Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2009

This morning I caught wind of the news that George Siemens and Stephen Downes will be facilitating a second Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course beginning this September through the LTC at the University of Manitoba.  Initially I hadn’t planned on taking the course, however in light of the fact several CCK08 alums have decided to enroll in the fun again I just couldn’t pass up the chance to join in.

In order to do the experience justice, though, I think I need to spend some time reflecting on the experiences and lessons learned during CCK08.  However just broaching that train of thought immediately introduces a myriad of thoughts and feelings, which almost certainly won’t fit into a single blog post.  So I anticipate a theme will emerge in the coming weeks as I unpack my thoughts on the matter.

My CCK08 experience

The long and the short of it is that CCK08 was an incredible experience.  The subject matter was fascinating; the cohort size and diversity was staggering; the nature, scope and scale of the distributed frameworks was incredible; and the sheer volume of information and discussion was titanic.  My appreciation for and perspective of online learning and open education was inextricably altered, and my thirst for additional knowledge on the matter unquenchable.  By the end of the session I had more questions and research topics than I’d started with, and importantly I’d developed relationships and friendships with some incredible people.

Likewise my understanding of online interaction was constantly questioned and my behaviour in the face of disagreement, debate and conflict challenged (sometimes to disappointing epiphanies).  In many, many regards, the course inspired personal growth and development, lead to the acknowledgment of my short-comings and character defects – as well as strengths – and ultimately represented perhaps the greatest intellectual learning curve I’ve traveled since leaving uni 10 years ago – perhaps even including uni.

In light of all this my motives for wanting to take the course again are clear.  Yet much has changed in the last year.  I’m not the same person I was in 2008, and have learned and experienced much since then.  So it would be a mistake to assume the same experiences will emerge in 2009.

Something old, something new

With few exceptions the cohort of students will be brand new.  This as much as anything is the essence of the subject – connective knowledge.  Even if we covered exactly the same curricula in the same order, were assigned the same assessment tasks, readings and projects – the experience would not be the same.  Connectivism says that knowledge is distributed across as network and is comprised of all the unique experiences, understandings, and perspectives of the nodes within it; and that learning is the act of establishing connections with nodes in the network, and then gradually forming a web of nodes that encompasses both depth and diversity.  In turn, these networks help to aggregate information, and having done so interpret and synthesise it.

The facilitators may be the same, the knowledge within the network and the outcomes that emerge from it will be very different.  Chaos theory, Networked Individualism, Rhizomatic Knowledge, abundance of information, lack of symbolic meaning in language – each contributes to the organic, unpredictably developing and emerging nature of knowledge and information.  If we learn from each other, and our experiences are unique, then we will never run out of new ground to cover.

Be Strategic

In 2008 I had minimal understanding of many of the learning theories and schools of thought that we covered.  As such the learning curve was extraordinary.  When every term and topic raised is one you’ve never heard before – let alone understand – you find yourself doing a whole lot of reading, and feel as though you’re constantly playing catch-up.  Adding to this the very unique nature of CCK08 as a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), with 2,200 enrolled students at start of session, and the fact each individual was encouraged to develop their own distributed learning spaces, you literally could not stay on top of all the discussion that were taking place – yet try I did.

After a while I learned it was critical to be strategic in your approach to the course.  That it was impossible to absorb, synthesise and comprehend everything – and that trying led not only to cognitive overload, but frustration as well.

You don’t go into a public library and try to read every book on the shelves; you pick a subject, thread, or niche to focus your attention on.  The same premise goes for a course with several thousand unique voices.  Besides, with distributed online spaces being what they are, the information will remain there long after the course is over.  There’s plenty of time to explore and digest.

Next post: Personal aims and objectives for CCK09