Connectivism

I like the concepts introduced in the two connectivism articles we read this week by George Siemens. We learn by networking and using technology to find what we need when we need it. That certainly supports some of the work my company is doing around Performance Support and Communities of Practice. But to call it a separate learning theory just doesn't sit right with me.

To me, networking and using those connections are tools to help me learn. But it doesn't really speak to how I learn (making meaning, building on prior knowledge, etc.). To me, those are the learning theories of Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. Networked learning can be added as a tool to any of those learning theories.

I do think it's important to keep up with technology and integrate it into our learning, but I think those theories have held up well over the years. When considering how Constructivism relates to Connectivism, I see those groups of people in the network and some of those electronic tools that Siemens discusses serving as the More Knowledgeable Other for how I construct my own meaning. When considering how it impacts Cognitivism, I see some of those tools assisting in supporting my knowledge retrieval, so I don't have to store as much knowledge in my own brain, but know where to find the information at the moment of need.

Siemens says:  "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. ... As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses."  I can completely relate to this statement that we need to evolve our learning and the knowledge workers of today need to be able to adapt and change and learn new and better ways of doing things in the future. But that still doesn't address how we learn. The only way we can learn what we need for tomorrow is to have a good basis of knowledge now, so we can add to it and continue building on it and making connections.