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In the title of the article Siemens (2004) asks the question whether this is the learning theory for the digital age. My feeling is that the answer to this is ‘not quite, not yet’ as it seems from this article to be incomplete. The principles seem complete and are quite clear;

“Principles of Connectivism:

• Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
• Learning is a process of connecting specialized 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. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.” (Siemens, 2004, p. np)

However, it seems to me that it does not fully address the purpose of education, and the idea that “The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe” (Siemens, 2004, p. np) does not seem reasonable in this context, since an oil pipe that contains water is of no use to anyone, and likewise a water pipe full of oil will cause more problems than it solves. I do believe that all the current theories of learning are linked and intertwined to such a degree that choosing just one of them as being ‘correct’ is self-defeating, and Connectivism is no different; it relies on parts of the older theories but still does not give us a unified theory of learning that will fit every situation.

Reference

Siemens, G., 2004. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. elearnspace [online], 2004(December), p. np.