1. A learning theory for today’s learner
Connectivism
A learning theory for today’s learner

2. General info Session is being recorded
Type questions into chat box (just above participants names)
Presentation will last 30 minutes
Discussion will be held after
Using the microphone

3. Metaphors of learning What is learning like?
Filling an empty container?
Creating a jigsaw puzzle?
An ecology?
Creating a network of interconnected information points?

4. How does learning happen?
Is knowledge external and knowable? Of is it internal and subjective?
Is knowledge gained through experiences and emotions? Or is it acquired through cognition?
Is knowledge constructed in the mind of the learner?
Does knowledge reside is social institutions?
Epistemology (what is true and how do we come to know something as true) is the base.

5. What’s going on? Multiple careers
½ life of knowledge (time span from knowledge gained to obsolescence)
Informal learning
Learning as a life-process
Alterations in our thinking – our tools shape our thinking (

6. What’s happening to learners?
Change: scarcity to abundance. Our tools are geared to scarcity
Rising education – more educated workforce
Interplay of learner and organization (due to increased sociability of each)
Global, cultural
Know-where is more important than know-how
When competence and knowledge rest on a continuum, being relevant happens as soon as one is plugged into a network (degrees of competence, not stages)

7. Failure of learning and education
"America's high schools are obsolete. By obsolete, I don't just mean that they're broken, flawed or underfunded, though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean our high schools - even when they're working as designed - cannot teach all our students what they need to know today." Bill Gates

8. What are existing learning theories missing?
Rapidly evolving knowledge
Today’s knowledge and learning will be obsolete tomorrow. Knowing is not as important as being able to continue to learn
Core foundations shifting (society, media, and knowledge itself
Interplay of organization and individual
Theories state: learning occurs inside a person, fail to account for “external” learning
Fail to account for organizational learning
Learning perceived as an event – not as the actual process of becoming competent through completing task require of learning (i.e. the task is the learning tool).

9. Behavriourism Black box – don’t care what goes on inside
Desired outcomes are created through response/stimuli

10. Cognitivism
Computer model: inputs, managed in short term memory, encoded for long term retrieval

11. Constructivism
Learners create knowledge in process of understanding experiences.
Learners are not empty vessels, but active “meaning-makers”

12. Backdrop of connectivism
Chaos
Self-organization
Social networks
Networks, small worlds, weak ties, decentralized
Learning is a process that occurs within the nebulous environments of shifting core elements (many beyond learner control).
The capacity to know more is more important than what is now known
Learner controlled and driven

13. What is connectivism?
A learning theory for today’s learner and organization
What does that mean?
Information changes quickly
Connections to stay current is what’s really important
Learning is actuated knowledge

14. What is connectivism?
Learning can reside in non-human appliances (i.e. the network itself)
The pipe is more important than what’s in the pipe
Learners have to develop a new series of meta-skills in evaluating usefulness of information and means of managing information. Pattern recognition and connection creation also important
Interplay of organization and learner

15. What is connectivism?
Learning is process of plugging into new knowledge sources
Emotions, cognition play role in actuation
Functioning often requires “acting blindly” as information is only revealed as action is taken
Core assumptions shift. Continual reflection and evaluation needed to ensure currency of decisions and actions

16. Theory implementation
Which theory should be used when?
Criteria:
How rapidly does information change?
How is information linked to the organization?
Soft skills? Technical?
Nature of learning – formal? Informal? Communities?
Reason for learning: skill development, belief formation, personal competence

17. Cognition and emotions
Fractured logic
Duality of logic and emotion
Motivation to use knowledge

18. Connectivism and learning organizations
Learner to organization to learner
Organization possesses a certain zeitgeist
Learning, change initiatives, knowledge management, social networks all contribute to success of learner and organization

19. What’s next? http://www.connectivism.ca Includes: Wiki Blog
Discussion forum