For my first showcase post, I will be expanding and polishing my Wow and Wonder Week 3 post in order to dive deeper into the idea of connectivism from the Seimens (2005) article. 

As a lifespan psychology student, I am fascinated by the process of learning and how it takes place. There has been controversy of which is the ‘true’ process of learning, with theories ranging from Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development to Freud’s 5 stages of psychosexual development. Regardless of how you consider learning to transpire, in a continuum or in stages, it is undeniable that learning is constantly taking place. With the advancement of technology, we now have shifted our individual learning to include learning from others. This makes me wonder, how much will we be impacted by technology and how much will it influence our behaviours and experiences? With reference to a study known as the Bodo doll experiment, if a child is exposed to an adult who plays violently with a Bodo doll, when left alone the child will play the same violent way with the Bodo doll. However, if a child is not exposed to the violent play of the adult, they do not learn that behaviour and do not play violently with the doll when left alone. Based on this display of learning, it makes me wonder how much have we been affected and influenced by what we’ve seen and learned through technology. My classmate Marry reflected saying “learning has shifted to something that is more flexible, yet messy and complex” and I believe that could not be more true. Learning is no longer as straightforward as it used it be as technology introduces a new element. Now we shall wait and see where this shift in learning continues to take us in the future. 

The way connectivism is discussed in the article, regarding the idea that learning is not under our own individual control, and the importance of nurturing and maintaining connections in order to facilitate continual learning made me think ‘Wow’. It truly is beyond our control the learning we experience. Today, so many are a part of different connections, online communities and databases that we simply do not realize the amount of knowledge we consume and we may learn without even trying to do so. We are not expected to have the required knowledge for everything, but having the ability to utilize other sources and connections is an integral part of expanding knowledge and learning. What we may not know, someone else may. Through the advancement of technology, now more than ever we have access to connections that go further than the eye can see. These connections through internet technologies enable us to foster learning in a way that has never been done before, and probably never would have even been thought of 10 years ago.  We simply can not experience all this world has to offer and can not gain knowledge entirely by ourselves and our own experiences, thus we must utilize the ability to learn from one another.

 With the changes in learning that have occurred, my fellow classmate, Michelle posed an excellent question regarding where our learning will take us in the future. Considering learning was once something that only occurred in a classroom, and it has now expanded to all areas of our lives and includes the use of technology, I really had to think hard when I encountered Michelle’s post. The question asked was “What is next? How will learning change?” To this, I can only wonder and imagine all the possibilities. I would have to assume there will be copious amounts of advancements made and that a new article, titled with a new learning theory, will have to be published.

I have chosen to leave you with an image of this simple cartoon to help visualize the extent of how far digital connections have allowed us to learn. Despite where you are in the world, you can connect and learn from anyone, anywhere. 

References

McLeod, S. A. (2014, February 05). Bobo doll experiment. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html

McLeod, S. A. (2018, June 06). Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

McLeod, S. A. (2019, July 18). Psychosexual stages. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/psychosexual.html


Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning,2(1).