pedagogies to suit various situations ill still form the tool box of the tutor in further education.

 I know from experience the use of IT is seen as a threat to the older tutors not easily led to use the computer. (I wonder if the same   concern was going on when the first TV and video was wheeled into the classroom where the threatened tutor would fear they would never need to address the class again.)

Lyotard (1979) is amongst the concerned academics that fear the technical transformations can have an impact on knowledgehttp://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/lyotard.htm Postmodernism as a term first arose in architectural circles in the 1970s, but only came into popular usage after the

Publication of Jean Francois Lytard’s The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge in English in 1984 (French edition, 1979). He writes, “Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity towards meta-narratives.” He is

Referring particularly to the meta-narrative offered by science, which has become so specialized and fragmented that, it

Cannot possibly speak with a united voice. Because of the triumph of capitalism and the emphasis on efficiency, management is more important than truth. The collapse of communism has reinforced the postmodernist’s denial of meta- narratives because Marxism claimed to be a monolithic system that explained everything.

He states there are two functions research and transmission of acquired learning are helping learning t be changed in the way that it is “acquired, classified, made available and exploited” Nations will battle for control of information (not territory) as knowledge in the form of a commodity as power. This is true if the information is not free for all.

As an educator I am aware of some of the grand narratives 1) The blank slate .The student learner is coming to us as a blank and all the behaviour, language and learning are shaped by the environment so the role of the tutor is to make sure the environment is rich and varied.

2) The Nobel savage. This is a reference from the romantic era Rousseau’s Emile (1762) where the learners are seen as innocents, children that society makes corrupt. The tutor could pity and understand shortcomings but a lot of damage has been done so the outcomes are seen as limited to damaged individuals personal attempts to over come disadvantage

. 3) Ghost in the machine where human biology and culture can be viewed through a lens but tutors simply do not know how the materials they transmit are affecting individual learners.

 In an era of less legitimate constructions of knowledge, when students themselves can use computers to come back with fresh alternative views of the subjects the tutors must change .I feel the above narratives are not suited to the digital age learner who has rights as a consumer of knowledge in today’s market of multi-faceted training and education groups of providers.

The value or assumption of an ordered world of universal knowledgeable criteria and laws is a problem because it relies on the superiority of certain voices (usually from developed countries I the Western world).

Tutors may need to move to a position from sage on the stage to expressing uncertainty about knowledge and absolute truths. Uncertainty brings risks that one will encounter different perspectives and discourses that are not the usual norm to what is taught in particular subjects.

Knowledge is in an era of uncertainty and in some subject area may become more temporary so practitioners need to work outside the usual academic context where the use of hierarchies to value tutors knowledge more than others knowledge needs to change.

 The use of a class wiki means we can cluster knowledge around ideas and contest the findings from one entry to another. Embedded knowledge, shaped by the learner’s own experience and social interactions requires the user or tutor to become more accountable –to check the source and reflect on its value. To filter and reuse knowledge is a different skill finding exciting ways to embed activity in a power point presentation on Moodleä

.

Just as scientific knowing by experimentation challenged dogma and religious knowledge this era is challenging the grand narratives of learners being less powerful in their own learning. They can think for themselves and fin their own truth. There is still a role for tutors as sign posters .The challenge is to know if knowledge becomes void of meaning or less sensible to include in products for work in real life.  Joining or bri-collaging all the discipline’s nuggets of truth and originality into a sensible framework and assisting the learners to translate this knowledge into their practice.

What cold be is a Bordieu (1984) world where knowledge has a role in militating against inequalities, hierarchies and prejudices.

References

Lyotard (1979) The Post-modern condition. Manchester University press. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_machine

Literature review

I have a theory about the fact Moodle in many courses at our college     Is not used except by teachers …students do not get to join in the site authoring..and this is why they do not hit moodle . This section  supports  the idea of co-authoring by learners and tutors across institutions that may be in competition with each other but need to share in the e-learning world.Connectivism to other colleges will increase learning.

Harold Jarche (June 2008) offers important comments on this.   (user-generated-context-http://www.jarche.com/ 2008/07/user-generated-context-for-learning/ )

"Creating good content on a platform that lets users (teachers & learners) add context may be the real killer application in education. Content developers and institutions have been so concerned with protecting their content that they don't see where the real value lies. Letting others add more context will only increase the value of their content."


Value points in education are certainly shifting. As recently as ten years ago, content was often seen as the important aspect (hence, copyright and locked down content). The tutor was seen as the one who has the answers and the students would learn from the tutors knowledge and direction.

More recently, academics have suggested it's the interaction with materials and different learning styles that is the key point of good teaching and learning especially for students with dyslexia. That's probably true but every individual also  has the ability to have global conversations and interactions. They probably won’t be discussing and learning about child studies but  this enthusiasm to learn  might be harnessed for a new way of e-teaching on a course.  Experts are still important, and they may consider themselves and their course handouts as vital . Staff development sessions have been observered and often staff  say “we have so much material to get through we have to teach every minute .No time for play like letting them make their own materials!”

The pilot research "IS moodle useful?" (unpublished Lin armstrong )suggests materials on Moodle are important for learners mostly for passing their assignments; accreditation is high on the list of why Moodle   Is useful for all learners.This value is discussed on www.elearnspace.org/media/worldwithoutcourses/player by Semens.

For college development maybe it is the ability to take learning content, faculty (the teaching staff of a university or college), and student interactions, and use those as a basis for making sense of the colossal changes in the world.

The increased fragmentation of information, the fast flow of misinformation and untested knowledge  raises the importance of each individual assuming responsibility for making sense of trends .the college is tasked with meeting dstakeholders needs and developing new business ways so the organization will stay in business, solve the deficiencies of the education system .the funding is reliant on getting full retention and achievement on every course in spite of the reality of learning jurneys being often disrupted in reality.

This reflection on the literature led to designing my study in several ways.

In chapter 4  I look at tutors views in using IT. To answer the question  “Is Moodle   Useful?” I feel I must get a baseline of tutor’s values about using VLEs. Is the tutor on each course aiming  to share their content and to teach and learn to all leaning styles.(Is Moodle  Useful or do we need extra gadgets?) i will observe the learning and teaching theories we use -i know conectivism is not up there with others yet as a learning theory for a digital age.

In chapter 7 I use college resources to analyse training and trends. The context that the study is being carried out in is three institutions that might be considered rivals for business.

On line learning is important to each but is in its infancy. With the difficulties of organization, gaining context and inferences  and visual interfearances of the dyslexic student  wonder if this type of course will be a new way to exclude –not widen participation. In the past the child with dyslexia was invisible and not catered for in education. Now I wonder if the same population will be disadvantaged at college level when literacy levels and the presentation of the course on line will perhaps add to trouble in accessing information ? I think tutors will offer blended learning or suffer loss of completed modules..bad news for the funding next year. Another fear i hear about is the idea technology will take over the tutors role-why would we ned college and teahers in a world of the future? Lets sit at home and complete courses by ourselves!

Umair Haque’s short paper has some insights pertinent to online learning. (http://www.havasmedialab.com/?p=27 )

Haque says that “context” is what most users generate and that content remains an area for professionals . So the content on Moodle   Is vital but perhaps we need a wiki /blog or chat room the learners would use to add context. The chat to a peer group may support the learner who is a poor reader or has dyslexia. The perception of teaching and learning tools is often that some levels of learner will add low level content and this will not teach anything-may even hinder clarity for others on the course.

“Understanding that most of us in the “long tail” generate context, not content, is an important differentiation.”

There are mistaken assumptions behind user generated content according to this paper. These assumptions prevent the media industry from exploring new patterns of a business model. This can be compared to the ‘reinvention’ of education using technology. Loyalty, price wars and customer service is forming the mobile phone offer of this era and I would see some comparisons to issues  for the 16-19 educational market of learners who are now forced to stay at educational settings until they are 19years old.more of the same didactic teaching of spelling and grammar will not improve the dyslexic learners lot. A new world where they can use their gifts of creative thinking and lurking will actually put some learners into the specialist spot for the first time in education. the context they create can be on all sorts of computer technology and uploaded to the wiki that distributes amongst the local colleges i the child studies department.

“For content players and publishers, user generated context means that connected consumers aren’t their competitors – but are vital, essential complementors, who create very real value for them. The more context there is, the greater demand for their content is likely to be. That means that it’s vital for content players to explode the amount of context connected consumers create about them.”

In chapter 4 I will examine the module put on line for degree students –Study Skills.(All 3 institutions will use the same on line course).

Reference ; Thinking strategically about searching the net-from the same link as above.

Virtual courses may not give the best service if they do not refund damaged goods or in educational terms the transactions are not personal enough. The paper states the lack of information about the sellers of goods may lead to less reputable goods being offered over the net..and certainly there has been an increasing number of face- less training providers with less reputable courses that are cheaper than college can offer.

The challenge is to reinvent the brand of the college course in a world of cheap information. The main point being relationships not just transactions are important. Producers and consumers are now tutors and learners or are they? I will use a questionnaire and focus groups with learners across 3 institutions to find out the answer to this.

In the online learning business most content is locked down and it is difficult for users to add context that is persistent. I discussed this gap in the second focus group that explored the use of wikis. Early in my training/educationcareer I did a bit of content development, making web sites/blogs and wikis , some classroom training, and some tools for editing digital media. I found content development rather interesting but now want to have the knowledge of how people were using these to learn and have spent the time reading and  focusing on analysis (what would be best for a particular learner ?) and evaluation (how does the current program work to get learners to think and connect? I have a worry about literacy levels and IT skills being so low in learners and tutors that they cannot make sense of Moodle  materials on offer to teach and learn.

  George Siemans(reference ; (http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/003402.html)

raises a good point about learning content development: this links to the idea the tutors feel it s their job to produce content so it is right for the learners. “Key point: while much of the initial process for gathering information (or, if you will, creating a course) is unchanged, what is most unique now is the iterative, corrective, and subsequent interaction and enhancement around the content after it has been created (again, think courses and programs if you're an educator).”

Siemans respects the course designer is important but judges the  quality  not just as an interactive “hot potatoes” slot on Moodle

 but “the quality of academic content is a function of how well it has been designed to accept feedback for improvement after initial creation.” This piece has led me to use this criteria in looking at all the child studies course work on Moodle

 And see if there is really any opportunities for improvement by students from the institutions. These tools need to be added during the initial stage of course development and in the Moodle Package there is room for blogs and communications that in the pilot was never used.Tutors do not know how to use moodle tools. The actual VLE platform to load materials ,however, can only be used by the named editor which is always a tutor. Too many course/learning designers assume that a course is complete once it has been created. While that may have been the case twenty years ago, today a course is the starting point, not the end point of the design process.
 My interviews in chapter 4 with staff about who designs their course and how they consider items to put onto Moodle will create a good baseline before the action research intervention. The focus groups need to  help staff to reflect on latest knowledge and thinking about e-learning designs of content.

Seimans  is supported in expecting knowledge to come not just from tutors  in another paper from the value of seeing the full process of content development with regard to the news content.

Reference ( http://unmediated.tumblr.com/post/32027165/the-new-news-process-jeff-jarvis-has-pubJeff Jarvis has published an essay on the new ecosystem for news publishing. He says that too much discussion about the future of news is “press-centric” and that it forgets all the other sources that people draw upon for news including our peers, search, links, original sources, companies and the government. As he looks at the sector, he publishes a new process for news  and says:

“The notion that news comes in and stories go out — text and photos come in and paper goes out — is an artifact of the means of production and distribution, of course. Now a story never begins and it never ends. But at some point in the life of a story, a journalist (working wherever) may see the idea and then can get all kinds of new input. But the story itself — in whatever medium — is merely a blip on the line, a stage in a process, for that process continues after publication.”

The point of this paper is the idea of co-authorship without hierarchies. Jarvis asks about the news-which is common information to be shared. He asks “Who brings that together? It’s not always the reporter or editor anymore. It can just as easily be the reader(s) now.”

An interesting you tube video from Fred Turner a Stanford professor REFERENCE from counter culture to valley zen youtube.com/watch?v

Would support the idea of how the evolution of technology will lessen levels of power in cultures. Stanford talks of a spirit of zen that equals immediacy and playfulness. The importance of experience as opposed to reasoning ,planning and ruminating. His term defines the idea that technology is a counter culture to the norm. The valley is all about experience and building things that themselves generate new experiences as a practice not just as a set of ideas in books to copy into assignments. learners need to read the books (or tutors moodle pages) and also make experiences according to zen. And Piaget/Brunner/Vygotsky/Montessori I might add this in later.

For the purposes of the action research we have a lot of material on what works for training or education and how to make better programs from a pedagogical perspective.  One example is Ruth Clark’s Six Principles of Effective e-Learning (PDF). http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/091002DES-H.pdf         but the learning theory is from a particular standpoint about who decides what is useful learning   (Will develop this later.)

However, there is one principle that is not taught or followed in instructional design that would really reflect the nature of the Web. There should be a principle of  making time for learners to hack into learning contents, so that it can change with the times, the needs of tutors  or learners.Connectivism at work!

This would require a shift in the way institutions of learning work.” if you want your content to live a long, healthy and even diverse life; make it easier to hack.” www.jarch.com 2008. See  Learning Content Should be Hackable.

Blogs, wikis and social bookmarks enable contextualization of learning content but most of this is ad hoc and dependent on the user’s choice of social media tools. Wikipedia is a good example of context being added through links and in the article discussions.Bu in most institutions the control of  what sites the learners can use is battened down by college leaders whose theory is from a tutor led perspective and they wont have any messing about with u tube.

Ending link paragraph in here to tie to point of gathered reading: ”Creating good content on a platform that lets users (teachers & learners) add context may be the  real future in education for all students. Content developers and institutions have been so concerned with protecting their content that they don’t see where the real value lies. Letting others add more context will only increase the value of their content.”

Point 2.. pg76 of the article.http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/kirschner_Sweller_Clark.pdf  does anyone know how to hyper link this?

One of the two main assumptions underlying programmers using minimal guidance is they challenge the student to find out in information rich environments. In colleges where face book, my space, you tube etc are all banned the finding out has to be done on the teacher’s Moodle    (The constraints of this being whatever the teacher managed to attach) and the World Wide Web. The instructions for searching the net are very, very limited –this is a finding from my research. The level 1 learners don’t hit it at all and their computer room time is limited to occasional hours throughout the term, level 2 seem to bring back very unconnected information such as being asked about pregnancy stages they found a 10year old who was pregnant and wanted to discuss this at length. The level 3and 4 learners have a power point on good sites bad sites to use and level 4 get critical analysis of reading .

The use of librarians are changing and library space in some colleges  is being taken over in favor of subject specific areas for a few books without support. The librarian in my college now has full use of the net and has hobbies that make him a natural connectivist but the former one could not be asked to use computers. So my point is will the learning theory –connectivism be of use in all cases or does the tutor’s role and attitude have to change? This leads to the idea connectivism is a theory for the future and an aim of learning societies /leaders at colleges in some developing countries .

Second assumption is knowledge can best be acquired through experience and this relies on learner’s unique prior experiences. In the case of dyslexic learning styles the approach taken is usually very, very wide and the tutor needs to help choose or rein in the study area to ensure  the linking will not go on forever. The dissatisfaction with grades for the learner with dyslexia is usually because they have worked four times as hard as any other class mate but ended up not getting the grades because chunks of assignments were left unanswered. The long-term memory retains all sorts of information but the necessary stuff of exams might never be filed for easy retrieval. So again I say a mix of learning theories will ensure the commodity of exam information is there. With all the courses I teach I  ensure mind maps and learning by rote is included in exam techniques.