I’m now taking (It’s probably more fair to call what I’m doing “auditing”, as I’m trying to squeeze in what I can of the required readings and activities around my already bursting schedule.) a connectivism course led by George Siemens and Stephen Downes that’s really looking more to explore in real time connectivism in an asynchronous setting.
Naturally, one of the early questions popping up is the difference between connectivism and constructivism. I’m taking this class because my periodic research on connectivism has often left me wondering the same thing. I’ve seen connectivism as connecting prior learning to what I’m now learning. Sort of a “How does this fit with what I already know” approach. Going through this week’s readings, I’m finding that my interpretation may really be too shallow.
Of course, I’m learning I may also be incorrect in my interpretation of constructivism. Constructivism was one of the educational theories presented to us my first semester in my teacher prep program. We were all encouraged to figure out which theory (or blend of theories) best fit how we learned and how we taught. Amazingly, I felt drawn to constructivism. It just seemed to fit with my emerging career in museum education and how I worked with students and developing programs.
Even this morning, as I sit here working on the next set of Dead Bunny videos, I’m really looking to build on what a student already knows to help them understand that video’s skill.
ack to the point, connectivism isn’t about making connections within the student to help them learn. It’s about creating connections outside the student, to create feedback loops that help cement the idea for the student. I wonder, though, if that really does create the right atmosphere for skill and concept mastery. It will be interesting to read and watch.
Posted by Rebecca as lifelong learning at 9:30 AM EDT