Wednesday, January 31, 2007

connectivism challenge essay draft

I've put a draft of my connectivism conference presentation here: A Challenge to Connectivism.

I'm interested in feedback. If you don't want to join the wiki then leave a comment here or send me email. Thanks.

OVERVIEW OF MY ARGUMENT

The role of language (Vygotsky) and “objects to think with” (Papert) in learning predate the Internet

The theory of embodied active cognition (Clark, 1997) argues that the scaffolding provided by language and "objects to think with" extends our minds from the brain into the environment.

I would argue that the sort of ideas being put forward in connectivism theory have already been developed by Clark. Language is so ubiquitous that it is not always noticed. Network based learning theories might be more visible because the network is more visible.

2 comments:

Sylvia said...

Hi Bill,
It looks good. I hope to join the conversation. It will be interesting!
Sylvia

Bill Kerr said...

hi sylvia,

The conference has over 1000 registrations(!!) so real time participation at conference times is not viable. The conversation will have to take place in forums and blogs. There has been some discussion already on this forum (you may have to join) and I imagine that a new forum will be setup at Scope for the connectivism conference.