Group items tagged

The resource linked here is a page to the first lesson of a MOOC on connectivism and connective knowledge. This page features several resources on connectivism, many f which are from Siemens and Downes themselves.

This article explains the differences between behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and connectivism. The author makes the argument that behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism all have limitations to learning in the digital world. The author argues that connectivism is a beneficial learning model, especially in the digital era.

his article points out how the rapid increase of technology in our lives is changing how we need to educate. A few areas it points to in supporting this argument is the trend that knowledge is often not following a linear path, how the half life of knowledge is becoming shorter and shorter and how the capacity to learn more outweighs the amount of knowledge currently known. Connectivism becomes important when facing these challenges because it allows us to have access to a much broader range of knowledge than we would otherwise. Often times in our world today the collective knowledge of many individuals is more valuable than the sole knowledge of a single expert.

This article goes over the differences between connectivism, cognitivism and behaviorism. Society is changing and how we interact with people has changed.

This blog post appears to be a reflection on what the author learned during her first week in the MOOC offered by Siemens and Downes on Connectivism in 2008! I like that the author, having tackled the assigned first-week readings for the MOOC, still finds connectivism to be ambiguous. This makes me feel a little less alone, as it reflects my own opaque understanding of the theory!

This article is actually a blog on connetivism. THe author of this post focuses on "sensemaking". He defines it as, Sensemaking is an activity that individuals engage in daily in response to uncertainty, complex topics, or in changing settings. Sensemaking is not about truth or right from wrong, bu rather about making information make sense.

Here is a great blog site from George Siemens where he posts on various topics in education and their relativity to connectivism. The blog has not been updated in some time, but there is still a lot of great info on the site.

This website page is the perfect summary of what Connectivism is and what it really represents. Stephen Downes states, "Learning is the creation and removal of connections between the entities, or the adjustment of the strengths of those connections. " This is probably the best resource I have found for truly understanding what Connectivism really is.

Two more of those "C" words- helping to discern between them. The argument here is that connectivism is new, thus the misspelled word suggestion every time I type it in, whereas Constructivism is the "old" term and connectivism brings in more social media use to let people be more connected. I'll have to book mark the other blog they mention so look for that to be posted soon.

Mark, I agree with your point, although my thought is that Siemens and others associated with the theory would not discount the importance of offline interaction (traditional social constructivism) but rather highlight the new opportunities to learn that until now where being ignored in formal educational settings.

This blog talks about online education specifically science in an online environment. The blog post attached here talks about connectivism vs. constructivism. The post runs through how both of these learning theories discuss how students learn. The blog then goes into his takes on constructivism and connectivism.

"...it is becoming increasingly important to develop the ability to know where to find information, rather than know the information itself." Connectivism within the realm of PLN

I think it helps to pull all of this information together when you can identify ways in which these foundations can be related to one another. I also appreciate the short and concise nature of the post - the author gets right to the point!

This was an interesting read. I appreciated the author's written style. I found her overview of connectivism to be very helpful. In it, she outlines Siemens' eight principles of connectivism. I found the following most interesting: The "capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known." The focus on lifelong learning as a process is probably my favorite part about this theory. It truly democratizes knowledge and values those who make an effort to continue to grow. Thanks for sharing!

A new chapter in Tony Bates' open source textbook, this one dealing with COPs - what they are, designing effective ones and learning through them.

@Terrence. I too liked the comments section which is ironically appropriate seeing that the article was about communities of practice. I think that Downes is viewed as a kind of expert in connectivism and social learning. I have read a few things on his blog through the process of this research and they are quite good. He also co-teaches an MOOC on connectivism with Siemens through the University of Manitoba.

I found this interesting at the end when the questions were posted. It made me think of things that I hadn't yet....Can we force these communities or do they just happen naturally and do I think they can replace other forms of education. I have not sorted those out in my own mind yet but I like that they stopped me to think about.

This webpage breaks down what a PLN is among teachers and also has some great videos. It provides some helpful resources that encourages teachers to join a PLN or create one. The simple break down of a PLN is helpful when someone is just starting out, or conducting research on a PLN.

This blog entry provides a basic definition for a Personal Learning Network(PLN) and links to supporting videos to conceptualize a PLN. This blog is appealing since it addresses PLNs from a teacher perspective. It further addresses how PLNs help educators stay connected.There is a nice visual of ways to create and grow a PLN.

This blog explains way more than simply the definition of a PLN, which makes it a great resource. This is a site that I plan to reference in the future in our 543 class as we proceed with our PLNs. I'm really glad I found this one.

Suggests that understanding how members of a learning community converse is an important component of understanding connectivism. The tone of the interactions in a forum rely on the design and management of the space. Furthermore, learning depends on sharing in conversations and interactions which themselves can be meaningful activities. During communication among learners, there is a balance of what is good for each individual and the ability to move towards a common purpose.

In this article, Andrew Ravenscroft explores a "dialogue rich view of connectivism" and how we can develop learners that can "think, reason and analyse." He takes inspiration from social constructivist theory to focus on dialogue as a vehicle for learning. Ravenscroft begins by detailing Siemens 8 principles of connectivism. He then asks 3 questions: how can we understand the dialogue processes of a networked world, what dialogue features make for quality connections and how do we design to promote quality connections. He starts to explore the questions with Socrates and the Socratic method. This method has applications for 21st century learning. He reviews Hegel's dialectic as well. Ravenscroft maps these positions to connectivism because dialectic helps refine knowledge from a diversity of opinions, supports the capacity to know more, consideration of alternative viewpoints, fosters a constant evolution of knowledge, and promotes critical and collaborative dialogue. Then he discusses dialogic processes and how they map to connectivism. Dialectic and dialogic can work, not in opposition, but together in different aspects. Dialectic focuses on the epistemic and cognitive dimensions of learning, while dialogic focuses more on emotional and interpersonal aspects. The author then details dialogue game interactions and how they can foster learning. To be successful they need to balance orchestration and openness. This article proposes that language and dialogue remain a "most powerful semiotic system."

What a fascinating article. Ravenscroft's discussion of a scaffolded system to build a learner's dialogic skills reminds me of research I did for my EdTech504 class on self-regulated learning. Roger Azevedo is developing and experimenting with a similar game, MetaTutor, which scaffolds student learning as well. I think self-regulation is complex and difficult to teach in the classroom, and am amazed that researchers are creating software to build self-efficacy!

How two teachers put into practice a connected network of learners. This article features two teachers who worked to connect their students across the globe. Both classes in California and South Africa joined via Twitter, Skype and blogging as they read and experienced a shared novel. Each class offered different learning opportunities. The learners grew as readers and writers, but also as a community of connected learners.

This source is a Wiki on connectivist learning theory. The Wiki goes a little bit deeper than other articles I have read and is well organized. I especially liked the discussion at the end of the Wiki as it gives some good ideas to think about in regards to connectivism.

This Wiki article explores the theory of connectivist learning. The theorist argue that educators have long believed experience has been considered the best teacher of knowledge. "Since we cannot possibly experience everything, other people's experiences, and other people, become the surrogate for knowledge." In other words, learning by forming connections may be a better way to acquire learning in the digital age. http://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Connectivist_Learning_Theory_-_Siemens

I agree with your comment that there is no way we can learn everything and being able to connect with others to add to our knowledge is the only way we are going to be able to keep up with the changing digital age. I think the principle of connectivism say it all: Principles of connectivism - Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. - Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. - Learning may reside in non-human appliances. - Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known - Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. - Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.