My Connections to Connectivism

In this week’s blog entry, we've been asked to consider how we learn, how our connections help facilitate our learning, how has your network changed the way we learn, what tools do we use to facilitate learning, and finally how do we gain knowledge when needed?

After looking at my mind map, you can see that I truly have a lot going on, that I am constantly learning no matter which part of life I’m in, and I constantly need to build my knowledge through the connections that I make. 

As you can see in my teaching and coaching areas, I use a lot of my individual experiences combined with the experiences of my co-workers and or students in order to develop a true understanding of a new knowledge or strategies of learning.    I've learned that I truly don’t understand a process or strategy until I try to teach it myself, so by working cooperatively with other teachers where I can share my thoughts, ideas or teach new strategies, or by teaching my students in class, I've learned that I become more confident or have a greater understanding of the concept.

I’ve believe that I’m truly lucky to have connections that I can turn to in all areas of my life.  If I have video production questions I have my co-workers or mentor who I turn to with questions.  I have technology websites and blogs, including streaming media and teaching and technology, that keep me informed and updated on technology or devices that are being used in the industry today.  In education, I have a plethora of co-workers and resources that allow me to continually learn and develop my craft.  Teachers share with me their past experiences, expectations and concepts and knowledge obtained through trainings.  I’m constantly learning through my own experiences in my classroom, plus I use a variety educational blogs and other websites that share strategies and concepts that can be implemented in my classroom, including but not limited to Safe and Civil Schools and the AVID program.  In athletics, I have continued my search for new knowledge and education.  I've attended various trainings that have provided me with new strategies or new schemata in order to teach or reteach concepts to athletes in a variety of different levels.  I also use websites like youtube.com or littleleague.org that help me develop concepts or create practice plans that are both educational and fun for the athletes.

A lot of my learning can be traced back to the idea of connectivism.  I use the network of connections (co-workers, professional development opportunities, and technology) in order to strengthen my understanding of concepts or strategies, I am able to recognize patterns I see between my network connections or developmental areas, and I’m able to obtain knowledge from a diverse list of sources.  All in all, I am able to collect information from my connections in order to develop my  own understanding of a given concept or subject.