CONNECTEDLEARNING

ConnectedLearning

KimJohnson

EdTech504

BoiseStateUniversity

CONNECTEDLEARNING

Abstract

Thispaperbeginsbybrieflydiscussingseverallearningtheoriesthatarethefoundationfor
teachingandlearning.Nextitexaminestheemergingtheoryofconnectivismandtheuseof
severalweb2.0toolsandpersonallearningnetworkstopromotelearningforteachersand
students.Itincludesalistingoftoolsandsuggestionsfortheiruse.Thepaperconcludesby
showingthatconnectingwithweb2.0andpersonallearningnetworkusecombinedwithgood
instructionaldesignbenefitsstudentsandteachersandisrepresentationalof21stcentury
learning.

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Teachingandlearninginaconnectedclassroomhaveaprofoundpositiveeffectonlearning.
Thisisevidencedinimprovedopportunitiesforcommunication,collaboration,creativity,
expression,andengagement.Sowhatisaconnectedclassroom?Itisaclassroomwithavariety
oftechnologytoolsandsocialopportunitiesreadilyavailable.Inessence,itisaschoolwithout
walls.Forthepurposeofthispaper,nodifferentiationisbeinggiventowhethertheclassrooms
spokenofarebrickandmortarorvirtual.Bothtypesofclassrooms,teachers,andstudents
benefitfromweb2.0experiencesandfromthedevelopmentanduseofpersonallearning
networks.Inthisexploration,Iwillreviewseverallearningtheoriesthatarefoundationalinour
classrooms,describetechnologyusebasedonthesetheories,discussanemerginglearningtheory
knownasconnectivism,andexaminetheuseofweb2.0toolsandpersonallearningnetworksto
enhancelearning.
ConnectedLearningFoundations
Thehistoricalandfoundationallearningtheoriesinourclassroomsarebehaviorist,cognitive,
andconstructivist.
Behaviorism
Thebehavioristtheorydatingbefore1950saysthatlearninghastakenplacewhenadesired
responseoccursfollowinganenvironmentalstimulus.(Ertmer&Newby,1993).Itisbasedon
rewardingdesiredbehaviorstoreinforceorencouragerepeatormorefrequentdemonstrations
ofthedesiredbehavior.Accordingtothistheoryabehaviorismorelikelytoberepeatedwhenit
isreinforcedwithsomesortofreward.Someareasintheclassroomwecontinueseethe
behavioristapproachareinbehaviormanagement,thelearningofbasicfacts,memorizationto

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acquirelowerlevelknowledge.Preassessmenttodetermineinstructionallevelandmanyof
todaysallinclusivesoftwareprogramsarealsobasedonthistheoryoflearning.
Cognitivism

Cognitivismemergedaround1950,andwestillseeelementsofitinourclassroomstoday.
Thinking,informationprocessing,language,andproblemsolvingbecamethenewfocusin
learning.(ErtmerandNewbycited(Snelbecker,1983).Thelearningenvironmentstillaffects
learningandcanbedesignedtoenhancelearning.Thelearnerisactivelyinvolvedinthelearning
processandisencouragedtousevariousmetacognitivestrategies(Ertmer&Newby,p.59).
Someofthesestrategiesincludemnemonics,graphicorganizers,andconceptmaps(p.61).The
instructionisinstructorcenteredratherthanstudentcentered,astheinstructorcarefullydesigns
andorchestratestheinstructiontobringaboutthelearningbyconnectingnewinformationtothe
studentspriorknowledgeorschema(p.60).Acommonalitybetweenthesefirsttwotheories
arethesimplificationandstandardizationofinformationbreakingitintomanageablechunksfor
easyassimilationandaccommodation(p.5960).Theinstructormayormaynotusetechnology
tobringaboutlearning.
Constructivism

Constructivismisaboutconstructingourownknowledgethroughexperience.Itisabout
creatingmeaningratherthanacquiringit(p.62).IthasrootsinstudiesbyPiaget,Bruner,and
Goodman(Ertmer&NewbycitedPerkins,1991).Constructivismhasafocusonthelearnerand
theenvironment.Howeveritismorelearnercenteredthanthetheoriespreviouslydiscussed.
Thereisanemphasisonengagingthelearnerinthesolvingofauthenticproblemsusing
authentictools.Someareasweseeconstructivisminourclassroomsiswithcooperativelearning,

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labsorsimulations,andprojectbasedlearning.ThesocioculturaltheoryofLevVygotsky
majoredonconstructingmeaningasagroupoflearnersprovidingscaffoldingforeachotherand
isassociatedwithconstructivism.Thereisntaparticularlybadtheory,Oneisntnecessarily
betterthananother.Itdependsonthecontext.Itisuptoeducatorstoselecttheappropriate
theorytosuitindividualpurposes(Ertmer&Newby,p.64).Whendesigninginstruction,
teachersneedtoaligntheirgoalsandassessmentswiththeappropriateapproach,methods,and
toolsthatwillbeeffectiveandefficientinyieldingthedesiredresults.
AnEmergingTheory
Thereisanemerginglearningtheoryknownasconnectivism,arathernewandsomewhat
controversialactivitybasedlearningtheory.

Connectivism
ConnectivismwasintroducedbyGeorgeSiemensin2004asadigitalfollowuptoearlier
learningtheories.Itsrootsareinconstructivism,butaccordingtoSiemens,itisbuiltupon
StephenDownesideaofconnectiveknowledge.Itisbasedondigitallynetworkedlearning
madeupofonlinecommunitiesofpractice(Lave&Wenger,1991).
Eventhoughconnectivismhascomeaboutasaresultoftheadvancesoftechnology,Piaget
contributedtothistheorythroughtheideaofcommunitiesofpractice.Vygotskyalsocontributed
tothedevelopmentofthistheorywiththeemphasisonculture,socialenvironments,and
scaffoldingtobridgeknowledgegaps(Siemens,2005).Currentmajorcontributorstothis
learningtheoryincludeGeorgeSiemensandStephenDownes.

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ThelistbelowoutlinesthemajorprinciplesofthetheorysetforthbySiemens:
MajorPrinciplesofConnectivism(Siemens,2005)
Learningandknowledgerestsindiversityofopinions.
Learningisaprocessofconnectingspecializednodesorinformationsources.
Learningmayresideinnonhumanappliances.
Capacitytoknowmoreismorecriticalthanwhatiscurrentlyknown.
Nurturingandmaintainingconnectionsisneededtofacilitatecontinuallearning.
Abilitytoseeconnectionsbetweenfields,ideas,andconceptsisacoreskill.
Currency(accurate,uptodateknowledge)istheintentofallconnectivistlearning
activities.
Decisionmakingisitselfalearningprocess.Choosingwhattolearnandthemeaningof
incominginformationisseenthroughthelensofashiftingreality.Whilethereisaright
answernow,itmaybewrongtomorrowduetoalterationsintheinformationclimate
affectingthedecision.
UsingConnectedLearningToolsandResources
Partofbeingaconnectedteacherinaconnectedclassroomwithconnectedstudentsis
keepingcurrentwithwhattechnologyandsocialmediatoolsareavailableandhowbesttouse
themasnotedinthemajorprinciplesofconnectivism.
Web2.0intheClassroom
Web2.0isasocialrevolutionaboutenablingandencouragingparticipationthrough
communication(Downes,2005).Web2.0toolsareinteractivetoolsaccessedontheinternet.
Theyincludeblogs,discussionboards,wikis,eportfolios,WebQuests,socialmedia,andvarious

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otherengagingtoolsforcreatingartifactsandsharingthem.Theyincorporateopen,
microcontent,sophisticatedinterfaces,andsocialinteraction(Bower,Hedberg,&Kuswara,
2010).Theyprovidegreatopportunitiesforonlinelearningaswellasfacetofaceinstruction,
asynchronousandsynchronous.
Howeverthereisntmuchinformationavailableabouthowtoplanlearningusingthesetools.
Therearesomanytochoosefrom,andtherearemoreeachday.Intryingtoimplementtheuse
ofWeb2.0toolswhendesigningourinstruction,wecanrefertotheTPCK(Technological,
Pedagogical,andContentKnowledge)modeloflearningwhichhighlightstheintersectionsof
technological,pedagogical,andcontentknowledge.Itconsidersthespecificknowledgedesired,
particularinstructionalapproach,andonlinecollaborativetoolsavailable(Boweretal,2010).
Itistheresponsibilityoftheteachertocommunicate,share,andestablishalearning
community.Web2.0toolsprovideavastnumberofresourcesforstudentstocollaborateand
contributeasavitalpartofthelearningcommunity.Thetoolateacherchoosescanfizzleor
makeahugepositiveimpactontheclass(Tunks,2012).Thereforeitisimportanttoselectthe
righttoolforthejob.Selectingatoolsolelyonitsappealorjusttoincorporatetechnologyis
goingtofallshortofmeetinginstructionalgoals.Alignmentiskey.Teachersshouldconsiderthe
tasksandthinkingprocessesinvolvedbeforeselectingthebestchoiceindigitaltools(Boweret
al,2010).

Inadditiontoteachingcontent,communication,andresearchteacherscanalsouseweb2.0
toolstoteachstudentstobegooddigitalcitizens.Itistheresponsibilityofteacherstohelpkeep
studentssafeintheironlineexplorationandcommunication.UseofWeb2.0toolscanteach
problemsolving,decisionmakingandresourcevalidation(Nebel,Jamison,&Bennett,2009).

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Thediscussionboardisagreatweb2.0toolthatisanexampleofanasynchronous
communicationtoolavailabletostudents24/7andmeetstheneedsofalllevelsoflearners
differentiationisbuiltin.Teacherscontroltheparametersofthediscussionboardbyadjusting
thesettings,introducingtopics,andmonitoringpostsandcomments.Thereareanumberof
benefitstousingdiscussionboards.Forinstance,theyarefree,theygiveeveryoneavoice,they
encouragemorethoughtfulresponses,andtheyalsoprovideanongoingrecordofthe
conversation(Bikowski&Kessler,2011).Discussionboardscanbeaplacetoreceivestudent
workinmanyformatsincludingdocuments,images,multimediapresentations,andspreadsheets.
Theiruseallowsstudentstotakecontroloftheirlearningthusprovidingmotivationtolearn.
ShenghuaZha,PaulKelly,MeeAengKoPark,andGailFitzgeraldfromtheUniversityof
MissouriColumbiaconductedastudyofafullclassofelementaryESLstudents
communicatingthroughtheuseofdiscussionboards.Closetoonethousandmessageswere
analyzedandshowedchangesinstudentscommunication.Thestudyshowedhigher
participationwiththediscussionboardsthanfacetoface(Zha,Kelly,Park,Fitzgerald,2006).
Withsocialcommunicationbeingthefocusofcontemporarylanguageinstruction,discussion
boardsareanappropriatetool(Zhaetal,2006).Studentswhoareshytendtoparticipatemorein
onlinediscussionsthantheydoinperson.Additionallyresponsescanbeformulatedwith
assistancelevelingtheplayingfieldforclassdiscussion.
AstudywasdoneinChinabyagroupofresearcherswhichincludedYuLiangChen,Eric
ZhiFengLiu,RuChuShih,ChinTsungWu,andShyanMingYuan.Theyusedaclassof
thirtythreefifthgraderstoshowtheeffectsofbloggingandpeerfeedbackonwriting.The
conclusionstatedthatbloggingandpeereditingwaseffectiveforimprovingwriting.Moreso,

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research,writing,andeditingwereaccomplishedmoreefficientlywithintheblogthanthey
wouldhavebeenbyusingawordprocessor.Studentsenjoyedtheanonymityoftheirpostsand
feltmorewillingtoexpressthemselvessincerely.Becausetheywerewritingarticles,theyalso
felttheirartifactsweremoremeaningfulbyreachingalargeraudience.(Chen,Liu,Shih,Wu,&
Yuan,2011)
Discussionboards,blogs,andwikispromotecommunicationandsharingofartifactsbetween
students.Theyalsoprovidescaffoldingforstudentsinneed,fromboththeirinstructorsandtheir
peers.Studentscanconstructtheirownknowledgeastheyworkwiththetoolstocreateartifacts,
whileprovidingscaffoldingforeachother.Thesocialandscaffoldingaspectsofthesevarious
technologicaltoolsreflectconstructivistandconnectivistlearningtheories.Teacherscan
organizelearningmanagementsystems,websites,wikis,andWebQueststochunkcontentin
easilymanageablepiecestoeffectivelyguidelearning.Eventhoughtheymaynotbeusingdirect
instructionhere,theircarefullydesignedtoolshaverootsincognitivism.
Othertoolsandappsusedintheclassroomreflectbehaviorism.TheyareprecursorstoWeb
2.0tools,butarestillinusetoday.Someoftheseincludedrillandpracticesitesforspellingand
mathfacts,behaviorandmotivationtools,andsomesimplelearninggames.Asstatedbefore,it
isuptotheeducatortoselecttherighttooltogetthedesiredeffectfromit.Sometoolstoexplore
include:Storybird,GlogsterEDU,Voki,Scrapblog,Padlet,Voicethread,Twitter,Prezi,Google
Drive,LiveBinders,Thinglink,Wordle,Animoto,Jing,Pinterest,Audacity,Garageband,and
Weebly.Manyofthesetoolscanbeusedbystudentsandteacherstoconstructtheirveryown
personallearningnetworks,thusprovidingcontinuouspersonalizedopportunitiesforlearning.

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PersonalLearningNetworks
Educatorshavelongbeencalledlifelonglearnersandhaveencouragedotherstodosoas
well.Includedinthejourneyoflifelonglearning,educatorsmustmakeeffortstostaycurrent
withemergingtrendsintechnologyinadditiontostayinguptodatewithlearningtheoriesand
content.(Siemens,2005).
Inordertokeepcurrent,aconnectedteachercandevelopapersonallearningnetwork.Thisis
anexampleofconnectivism.Apersonallearningnetworkisacollectionoflearningresources
foranindividual.Itcanbemadeupofdigitalandnondigitalresourcespertainingtoatopicor
fieldofinterestandcanbeveryspecificorgeneral.Thedigitalresourcesmayincludeblogs,
wikis,discussionboardsandforums,conferencesandpresenters,orfollowingmentorsonsocial
mediatonameafew.Withtheuseofmobiletechnology,learningisavailableondemandatany
locationofthelearner(Downes,2005).
Inaddition,educatorsandstudentscancreatenewconnectionsbyusingReallySimple
Syndication(RSS)feedstoreceiveinformationonagiventopic.RSSfeedsprovideteachersand
studentswithuptodateinformationreadilyavailablefromavarietyofsources.Theycanuse
saidinformationforavarietyofengagingandcreativeorexpressiveapplicationssuchas
research,projects,collaboration,presentations,anddiscussion.Teacherscanalsousealearning
managementsystemorwikitoincorporatesocialnetworkingintostudentpersonallearning
networks.However,teachersmustbediligentaboutcomplyingwiththeirschoolssocialmedia
policy.Throughwikisandsocialnetworkingsites,studentshavedirectaccesstoexpertsinthe
fieldwillingtosharetheirexpertise.Studentscandevelopasystemforcuratingtheirresources
forfutureusebyusingbookmarkingsites,files,andpersonalwebpagestohouselinks.

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Thepersonallearningnetworkisntoneway.Learnerssharetheirknowledge,resources,and
experienceswithothersinthenetworkaswellasgleanfromothersexpertise.Thisisthe
essenceofconnectivismdigitallearningcommunitiesgatheredaroundcommonintereststo
interact,share,discuss,andthink(Siemens2004).
Conclusion
Isthistechnologyfortechnologyssakeordoesbeingconnectedhaveaprofoundeffecton
learning?Thoughtheoristsmayormaynotagreeregardingemergingeducationaltechnology
theories,technologyisincreasinglybeingutilizedintheclassroomandishavingapositiveeffect
onteachingandlearning.
ResearchincludingtheaboveexamplesindicatethatWeb2.0toolsintheclassroomimprove
opportunitiesforcommunication,collaboration,creativity,expression,andengagement.They
provideopportunitiesforstudentcenteredlearning,andprojectbasedlearning.Assuch,theyare
anexcellentmediumfor21stcenturylearning.Personallearningnetworksareemergingasa
powerfultoolforeducatorsandforstudentsofallages.Educatorsareimplementingstrategiesto
improvecommunicationandcollaborationinvirtualandbrickandmortarschoolsusingWeb2.0
tools.Withtheseadvancements,itisexcitingandpromisingtobeateacherorstudentmemberof
aconnectedclassroomorconnectedcommunityoflearners.

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