Digital Delights

Why Connectivism?

Downe’s defines connectivism as “the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks.”

The network metaphor is crucial because it highlights the ongoing shift away from rigid, hierarchal modes of organization towards asymmetrical, decentralized models. Networks are comprised of nodes (actors) and links (actions). In complex networks, no one node determines how the others will behave; instead, the interactivity between each node contributes to the emergent, self-organizing functionality of the system as a whole.

What this means for teaching and learning:

Knowledge does not exist “in the heads” of learners or instructors but through the variety of connections established amongst students, instructors, and technologies. With connectivism, static student-teacher roles become as fluid as the technology that mediates them, and the process of learning becomes more important than the final product.