New frameworks to learning

Growing up with technology in the 80’s and 90’s was much different than it is today. We had computers in the classroom, but for the most part, it was only one or two. At that point in time, the learning experience was very much centered on the teacher.

There were certainly times where students would provide their own insights, but that was largely overshadowed by the teacher’s lesson plan. This way of doing things certainly had its purpose at one point in history when students were being training for a workforce that was fairly straightforward and a society that largely had different priorities. There were certain things that people did because that is what one does (i.e., grow up, get a job, get married, raise children). However, as time went things changes and much of that change can be attributed to technology as we now know it.

Advances in technology fundamentally changed how we view learning and what we consider learning. When we didn’t have the internet, people made purchases via print catalogs. That process wasn’t considered learning in that one would open up a catalog, select what they need and order it. Now, that process isn’t as simple. Every product that is available for purchase has online reviews, spec sheets, videos, tutorials, etc. that allow the customer (or learner) to research every aspect of that product before buying. This in itself is a learning experience. Not only does each customer learn more about the product they are looking for, but they learn about the inner workings and related products.

In reading Siemens work, Connectivism seems like the next logical step in learning and one that matches my view of learning. In fact, much of what was described within the paper matches experiences that I have had throughout my career in communications and teaching. 88% of Americans use the internet and 77% own a smart phone, from 35% in 2011 (Smith). The vast majority of people have the ability to utilize others to learn about products or how to do virtually anything via a YouTube video. Additionally, almost 70% of Americans using social media, up from 5% in 2005 (Smith), showing that we are a very much connected society. We thrive on learning about experiences from others and we’re more likely to ask questions to our online social networks to help us figure out a problem or gain opinions.

Both of these texts show us that the world is changing and we must adapt in how we interact with these changes or else be left behind. Our connected society is producing more information than ever — about 90% of the data in the world has been created in the last two years (IBM). We must rely on others to learn about new things. This also opens the door to new innovative ways of learning such as using Facebook Live to watch a keynote presentation that before was only accessible to a small amount of people or use the same service to take a group of students from California through the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This type of connected learning will allow students of all ages to participate in learning experiences that were not possible 15 years ago.

With all of this being said, I don’t think the Connnectivism theory is all encompassing. My understanding of it is that it seems to focus on connecting with others and finding the information on our own. While that is where we are going in society, there is still a place for the other theories. I would suggest that we look at each learning experience as unique and apply the correct theory to match both the audience and goal of the learning content. A similar analogy is with any sort of content that is posted on social media in the communications world. Each piece of content must be looked as unique as what works for one doesn’t work for the other.

IBM (2017). Retrieved on May 27, 2017 from https://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/what-is-big-data.html.

Siemens, George (2013). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. April 3, 2013. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning.

Smith, Aaron (2017). Record shares of Americans now own smartphones, have home broadband. Retrieved Mary 27, 2017 from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/12/evolution-of-technology/.