Connectivism 101

Slide 1: Conne c tivis m 101: For the Curious November 12, 2007 University of Alaska Fairbanks George Siemens Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 2: What was happe ning : late 90’s /e arly 00’s • Network effect was experientially manifested • Control was shifting • User generated content • Lower barriers: We could create, collaborate, share with relative ease Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 3: What was happe ning in late 90’s /e arly 00’s • Information explosion accelerating • Edublog community rapidly developing • Learning from each other: distributed, co-formation of understanding • Rise of everyone Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 4: Le arning didn’t fe e l like the the o rie s s aid Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 5: We ne e d a vie w o f le arning that re c o g nize s : • Changing information base (capacity to know) • Role of technology • Place/time shifted collaboration • Shared sense making • Life long learning • Connected specialization • Diversity • Principality of connections Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 6: Contributing fac tors • Dissatisfied learners • Engagement • Changing world: how we relate to information • Upheaval in information fields (blame the network) – News, music, video, software, scholarship Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 7: Le arning/life had c hange d Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 8: The few be c ame the ne twork Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 9: Points of failure • Unneeded control • LMS models (centralized/clunky) – Good for administrators – Terrible for learners and faculty • LOs starting to peel hype layer • Structured and planned=outdated Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 10: He is e nbe rg princ iple of information/le arning: if you c an de s c ribe it, it has c hange d Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 11: Origin Lots of stuff before I ever got here • 2003 article – networks, ecologies • 2004 article – self-published • 2005 – IJTDL • 2005 – Downes: Connective Knowledge • 2006 – Wilson: “The diagram” • Simultaneous: networked learning • Edublog space exploded (see edublog • awards) Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 12: Co nne c tivis m: The o ry o f le arning de ve lo pe d in the manne r it s tate s le arning o c c urs • Downes, Cross, Richardson, Verhagen, Kerr, Anderson, Blackall, Sessums, Fisher, Hiebert, Wilson, Fiedler (plus a few hundred others) • How did they contribute? • Why did they contribute? • How’s that for authentic? Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 13: What is c onne c tivis m? • Knowledge distributed • Learning as networked process (i.e. forming connections) • Principles form base of all design Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 14: Thre e leve ls : • Neural • Conceptual (Sweller, Novak) • External (people, information sources) Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 15: But is that le arning? Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 16: “More than anything else, being an educated person means being able to see connections that allow one to make sense of the world and act within it in creative ways” William Cronon, 1998 Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 17: The ne two rk be c ame the lo c us o f c hang e Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 18: What is knowledge ? Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 19: Whe re is it found? Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 20: “All the knowledge is in the connections” David Rumelhart Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 21: Le arning in re latio ns hip to kno wle dg e and mind • Distributed – – Hutchins – Not “in skull” – Spivey et. al. – “not always inside brain” – Bereiter – “knowing outside the mind” • Externalization – Wittgenstein, Vygotsky • Socialization – Papert, Piaget, Bruner, Bandura Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 22: The ne two rk be c ame a le ve r o f influe nc e Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies

Slide 23: The aim: Deep understanding • Complex worldviews • Multi-context • Assimilative/adaptive • Agility/stability (Oblinger) • Learning Technologies Centre www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies