1. Were you convinced by rhizomatic learning as an approach?

I found rhizomatic learning an interesting concept. The growth of Bamboo is a useful visual metaphor for the learning experience. This approach seems to be designed more to prepare learners for dealing with uncertainty than would be the case with rote instruction. There is an emphasis on learners deciding/discovering what they need to know then researching this within a community.

As Cormier (2012) alludes to when describing his early work on teaching using blogs – “there was no curriculum or agenda”. There is less freedom to stray in this way in courses with strict outcomes such as a course with a test at the end. He does make clear, by reference to the Cynefin framework that these ‘simple’ requirements are however catered for.

I think this learning approach may be more suited to older learners who have a career ambition or are studying at higher levels or within communities of practice.

2. Could you imagine implementing rhizomatic learning?

I think there are opportunities to use this approach in my own context. The way I altered the digital skills course in activity 19 to use a connectivist approach could go further to assimilate ideas from rhizomatic learning. Each staff member has a different set of goals for their own digital capabilities so they could be responsible for creating their own curriculum. This does assume that they know what they need to discover. Expecting staff do their own research via communities to find suitable training materials may a long term goal.

3. How might rhizomatic learning differ from current approaches?

Cormier (2013), while describing a MOOC, deliberately set out to have less defined objectives in his course. He implies that some students may not learn if they are not instructed to do so! This approach is similar to the DS106 MOOC in which the learner has complete freedom to choose to complete the activities provided.
Connectivism seems to take a similar approach in that connections with networks and other learners are key components. I am not sure if the chaos of rhizomatic learning is exactly the same. There can be an implied curriculum or goal in connectivism  ? Does rhyzomatic learning never have a curriculum or stated tasks ?

4. What issues would arise in implementing rhizomatic learning?

I think, as I alluded to earlier, the audience of learners is important. In some subjects finding your own learning plan could be a positive thing. For programmers this is very often happening in your role anyway. Some users require very specific click for click instructions and would find it difficult to decipher what they need to know to fix an issue in the complex domain.

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References:

Cormier, D. (2012) Embracing uncertainty – rhizomatic learning, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJIWyiLyBpQ&feature=emb_logo (Accessed: 16th April 2020).

Cormier, D. (2013) Using Moodle with a student centred curriculum, Available at: http://davecormier.com/edblog/category/ed366/ (Accessed: 16th April 2020).