User:Aboluay/conn

This is a sandbox where connectivism is re-written

Connectivism is theoretical framework that reflects on the complexity of learning in a world of information proposed by George Siemens in 2005, then augmented by Stephen Downes through his work about networked knowledge. They both work on facilitating an online course that apply connectivism to teach the concept itself.

In this framework, the starting point for learning occurs when knowledge is triggered through the process of a learner connecting to and feeding information into a learning community, refereed to as a node, which is part of a larger network. A network, in turn, is described as two or more nodes linked in order to share resources. Nodes may be of varying size and strength, depending on the concentration of information and the number of individuals who are navigating through a particular node.

The theory faced some criticism. Kob refuted that it as a theory. Bill Kerr challenged the idea and argued that it is an amalgamation of older learning theories. Others critiqued some other aspects like the enrollment in the MOOC course, or that the work relied heavily on the blogsphere which is not a scholarly approach.{citation} At the same time, the supporters of the idea is increasing in academia as well as among non-academic learners.{citation}

Its contribution to the field of education is however better understood when treated as a branch of the movement of Open Education that puts a special emphasis on social interaction.{citation}

Connectivism as a Network
One aspect of connectivism is the use of a network with nodes and connections as a central metaphor for learning. In this metaphor, a node is anything that can be connected to another node within a network such as an organisation: information, data, feelings, images. Connectivism sees learning as the process of creating connections and developing a network. Not all connections are of equal strength in this metaphor; in fact, many connections may be quite weak. The idea of organisations being cognitive systems where knowledge is distributed across a network of nodes can be traced back to the work of March and Simon. This metaphor is directly borrowed from Connectionism, a paradigm in cognitive sciences that sees mental or behavioral phenomena as the emergent processes of interconnected networks.

This network metaphor allows for a notion of "know-where" (the understanding of where to find the knowledge when it is needed) to supplement to the ones of "know-how" and "know-what" that make the cornerstones of many theories of learning.

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.
 * Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
 * Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Connectivist teaching methods
Summing up connectivist teaching and learning, Downes states: "to teach is to model and demonstrate, to learn is to practice and reflect."

In 2008, Siemens and Downes delivered an online course called "Connectivism and Connective Knowledge". It covered Connectivism as content while attempting to implement some of their ideas. The course was free and open to anyone who wished to participate, with over 2000 people worldwide signing up. The phrase "Massive Open Online Course" was coined to describe this open model. All course content was available through RSS feeds, and learners could participate with their choice of tools: threaded discussions in Moodle, blog posts, Second Life, and synchronous online meetings. The course was repeated in 2009.

Criticisms
Connectivism proposes a perspective similar to the Activity theory of Vygotsky as it regards knowledge to exist within systems which are accessed through people participating in activities. It also bears some similarity with the Social Learning Theory of Bandura that proposes that people learn through contact.

The idea put forward that connectivism provides a new theory of learning hasn't received wide acceptance. Pløn Verhagen, for instance, has argued that connectivism is not a learning theory, but rather is a "pedagogical view." .

A difficulty indeed is that the elaborations on Connectivism fail to include any review of the literature and no mention of prior work in this area. It is therefore quite difficult to evaluate how Connectivism, introduced in the mid-2005, relates to prior theories of social learning. In particular, the notion of Socially Distributed Cognition (Hutchins, 1995), which explored how connectionist ideas could be applied to social systems. But also other theories that adhere to more classical views of cognition. The Activity theory (Vygotsky, Leont’ev, Luria, and others starting in the 1920) that proposed that people are socio-culturally embedded actors, with learning considered using three features – involving a subject (the learner), an object (the task or activity) and tool or mediating artefacts. The Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1962) and the assumption that people learn by watching what others do which was elaborated further in the Social learning theory (Miller and Dollard). The notion of Situated cognition (Greeno & Moore, 1993), that all knowledge is situated in activity bound to social, cultural and physical contexts;  knowledge and learning that requires thinking on the fly rather than the storage and retrieval of conceptual knowledge. The concept of Community of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991) - it is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally. Or even the idea of Collective_intelligence (Lévy, 1994).

The absence of reference to prior works makes it difficult to evaluate what their unique contribution is (if any). Bill Kerr, for instance, believes that, although technology does affect learning environments, existing learning theories are sufficient. The critique is further elucidated in who concludes that while it does not seem that connectivism is a separate learning theory, it "continues to play an important role in the development and emergence of new pedagogies, where control is shifting from the tutor to an increasingly more autonomous learner."{opinion}

Dr. Mohamed Ally at Athabasca University recognizes that world has changed and become more networked, so learning theories developed prior to these global changes are less relevant. However, he argues that, "What is needed is not a new stand-alone theory for the digital age, but a model that integrates the different theories to guide the design of online learning materials." .