Article Review

We have read many articles during the course Innovating Learning and Teaching, but I found the article Connectivism to be the most useful in my teaching and learning and decided to write a review on it.

As a teacher, I agree with much of what George Siemens says about Connectivism. In his TedxNYED talk on May 3rd,2021, he said, the goal of education is to prepare individuals to be contributing and interactive members of society. 

What is Connectivism?

Connectivism is a model of learning that can guide first-year advising through ''the integration of principles explored as chaos, network, and complexity, and self-organization theories'' as well as an '' understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations'' (Siemens, 2004). Connectivism combines previous information with current information to create new meanings and understandings (Siemens, 2004). Elieson (2013) claims that ''one can not learn something new without having first obtained certain prerequisite knowledge ''(p.29). Astin (1999) believes college administrators, including academic advisors, are fighting for student time against these prerequisites or even current experiences.

 Advisors play a ''zero-sum game in which the time and energy invested by the student in the family, friends, work, and other extracurricular activities represent a reduction in the time and energy the student has to devote to educational development'' (p. 523). The idea is that knowledge is constantly changing as a result of multiple influences, such as peers, technology, and media. Students make connections between their prior and current knowledge. In this regard, students bring prior knowledge about specific majors and even academic advising. 

Siemens (2004) encourages the concept of knowledge as a series of interconnected webs derived not only from social interactions but also from experiences, digital observations (commercials, websites), and even organizations. Students process not only previous knowledge but also current knowledge from online articles, their best friend's tweet about a profession, or their role model's Instagram account. Students' digital feeds are influencing them (Pasquini, 2013). 

Connectivism acknowledges that students can learn from devices and that ''decision-making is itself a learning process'' (Siemens, 2004). This is not a novel idea, but students today have greater access to technology, digital devices, and social networks than ever before (McHaney, 2011). Students are not only polling their parents, friends, or relatives to help them make decisions, but they are also using their digital devices to make decisions.

However, I believe that it is my responsibility as a teacher to guide my students to the wealth of information available in a structured manner so that they can access the information, draw their own conclusions, and spread those ideas to their peers. The hope is that they are interacting in a way that builds on their previous learning and causes them to create new thoughts and ideas.

According to connectivism, students should combine their thoughts, theories, and general knowledge in a useful way. Students should be encouraged to do the same by their advisors. Current students may appear to know what they want to do on the surface, but with so many options and potential vocations, students may not see all of the connections (Siemens, 2004). Tinto (1998) encourages colleges and universities to develop ''a community model of academic organization that would promote participation through the use of shared, connected learning experiences among its members, students and faculty alike'' (p.170). 

Curricular and extracurricular activities can help students connect, and advisors can start these conversations by asking students about their decisions or assumptions. Advisors, according to a connectives perspective, serve as role models and guide for students. ''The primary goal of academic advising is to assist students in becoming effective agents of their own lifelong learning and personal development'' (Chickering, 1994, p. 50). 

To summarize, I believe, like Siemens, that my job and goal is to help prepare my students to be positive contributing members of society. Personally, I am still constantly learning to stretch myself, trying to better understand the new digital culture. It is a continuous process. As Siemens puts it, it's more about the vessel than it is about the knowledge. So, I try to worry less about how little I currently know about today's technology but strive to dig deeper to understand it all in a better way. Hopefully, my own journay in Connectivism will lead to success for my students.

Reference list:

Chickering, A.W. (1994). Empowering Lifelong Self-Development. NACADA Journal, 14(2), pp.50–53.

Harris, J.C. (2020). ‘Socialized Into the Field’: Exploring How Higher Education and Student Affairs Faculty Members Are Socialized to Teach Student Development Theory. Journal of College Student Development, 61(1), pp.1–17.

Laura Pasquini (2013). Academic Advising: Supporting Online Students. [online] Supporting online students. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/LauraPasquini/academic-advising-supporting-online-students [Accessed 12 Apr. 2022].

Mchaney, R. (2011). The new digital shoreline : how Web 2.0 and Millennials are revolutionizing higher education. Sterling, Va.: Stylus Pub.

Mine, E. (1998). Rio Tinto, behind the facade : 1998 stakeholders report. Brussels, Belgium: International Federation Of Chemical, Energy, Mine And General Workers’ Unions.

Sa’adi, S. (2016). Introduction to Views of Connectivism Theory of Learning. Register Journal, 3(2).

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