Connectivisim

In Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age (2004), George Siemens identifies the following important 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.

My Connections:

Click here to view a larger version of My Connections.

In the mind map above, I have identified my most significant learning connections. Although the basis of connectivism lies within the digital realm, I have established some very important non-digital learning connections. These personal connections include my friends and family members, and contacts I have made in my career. I look to others who have more life experience, and career experience within my field as important resources to learn from.

Digitally speaking, the Internet, obviously, is the doorway to numerous learning connections. It provides the ability to learn through browser searches such as Google and Google Scholar, and connect to others I may learn from through social networking. My RSS reader, although not necessary for establishing connection, allows me to zero in on content important to my learning such as news and blogs.

The connections I have established through Walden University are central to my learning in the field of instructional design. The digital format allows me to connect and learn from course resources, library resources, and experiences and resources shared by my classmates.

Digital technology provides so many ways to connect that many of my connections have begun to overlap. For example, I use my RSS reader to keep track of Instructional Design blogs including those written by my fellow students. Within these blogs, my classmates share resources and their experiences, just as they do within the course discussion threads. I now have two ways to connect to classmates who are a valuable part of my learning.

I am not certain that my personal learning network has increased my ability to learn, but it definitely has provided more opportunity for me to learn. As a child, when I would ask my parents a question, they would tell me to look up the answer in the dictionary or encyclopedia. Today, I search for answers to my questions on the Internet; instead of receiving one explanation, I instantly receive hundreds. My personal learning network supports the tenets of connectivism because my connections, made possible by the advance of digital technology, have increased my capacity to learn.

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved October 10, 2010 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm .