Epistemological Frameworks for Learning
Siemens (2008b, p. 9) draws on the work of Driscoll in categorizing learning “into three broad epistemological frameworks” namely objectivism, pragmatism, and interpretivism. According to objectivism, reality is external to the mind, and knowledge and perception are experientially acquired. Pragmatism suggests that knowledge is a negotiation between reflection and experience, inquiry and action, and interpretivism posits that knowledge is an internal construction and is informed through socialization and cultural cues.
A fourth framework is also introduced, namely Downes’ (2006) theory of distributed knowledge, which is supported by Siemens (2008b) who sees “. . . the view of knowledge as composed of connections and networked entities …The concept of emergent, connected, and adaptive knowledge provides the epistemological framework for connectivism as a learning theory” (p. 10). Siemens sees the alignment between epistemologies and learning theories as detailed in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Alignment of Epistemologies and Learning Theories