Module 4 is nearing completion and I must acknowledge that it has been an interesting one. A warm welcome to chapter 5! This chapter is dedicated to MOOCs and connectivism. It’s time to dive in!
Prior to module 4, I must confess that I had difficulty grappling with the connectivism theory. I was confused about its basis and encountered difficulty understanding its underpinnings and principles. However, as I began exploring the resources in module 4, I felt a glimmer of hope as everything was finally beginning to make sense. As the saying goes, ‘give credit where credit is due’. As such, I must give credit to the articles produced by George Siemens (2005), Rita Kop, and Adrian Hill (2008). Overall, these two articles aided in my deeper understanding of connectivism and I will definitely refer to them in the future. In his article titled, ‘Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age’, George siemens (2005) broke down his perspective quite simply and nicely. After reading his work, I had a few major takeaways:
Connectivism is a theoretical framework established by George Siemens and Stephen Downes.
It is associated with the principles: chaos, self-organization, complexity, and network.
Some of its key learning principles are that: “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” (Siemens, 2005, p. 5-6).
One of my favorite takeaways is Siemens’ (2005) assertion that “the pipe is more important than the content within the pipe” (p. 7). I especially enjoyed completing the discussion thread on this perspective. This thread allowed me to really contemplate on Siemens (2005) assertion on a deeper level and at the end, I was able to offer a slightly different perspective on the matter which is that what is already known i.e., the content within the pipe is just as important as our capacity to know more. Moreover, after reading the material, I began to conceptualize connectivism as the new kid on the block. However, just because its new does not necessarily make it more important than the traditional learning theories. I like to think of it as the construction site analogy made in the previous chapter, that is, chapter 4. To explicate, most buildings have a foundation which is then built upon. In this case, traditional learning theories can be considered to be the foundation while connectivism can be seen as an addition to the structure offering a different perspective of distance education. Like the other theories, this new addition has its limitations and does not explicate distance education in its entirety.
In fact, according to Foster (2007), “for connectivism to be a learning theory, the theory’s limitations and the full range of contexts in which learning can take place must be accounted for. Otherwise, connectivism’s implementation by teachers may be insufficient and misguided” (as cited in Kop & Hill, 2008, p. 7). As such, there are missing elements and pieces of connectivism. It has also been argued that it is missing and lacking extensive support from the literature (Verhagen, 2006, as cited in Kop & Hill, 2008). Despite these criticisms and limitations, connectivism still provides very useful insights that help professionals better understand learning in this digital era. A question that I think is worth exploring is how connectivism is currently impacting distance learning communities and how it will continue to be impactful.
Regarding its application and use in the DE sphere, a quick and easy way to apply it is to simply encourage collaboration and interaction among students. Give them the opportunity to connect with each other and share their knowledge and expertise in the DE classroom. In doing so, a learning network can be created and established among students. Since this is just one way it can be applied in the DE arena, as I progress through my graduate studies and my career, I want to continue to think about its application and effects on the ever-changing climate of teaching and learning especially with continued technological advancements.
We also explored MOOCs in module 4. Bates (2019) is the reading material that I will refer to for any clarifications simply because he thoroughly discussed MOOCs in his work. In particular, I learnt the following from his work:
MOOCs stand for Massive Open Online Courses.
There are different variations of MOOCs, the major ones being xMOOCs and cMOOCs.
MOOCs are extremely valuable and useful because it provides access to high quality content to anyone for free.
Generally, I like the fact that MOOCs promote and facilitate lifelong learning. I was however, surprised and confused by one of its limitations which is that it is very expensive to develop. In this case, I found myself wondering how come these costs are not transferred to learners. I was also surprised to learn that MOOCs do not necessarily develop higher level thinking skills. Today, many emphasize the importance of such skills especially critical thinking, problem solving skills, and creative thinking skills. If MOOCs do not enhance these skills, then my question would be what is the significance of MOOCs and what makes it so valuable to learners. Despite this, it is noteworthy that MOOCs are here to stay. In light of this, I definitely want to continue thinking about how it will continue to revolutionize the higher education sphere. I will wrap up by stating that busy adult professionals can complete MOOCs to upskill and reskill giving them the opportunity to remain competitive in the labour market. This, though is merely one way that it can be applied in the DE sphere.
For a more comprehensive review on MOOCs, feel free to review this additional resource that I have created:
All in all, the more I learn the more I grow and bloom. In the previous chapter, I was in the seedling stage where my learning journey is concerned. However, at this juncture in my learning process, I have experienced significant growth and I am beginning to flourish into a beautiful plant/flower.
See you in chapter 6 where I delve beneath the surface of best practices and organizational policies in distance education.
Yours truly,
Kind Krista
References
Bates, A. W. (2019). Chapter 01: Fundamental change in education, and Chapter 02: The nature of knowledge and the applications for teaching. In Teaching in a digital age. SFU Document Solutions Books. https://teachonline.ca/teaching-in-a-digital-age/teaching-in-a-digital-age-second-edition
Kop, R., & Hill, A. (2008). Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past?. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v9i3.523
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1). Retrieved from https://jotamac.typepad.com/jotamacs_weblog/files/Connectivism.pdf
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