Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Dr. Michael Orey classified social learning theories as "learning when actively engaged in constructing artifacts along with others while interacting" (Laureate Education, 2009). In today's society of "everything must happen now" attitudes, the use of collaborating and cooperating through learning is a major contributor to success. George Siemens discussed Connectivism as a theory in which you find "information in abundance and our cognitive capacities must be transferred onto a network, thus allowing networks to be rich in ability, opportunity, and overall content" (Laureate Education, 2009). Connectivism allows us to reach each other and bring about multiple learning stances and knowledge, combining information and growing from each other's experiences and ideas. Social Learning and Connectivism harness the power of Web 2.0 and the world's constantly changing technological progression.
With the use of technology we can find many opportunities to support these styles of learning. The book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, offers many technological outlets for cooperative learning. In this post we will discuss a couple and how they embody the spirit of social learning and connectivism.
"To be prepared for the fast paced, virtual workplace that they will inherit, today's students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively" (Pitler et al, 2007). If we are to examine today's technology in relationship to our learning styles we can examine the idea of "keypals," or the use of applications such as email, facebook, twitter, and others that offer students the ability to exchange ideas and communicate quickly and from far away places. This is an exceptionally efficient way for students to communicate ideas over long distances: from other cities, states, or even countries.
Another form of these learning theories is through the use of WebQuests, or projects that are inquiry-based in origin and allow multiple students, across many different areas to work together towards a common goal. The authors state, "A well-designed WebQuest task is practical, engaging, and elicits student thinking. It provides a goal to channel student energies and also clarifies the teacher's learning objectives" (Pitler et al, 2007). This is well suited for the social learning theory and to the benefit of all students in that it is fully engaging them and can be used in whole-group, small group or even individual participation who connect via other means in order to discuss the outcome of the WebQuest.
Finally, Web site creation can be connectivism learning on a grand scale. In their book, Pitler and the other authors discuss a teacher who has her students create a website based on a city of their choice. The groups of students combine efforts to develop a multi-paged website based on the research of that city and then ultimately ask the city's chamber of commerce to look over the site and offer feedback. It is ideal for learning a lot about a set goal and incorporating the ideas and communication of all students involved.
Overall, with the large number of workplaces that are adding technology almost daily, our students, more than ever, need to at least experiences the ideas of connectivism and social learning if they are to accept their future in the workplace. Students will benefit from the ideas and experiences of such teaching styles.

Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Social learning theories. [Motion Picture]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Connectivism as a learning theory [Educational Video]. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.