Reflecting on Connectivism

Among the myriad of existing learning theories, it would seem that connectivism is the most readily accessible in terms of cultural relevance today. Connectivism, in many ways as a learning theory seems almost synonymous or a theoretical representation of the impact of the Internet age. Connectivism combines the social learning aspect of previous theories with the acknowledgement of “complex, system-based environments” (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). Connectivism is also based on the acknowledgement that information is abundant, constantly changing, and places importance on being able to distinguish which pieces of information are vital and which ones are not. Our learning not only depends on our skills with our social network but our network of systems and data on the Internet as well (Davis, Edmunds, & Kelly-Bateman, 2008).

I find that connectivism as a theory is mostly true to life for me in the 21^st century. I remember in middle school our computers had the old Netscape Navigator, and the Internet was around but I was nowhere near glued to it like I am today. Then, I was more likely to hear something at school or from someone I knew personally. And if they didn’t know it, then neither did I. And now even many of my social relationships are more often than not technology-mediated with social media like LinkedIn, or through emails, etc. The vast majority of my questions get answered by Google or YouTube or a blog post long before I need to reach out to one of them. However, there are times when I need advice or have a question that seems too complex to just do a Google search, and I often contact one of the people I’ve met from ASTD or Walden. Even in these times, the information that I’ve found using blog posts filtered through my RSS feed or some tid-bid I picked up on NPR (National Public Radio) will help advance the conversation in a more productive way than if I were to just call someone up and say, “I’m lost…” Doing the homework before placing a call to someone or writing them on LinkedIn shows that I put forth some initiative.

How I relate to my social and data network does seem to support the ideas behind connectivism and the way in which I have to harvest and sift data from several different sources in order to get where I want to go. There are so many avenues for data I know I missed several on my learning network map, but I was also trying to keep the thing from looking a mess as well.

Right now, there are algorithms that can synthesize financial data from several websites and compile the information into a single article that appears to have been written by a human. It’s a wild thought. But these sorts of things are coming at faster and faster rates. I think more of these aggregators and algorithms will help us to sort and sift information for us in the future, but there’s no telling exactly what that will look like in terms of “Web 3.0.” One thing is for sure: Our highly connected world shows no signs of slowing down.

References

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.),

Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Connectivism

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.). “Connectivism.”  Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4198570_1%26url%3D#global-nav-flyout.