CONNECTIVISM

Learning Theory
As compared with other
Learning Theory

https://scope.bccampus.ca/
Connectivism as Learning
Theory
- Definition of connectivism
- Founders of the learning theory
- Principles of connectivism
- Difference between Connectivism
and Cognitivism
- Difference between Connectivism
and Behaviorism
- Difference between Connectivism
and Constructivism
CONNECTIVISM
Connectivism was first introduced in 2005 by two theorists, George
Siemens and Stephen Downes.
Connectivism is a relatively new learning theory that suggests students
should combine thoughts, theories, and general information in a
useful manner. It accepts that technology is a major part of the
learning process and that our constant connectedness gives us
opportunities to make choices about our learning. It also promotes
group collaboration and discussion, allowing for different viewpoints
and perspectives when it comes to decision-making, problem-solving,
and making sense of information. Connectivism promotes learning
that happens outside of an individual, such as through social media,
online networks, blogs, or information databases (Western Governors
University, 2021).
CONNECTIVISM
It’s clear that technology is changing how students learn in
and out of the classroom. Rather than learning from
teachers and textbooks, smartphones and laptops serve
as hubs of information for today’s students. In fact,
according to a 2015 study, 87% of college students
reported that they used a laptop every week for
schoolwork, while 64% reported using their
smartphone for schoolwork.
 Founders
STEPHEN DOWNES GEORGE SIEMENS

An Introduction to Connectivism: Learning

Connective Knowledge as a Network Creation
was published on 2005 was published online in 2004

Downes focuses on non- Siemens tends to focus on

human appliances and the social aspects of
machine-based learning. connectivism
 Eight Principles of
Connectivism
1. Learning and knowledge rests in the diversity of opinions.
2. Learning is a process of connecting.
3. Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
4. Learning is more critical than knowing.

theinclusionsolution.me nintendo-power.com independent.co.uk

 Eight Principles of
Connectivism
5. Nurturing and maintaining connections are needed for continual
learning.
6. The ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is
a core skill.
7. Accurate, up-to-date knowledge is the aim of all connectivist
learning.
8. Decision-making is a learning process. What we know today might
change tomorrow. While there’s a right answer now, it might be
wrong tomorrow due to the constantly changing information
climate.
 Learning and knowledge
rests in the diversity of
opinions.
The Internet allows anyone a voice and an opinion on any given topic.
The power of opinion and the debating of facts and non-facts is at
the crux of the issue of whether the Internet has truly had a positive
impact on our society at large. If one is to believe that learning and
britannica.com
knowledge rests in diversity of opinions, as stated by Siemens, then
structures need to be put in place to allow for such debates to take
place.
Learning is a process of
connecting Specialized
Nodes or Information Source
When data is free and open, new discoveries are always just around the
corner. A core literacy skill of today is the ability to connect
information sources to get a new or more complete view on any
given subject. This is explained best by the creator of the World
Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, in his 2010 Ted Talk: The Year Open
Data Went World Wide.
 “...if people put data onto the web—government
data, scientific data, community data, whatever it
is…it will be used by other people to do

“
wonderful things, in ways that they never could
have imagined” (Berners-Lee, 2010).

theverge.com
 Learning may Reside in Non-
Human Appliances
In every classroom of today, educators are faced with looking at the
backs of devices in-stead of the faces of their students. With the rise
of Artificial Intelligence (AI) several imperative questions
challenges classroom educators:
1. How do educators embrace these devices entering their classrooms
and learning spaces?
2. What is the implication when students have the power to learn on
their own, aided by a device with little input from the humans
running them?
3. What is the role of the instructor in teaching students how to be
critical consumers of all the content they encounter?
alexeko.com
 Capacity to know more is
more critical than what is
currently known
A multitude of information is created on the Internet each day. The
quantity of the content is increasing; however, the quality of that
en.wikipedia.org content must be thoughtfully filtered by its consumer. This includes
taking a close look at the source as well as the protocol for
publication and review of the source. Because of the rise of the
prosumer, there is a rapidly growing information landscape that
must continually be assessed and re-assessed.
Because of this new information landscape, knowledge must be
measured in months, not years (Gonzalez, 2004).
 “One of the most persuasive factors is the

“
shrinking half-life of knowledge” (Siemens,
2005).

en.wikipedia.org
 Capacity to know more is
more critical than what is
currently known
The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is
gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today
was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the
medium.com world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18
months according to the American Society of Training and
Documentation (ASTD).
In a knowledge economy, the capacity to learn, unlearn, and relearn
quickly is another core skill. What is true today may not be true
tomorrow. Furthermore, the majority of the students today have
grown up within this rapidly changing information landscape and
need to understand how to find and use the information they have at
their fingertips.
“
“Capacity to know more is more critical than
what is currently known” (Siemens, 2005)

en.wikipedia.org
Nurturing and Maintaining
Connections is Needed to
Facilitate Continual Learning
With the rise of the Internet and the free flow of information, the idea
that learning is an individual endeavor that one undertakes alone is
no longer true. With the collaborative nature of technology tools
and applications today along with over four billion people
connected to the Internet, there are few learning activities people
undertake alone. Connectivism presents a model of learning that
acknowledges the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no
longer an internal, individualistic activity (Siemens, 2005).
Nurturing and Maintaining
Connections is Needed to
Facilitate Continual Learning

forbes.com
Nurturing and Maintaining
Connections is Needed to
Facilitate Continual Learning
Ability to See Connections
between Fields, Ideas, and
Concepts is a Core Skill
Principle #6 of Connectivism starts to bring the theory into focus.
The application for students, is that they should be asked to use an open
and free information landscape and add to the creation of new
content. This includes seeing connections between fields, ideas, and
concepts, and creating new knowledge from them.
Ability to See Connections
between Fields, Ideas, and
Concepts is a Core Skill
Opening the walls of classrooms, sharing data, and allowing students
the ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is
not only a core skill but is the work that is done every day globally.
Up-to-date Knowledge is the
intent of all Connectivist
Learning Activities
In a world that is creating as much information every two days as it did
from the dawn of man through 2003 (Siegler, 2010), and the half-
life of knowledge is 18 months (Gonzalez, 2004), learning how to
find current and accurate up-to-date information is in itself a
learning activity.
This principle focuses on how one continues to keep knowledge
current, accurate, and up-to-date in today’s fast-paced information
landscape.
Up-to-date Knowledge is the
intent of all Connectivist
Learning Activities
The ability to access up-to-date information has never been
easier, and the need for users to critically analyze that
information for accuracy has never been more important.
These tools and methods that bring information to users’
fingertips are not new; they have been built into search
engines for years and represent core skills today’s
researchers rely on to get current, accurate in-formation.
Decision-making is itself a
Learning Process
The subtext of this principle includes: “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” (Siemens, 2005).
This last principle can best be summed up by the BREAKING NEWS
atmosphere of today. Breaking News is constantly happening. This,
in a connected information world, makes sense. Things are always
changing or “breaking.”
Connectivism in the Classroom
The new learning responsibilities shift from the teacher to the learner.
Unlike traditional teaching methods and other theories like
constructivism, cognitivism and behaviorism, the educator’s job is
to guide students to become effective agents for their own learning
and personal development. In other words, it’s up to the learner to
create their own learning experience, engage in decision making,
and enhance their learning networks.
More ways to incorporate
connectivism in the classroom
Social media
One way teachers implement connectivism is through the use of
classroom social media. For example, a class Twitter account can
be used to share information, engage in discussion or announce
homework tasks. This can help boost class engagement and open
the lines of discussion among students and teachers.
More ways to incorporate
connectivism in the classroom
Gamification
Gamification takes assignments and activities and puts them into
a competitive game to make learning more of an interactive
experience. There are many learning-based apps and
instructional technologies teachers can use to add an
element of gamification to the classroom.
Example:
DuoLingo, an online learning tool that helps students learn
languages through fun, game-like lessons;
Brainscape, Virtual Reality House;
Gimkit, Kahoot etc.
Pros of Connectivism:
It creates collaboration.
Within connectivism, learning occurs when peers are
connected and share opinions, viewpoints, and ideas
through a collaborative process. Connectivism allows
a community of people to legitimize what they’re
doing, so knowledge can be spread more quickly
through multiple communities.
Pros of Connectivism:
It empowers students and teachers.
Connectivism shifts the learning responsibilities from the
teacher to the student. It’s up to the learner to create
their own learning experience. The role of the
educator then becomes to “create learning ecologies,
shape communities, and release learners into the
environment” (Siemens, 2003).
It embraces diversity.
Connectivism supports individual perspectives and the
diversity of opinions, theoretically providing for no
hierarchy in the value of knowledge.
 Khillar 2021 posited the difference between Connectivism
and Cognitivism:

Connectivism is a learning theory that creates new learning

opportunities for individuals across the World Wide Web using

“
modern-day digital technologies. Rather than acquiring knowledge in
the traditional sense, Connectivism emphasizes on the entire process
of identifying, learning and contributing knowledge. Cognitivism, on
the other hand, focuses more on the inner process of learning and
views learning as retrieval and connections of stored information. It
believes learning is a proactive exploration of the learner who seeks
to build his knowledge structure (S. Khillar, 2021)
 How does Behaviorism differ from
Connectivism?
Gredler (2001) states that behaviorism as learning theory is largely
unknowable, that is, we can’t possibly understand what goes on inside
a person (the “black box theory”). He expresses behaviorism as being

“
comprised of several theories that make three assumptions about
learning:
 
Observable behavior is more important than understanding internal
activities, behavior should be focused on simple elements: specific
stimuli and responses, learning is about behavior change.
 Downes (2007) makes a clear distinction between
constructivism and connectivism:

In connectivism, a phrase like “constructing meaning” makes no

sense. Connections form naturally, through a process of association,

“
and are not “constructed” through some sort of intentional action. …
Hence, in connectivism, there is no real concept of transferring
knowledge, making knowledge, or building knowledge. Rather, the
activities we undertake when we conduct practices in order to learn
are more like growing or developing ourselves and our society in
certain (connected) ways.’
Thanks!
Presenter:
Christian F. basco
M.Ed. Social Studies
 References
Downes, S. (2005, January). An Introduction to Connective Knowledge. ResearchGate. Retrieved
December 15, 2021, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248290359_An_Introduction_to_Connective_
Knowledge
Gonzalez, C. (2004, September 4). The role of blended learning in the world of technology. Re-trieved from
http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/2004/september04/ eis.htm
Khillar, S. (2021, September 18). Connectivism and Cognitivism. Difference Between. Retrieved
December 15, 2021, from http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-
between-connectivism-and-cognitivism/
Siemens, G. (2017, January 1). Connectivism – Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design
Technology. Pressbooks. Retrieved December 13, 2021, from
https://lidtfoundations.pressbooks.com/chapter/connectivism-a-learning-theory-for-the-digital-age/
Utecht, J., & Keller, D. (2019). Becoming Relevant Again: Applying Connectivism Learning Theory to Today’s
Classrooms. Whitworth University, 1–13. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1219672.pdf
Western Governors University. (2021, May 27). Connectivism Learning Theory. Retrieved December 8, 2021,
from https://www.wgu.edu/blog/connectivism-learning-theory2105.html#close
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