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Implementing connectivism: reflections on a course design
After posting several blogs on my experience on open courses on my course where we explore the vision, purpose, and challenges as well as the benefits of open learning, I want to express my views on how I would go about implementing it in practice. At the moment, all of my teaching is online because of the lockdown. In my teaching context, online learning is meant to be in full effect. However, it is far from open learning, where students in principle would be more involved in knowledge creation and setting learning objectives. It is perhaps even further away from a connectivist approach (Downes 2005; Siemens 2005). Its principles, which are widely accepted as being generalizable to any connectivist learning context are summarised by Siemens (2004).
Connectivist Principles
I express my interpretation of the work of Siemens and Downes in a course I devised that takes a strong conectivism approach, based on some key principles devised by Siemens:Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions
Learning is a process of connecting specialised 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
For each activity in my course, I state how the principles set out above are realised.
My course is illustrated in a SWAY presentation found here:
Digital Skills for connective learning
Reflections on the Implementation
Because my outline of a digital skills course with connectivist elements in it is just an outline, it lacks details about the different ways I would encourage participants' critical reflection and how they would be able to explore concepts of currency in a fast-changing world. For example, they would be required to justify their choices of sources of information, the extent to which they can be sure about any assertion they make based on a source or sources and how relevant a piece of information is in their learning context and in today's world. They would need to demonstrate an ability to check 'information' and not simply take it on face value. To analyse concepts on several levels and from different perspectives. The problem with implementing such a course is that in its purist form, learners adopting a connectivist approach will be looking at a topic very much based on their own perspective. It would be difficult to tap into individual mindset in order to give feedback (like a tutor does where tasks and the direction of the course are set and controlled by the tutor). It does, however, allow for plenty of asking of critical questions like the above. The concept of connectivism isn't just useful in my opinion. I think in many cases it really should be the basis on which we plan and facilitate learning. Perhaps not in my (K-12) teaching/learning context, however, where not all but many students are used to more passive deferential form of 'learning'. They see the teacher as the font of knowledge - the one who not only directs learning but defines it in terms of 'knowledge', 'facts' or 'information'. As an example, they even ask permission to speak, even when asked to express themselves freely. For many of them, connectivism would be in conflict with the traditional concept of a course, though it is still possible to get them to enjoy task-based, self-directed learning. At their developmental stage, however, they are not quite 'world-wise' enough to know how to use that 'power' responsibly. It wouldn't deter me, because part of the exercise is about enabling them to acquire that needed experience. This kind of course, when applied in its purist form would suit older teens and adults, who know better what their professional and academic aims and challenges are.
Rhizomatic Learning
I do look for opportunities, however, to create and manage courses at least partly based on connectivist principles. And right now, when ALL teaching is online because of COVID-19, is an ideal opportunity to be more experimental. The current educational climate may be a great time to explore the rhizomatic learning (Cormier 2008) strand of connectivist thinking. Here, the focus is even more on the process more than the product, when compared with connectivism, to the extent that learners are seen as the curriculum - they decide the learning goals and the journey to those goals is a large part of what is studied. describing rhizomatic learning, Cormier (2008) writes:
'A rhizomatic plant has no centre and no defined boundary; rather, it is made up of a number of semi-independent nodes, each of which is capable of growing and spreading on its own, bounded only by the limits of its habitat' (Cormier, 2008).
Anyone can experience what this means by reading about it on Cormier's blog site, Rhizomatic 15 where he offers some real-life insights open courses. d106 facilitated by Jim Groom contains some elements of rhizomatic and connectivist learning.
References