After having read Siemens (jan05_01), blog post, I was greatly impressed with the comparison of today's learner with the yesterday's learner. Using the historical perspective of what was expected of a student in their professional career in the past and comparing that of the future. Today students will most likely have multiple jobs, that involve a multitude of different tasks. Thus, with the end goal of education being different, we need to employ different means to get there. In today's world learners must have an outlook of learning as "a way of being - an ongoing set of attitudes and actions by individuals and groups that they employ to try to keep abreast of surprising, . . . events". (Valli as quoted in Siemens)
As technology is changing the environment that we live in, we too must also change. Technology brings us closer together, and makes information more assessable to people all over the world. By creating a network of information, one receives a wider perspective of the target topic. With the addition of each node of information, we are adding a wider breadth of knowledge and new perspectives that will lead to new insight. George Siemens states that "what we know today is not as important as our ability to stay current". Logically, he goes on to say: "If I am not continually learning than I am becoming obsolete in my field." With the concepts of half life knowledge and the rate that our environment is changing, educators have proponent learning that is flexible and embraces new technology.
References:
Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Retrieved February 13, 2011.
(Orleans, France)
