{"id":1328,"date":"2019-09-26T13:26:56","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T19:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/?p=1328"},"modified":"2019-09-26T13:27:03","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T19:27:03","slug":"connecting-with-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/2019\/09\/26\/connecting-with-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting with Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Credit: Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the most important propositions\nand that have shaped the basis of Connectivism, is that technology and,\nespecially the internet, has changed the way people learn. Connectivism,\naccording to its creators, Siemens and Downes, is a learning theory for the\ndigital age. This theory states that knowledge and learning occur as we\ninterconnect and interact with information and with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowledge is not acquired, in the words of Downes (2007<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. […] 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. \u200b\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to this modern theory,\nknowledge is dynamic. New information emerges and is shared every second\nthrough networks, thanks to technological advances. Knowledge, then, is not\nacquired; rather, people consume and create their knowledge through their\nconnection to networks in a “Personal Learning Network” (PLN).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a network is no longer made\nup of just one teacher and textbooks, but students can connect directly with a\nsubject matter expert, they can have access to research, blogs, reviews,\narticles, documentaries, etc. that have been published about a specific topic, in\naddition, they can contribute with their research, opinions, and conclusions on\nthat topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AlDahdouh, Os\u00f3rio and Caires (2015<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This process happens motivated by the\nlearner’s curiosity, creativity, and freedom, and now, facilitated by\ntechnology. Networks allow students to learn anything, whenever and wherever.\nThat is why knowledge and learning will be lifelong experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Siemens (2004<\/a>), \u201cOur ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today.\u201d This statement is interesting, as it has a direct effect on the current education system and transcends into a reconstruction of what it is to be \u201ca learner\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks. <\/em>(Downes,\u00a02007<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that learning is not about\nbeing mere repeaters of information, but about having the ability to find,\nevaluate, share information at the time it is required. Students develop highly\nrefined skills to discern between facts and opinions, to evaluate the relevance\nand reliability of the information they find and consume, and to interconnect\nthis information across disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate goal of this practice is that education serves students to become successful, innovative, creative, responsible and participatory citizens in the service of their communities. In the words of Siemens (2010<\/a>), \u201ceducation has one vital task: to prepare individuals to be part of society, to contribute, to create, to share, to interact\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downes, S. (2007, February 03). What Connectivism is. Half an Hour.\nRetrieved from https:\/\/halfanhour.blogspot.com\/2007\/02\/what-connectivism-is.html<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age.\nRetrieved from www.itdl.org\/journal\/jan_05\/article01.htm<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ted Talks. (2010, April 13). TEDxNYED – George Siemens. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4BH-uLO6ovI&t=113s<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Connectivism has a core proposition \u2014 knowledge is not acquired. What does that mean? If knowledge is not acquired, then what instead?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[39,11],"class_list":["post-1328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning-theory","tag-socialnetworks","tag-connectivism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1328"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1334,"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions\/1334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joannadunlap.com\/5665fall19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}