Connectivism. Is it a learning theory?

Human beings are holistic in nature; therefore connections are pivotal to our very existence. Before birth, we were all connected to our maternal parent literally. Scientifically, this was our first external connection ‘from within’. As development progresses, it became more natural to make connections, not just internally, with our subconscious, but with the external world around us. As a learned individual, who is determined to be a scholar practitioner, there is no exception to what I called ‘The book of the rule’. This ‘book’ or ‘guideline’ allows us to be the individuals that we would like to be as progression continues in life. On becoming a scholar, I am expected to relate/connect to individuals from all walks of life, therefore, what better way to rehearse this connectivity, but with anyone who shares or differs with my opinions and beliefs. George Siemens, a theorist on learning in a digitally-based society, defines connectivism as the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories. He further stated that the starting point of connectivism is the individual, and that personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to the individual. As a future scholar practitioner, I am that individual, as can be seen in the mind map shown in the figure below.






In this the age of technology, one cannot say the word without thinking ‘log on’. The very act of ‘logging on’ is, in itself, a connection. With this initial connection, come several different types of connectivity. This connectivism aids in the process of learning, as I am able to communicate, and collaborate with different individuals in different strata of the global society. Some of these connections are social, like twitter, facebook, and ning; some are professional, like teacher tube, ConnectEd, and the United Federation of Teachers; while others are educational/academic, like blogs, scribd, TED, my Walden University portal, wikispaces, and google documents. In connecting with the social (social networking technologies) websites, I feel a sense of appreciation as I learn about past and present friends and acquaintances, as well gaining knowledge and incites about places, ‘famous/popular’ people, and activities that worth pursuing. From a professional standpoint, the websites within my practicing profession serve as information and knowledge share, as there are mutual benefits between both parties, the professional sites and myself. Even though the communication and collaborative activities within the social and professional sites are interesting and meaningful to learning, I most benefit from the educational/academic sites. As a scholar practitioner in training, blogging with my peers and other academe is helpful in that I learn the rudiments of peer-review, a critical aspect of all scholars. Wikispaces and google docs are equally interesting as they serve the same purposes as blogger to a trainee scholar. Scribd is also an academic endeavor, as it allows for scholarly sharing of academic documents. TED, like the academic sharing community mentioned, is more of a vidoeblog of academic endeavours.

Therefore, even though there are strong arguments surrounding the acceptance of Siemens connectivism as a learning theory within the technological arena, people are benefiting from the varied experience that they never once had before the wide development of technology. Communication and collaboration are now widespread. Individuals, within seconds, can reach across the globe without traveling a foot. As Siemens says, ‘learning is no longer a reservoir; it is a river that is flowing’. I believe the textbook is not the one bought in stores, as that is fast becoming obsolete; it is the other person with whom I am communicating and collaborating, as this discussion is current with the changing times.

Collaboration (A constructivist learning tool)

The day that an infant entered the world, is the day that he/she became natural to the reaction of the elements of life, as the medical personnel or representative thereof, welcome him/her with a gently slap on the buttocks. A response mechanism is automatically triggered, as the young child cried, signifying a connectedness to life and to people. This is the first sign of interactivity to the world. Overtime, this instinct is developed, as growth and maturity sets in. With this growth and maturity, coupled with interactivity and connectedness, socialization is formed. It is with this socialization tendency that individuals communicate, as they aim to relate to each other. This relation breeds cooperation. Howard Rheingold, in his TED Talk video on Collaboration, said that ‘cooperation, collective action, and complex interdependencies play an important role’. This role of collaborating with each other is significant, if interactivity is to be sustained, and the group, with its dynamics, is to be established.

In the theory of learning from the constructivist perspective, the approach to learning emphasizes authentic, and challenging projects that include students, teachers and experts in the learning community. The goal is to create groups or learning communities that are more closely related to the collaborative practice of the real world. Working collaboratively, allows individuals to develop their own framework and perspectives, such as modeling, discourse, and decision-making. The real world phenomenon acts as a guiding principle for individuals to ‘meet and greet’ each other physically, mentally, and technologically. The physical contact allows for the expression of emotions, a vital ingredient in life that is necessary for the release of tension and anxiety. In the mental issues, the ‘meeting of the minds’ allows for learning to transpire, thereby empowering the learners to fulfill their mental desires, as they seek to attain full learning capacity, which, of course, is unattainable, like full employment is, to the macroeconomic structures of government. Rheingold also spoke about the use of technology in the process of collaboration. Among his highlights are Google bloggers, Amazon, EBay, and Wikipedia.

Technology today plays a vital role in cooperation and collaboration. These two terms are buzz words for the constructivist. For individuals to collaborate, they must first cooperate. They should not see each other as rival competitors. A major collaborative tool used in today’s technology is Web 2.0. There is a large number of Web 2.0 tools; some of the more popular ones include Blogger, Podcasting, Social bookmarking, MySpace, YouTube, Delicious, Digg, Twitter, Flickr, Wikipedia, and Facebook. Many of these tools serve as Social Networking Technologies (SNTs), where individuals collaborate with each other via the Internet. During this collaboration, learning is occurring, and so the parties involved, benefit from the process.

Reference

Howard Rheingold on collaboration