Theories relating to networking (part two)

Wednesday 14th November 2012

Here are my continued thoughts on 'Theories relating to networking'...

Social Constructionism

"...meaning is not discovered but constructed" The constructionist view interests me. As seen on my other blogs, I am one who questions the world and it's meanings! The idea that we, as humans, create the meaning behind matters, fascinates me. I had never really thought about it until reading the extract from Crotty. I like the thought that things and ideas are there but they are almost 'inactive' until someone or something engages with it and creates a cause for it. It grabbed my attention when it says: 
"What the 'commonsense' view commends to us is that the tree standing before us is a tree. It has all the meaning we ascribe to a tree. It would be a tree, with that same meaning, whether anyone knew of its existence or not. We need to remind ourselves here that it is human beings who have construed it as a tree, given it the name, and attributed to it the associations we make with trees"
I have often thought about this. Why should a tree be called a tree? Why is the colour blue called blue? I understand that many words have come from latin words but still, we wouldn't think any differently if what we call an eye, was called a lamp (as a random example!) Scientists and people are still always discovering new things in our world. With technology constantly improving, we are able to learn more and more. Still today, we can think about the idea of "...properties of this worldstuff had yet to be represented by a mind."  These undiscovered items are unknown until a human has seen and then researched them. As discussed by Crotty, we construct the meanings behind 'worldstuff' as we are the ones who found them and interpreted them as we saw them. All other human's have taken the information on board and as mentioned earlier, we do not think any differently about it as we know no other 'meaning'.

Connectivism

In my professional practice and studying of the BAPP course, connectivism is playing a major role. It allows us all to connect, using technological networks, learning from one another and constantly furthering our knowledge.  Obviously, when connectivism came about, it was "...developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology." Now, connecting and networking for both social and professional reasons, is a lot simpler and can be done over the internet. Thanks to the development of technology, we are now able to learn more easily and "The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years". This is incredible. From looking at another blog, or viewing certain websites we are reading new information, gaining knowledge and allowing our minds to stretch further. Without this advanced way of learning, the way we study our BAPP course would not exist and we would not have the option to produce blogs and keep connected through Facebook etc. This technology will continue to grow and develop, allowing a progression of an easier and faster way to learn and connect. 
Looking back to 'Reflective Theory', I believe we are gaining knowledge through experiences. Whether these experiences be going out and about, connecting with people face to face or gaining it through online networks, learning from other people's views and discussions.

Communities of practice

This is a subject that I have discussed in previous blogs. The idea that we join 'groups' on sites such as Facebook and make profiles of ourselves on other networking sites. Again, they are for both social and professional reasons. Connecting with various social groups enables us all to share and discuss the ideas and interests that we have in common. Socially, this could be our favourite people, films, food, music etc where as in a professional environment, we may discuss issues within our jobs or upcoming lectures/auditions. 
Sharing this information through social 'communities' allows us to be aware of upcoming events and keep up to date with the current ideas of those around us. Being able to interact with one another in such a way is a good learning process. Without seeing other blogs, talking through social groups/communities, we may not learn specific facts. Simply reading someone's opinion of something allows us to learn a new view or angle on a subject. As well as this, it brings us all closer, as we are enjoying the same ideas and lifestyles.
Agreeing with this, the extract from Lace and Wenger states that the communities of practice "define possibilities for learning". Once we have gained knowledge through others, we can then further it by using our own thoughts and adapting it to our individual professional practice. We learn to adjust the way we work from the people around us and our surroundings and it is dealing with these changes that becomes a part of the learning process.
It all seems quite a lot to take in and understand and I realise that there are several other views and takes on these ideas. Without networking, I would not be taking part on the BAPP course and developing myself as a professional. I admire those who have brought social networking sites into our lives and thank them for allowing us to have constant, easy access to new ideas and information.