Constructing Knowledge

The act of acquiring knowledge may not be as straightforward as we may have previously thought.  Connectivism has a core proposition — knowledge is not acquired. Within this theory, it explains that knowledge is constructed and built from connections rather than absorbed. When we think about learning in a scientific lense, this statement of knowledge not being acquired actually makes a good amount of sense.

Although a memory begins with perception, it is encoded and stored using the language of electricity and chemicals. Here’s how it works: Nerve cells connect with other cells at a point called a synapse. All the action in your brain occurs at these synapses, where electrical pulses carrying messages leap across gaps between cells. The electrical firing of a pulse across the gap triggers the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.

These neurotransmitters diffuse across the spaces between cells, attaching themselves to neighboring cells. Each brain cell can form thousands of links like this, giving a typical brain about 100 trillion synapses. The parts of the brain cells that receive these electric impulses are called dendrites, feathery tips of brain cells that reach out to neighboring brain cells.

In order to enrich these memories or new concepts, we repeat the information in our heads and apply it to truly remember it. So with all this in mind, just acquiring knowledge will not mean anything until you apply it; or in other words connect it things around you.

George Siemens explains connectivism in this analogy: “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.” What we can take from this is that if we do not apply our knowledge and seek out for more, we will not progress. Imagine if scientist just accepted what we know about certain diseases and didn’t try to further investigate. Knowledge is only useful when use to progress.