Perspective on Connectivism

The rate at which digital tools are evolving is increasing at an ever faster rate. The Macarthur Foundation (2008) states that

          Social network sites, online games, video-sharing sites, and gadgets such as iPods and mobile 

          phones are now fixtures of youth culture. They have so permeated young lives that it is hard 

          to believe that less than a decade ago these technologies barely existed.

Not only have these technologies become a part of everyday life, they undeniably have had a major impact on how we interact and communicate. As educators, we have a responsibility to create learning environments in which our students feel comfortable and to promote student learning outcomes. The 'look' of learning environments needs to undergo a shift to take advantage of the way students inter-relate in virtual environments, collaborate in social networks and develop understanding by participating in this inter-connected way.

Connectivism provides some guiding principles that are extremely useful for the above purpose, but there are still some questions around whether this can be classed as a new theory of learning or is a framework to guide our approach to structuring learning experiences for digital natives. 

The de Bono's Hats Wiki Connectivism in Education provides an insight into a couple of perspectives when considering the validity of Connectivism as a learning theory. Value is placed on the current connection to the ways in which some learning occurs in social networks and how learning is advanced through this process. Concern is expressed with regards to the narrowness of its scope as Connectivism doesn't recognise that not all bodies of knowledge will evolve through making connections in online learning communities. The main point that I can share from this engagement activity is that Connectivism has a lot to add to the process of understanding how e-learning is different from traditional learning and over time with empirical testing, Connectivism may become an accepted learning theory.

University of Illinois-Urbana (2011), Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism and connectivism, retrieved 29th August 2013 from http://ci484-learning-technologies.wikispaces.com/Behaviorism,+Cognitivism,+Constructivism+%26+Connectivism

The Macarthur Foundation (2008), Living and learning with new media: summary of findings from the digital youth project, retrieved 29th August 2013 from http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/files/report/digitalyouth-WhitePaper.pdf