When searching on the web on PBL, Learning networks, Networked learning I found an interesting concept – Connectivism (Siemens 2005) that explains how Internet technologies have created new opportunities for people to learn and share information.
“The starting point of connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual. This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed.” (Siemens 2005)
Siemens (2005) also describes the problem of the shrinking half-life of knowledge (the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete).
“Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime. Information development was slow. The life of knowledge was measured in decades. Today, these foundational principles have been altered. Knowledge is growing exponentially. In many fields the life of knowledge is now measured in months and years.” (Siemens 2005)
The obsolesce of knowledge is something that I think every time I start a new course. In some areas (specifically courses using different computer tools) I have to update a lot of material. I found this quote from Sugata Mitra, professor of educational technology at Newcastle University in a ‘documentary’ made by Ericsson.
“Knowing something is probably an obsolete idea, You don’t actually need to know anything. You can find out at the point when you need to know it. It’s the teacher’s jobs to point young minds to the right kind of question. The teacher doesn’t need to give any answers because answers are everywhere.” (The future of learning, 3m50s, 2012)
Activities for successful networked learning
Siemens and Downs (2009) 1 as cited in Kop et al. (2011) stress the importance of four types of activity for successful networked learning :
- Aggregation of information.
- Remixing and reflecting on the resources and relating them to what people already know.
- Repurposing: creating something of their own.
- Sharing their work and activities with others.
Reflections
I think that complementary life long learning should be part of every curriculum and the way to implement this should be trough networked learning. When I meet Alumni from my program that have been working in the industry for several years they are experts in some areas, but they may lack knowledge in many other areas that they have not been in contact within their profession. Bringing them together and mix them with educators with a strong research focus can create something very powerful.
I once attended a course (Managing teams for innovation and success) at Stanford Graduate School of Business. And even though it was on campus the most interesting part for me was to meet with fellow students with very heterogeneous backgrounds, discuss ideas, and solve problems together.
References
- Kop, R., Fournier, H., and Mak, S. (2011). A Pedagogy of Abundance or a Pedagogy to Support Human Beings? Participant Support on Massive Open Online Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 12(7).
- Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1). Original article available here. Updated version here.
- The future of Learning, Networked Society, Ericson., Youtube: https://youtu.be/quYDkuD4dMU Retrieved: 26 Feb 2020.
Footnotes
