A Learning Theory for the Digital Age: George Siemens
What happens when we bring technology into educational theories? How does technology change the way education works, and especially in the way it is consumed and transferred? In the 21st century, the rise of the internet and technological gadgets has fast-tracked the way knowledge is consumed, and the way, therefore, people learn. This article on the theory of connectivism reflects on how educational theories of behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism are no longer enough to explain the way humans learn and does not fully encompass the needs of our current learning environment that largely relies on fast transfer and access to knowledge through technology.
The article begins by reflecting on how the current world is vastly different from the one when behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism were idealized as concepts of learning. In today’s world we are inundated with information, more than what we need and more than what we can process and therefore, there is a need to be able to process information fast and to have the ability to categorize important information from irrelevant information. This meta-skill need means that our cognitive and processing skills are not the same as a decade before.
At the same time, the author puts forth the question of how does technology factor into all of this? With the advent of a work and education culture where a person might change careers and fields of interest multiple times throughout their lives, and machines can store and recall information, and knowledge is changing rapidly everyday so that information learnt yesterday might be redundant today, how do we as learners in this fast-paced world cope and process and learn?
Therefore, Siemens introduces the theory of Connectivism. Connectivism is based on the idea that the very basis of information and knowledge is continuously changing and therefore, we are continuously learning as we adapt to shifting exterior stimuli, as well as learning from those around us; connections and networks who provide us knowledge from their own understanding. And much like the idea of ‘Butterfly effect’, this learning starts from the individual and is shared among society, organizations and institutions.
