1. CHAT (Cultural Historical Activity Theory)CONNECTIVISMCHAT was developed by cognitive psychologists. Their focus is on how we develop understandings of the real world, draw meanings from that understanding, create learnings from those meanings and are motivated to respond to those learnings.Connectivism is a theory describing how learning happens in a digital age.CHAT was a term coined by Cole in 1996. It brought together his interest in cultural psychology and how culture is reflected in thinking and acting, with what he had learnt about cultural approaches to mind in Russian psychology when visiting Luria, as young psychologist. The colleague of Luria who is now best-known in the West is Vygotsky.Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, complexity, and self-organization theories. Siemens (2004) states, “A community is the clustering of similar areas of interest that allows for interaction, sharing, dialoguing, and thinking together.”Principle: “When there are no surprises I'm not learning much. It is when I react to disagreement and disconfirmation with curiosity rather than defensiveness that I learn most. When I facilitate others I try to encourage them to engage with disagreement in the same constructive way. That builds deeper understanding and better, more practical, more shared theory.” CHAT based inquiry combines three components:A systems component – that helps us to construct meanings from situationsA learning component – a method of learning from those meanings A developmental component – that allows us to expand those meanings towards action.Principle: Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual.Learning occurs when knowledge is actuated through the process of a learner connecting to and feeding information into a learning community. In the connectivist model, a learning community is described as a node, which is always part of a larger network.Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical.Seven basic propositions for CHAT:1-Activity Theory is based on the proposition that learning is a social and cultural process not simply a biological process.2-‘Activity’ is what happens when human beings operate on their environment in order to satisfy a needs state.3-Information must flow through the activity system in order for the desired result to be achieved.There are two types of information. 4-We use tools to manipulate our environment and to get information from the environment. The tools we use mediate (or shape) the way we do the work5-The human systems – social, cultural and organizational – within which we work, also mediate the ways in which we conduct our activities.The nature of our social relationships, and the ways in which an organization is structured, are the product of the cultural and historical traditions and experiences that have been transmitted to individuals and groups by those who went before. Finally those cultural and historical perspectives also play a large part in determining what we think of as being our higher level needs those beyond survival and reproduction) and thus in defining not just how we work, but also why we work.6-The Learning Proposition:When the tools, rules, community and organization operate as expected those within an activity system proceed by conducting standardized tasks with predictable results. But the system will often be interrupted by unanticipated events (disturbances), or surface underlying tensions between elements of the system (contradictions). When a team, program or organization encounters these it will founder unless it is able to learn how to deal with these issues. Thus disturbances and contradictions in system components allow us to learn about the “real” world7-The Developmental Proposition:When a contradiction’s potential as a springboard is triggered by the actions of system participants they enter a ‘Cycle of Expansive 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.<br />CHAT<br />REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY Kop, R., & Hill, A. (2008). Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning , 2-13.Paul, C., & Williams, B. (n.d.). Actrix Networks Limited. Retrieved September 29, 2011, from www.kapiti.co.nz/bobwill/activity.docSiemens, G. (2006). Knowing knowledge. www.knowingknowledge.com.<br />