Connectivism Theory: Analogy Assignment

I think a learner is like a hard drive. It is a place where information can be stored and retrieved, added or deleted. It is a small portion of the larger computer, although size is small to the relative whole the amount of information that can be stored there is immense. Information is retrieved at an extremely fast speed related to how organized the information or files are, like how the neurons in our brain fire rapidly to bring forth memories and knowledge. If the files are not organized it may take some searching to retrieve the information and will be brought forth at a slower rate just like if the connections in our brain are not strong or concepts were not related, the knowledge will not reach our working memory as quickly and sometimes not at all.
Connectivism Theory relates to this analogy of the learner and George Siemens (2005) lists some key principles of this theory that I think relate well.

"Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning"
In placing information in a hard drive the user must create organization and folders that will relate to one another and be easy to find when needed. It is this process that will help to facilitate the further implementation of new information to the drive. Through the neuronal connections in our brain and the connections to information in the outside world we continue to gain knowledge but without work applied to maintaining these connections they die off.

"While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision."
In a hard drive the more information that is added the harder it may be to retrieve the older information or the slower the retrieval. This is related to the user as well because the user
may have better memories of where they stored newer information. Although a search engine is very useful with the hard drive the user still must remember the key words to search for. As new information enters and new connections are made in human brains, old information may be left behind or ideas and concepts a persons holds may be changed/replaced by the newer more up to date knowledge. Every day new information enters out minds and just as stated will affect our thoughts, perceptions, moods and decisions.

http://www.itdl.org/journal/Jan05/article01.htm
Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Retrieved January 25, 2008.

"Learning and the act of knowledge creation is a function of a network where it is the aggregation of activities of many individuals that generate meaningful knowledge."
This is an important concept in connectivism because while this may not be directly related to the individual learner it shows that through the connection of a diverse array of experiences and knowledge coming from all different places, a greater knowledge will be created that will be readily available to all. The individual while imparting the knowledge will continuously gain knowledge from others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgWt4Uzr54&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=2 Retrieve January 25, 2009.