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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

Cormier, D. (2008). Rhizomatic education: Community as curriculum. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 4(5), 2. http://davecormier.com/edblog/2008/06/03/ rhizomatic-education-community-as-curriculum/

Downes, S. (2005) An introduction to connective knowledge in Media, Knowledge & Education: Exploring new Spaces, Relations and Dynamics in Digital Media Ecologies, Theo Hug (editor) 77-102 Jul 08, 2008. Innsbruck University Press

Siemens, G. (2005) Connectivism: Learning as network-creation. ASTD Learning News, 10(1), pp.1-28.

Connectivism, EAP and ESOL Teaching/Learning

My best way of analysing and critiquing connectivism, whether as a pedagogical principal or as a learning theory is through the lens of my own learning and teaching. First, my teaching.  I am an EAP and an ESOL teacher.   For most of my learners, the content they learn (I am thinking of EAP primarily when I speak of ‘content’) work alongside the challenges they face as non-native speakers of English and grasping the academic culture viewpoint from which I work. Facing those challenges are very relevant and necessary for them because they either wish to study in English or studying in a western academic context or both and the western academic ‘ethos’ is dominant in the world they live in.  And of course, the other ‘world’ they live in is the one that Siemens (2005) and Downes (2005) in which Web 2.0 has given them new access to different forms of communication and ways of forming knowledge. The sociotechnical context for learning and education has changed and is now developing at such a rate due to the internet and other emerging technologies, that a new concept of learning and new approaches to teaching and learning are required.  For the EAP practitioner, this realisation came first in the form of distance learning via email communication with learners. Then the establishment of websites whereby learners could access materials related to a specific course, and now followed by tools for synchronous and asynchronous video communication, VLE, LMS and by open online courses (MOOCs).   I had equated MOOCs much more with constructivist theory (where the learner actively ‘constructs’ meaning from their interactions with others within an environment in which knowledge and learning is exchanged) after first learning about connectivism as a concept, which I felt lacked rigour.  But I see now more clearly its influence in MOOCs I have studied on and I can see its potential by applying each aspect of the theory (from background to foreground) to my own areas of practice.

The three background concepts that have most influence the development of connectivism are:

chaos - knowledge is no longer acquired in a linear manner

complexity and self-organization - chaos complicates pattern recognition and makes it necessary for the learner to self-organise

 the existence of networks - that the learning can form and tap into

With knowledge located in dissipated sources and organised chaotically, the learner’s role is to find and recognize hidden patterns, and to make sense of the seeming chaos.

Likewise, English and the ensuing academic culture that is partly language bound can appear incomprehensible to speakers of other languages and those from a different academic background and tradition.  Different sources, including faculty members will say conflicting things or what they say may be interpreted differently and because language and conventions evolve, which is impossible to predict a connectivism approach can help to understand the Foreign language and western ‘system’ of education.  Perceiving language as a network of networks (e.g. how morphology relates to the syntactic, lexical, and phonological networks etc).  In EAP, there is a need to connect the concept of plagiarism, with citing and referencing and with the concept of academic honesty in research and knowledge sharing.  They need to navigate the array of internet sources of research findings and the importance of networks is nowadays highly emphasised when it comes to conducting their own research.  For language learners, networks are a means of practicing skills such as writing and speaking through the ties they form online.  There are many networks that provide answers to queries about language use and meaning.   

For language learners, Veselá (2013, p7) writes how language content can be divided according to the Siemens’ principles:

• data (e.g. irregular forms of past tense)
• information (meaning and use of these forms)
• knowledge (ability to use these forms in context)
• meaning (past tense in the context of the English tense system and the possibilities of how to express it)

Whether a foreign language or a foreign academic culture, learners need to decode, understand, and connect new nodes of learning with former ones.

Veselá (2013, p8) does a useful take of the definition of connectivism from an ESOL viewpoint (I've added a column for EAP):

 

Connectivist Principles	ESOL	EAP
Connectivism is based on the diversity of viewpoints	In language, the diversity can be seen in meanings of a word, a phrase, or a sentence in various contexts, as well as its variants (regional, social...).	In academia, criticality is paramount – being able to dissect various viewpoints in arriving at an educated thesis
Learning is a process of creating connections among the nodes or information resources	The connecting of nodes and language networks is described above. In foreign language education it is important to use a variety of information resources	In primary research originality is vital, for that you need to know all that is out there and be up on what’s going on. You need connections for that.
Education may reside in non-human appliances	E-learning uses the systems for education that work without human interference. It is necessary to exploit their potential (e.g. multichannel input – sound, picture, motion, feedback etc.).	Non-human appliances enable the researcher to collate, organise and cross-reference all existing data in ways undreamt of just decades ago.
Capacity of potential knowledge is more important than the amount of the actual knowledge	Learning a foreign language is a field in which we can never say that we have learnt it.	Researchers are forever meant to be pushing the boundaries of knowledge through their own practice as researchers, whilst continually challenging what’s seen as existing knowledge
Maintenance of connections is important for continuous learning	Our ability requires continual practice. One must add new nodes and connections, also maintain and update old ones.	As soon as a researcher is out of contact with current streams of research in their field, they become isolated and their own work loses currency
The ability to see connections is the basic skill	Mastery of a foreign language is about fluency in the connections in the language networks.	Very often researchers’ conclusions and claims fall short of the benchmarks of accuracy, reliability and validity, replicability etc
Currency and accuracy are the aim of connectivist activities	It is necessary to use the sources of the language in current use.	Seminal work apart, research is advancing so quickly, currency must be proven against the benchmark of the most up to date and authoritative sources
Decision making process is a part of learning	The possibility to choose is an important factor of the foreign language education. The motivation increases when the learner decides not only about the language, he/she will learn, but also about the field in the case of learning a foreign language for specific purposes	An example is that often my students’ first choice is Wikipedia, despite all the encouragement we give them to choose other sources (through studies show Wikipedia is a reliable source it is not authoritative).

 

So despite my early skepticism, having studied on MOOCs for a few years now, I can see how the principals of connectivism are both reflected in MOOCs I’ve studied on and can provide the basis of effective learning. When thinking about our use of technology in education we can use its principles to guide and evaluate the tasks and activities we use.

 

References

George Siemens – Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, Journal of Instructional Technology: https://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.ht

Downes, S. (2005). An introduction to connective knowledge [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=33034.

Downes, S. (2005, December 22). An introduction to connective knowledge [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=33034.

Connectivism has been disseminated through a book (George Siemens, 2006b), a series of articles (Downes, 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2007a, 2008; Siemens, 2004, 2005, 2006a), blog posts at http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/ and http://www.connectivism.ca/, a large number of presentations  at conferences and workshops (see http://www.elearnspace.org/presentations.htm and http://www.downes.ca/me/presentations.htm), and through two instances of multiple open online courses (MOOCs) titled Connectivism and Connective Knowledge, held in 2008 (CCK08 http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2008/10/30/connectivism-course-cck08/)  and 2009 (CCK09 http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/connectivism/?p=198).