Connectivism: Reflection

As I have aged my networks have expanded and in turn has allowed me more opportunities to learn. I am learning from people, experiences and different places. I am better able to find resources that I may need to learn about a specific topic and I now have them more readily available to me. The wide variety and range of learning resources I have through my networks allows me to expand my learning. I have different people to learn from who have had different experiences and knowledge. The digital tools that best suit my learning include news websites to find out what is happening in the world. I find myself using websites to facilitate my learning as a teacher. Some of these websites include Pinterest, Reading a-z, blogs, and Enchanted Learning. Google Scholar is a search engine that I often find myself using when I need scholarly articles to gain more information or support my claim. This is typically used in an academic setting. I am using the internet on my phone, on my computer as well as on my Ipad. 

The beauty of having all of these resources readily at hand is that I am able to answer questions within minutes. I can use my phone, the computer or any books that may help in the search of an answer. I also find that I am surrounded by many colleagues that have many experiences previous knowledge on topics that I may not. Using them as an aid to support my learning has benefited me. 

I do believe that my personal learning networks support the central tenets of connectivism. "We must create networks which, simply defined, are connections between entities. By using these networks - of people, of technology, of social structures, of systems, of power grids, etc. - learning communities can share their ideas with others, thereby “cross-pollinating” the learning environment," (Siemens, 2005, para. 21). I am better able to use these multiple sources of information to benefit my learning. The specific sources that I have chosen help me and my personal learning because they are geared to my life style. By "cross-pollinating" the learning environment we are able to share our networks with others and learn from each other.