Friday, September 12, 2008

CCK08: Connectivism Concept Map

This week I read a few things circulating in the blogosphere about Connectivism. Most of it is interesting. The readings provoked me to give some thought to the concept of exactly how I am connected to the message pipelines and communication networks around me. I noticed that there are some message pipelines that I exclusively make a conscious effort to take from at a time point which is convenient to me. Such as television. I do not routinely watch television. In fact, I have not been in the presence of a television (turned on) in the last four days. So how does the message pipeline of a television influence me - well, I simply take from it once in awhile. On occasion I make a conscious choice to turn on a TV and watch it. I never give to that message pipeline - I only take from it.

In contrast, I gave some thought to how I use the phone. The phone pushes information to me automatically (i.e. phone calls come to me directly on a routine basis) and I routinely push information to the phone (i.e. I call people through the day). So clearly the way television keeps me connected is different than the way a phone keeps me connected. However, both are part of my 'Personal Connectivism' map.

I tried to visually represent this phenomenon of my 'Personal Connectivism Map' visually. I used CMAP Tools. If you are new to CMAP tools then you might find this post useful.

Take a look at my 'Personal Connectivism Map' and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Click the image below to go to Flickr where you will have the ability to choose from a variety of image sizes, if necessary (see the 'All Sizes' button).

3 comments:

Benjamin L. Stewart, PhD said...

Nice concept map. I was just curious if you communicate with any colleagues through non-technical means that would also be included in your map.

Eric said...

Great comment Benjamin. I tried to focus on technically mediated interaction; however, adding face-to-face person contact would fit in the same category as telephone: services that push to me AND service that I push to.

Thanks for asking.

Liz Renshaw said...

Great concept map that really provided a visual hook for me to understand the pipe analogy. Really liked the push and pull motion as to me it helped think through info sources that have different qualities of interaction.