Group items tagged

This article provides a definition and description of communities of practice. A community of practice is a social way to learn and share a common practice/activity/topic. Three implications are identified for learning: learning occurs through relationships, educators need to facilitate these communities for their students, and experience and activity lead to knowledge.

As learners, we can learn most, if not best, through our interactions and relationships with others. Co-participation in groups and/or activities are viewed equally as valuable as content delivered in traditional methods. Educators should strive to get students to include themselves in communities to learn through doing.

This article concludes by focusing on the implications for educators. It does not provide solutions but rather questions and ideas to consider.

This article defines the learning theory of connectivism and examines it in light of preexisting, more widely accepted learning theories to see if it fits in and should be accepted as a new learning theory for the digital age. They conclude that schools aren't quite ready to accept connectivism because it's a relatively new idea that is more relevant to students than the adults who make the decisions, and many of the adults aren't comfortable with that type of environment. Connectivism isn't to the place of being accepted as a new learning theory, though it is definitely influencing educational pedagogies.

This paper reviews and relates the connections between learning theories commonly associated with constructivist education. These theories include active learning pedagogies, experiential learning, anchored instruction, situated cognition, activity theory, authentic learning, and connectivism. With the advance of active and connected learning pedagogies, the author recognizes the need for a system to effectively apply the theories through education technology design and teaching practices. I found the article a great review of the research and work done to define these different theories and instructional methods. As I am noticing with each article, this author attests to the need for further work and research required to organize these theories into a useful framework for educational technology projects and activities

Connectivism is controversial as a learning theory. Many people don't see it as one of the majors like behaviorism, cognitivism, or constructivism but those 3 are falling short in terms of describing what is happening in the digital age. Connectivism can be described as distributed learning or using information outside of your primary knowledge. The author thinks that connectivism should be the new constructivism.

This article discusses the needs of learners in the digital era and explains how connectivism is beneficial to current students. The author focuses on connectivism's ability to promote higher order thinking and explains how connectivism can be used in formal education.

This research was published by the U.S. Department of Education on the role on Online Communities. Essentially, the research found that online learning Communities of Practice produce a wide range of values for educators, including immediate and potential value. The primary focus of this research was the role of Community Designers and the questions, concerns, and topics that must be addressed when creating a successful learning community involving educators. While member participation is the key to a successful community, there are other factors that play a major contribution in a group's success as a learning community that are addressed in this research.

This open textbook chapter defines and illustrates the concepts of connectivism. Additionally, it covers the learning principles behind it and explores how it applies to teaching and learning.

Interesting. The role of the teacher has vastly changed in this learning theory. We've gone from the "sage on the stage" to "a facilitator of learning" to "a person that helps kids connect to learning networks," and then learning just happens.

This resource is found in an online textbook called Teaching in a Digital Age. The section explains what connectivism is and applications it has to teaching and learning. The author explains that connectivism is still being developed and controversial compared to the other learning theories. This is another good resource to checkout to learn what connectivism is.

Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age by George Siemens was reprinted in an online textbook called "Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology." In the article, Siemens explains that the three oldest learning theories were based on a time when we lacked technology. He goes on to discuss the limitations each of the theories has on the individual that is exposed to technology. He then discusses connectivism and how it impacts learning in the digital-age.

These 5 tips for using connectivism in an eLearning environment are helpful in understanding how this learning theory can be seen in an educational setting. While not all learning environments are strictly eLearning, the same suggestions can apply to incorporating technology when possible.

SUMMARY: Connectivism teaches students skills that are not attached to time or space. Rather they are necessary in the fast-paced, ever-changing whirlwind we live in. The chart near the end clearly compares major educational theories and helped me see the connections and disconnects between them.

Great article. Chaos theory is so interesting. The study of pattern shifts is so real to this day and age. For example, I think the role of memes play a big part in our culture and this absolutely propels the chaos theory. Nice share Natalie!

Summary: The most useful part of this resource comes after the definition of Connectivism cited from Siemens. The author includes a graphic that compares Connectivism to other learning theories. In addition, a section is devoted to critics of Connectivism as learning theory who instead see it as a pedagogical view.

Beth Transue, a librarian at Messiah College, begins this article with the suggestion that librarian educators reflect the tenets of the connectivist learning theory when designing their information literacy instruction. Transue mentions how the adoption of this theory in the development of library instruction can happen very easily as many of the connectivist principles are already evident in the steps of the research process. Transue spends the majority of the rest of the article talking about how the connectivist theory is connected to the model of the networked student proposed by W. Drexler in 2010. According to Drexler, a student uses information from four different domains: information management, contacts, synchronous communication, and RSS. The information management domain essentially covers the traditional library resources. The contact domain covers those who should be part of the student's personal learning network such as teachers, librarians, and classmates. The synchronous communication domain covers platforms like Twitter and the RSS domain covers blogs, wikis, and other social networks. The author spends the next couple of pages offering very specific directions for librarians to address individual domains in their information literacy instruction. Transue concludes the article by talking about what an information literacy session rooted in the connectivist theory might look like.

Hi Kelly, Interesting article. In one of the videos I found, the connection between research and connectivism was highlighted. I had not thought about that before, but it makes sense! And I've always enjoyed research, so good to know I've already been practicing connectivism on some level.