From chaos to complexity -.theories influencing education

My engagement with connectivism moved my mindset to the realisation that knowledge, the acquisition thereof, as well as the development of new knowledge structures lies in connectivity. The strength, functionality and dimension of people’s connections determine the nature of their knowledge base. Instructional designers and lecturers therefore has to ensure that they apply the abovementioned assumption in the design of learning experiences. The knowledge that students acquire in a course is no longer dependant on the knowledge of the lecturer – it evolves around the connections they build with other people and information sources, and the latter includes not only physical connections, but also relies on transactional connections.

How does this relate to my world of work? Siemens (2009) very appropriately stated that no individual is able to master a single discipline. Gaps in our knowledge is a given. In my context as instructional designer I have to empower lecturers who I assist in designing the online components of their modules, as instructional designers, lecturers and teachers have to realise that a human cannot master an entire discipline. As a lecturer I have to provide students with growth or developmental opportunities in which they build connections and consequently obtain or share information.

As a lecturer, I am often confronted with the “chaos theory" as the process of learning is rather unpredictable although occurring within a certain structure. Lorenz (1993) defined chaos as follows; "The property that characterizes a dynamical system in which most orbits exhibit sensitive dependence". How does chaos relate to learning or instructional design? As mentioned previously in this paper, learning takes place via physical and transactional connections – I therefore assume that learning takes place within dynamic systems are all around us. The learning process may therefore have recurrent behavior, but are very difficult to pin down and predict apart from the very short term. I might plan for my students to acquire a specific set of knowledge and skills attached to a learning module; I can however not ensure that all of the outcomes are achieved, because learning takes place in a very complex system of connections. I can therefore say that what I initially intent to achieve in this course relates to sensitive dependence as referred to in the butterfly effect. Small differences in initial conditions (such as my learning outcomes) yield widely diverging outcomes for chaotic systems. This happens even though these “learning systems” are deterministic, meaning that their future dynamics are fully determined by their initial conditions.

Complexity theory builds on chaos as it implies that learning and change takes place within the “complexity zone” (Lewis, 1994). Simply stated, complexity arises in situations where “an increasing number of independent variables begin interacting in interdependent and unpredictable ways” (Sanders, 2003). The value and depth of information obtained and created whilst learning is dependent on the strength and dimensions of connections that students formed due to engaging in a course. Knowledge obtained were not only provided by the lecturer, but rather accessed via complex connections with relevant sources. Learning is therefore no longer a linear and predictable process. Students are required to develop skills that enable them to cope in a world confronted with constant challenges and change. Complexity theory provides useful insights into the important functions played by network-type linkages in helping complex systems to manage themselves within turbulent environments (Sanders, 2003). Complex systems that are sufficiently well connected demonstrate a tendency to ‘self-organise’ over time, with clusters and groups emerging from the pattern of interactions among the participating ‘members’.

Education sciences usually examined the world (or subject disciplines) by breaking it into smaller and smaller pieces until the pieces can be understood. Too often, using this approach, results in lecturers and students missing the bigger picture. Lecturers and instructional designers need to shift their paradigms underpinning their teaching philosophy. Education providers need to engage in complex systems thinking that would enable students to confront the complex world they live in.
 

References

Lewis, R. (1994). From Chaos to Complexity: implications for organizations. Executive Development, Vol 7(4): pp. 16 – 17.
Lorenz, E. (1993). The essence of chaos. [Online] Available URL: http://www1.dragonet.es/users/markbcki/lorenz.htm.
Sanders, T.I. (2003). What is Complexity? [Online] Available URL: http://www.complexsys.org/pdf/what_is_complexity.pdf.
Siemens, G. (2009). Complexity, Chaos and Emergence. [online] Available URL: http://docs.google.com/View?id=anw8wkk6fjc_15cfmrctf8.

My view of aggregation tools.....

Hi there

I am a "RSS feed fan". If I can call myself that....

Why? Because it saves me time in the first place. Secondly it often leads you to information that you would never have accessed, but because of the RSS feed that brings information 2 you, I have access to it.

I very often do not have enough hours in my day to surf on the net and look for the latest trends and info in my research and teaching areas. I therefore use google reader and sign up to some sites that I know provide valuable info.

Another way of using RSS feeds is by means of the RSS functionality in the LMS. When I design online learning modules I very often include a RSS feed in the module, implying that vital info related to the course content are available for students. E.g. economic indicators for the MBA students.

I also subscribe to RSS feeds via my cellphone. I therefore access news updates via RSS feeds from e.g. BBC world, as my phone acts as the RSS reader.

Apart from all the nice functionalities of aggregation tools, one must remain very careful when subscribing to these sites. RSS feeds might be a bit overwhelming if you subscribe to too many sites and thus receive too many feeds. Managing information in this case can become a burden, rather that being useful.

Finally....the last version of my midterm presentation

Hi there

As I mentioned in the posts on IET_F_09, I had some trouble with the audio when I uploaded my presentation to slideshare. I then fixed th audio, but experienced that the animations didn't work. Finally, I created a video which I'm hosting on YourFileLink. you can download my video from the link below:

http://www.yourfilelink.com/get.php?fid=515209

Google Reader to enhance research supervision

My presentation for the Introduction to Emerging TechnologiesI investigated Google Reader as a possible tool to keep in touch with my postgraduate students. Follow this link to view my slidecast in slideshare to find out how I applied Google Reader: http://www.slideshare.net/Nalize/google-readera-social-networking-tool-for-enhanced-research-supervision

Connectivism: a novel learning theory in a digital age?

People involved in the creation of instructional or developmental environments traditionally recognized and applied among others, constructivist, behaviourist or cognitivist pedagogies. These learning theories, although underpinned by different paradigms of thinking, are all underpinned by the concept of transactional distance (Downes, 2006). The latter implies that for learning to take place, a physical or metaphorical space, representing a channel of communication, should exist. None of the mentioned learning theories is sufficient to represent the nature of learning due to knowledge diffusion in the online world (Cormier, 2008). Moore contributed to the development of learning theories by arguing that interaction improves the effectiveness of communication – knowledge exists and diffuses through negotiation and communication (Farrell, 2001). As learning takes place via communication, improved interaction in effect would exert a positive influence on learning processes.

The advancement of technology has reorganized how people interact and communicate, therefore influencing how we learn. Learning has changed to a continual process in which knowledge is transformed into something of meaning through connections between sources of information and the formation of useful patterns, which generally results in something that can be acted upon appropriately, in a contextually aware manner (Siemens, 2004). Learning therefore encapsulates various meanings for different people. In contradiction to traditional theories, learning can result from any form of social interaction. Learning can therefore be envisaged as connectivity, because people derive skills and competencies from forming connections with outside sources while focusing on connecting specialized information sets.

Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations as new information is continually being acquired. Learning needs and theories that describe learning principles and processes, should be reflective of underlying social environments (Siemens, 2004). In contrast with traditional learning theories, connectivism does not necessarily imply a transactional medium of communication where signals are transferred between the sender and the receiver. This raises an alternative question (Downes, 2006): If there is no causal connection between a teacher and a learner, is it possible that learning can take place? Connectivism, however, does not necessarily imply that all other learning theories are obsolete. It only provides alternative means for learning as it does not reduce the transfer of information between senders and receivers to a physical substrate (Downes, 2006). People can still learn by applying the traditional learning theories, but the fundamental insight, aligning with the assumptions underpinning connectivism, is that any form of learning, including personal development and professional growth, relates to people’s ability to construct their own social networks that integrates with their personal learning environments within they foster and sustain the flow of knowledge (Siemens, 2004).

The strength of connectivism as a learning theory lies in the fact that it does not “over-write” any other theory. Connectivism integrates principles form various pedagogies to provide a novel way of learning by recognizing the formation of connections on various levels (i.e. cognitive, social, emotional, neural), enabling people to manage the abundance, as well as exponential growth, of information. Pedagogy are currently challenged by the ephemeral nature of knowledge in the online world. Personally I view connectivism as a learning theory, underpinning the development of integrated knowledge networks while reducing information to emergence, that is the understanding that emerges from various people interacting and producing unexpected outcomes.

Bibliography
Cormier, D. (2008, June/July). Rhizomatic Education: Community as Curriculum. Retrieved October 05, 2009, from Innovate, Vol 4(5): www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=550&action=article
Downes, S. (2006, October 16). Learning Network and Connective Knowledge. Retrieved October 12, 2009, from it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper92/paper92.html
Farrell, L. (2001). Negotiating knowledge in the knowledge economy: Workplace educators and the politics of codification. Studies in COntinuig Education , 23 (2), 201-214.
Siemens, G. (2004, December 12). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved October 7, 2009, from Elearning space. Everything elearning: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.

The reason why I see connectivism as an exciting learning theory

Hi all

Just thinking out loud about connectivism. This "theory" goes beyond all other learning theories, as traditional theories such as behaviourism and constructivism relates to the person's progression and changes within a learning environment.
Connectivism however "correlates" with a rapidly changing and technologically advanced environment, where people learn by means of interaction, whether online or in real life. Learning is no more a continual progressive process that learners/students go through,
Knowledge is totally transformed by means of connections among sources of information, which can be virtual environments, databases, people, ect.
Amazing implications for instructional deisgn don't you think?/

My first podcast

Hi there

This post contains my first ever podcast. I must admit that I feel quite proud on this. I've never done it before, so I can say that I'm a few steps further in experimenting with technologies for learning. Some added value to the experience.......I really enjoyed it!!

My podcast briefly describes a research project that I'm busy with and it also explains why I want to use Flickr as one of the tools in my presentation. See it at http://nalizemarais.podbean.com/mf/web/wpqt4/NalizeMarais_Podcast_061009.wmv