Connectivism

I used to depend upon solely my own abilities to learn.  However, as I have gotten older and the material has become more complicated and out of my comfort zone, I have learned to network to gain information on a variety of subjects.  I have learned to rely on my friends and family for information, particularly from those members who are older than I am.  The ability to network is a skill that has changed dramatically over the last few decades.  Technology has created opportunities that never existed before.  I now subscribe to various lists to gain information about subjects that I am not proficient in such as livestock guardian dogs, goat health, and now technology design.  Facebook is a fantastic resource because it links people on every continent together.  By doing so, it has widened the knowledge pool exponentially.  I also quite enjoy the ability to use search engines within the scope of the internet to find information quickly.  The process of researching information used to take a long time searching card catalogs (I know, I’m dating myself here), microfiche (again, dating myself), and encyclopedias.  Now, it takes merely seconds to have hundreds of choices at your fingertips.  When I learn something, it tends to stick with me and I have the ability to recall it when needed.  Because of that ability, people within my network often come to me to either get information or get help finding that information.  I was always very good at finding the information, now I am able to find it, use it, and share it with little effort.  Since the connectivism theory depends heavily upon our connections, I feel my learning network definitely confirms the validity of that theory.