Connectivism in an EVO Session

   
I am taking part in an EVO session  about neuroscience and I am almost finished with my week 1 tasks. I am amazed by many aspects of the session, but I could mention 2 that really stroke my attention. The first one has to do with how well the moderators organized the spaces - extremely brain friendly if you are comfortable with online learning environments and how present they are to assist those participants who panic in the beginning. Another super interesting aspect of the course is how educators from different parts of the globe are eager to learn and share and relearn and unlearn! AMAZING!

We started the week organizing our digital selves, interacting and reflecting upon some input that was provided. I said some input because the course is not about reading materials on our own. We read, watch and engage in discussions - this is for me the most interesting part of the session - we learn from and with the PEOPLE on the platforms. Just like neurons, people need to connect to become stronger and smarter and participants become a discursive community eager to create knowledge together. We took a quiz about facts or myths about the brain and I read many reactions to it.  Some reactions were really interesting and rich. Some phrases and posts really stuck to my head - Use it or lose it - was one of the most memorable phrases I read. If we do not use the connections our brain cells organize we just lose them. What is not a coincidence, is it? We lose the muscles we work hard to build at the gym much faster than we get them. My house gets really messy in no time, but it might take hours to tidy it up. We lose our friends if we do not reach out, and we miss great opportunities to relate to people in a deeper level if we are superficial, if we do not connect. What are the implications about what I have read and watched about the brain in education or in my practice? We teach individuals who have to feel comfortable, catered for and connected. We teachers do need to be rested, present, comfortable and connected, don`t we? My brain is eager to learn about the brain itself as I also observe attentively how connectivism and devoted moderators really make an online course a lively and exciting experience.t

Useful lings - week 1
http://hottopicselt.pbworks.com/w/page/61381366/Brain%20Test
http://youtu.be/o9p2ou1IyC0
http://hottopicselt.pbworks.com/w/page/60927774/portfolios
http://www.childrenshospital.org/research/_neuron/index.html

Wrapping up week 1
http://hottopicselt.pbworks.com/w/page/62867293/Week1%20Message

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