Connected teaching and learning : the uses and implications of connectivism in an online class
This article describes a retrospective study of an online course within which the three co-authors participated. As the study was centred on connectivism in practice, a fairly new learning theory, the authors start the discussion with a history and description of the theory and its implications befo...
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| Published in: | Australasian Journal of Educational Technology Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 685 - 698 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education
01-01-2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | This article describes a retrospective study of an online course within which the three co-authors participated. As the study was centred on connectivism in practice, a fairly new learning theory, the authors start the discussion with a history and description of the theory and its implications before reporting their results and their implications. Connectivism is an epistemological approach grounded in the interactions within networks both inside the individual mind and outside to the world, rather than to the individual memory of what to do (behaviourism), what to think (cognitivism) or how to make meaning (constructivism). It is becoming more influential and contentious of late due to its use as the epistemological basis for massive open online courses (MOOCs). An instructor tried using connectivism to teach an online graduate Education course called Teaching in a Virtual World as part of a Master of Education online program at a Canadian University. As a way to embody the many connections inherent in the group, all members of the class created and taught modules of their own choosing to each other. The instructor and two former students reflected together online in depth about their experience and coded their joint understandings. Schwab's commonplaces of curriculum emerged in the data, demonstrating that it is still current. They found that the course, however, was not completely connectivist due to limitations emanating from its operation within a traditional university setting. [Author abstract, ed] |
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| Bibliography: | Refereed article. Includes bibliographical references. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology; v.29 n.5 p.685-698; 2013 |
| ISSN: | 1449-5554 1449-3098 1449-5554 |
| DOI: | 10.14742/ajet.243 |