May 06, 2024
A New(ish) Learning Theory
During the first week of class, I was introduced to a learning theory I was unfamiliar with: Connectivism. The brief introduction (or “primer” as Prof. O’Neil calls it) offered on the course site peaked my interest, and I decided that for my Week One portfolio artifact I would take some time to familiarise myself more with this theory.
Reflection
I read some of the original articles by Siemens and Downes outlining the key concepts of Connectivism. I also looked at more recent research that explored both current perspectives and criticisms of connectivism in its application. Finally, I used a Miro board to create a “Connectivism 101” mind map outlining a higher-level overview of the theory.
Instructions: Click on " see the board". Use + or - sign in bottom right-hand corner to zoom in and out. Click and drag to move across the board.What stood out to me when reading about Connectivism is the emphasis on the ability to find information, as opposed to having a store of knowledge. This struck home for me the impact that technology is having on education, and the different skill sets that need to be developed. With the “sum of human knowledge” at our finger tips, being able to navigate that information, as well as discern between valid and faulty sources are key skill as a learner.
In addition to this, there are several principles of Connectivism that I think will be especially relevant in my current practice:
Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions
Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill
Our team consists of individuals with different backgrounds, expertise, and experience. Harnessing that both in the design and facilitation of blended and online courses will be crucial for student success.
Decision-making is itself a learning process.
The learners who will be using the resources I build make stressful and high-impact decisions in their day to day work. Offering them an opportunity to practice the decision making process with real-life scenarios allows them a chance to learn the nuances of those scenarios in advance of facing them in reality.