Connectivism and Communities of Practice

The term Knowledge Management has traditionally referred to ongoing efforts to harness explicit and tacit knowledge within an organisation while 'organisational learning' tends to be more focussed on static efforts to meet specific learning objectives. Recently, the lines have become blurred to the extent that a merger in strategies should be considered by any organisation serious about harnessing knowledge and promoting learning. Siemens' article, 'Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age', discusses the need for 'a theory that attempts to explain the link between individual and organizational learning' (Siemens, 2004). He expands his theory of networked learning further in his article ‘Connectivism: Learning as Network-Creation’ (Siemens, 2005). I will demonstrate that the theories outlined in Siemens’ two articles are aligned with Wenger’s attempts to rethink learning in the shape of Communities of Practice (CoP).

Siemens explains that the previously prevalent learning theories of behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism needed updating as learning has become a continuous lifetime occupation taking place through interaction with the learner's environment. He goes on to explain that the aforementioned learning theories 'fail to describe how learning happens within organisations' (Siemens, 2004). His proposal is Connectivism. As the name suggests, Siemens new learning theory asserts that 'we derive our competence from forming connections' (Siemens, 2004). The connections must be made between nodes or members of a CoP (who in turn are individual networks made up of nodes and connections). Once nodes have formed connections the network (or CoP) is formed (Siemens, 2005). The critical factor is the nature of the connections that we make or the order that create from the chaos i.e. 'forming connections between specialized communities'. Once this network or CoP is formed the information system continuum of data to information to knowledge to meaning can begin.

Wenger's definition of 'Community' describes how an individual becomes a member after pursuing interest in a domain, 'members engage in joint activities and discussions' (Wenger, 1998). Siemens’ description of the starting point of Connectivism can be applied to the Coalescing and Active stages of CoP development, 'Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual. This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed.' (Siemens, 2004)

CoPs and Connectivism are united in that they are both models of 'learning that acknowledge the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity' (Siemens, 2004). As Siemens highlights, the affordances of new technologies of the Web 2.0 era such as Blogs, Wikis and discussion boards are enabling learners to form their own connections or learning pathways (Siemens, 2005) thereby facilitating the critical factor of participation in CoPs.

The theory of Connectivism and CoP recognises that different levels of participation exist with the network or community. Siemens states that a ‘node may exist within a network, even if it is not strongly connected’ (Siemens, 2005) while Wenger acknowledges that our involvement in some CoPs will be of a more peripheral nature (Wenger, 1998). While core members or nodes are critical to survival, all levels of participation, from primary to passive users, have a part to play.

Clearly, Connectivism and CoPs have a large role to play in any learning and Knowledge Management program. Wenger states that the collective is necessary simply because ‘domains’ are too complex for one individual to master (Wenger cited by Pór, 2001) while Siemens claims that the differing perspectives brought together by nodes in the same network are necessary for exploring ideas and attaining meaning from knowledge (Siemens, 2005). The challenge is for decision makers to embrace this new paradigm having considered for so long that the acquisition of knowledge within a domain is a finite concept. As Siemens observes, ‘Knowing is no longer a destination (but) a process of walking in varying degrees of alignment with a dynamic environment’ (Siemens, 2005).

References:

Pór. G, (2001) Building a Case for Communities of Practice: what makes them an economic imperative?

Siemens. G (2004). ELearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved September 13, 2005 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Siemens. G (2005). Connectivism: Learning as Network-Creation. Retrieved November 15 2005 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/networks.htm

Wenger. E, (1998) Systems Thinker. Communities of Practice: Learning as a Social System. Retrieved November 8 2005 from http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml

Wenger. E, (1998) Communities of Practice Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge University Press.

Peer review, does it motivate or discourage?

ID constructivist increasingly advocate the practice of peer review and assessment but does it really work in practice? Does it promote higher order thinking in the reviewer and can the reviewee take the feedback and use it to improve current or future work? Is it enough to wrap up another students work or should the review include constructive criticism?

Both of my units this semester required peer review of proposals. Word count recommendations were 500 for one and 100 for the other. I found the longer review required much more thinking and research especially in unfamiliar subject areas. I tried to give constructive comments and feedback along with references I though might help the anonymous author. I learnt a lot from the exercise. When I received the anonymous reviews for my paper however I was a little disappointed. Whether my disappointment was valid or not is another matter, the fact remains I felt a little cheated considering the amount of effort I put into my own reviews. My point is that peer review needs to be facilitated well with proper guidelines about length, content, expected research. This peer review is mandatory and assessed.

As for the shorter 'wrap-up', I'm not sure what the instructional value of this exercise was given the low word count guideline. It is not assessed or mandatory although recommended. Also, we were not told which paper to 'wrap-up' so some writers were left without wrappers. This presumably left some authors disappointed that there papers were 'ignored' which can't be good for motivation. The facilitator did send a friendly reminder to try and rectify this but doubtful whether the reminder will have a 100% success rate.

In mu course design I will carefully consider my peer review experiences as well as the audience when including this concept as a learning activity.

Murder by Jargon

I recently attended a conference where for the first time, I was prompted to discuss online learning to a lay person. It was difficult - For weeks now I have been peppering reflections, papers and project proposals with jargon like constructivism, connectivism, elaboration theory, contiguity. The real challenge will be to translate this into language that anyone can understand. Especially if my intention is to act as the 'middle-man between developers and end-users'.

One CEO of a national newspaper spoke of the challenge she had when changing technologies. To my suprise she was referring to her attempts to migrate from typewriter to PC technology. What I took away from the conference which was aimed at HRD practictioners is that Asia still has a way to go to catch up with western practices!

What I want to be when I grow up

Many people have asked me what I want to do with my Masters degree once I have it. I orginally thought that I wanted to be an independent, solo e-learning developer. I later realised that while I enjoy tinkering around with websites, creating cool image with photoshop and whizzy animations in Flash, to do it full time AND design the instruction too would be too much and frankly too detailed for me. My strength is communication and organisation (though you wouldn't think so looking at my cupboards). So I now think that I can help companies that are branching into the world of e-learning. I can be the one to unravel the mysteries of the IMM world.

Today I found a posting on the E-learning Guild website that kind of sums it up:

'From: nbird
Nbird@rwd.com
Nov 29 2004 11:22AM

Go to Subject
Hello, I actually worked as a one person shop for over a year and I know what you mean. I was responsible for HTML, Flash, and Authorware development. I also had to use tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, FreeHand, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Discreet Cleaner XL, Snag-It, etc... You name it I probably had it. No one person can do all this work and quite frankly no one person wants to. The number of skill sets that this tasks encompasses is large. I serve on the program committe for the E-Learning Guild as well as for TechLearn and I can tell you we are seeing growing numbers of one person shops these days. There is a balance between productivity and quality you must accept. To turn things around in a timely manner requires a one person shop to keep things simple. To get detailed takes time. Now that I am on the services side of the world I am seeing many of our clients leverage our development services to fill the gaps as with so many other third party content providers. As a one person shop I got countless calls from companies in the US and abroad, mostly abroad from India. More companies are "outsourcing", "outtasking", or whatever you want to call it. Basically they find it is more cost effective to pay a company that specializes in content design and development to build their programs then to do it in house. It is because of the challenges and diverse skill sets needed to be able to produce highly interactive SCORM/AICC conformant content. My advice would be to consider the value of outsourcing portions of the work to increase productivity and focus on the quality. There is a lot of talk from folks like Elliott Masie about the end of SMEs. I could see the one person shop individual becoming the individual that represents their companies interests as a project manager. Their purpose changes from a person who does all the work to the person that manages vendor relationships and makes sure all the work is done on time, within budget, and is relevant to the business. I think any management team that has no budget for outsourcing domestically or abroad has not been shown the value of the concept. Someone sees outsourcing as taking someones job away and not as paying for improved ROI, increased productivity, and more effective learning. There are too many major corporations and CLOs that believe strongly in the value of partnering with development companies to fill skill gaps rather than paying for the help. The cost of inneffective training is far greater than the cost of outsourcing. Thanks, Nick'

Must get in touch and get some more ideas

I hate subtitles

When I watch a French film subtitled in English, I make a conscious effort to avoid the subtitles as I find them distracting and feel that they impair my appreciation of the film. My husband, who has a slightly inferior command of the language, finds it helpful to refer to the translation occasionally. If he were to watch the same film again however, he would be as distracted by the subtitles as I am.

Reading Kalyuga's (2000) article, 'When using sound with a text or a picture is not beneficial for learning' I found parallels with the subtitle story.

Stepping back for a second, the theory of cognitive overload states that too much of the same sensory input is too much for the brain to handle and results in negative learning outcome. Similarly, simultaneous input to two different senses has the same effect - cognitive overload. One technique to overcome this is to follow a visual with an auditory explanation.

My reference to the subtitles becomes relevant when one considers an experienced learner as compared to a novice learner. The latter has been shown to respond well to visuals with accompanying text while the former finds them distracting and prefers visuals only.

Justification for ongoing value of an e-learning module often includes reference to the ability to use a module as an ongoing reference or job aid. It would be worth considering this in the design stage and providing the ability to not only disable any audio (even when it follows the visual) but also provide accompanying text that can be disabled for the returning experienced learner.

The challenge then becomes one of 'navigation and interactivity' but that's tomorrow's reading.

Nursery Rhymes

Consider the first two lines of a favourite nursery rhyme:

'Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey'.

Even I, subjective and adoring mother that I am, have to recognise that although Luc can recite these lines word perfect, he has absolutely no idea what the words mean.

In his article 'Does technology present a new way of learning?', Leamson (2001) explains how, firstly, Luc can memorise so effortlessly and, secondly, how as parents we can help to nurture his potential as he grows up.

It's all to do with the physiology of the brain. While the brain is physically larger in adults, the actual number of synapses is far greater in infants. 'The profusion of synapses in the child's brain does not indicate knowledge , only a vast potential for learning'. In adults, the bulk of the brain comes from the continuous growth of axons. Axons are projections that grow from neurons when the brain makes connections i.e. when something suddenly makes sense.

So I now have evidence that even very young children can have 'memory without understanding'. As he grows, we can help in the knowledge that 'something is learned when it is both understood and remembered'.

Implications for technology are twofold: Don't let the technology divert the adult learner's attention away from the subject and, conversely, if the student is initially attracted by the technology, gradually divert his attention towards the subject to be learned.

Right, I'm off to find out what the hell 'curds and whey' are!

Born in the wrong decade?

At university, and even before for that matter, I always believed that I was a 'bad student'. I now realise that this was not necessarily the case but that my particular learning style was not suited to the way my subjects were delivered. As I read now about new ways educators challenge their students, I find myself almost wishing that I could turn back the clock.

I always needed to 'internalise' a concept internally for longer than others before understanding set in and I felt able to contribute to a meaningful discussion. My current asynchronous online study environment allows me to do just that without feeling 'slow' to catch on.

The lectures that stick in my memory are ones that made use of multimedia (albeit rudimentary) such as the Modern Linguistic class that had us listen to tapes of accents from Alsace and compare to accents from Provence. We also had to study the written phonetics of the accents but this multichannel approach was a success.

Although the balance has perhaps not yet been reached between correct use of multimedia and cognitive overlad creation, I wonder whether we would all have done better with a more interactive approach to our education.

The 'O' Level generation was always very proud to have attained lofty levels of parrot like fact repetition but I wonder whether a school leaver today is in fact equiped with a better approach to learning (both academic and social) than we were.

Are bloggers more intelligent?

I probably look in the mirror more often than the average person. Until recently however, I drew the line at what I considered the ultimate act of narcissism - having my own Blog. I last recorded my inner thoughts when I was 13 years old. I can still picture my diary/scrapbook crammed with photos of Bucks Fizz and Duran Duran's John Taylor lovingly cut out of Smash Hits. So why now, all these years later would I a)want to write down my thoughts and b)publish them online for the world and his wife to view?

One of the first recommendations from Shirley, our Instructional Design module moderator, was to record our reflections in a Blog. Despite being dubious about the instructional value of the exercise, as a self-confessed tech enthusiast I checked it out and discovered I could use a Blog to publish photos and share them with family and friends across the globe. The format is user friendly and the whole experience is more personal than using one of the online photo sharing services that try to sell you a souvenir mug every time you click on a photo.

So having wasted a few hours creating my own and visiting other Blogs, I began the first module's reading - Learning Theory. And therein lay the answer!

The constructivist's theory of learning is based on the premise that we all have our own versions of reality and truth (bear with me) and that the most effective way to learn is to realise what that truth and reality is and build on it with new experiences. This internalisation of thought and reflection is improved if we record the journey.

'Journaling is an example of an instructional method that facilitates the process of internalizing dialogue (Vygotsky, 1962). Specifically, journaling is considered to be an instructional activity that reinforces the skill of reflecting what was simultaneously being discussed with others (Burnham, 1992; Reinersten and Wells, 1993; Beyerbach, 1992).' (Kanuka and Anderson, 1999. Radical Pedagogy)

Maintain a Blog then, is not an act of virtual vanity but rather a way to facilitate and improve our own understanding of the myriad new experiences, exchanges and information that we are exposed to each day.

So the answer to lifelong learning and knowledge is simple - start a Blog!

Detention

If I could, I would send myself to detention. I know it's still early days but I have yet to break the 3 hour per day study barrier. There are so many ways I could spend my time such as upload cds to my new iPod, play with Luc, go to the gym (yes, even that is more attractive than studying), comparison shop for yoga mats (spare yourself, they are all the same), post a blog or contemplate what my next low carb snack will be.

Despite how it looks, the subject really interests me. It's a little bit like putting down a fantastic book because you don't want it to end. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration but seriously, the whole area of Instructional Design is fascinating.

Most of my fellow students are from the education sector but the relevance of the course is nonetheless significant for us all. I just finished one of our readings (Bates, A. (1997). Restructuring the university for technological change.  http://bates.cstudies.ubc.ca/carnegie/carnegie.html). You could almost substitute university for organisation and it would be relevant to any large, complex organisation trying to drag its development and training strategy into the 21st century.

I've yet to get stuck into my Multimedia in Education reading. That's tomorrow's task, unless of course I decide to check out yoga mats one last time.

Back to School !

After a couple of weeks 'off' it's now back to the classroom for me. This is the first week of Semester 2 where I'll be continuing my online pursuit of a Masters in Education Technology at University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

Last semester I took Introduction to Web Publishing which was alot of fun. To check out my final website go to the following URL:
http://studentweb.usq.edu.au/home/w0036792/MADS/
Username = mads
Password = member

This semester I'll be picking up the pace slightly with 2 modules: Instructional Design for Flexible Learning and Multimedia in Education.

This week has been mainly orientation. Next week, I'll start a (semi) rigourous routine of study!

Luc's birthday card

Luc turns 2

Last week we celebrated Luc's 2nd birthday. Of course, we had the obligatory 'I can't believe he's 2 already' conversation but it really is staggering at how quickly the time has passed. He celebrated at school where we brought a cake and some little gifts for him to share with his classmates. Then last Saturday, we hosted a lunch for some of our friends.

Luc has been attending school since he turned 18months which seems early but now when I see the amazing progress he has made and how much he looks forward to going every morning, I don't regret our decision at all.

Must make sure that we keep taking photos and footage as I'm told that it only goes by faster from here on.

Celebrating with grown up friends

New Bike

New Train set

Celebrating at school with classmates

Weekend Trip

Welcome to my blog!

Hi!

If you are reading this, you are either a) me b) a lost blog surfer or c) a friend or loved one curious about what I might have to say.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of posts I'll make. Probably a bit of everything including (but not limited to)

• Travel stories and general updates on our life here in Manila.
• Photos of us and Luc and written justification for our conclusion that he is the cutest and most advanced 2 year old that ever walked the planet.
• Musings of a student: I'm currently in the thick of a Masters in Education Technology so I expect I'll be posting like mad when I should be studying. My excuse is that one of my lecturers recommended starting a blog in the first place.
• Anything else I can think of.

I'll start with a post dedicated to Luc's 2nd birthday that we celebrated last week.

More soon....