Week 9 - Digital - Personal Learning Networks and Consecutiveness 29 January 2018

Before Class

After reading the required article 'Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age', fill out the following form with your responses to check your understanding of some of the key ideas within it. 

tinyurl.com/TMLConnectivism

Connecting and Collaborating

When we talk about digital and collaborative learning as the two main concepts behind the postgraduate programme, this linking of digital tools and collaboration acknowledges the critical role of information and communication technologies in enabling contemporary forms of collaboration. "The learners in the digital age are able to connect and collaborate with people beyond their physical environment. They can connect a range of information or data and draw on a range of perspectives to collaboratively generate and critique new ideas." (Starkey, 2012).

Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) and Environments (PLEs)

A personal learning network is an informal learning network that consists of those people who a learner interacts with and derives knowledge from. These may be people known personally, but equally they may be people who are only connected via the Web, and there may be no personal interaction, simply an exchange of learning. The term 'personal learning environment' (PLE) is sometimes used in conjunction with PLNs, but focuses more on the toolset that learners use in order to implement their learning networks. In essence, it is possible to have a personal learning network that is entirely face to face (though this would be rather limiting). In contrast a PLE assumes a digital toolset that will support the interactive learning process (EDUCAUSE, 2009).

Connectivism 

There are several principles of the theory of connectivism, as outlined by George Siemens in 2004, in his article “Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age” (Siemens, 2004). Siemens has also pioneered the types of online course that have been labelled 'MOOCs' (Massive Open Online Courses). Stephen Downes, who has worked with Siemens on these courses, emphasises that their style of MOOC is connectivist (cMOOC), while other types of MOOC use more conventional approaches. Downes has collected his extensive writing on connectivism into an online book (Downes, 2012).

Principles of Connectivism

Siemens (2004) summarises the eight principles of connectivism as:

1. Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
2. Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
3. Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
4. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
5. Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
6. Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
7. Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
8. 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.

References:

Downes, S. (2012). Connectivism and Connective Knowledge: Essays on meaning and learning networks. Retrieved from http://www.downes.ca/files/books/Connective_Knowledge-19May2012.pdf

EDUCAUSE. (2009). 7 things you should know about Personal Learning Environments. Retrieved from https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7049.pdf

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. eLearnSpace. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Starkey, L. (2012). Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge