In George Siemes’ article, Connectivism: A Learning Theory for Digital Age, he explains how learning is external and knowledge can be enabled by information flow from a variety of networks and information sets. Today, information is exchanged and updated through numerous sources such as blogs, wikis, journals, etc, which was not available during the time Cognitivism and Behaviorism theories took off. Constructivism is similar to Connectivism because it requires the individual to use research and discovery to obtain knowledge but Connectivism takes learning one step further. George Seigal describes Connectivism with these principles:
- 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.
The digital age does categorize the times we are living and thus has influenced the way we learn. Educational videos were a great use of instruction during the 50’s and 60’s, which was a time that cognitive thinking was introduced. These were a great tool to use in the classrooms because students were able to learn about a wide variety of topics using a different approach than strictly textbooks and lectures. But, the use of educational videos in the classroom were abused in many school districts and proved to be less effective. As more and more educational films were made available, teachers started using them as a replacement for instruction and eventually the students lost interest in what the videos entailed. Educational videos slowly faded out in the late 70’s as teachers wanted to gain back control of their classrooms and change the way curriculum was to be taught.
Nowadays, teachers are using the web as a tool for instruction and the dominant resource for information and research. Within the last 7 or 8 years, the amount of information on the web has grown substantially and many school districts and even corporate offices have been putting less restrictions on the kind of websites that are made available for use. Are we losing control of the kind of resources that our students and employees can and cannot use? How do we test the validity behind where people got their information? If it is true that learning rests in the diversity of opinions, then how do we distinguish fact from theory?
The web is a great tool for research, but it is also enables distraction. Going to the library, looking up a book, taking a book to a quiet corner, then writing notes from the book is a process that is important for learning purposes. It keeps us focused. The environment does not entail advertisements to interrupt our reading, an instant message from a friend, an invitation to a chat room or a link to a funny Youtube video. It does not remind us that we need to update our Facebook or see what so and so is up to on Myspace. Bringing a laptop into a classroom invites students to multitask during instruction, and there are many studies that show how ineffective multi-tasking is.
It is just a matter of time that teachers will feel that they have lost control of their classrooms and will demand a new approach to teaching. Companies will want to control the information flow within their networks and may even adopt a more strict or basic way of doing business. There needs to be a balance of new world and old world thinking. We cannot depend on the internet for all purposes because there is a high risk involved. This includes frequent distraction, misinformation, vulnerability to viruses and hackers, and the inability to continue to work without being connected online.
The world is changing and so is the way we learn. The web is a great source for educational purposes but there needs to be boundaries set. Because there is so much information available and there are new sites developed every day, it is difficult to distinguish facts from opinions. One would need to spend a lot of time on the web to really be able to test the validity of where the information was taken from. With the endless amount of other things you can do on the web, the chances of testing what is valid may only go so far until you are distracted with doing something else.
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