George Siemens: Analysing the obviousSociety, information, knowledge, and learning share a critical foundational element: connections. The rise of the internet - and the recent popularity of social networks through tools such as Facebook, Myspace, Skype, and blogs - have increased our awareness of connections and networks. Connections appear obvious, almost intuitive. This deceptive simplicity covers what is only now being explored by educators and researchers: What are the characteristics of learning networks? How do they differ from social networks? What types of attributes are evident in conceptual networks versus social networks? What about neural networks? How can educators utilize attributes of networks for teaching and learning? How do we foster networks of a particular type to serve intended learning goals? This session will explore the seemingly obvious - networks and connections as the foundation of learning - and present new perspectives on how to foster deep, critical, understanding through effective implementation of learning ...
