Finding information, Collecting Links, Imitation and the Other Guy
The dominance of the internet
today has a profound effect on our society. Through the internet economies have
become more globalized. Through internet invention and production have become
so collaborative that crowdsourcing and crowd-funding have become effective
movements. The important thing for educators to understand is that it means
that learning has become less dependent on formal institutions and accredited
instructors. Information is just more available. Masters level lectures can be
found on the internet. Books are posted online for free. Intellectual debates
happen at the drop of a hat on public forums. Experts and Hobbyist post their
opinions and in many ways learning is also crowd-sourced.
Unlike other teaching philosophies connectivism incorporates this the vastness of information and these collaborative methods of production navigate the increasingly digital world.
Connectivism is a philosophy in which learning is thought to be a social action where students learn by connecting to specialized nodes and networks of socialization. It was originated by George Siemens the director of executive director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab or LINK Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington. In connectivism it’s more important to know how to kind information than it is to know it. It treats organizational and personal learning as integrated parts by focusing on the growth and maintenance of a sharing network.
The ultimate goal is currency, which is having access and being able to utilize the most up to date and authentic information.
All that just means that information literacy is the focus of this philosophy. Questions of how to find authentic information and how to network effectively are central to the philosophy. However concerns about modeling, mimicking, social scripts and contact zones are assumed to be solved. Since there is no mention of these plagiarism and diversity issues it assumes that they are already fixed or that participation in the network be a perfect normalizing force. Though, to be fair these issues have only just begun to prop up in the discussions of the previously gentrified space that this philosophy came from, the internet.
Quintilian’s thoughts on imitation and its role in dialectics and education can help us fill in that gap. Quintilian likes imitation. He knows that productive imitation requires judgment. When we imitate we imitate the good with the bad despite our censorship. We must discriminate the good from the bad as we are reflecting on the imitations and choose what to keep within ourselves. In that same many we must judge what parts of a network to participate in. To do either task we must be able to identify the merits of the piece we are working with. For Quintilian, it is useless without a firm understanding of the merits of the imitated piece. Quintilian did not just make his students work with the great works. He had them imitate everything to develop their critical thinking skills and expose them to what was popular in the moment.
Quintilian liked the idea of going beyond mere imitation and doing paraphrasing and translation. He wanted his students to preserve the ideas but make changes language. He believed that there were always new ways to say things that could match the original in eloquence. The challenge and benefits of this is coming up with new words and arrangements. Those are the moments of invention that stretch critical thinking skills. In that same way finding new ways to arrange our networks invents new connections.
For Quintilian invention was everything. The goal of every lesson was to teach students how to invent their own arguments, and construct their own meanings. In his Institutes of Oratory he limits is concern of invention to the field of oratory. However, for a connectivist this focus can take on new meaning. Now that crowdsourcing is a valid method of production, invention can be considered a contribution to the network. It is the difference between a passive and active citizen. For that reason incorporating Quintilian’s focus on invention will help us revise the philosophy to one that helps us develop active citizens.
Unlike other teaching philosophies connectivism incorporates this the vastness of information and these collaborative methods of production navigate the increasingly digital world.
Connectivism is a philosophy in which learning is thought to be a social action where students learn by connecting to specialized nodes and networks of socialization. It was originated by George Siemens the director of executive director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab or LINK Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington. In connectivism it’s more important to know how to kind information than it is to know it. It treats organizational and personal learning as integrated parts by focusing on the growth and maintenance of a sharing network.
The ultimate goal is currency, which is having access and being able to utilize the most up to date and authentic information.
All that just means that information literacy is the focus of this philosophy. Questions of how to find authentic information and how to network effectively are central to the philosophy. However concerns about modeling, mimicking, social scripts and contact zones are assumed to be solved. Since there is no mention of these plagiarism and diversity issues it assumes that they are already fixed or that participation in the network be a perfect normalizing force. Though, to be fair these issues have only just begun to prop up in the discussions of the previously gentrified space that this philosophy came from, the internet.
Quintilian’s thoughts on imitation and its role in dialectics and education can help us fill in that gap. Quintilian likes imitation. He knows that productive imitation requires judgment. When we imitate we imitate the good with the bad despite our censorship. We must discriminate the good from the bad as we are reflecting on the imitations and choose what to keep within ourselves. In that same many we must judge what parts of a network to participate in. To do either task we must be able to identify the merits of the piece we are working with. For Quintilian, it is useless without a firm understanding of the merits of the imitated piece. Quintilian did not just make his students work with the great works. He had them imitate everything to develop their critical thinking skills and expose them to what was popular in the moment.
Quintilian liked the idea of going beyond mere imitation and doing paraphrasing and translation. He wanted his students to preserve the ideas but make changes language. He believed that there were always new ways to say things that could match the original in eloquence. The challenge and benefits of this is coming up with new words and arrangements. Those are the moments of invention that stretch critical thinking skills. In that same way finding new ways to arrange our networks invents new connections.
For Quintilian invention was everything. The goal of every lesson was to teach students how to invent their own arguments, and construct their own meanings. In his Institutes of Oratory he limits is concern of invention to the field of oratory. However, for a connectivist this focus can take on new meaning. Now that crowdsourcing is a valid method of production, invention can be considered a contribution to the network. It is the difference between a passive and active citizen. For that reason incorporating Quintilian’s focus on invention will help us revise the philosophy to one that helps us develop active citizens.
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Developing the character, and that character, and that other character....
In
his Institutes of Oratory Quintilian
claims that good oratory is the good man speaking well. According to him ethical
decision making leads to better craft and products. The concepts that he puts
forth apply today, but they cannot be applied in their raw form because our contemporary
context will reject them and our efforts will be poisoned. Before we can put
them into use these ideas must be modified. He contends that virtuous study
habits train the virtuous mind that works more effectively. The virtuous
of temperance and the ability to meet deadlines are still valued in our society
and are the pillars of our concept of professionalism. Its possible to
introduce our students to networks of folks and organizations that model the
professionalism we wish to see from our students at the end of their course of
study. Quintilian pushes us to use real life exercises or at least make then as
real as possible. By doing so we can have students practice participating in
their communities and building their own networks of knowledge, and allies.
More than anything else quintilian believed that students would imitate their teachers. He thought that the character of the student would be a mirror of the teacher. The following is a list summarizing Quintilian's thoughts on the teacher’s role:
· We must act as though we are parents. Nurturing but firm.
· We must not offer too much praise or they will become dependent on it. Their desire for praise we drive them to perform elsewhere as well. Thus they will be driven by desire for praise to expand their networks.
· We must act authoratively and collaboratively. We must provide guidance and boundaries but we cannot exclude students from participating the definition of those boundaries.
· We must introduce our students to our network. We must integrate them into our networks as though it is their inheritance.
· We must be merciful and constructive with our edits, corrections, and advice.
· We must be weary of overcorrection because it is counterproductive. It may come across as harsh and could negatively impact the students’ confidence and self-esteem.
· We must teach in a way that leads our students to eventually surpass us in our content are or pioneer one of their own. According to these ideals it would be unethical to educate a student to the point where they can pass a test of our design or merely get by in life.
The basic thing is this: be a good role model for you students and nurture them as they expand their network.
More than anything else quintilian believed that students would imitate their teachers. He thought that the character of the student would be a mirror of the teacher. The following is a list summarizing Quintilian's thoughts on the teacher’s role:
· We must act as though we are parents. Nurturing but firm.
· We must not offer too much praise or they will become dependent on it. Their desire for praise we drive them to perform elsewhere as well. Thus they will be driven by desire for praise to expand their networks.
· We must act authoratively and collaboratively. We must provide guidance and boundaries but we cannot exclude students from participating the definition of those boundaries.
· We must introduce our students to our network. We must integrate them into our networks as though it is their inheritance.
· We must be merciful and constructive with our edits, corrections, and advice.
· We must be weary of overcorrection because it is counterproductive. It may come across as harsh and could negatively impact the students’ confidence and self-esteem.
· We must teach in a way that leads our students to eventually surpass us in our content are or pioneer one of their own. According to these ideals it would be unethical to educate a student to the point where they can pass a test of our design or merely get by in life.
The basic thing is this: be a good role model for you students and nurture them as they expand their network.
....and You
The combination of Connectivism and
Quintilian’s ideas has significant implications for our professional development
if we choose to put it into practice.
Sources
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age http://www. elearnspace. org. Articles/connectivism. htm (Accessed: 01/03/2007).
Siemens, G. (2008). New structures and spaces of learning: The systemic impact of connective knowledge, connectivism, and networked learning. Actas do encontro sobre web, 2, 7-23.
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age http://www. elearnspace. org. Articles/connectivism. htm (Accessed: 01/03/2007).
Siemens, G. (2008). New structures and spaces of learning: The systemic impact of connective knowledge, connectivism, and networked learning. Actas do encontro sobre web, 2, 7-23.