Epistemology:
“The branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge; theory of knowledge; A particular theory of knowledge” en.wiktionary.org/wiki/epistemology
Presentations and Papers
Types of Knowledge and Connective Knowledge - Stephen Downes
Video introduction to Week 2 (George Siemens)
Readings
Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge - Stephen Downes
Shifting Knowledge (from Knowing Knowledge) – George Siemens
Rhizomatic Knowledge (Dave Cormier) - free registration to Innovate is required to read the article.
Additional Readings
Rethinking Learning (.pdf)
An Introduction to Connective Knowledge - Stephen Downes
Other useful resources for This week:
Epistemology - Skids
CCK08 – random connections of today - Sinikka
Notes from readings:
Where does the learning occurs?? George Siemens
“…learning exists in the process of sensemaking”
Types of Knowledge and Connective Knowledge - Stephen Downes
“Qualitative knowledge is knowledge typically derived from the senses.” Ie “the qualities of the object”
“Quantitative knowledge is derived from the practices of counting and measuring.”
“These two types of knowledge combine the best of human capacities: our ability to perceive, to sense the world, and our ability to calculate, to think about the world. They form the foundation for language, the foundation for logic, and the foundation for all of the sciences we have had up to today.”
“Summary: Three types of knowledge
- of the senses (empirical)
- of quantity (rationalist)
- of connections (connective)”
“connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections”
Carbon can make ‘coal, diamonds & graphite’ dependent on how the carbon atoms are ‘connected’
“It is knowledge about how such connections are created, and what impact, or effect, such a system of connections has.”
Knowledge can be different dependent on its connections – knowledge shared by the media is presented in a way in which the media organisation wants you to ‘connect’ with that information ie Fox News provides a type of knowledge which presents a ‘Rupert Murdoch’ view of the world
“*any* set of connected objects can contain information” but its how a person connects with those objects which will determine how they understand the objects
“Summary: Connective knowledge is both:
- knowledge OF networks in the world
- knowledge obtained BY networks”
“There are many types of networks, and therefore, many types of connective knowledge.”
One Network: - human brain – collection of neurons
Another Network – Society – collection of humans
Person – node in a network – connected to the nodes (people) = social network
Knowing/Understanding how networks work helps us create better networks
Does this mean that by changing the ‘networks’ you are changing the knowledge?
Video introduction to Week 2 (George Siemens)
What is a network – characteristics or attributes of a network?
Complexity science – Chaos and randomness
Power and control are critical concepts in the discussion of education/theory of learning
Tools (technology) at our disposal allow us to have a democracy to access information
Epistemology: – what is knowledge? – what is knowledge in a connected world? – in a networked world? What is the human mind and what role does it play in creating knowledge? Are we in a post-epistemology era?
We are in an era defined by knowledge – we ‘externalise’ our thoughts – can become the building blocks of knowledge – knowledge actually resides in the connections – shared manner of interacting with those concepts – information is the building blocks of knowledge – there are different views of knowledge – view of knowledge is so diverse
Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge - Stephen Downes
“the learning of knowledge - is distributive, that is, not located in any given place (and therefore not 'transferred' or 'transacted' per se) but rather consists of the network of connections formed from experience and interactions with a knowing community.”
'e-learning 2.0' – net generation – thinking and interacting in new ways – based on conversation and interaction, on sharing, creation and participation, - learning not as a separate activity – but embedded in meaningful activities
Learning is like the weather –never the same and a little unpredictable due to its interconnection with its environment
Shifting Knowledge (from Knowing Knowledge) – George Siemens
“Knowledge has broken free from its mooring, its shackles”
“Knowledge is the economy”
“Human existence is a quest to understand”
“We live as an integrated experience—we see, know, and function in connections. Life, like knowing, is not an isolated activity”
“we create structures to hold our knowledge: hierarchies, books, libraries, encyclopedias, the internet, search engines. We create spaces where we can dialogue about and enact knowledge: corporations, organizations, schools, universities, societies. And we create tools to disseminate knowledge: peer-review journals, discussion panels, conferences”
“The last decade has fundamentally re-written how we:” consume information and create knowledge
“Knowledge set free enables dynamic, adaptive, and personalized experiences.”
“Yochai Benkler …. Information, knowledge, and culture are central to human freedom and human development”
“We are in the in-between stage of” … an industrial era and a knowledge era
“We do not consume knowledge as a passive entity that remains unchanged as it moves through our world and our work. We dance and court the knowledge of others—in ways the original creators did not intend. We make it ours, and in so doing, diminish the prominence of the originator.”
“Our quadratic existence runs through spheres of interconnection. Cognitive, emotional, physical, and spiritual domains of knowledge interact in a myriad of ways. Life is not lived in a silo”
“Schools, universities, and corporations attempt to serve dissemination processes of knowledge-in-containers.”
At the End of Week Two – Stephen Downes
“People didn’t really like the coal analogy.”
“I personally think of connectivism as a theory of knowledge”
“ … any sensory input produces knowledge.”
Rhizomatic Knowledge (Dave Cormier)
“A rhizomatic plant has no center and no defined boundary; rather, it is made up of a number of semi-independent nodes, each of which is capable of growing and spreading on its own, bounded only by the limits of its habitat (Cormier 2008).”
“a rhizomatic model of learning … knowledge is negotiated, and the learning experience is a social as well as a personal knowledge creation process with mutable goals and constantly negotiated premises.”
“In the rhizomatic model of learning, curriculum is not driven by predefined inputs from experts; it is constructed and negotiated in real time by the contributions of those engaged in the learning process. This community acts as the curriculum, spontaneously shaping, constructing, and reconstructing itself and the subject of its learning in the same way that the rhizome responds to changing environmental conditions”
“the rhizomatic model dispenses with the need for external validation of knowledge, either by an expert or by a constructed curriculum”
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