What is my take on George Siemens' learning theory on Connectivism?

After spending six years of elementary education in Malaysia, I've always believed that learners walked into a classroom as 'blank slates' with no experience or knowledge of their own. Because I was educated in a very traditional teacher-centered classroom environment, I really thought that was how education must/should be like no matter where I learn. Even as I was entering the teacher preparation program during my junior year in college, it was still very difficult for me to accept any other kind of educational philosophy or theory because that was the way I learned and I got through elementary, junior high, high school and college just fine.

That was me then.

In his article, Siemens stated that:
Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning

of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a

right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information

climate affecting the decision. (http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm)

Today, I believe that a learner is like someone who's about to purchase something from a vending machine. This may sound like a weird analogy but I can't think of a better way to describe the decision-making process than referring to an action that many of us are very familiar with (especially if you're a student at University at Buffalo!).

Just as Siemens mentioned, learners do not automatically process all the information that they're exposed to. We, as learners, have a tendency to pick and choose what we want to absorb and construct our meaning using the new information we chose. Perhaps I should provide a scenario to help clarify what I mean:

Imagine yourself in a foreign country where there are a limitless number of vending machines available no matter which way you turned (i.e. Japan). Now, imagine that all the stores in that country have been replaced by these vending machines and there are no one around (you are alone in an isolated country operated only by machines). This means that your only way of obtaining any type of necessities such as food, clothing, toothbrush etc. would be through you purchasing something from the machines. Sounds easy enough right? Sure, but there's only one problem. What if all the machines are programmed in a foreign language? Also, you would need to know how much to put into the machine since they only take exact change. The only available resource you have is your laptop and a manual which gives you all of the information on the different types of vending machines.

As a learner, I'll need to decide on the type of new information I want/need to learn in order to solve the dilemma that I am currently facing. The incoming information that I am receiving are 1) the foreign language on the machine and 2) the different type of currency that I'm holding. Certainly, I'll only want to know/learn information about the language and currency from the manual or the web. Although interesting, I wouldn't have time to learn about how or when the machines were made or why aren't there anyone living in this country and etc. At the moment, I'll be too concern with getting what I need than learning about the history of the country. After successfully purchasing what I need for the day, I felt extremely relieved and satisfied that I've learned some new words and how to use the correct change. The next day, I found out that the words I learned yesterday did not correspond with those from a different machine. Thus, in accordance with Siemens' learning theory,a new learning process will begin with me choosing what I need to learn since the answer I received yesterday has been altered by today's new information climate.

My notion of learning as well as teaching has definitely changed throughout the years. I strongly agree with Siemens that decision-making is indeed a learning process. This might not be related to Siemens' theory but I once heard of a traditional custom (http://snipurl.com/3p3wo [abcnews_go_com] ) where even a baby was required to make a decision on the his/her first birthday. It was said that by the time the infant is able to open up his/her eyes, the parents would present him/her with various things (pen, calculator etc.) which would ultimately determine the child's career path for the future. This goes to show that decision-making (learning process) have begun even before we're consciously aware of it.

So, let's continue to make learning process meaningful and don't forget to have some fun while doing so! :)

Until next time...