Connectivism
From Mmswiki
Connectivism, "a learning theory for the digital age," has been developed by George Siemens. It uses a network with nodes and connections as a central metaphor for learning. In this metaphor, a node is anything that can be connected to another node: information, data, feelings, images. Learning is the process of creating connections and developing a network.
Some principles of connectivism:
- Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
- Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
- Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectivism_(learning_theory)
The pedagogical theory of connectivism is the brainchild of Canadian researcher George Siemens. At its core it is an attempt to make sense of the significance of technological development (particularly the explosion of the networks that make up the Internet) for learning. As Siemens put it in a 2006 response to critiques of the theory, ”learning is a network phenomenon, influenced (aided) by socialization and technology”(George Siemens, “Connectivism: Learning Theory or Pastime for the Self-Amused?”, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism_self-amused.htm, accessed 29.3.09).
Technology, Siemens argues, has radically changed the way in which people today learn. Linear models of learning are becoming obsolete in a world in which people are surrounded by information, available online. In addition, the nature of work is changing significantly. Fewer and fewer people have one job their entire lives, begun after graduating from university and concluding with retirement at age 65. It is likely that in the coming decades people will work in a variety of different jobs over the course of their lifetime, and that those jobs will require learning, retraining, and acquisition of skills at a rapid rate. Not infrequently, people may have to do jobs while learning about them at the same time.
At the heart of the theory is the idea that in the contemporary context (in which networks, their creation, and participation in them define an increasing amount of daily experience), learning takes place through a person's ability to find information and integrate it into her own personal network. In turn, this network will be linked to other networks in an ever-expanding context for learning. In this view, learning is primarily about access to content, about connecting to networks containing that content, and continuing to develop one's network or networks based on experience.
Critiques
While the proponents of connectivism have sought to distinguish it from older learning theories (constructivism, behaviorism, cognitivism), critics of the theory suggest that connectivism is not so much a distinct theory as an application of previous theories in a new technological context. Further, some argue that connectivism has to do not so much with learning as with curriculum and the organization of information.
The present author, while not embracing a neo-Luddite perspective, questions the seeming willingness of at least some connectivist theorists to cede a great deal of authority and independence to the technological development to which it responds. It is easy to see the potential value of networks for learning, and to grasp that the Internet has begun to change the way in which people acquire information and keep up-to-date in their fields. However, at least as it seems to be formulated at present, connectivism does not contain as well a robust critique of the technological foundations on which it rests. To put it another way, there seems to be an implicit technological positivism in the attitude of connectivism towards technology. In addition, critiques have begun to appear of Web 2.0, a central element of the context which connectivism seeks to address (see, for example, the article by Bruce Sterling, ”What Bruce Sterling Actually Said about Web 2.0 at Webstock 09,” http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2009/03/what-bruce-ster.html, accessed 29.3.09). How do connectivist theorists respond to such critque?
In addition, the present author questions the way in which connectivism seems to take for granted corporatist models of job creation and elimination. Connectivism is a theory that seeks to come to terms with the way in which women and men already are forced to change jobs, and forced to deal with the stressful atmosphere of constant learning and training that so much of the contemporary working world demands. Might there not be room for a theory of learning that challenges this situation rather than simply acquiescing to it?
Further, does connectivism apply to all fields of knowledge? Although in his 2004 paper ”Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” Siemens claims that ”The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe” (George Siemens, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm, accessed 29.3.2009), this seems an overly-broad assertion. In at least some areas of the humanities, for example, the pipe is present but it delivers sub-standard materials. Many (if not most) of the most current critical editions of texts, for example, are still not available on-line. Is this situation field-specific, a function of the relatively early stage of digitization of texts, or a flaw in the theory of connectivism?
As noted above, in 2004 Siemens responded to critiques of connectivism in his article “Connectivism: Learning Theory or Pastime for the Self-Amused?”. Siemens begins with what reads to the present author like a peevish criticism of the author to whose critiques he was responding, for having focused on Siemens' own writing on connectivism rather than on subsequent conversation about the theory. He proceeds to a detailed socio-linguistic argument centering on the externalization of knowledge. Siemens concludes with a plea for response to the changed educational environment brought about by technological development, and an acknowledgement of the ultimate irrelevance of the enduring value of connectivism per se.
Sources
There are several online sources treating one or another aspect of connectivism. Here are a few:
http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wiki/Connectivism
http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wiki/ConnectivismArgumentCatalogue
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectivism_(learning_theory)
http://p2pfoundation.net/Connectivist_Learning_Theory_-_Siemens
