Always More to Learn

Up until recently, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism have been the prevailing learning theories. Behaviorists believe that learning should be viewed as a change in observable behavior, and that internal processing is largely unknowable (Moore, 2011). After Behaviorism came Cognitivism, which is more concerned with the internal processes of learning and how a learner receives information, organizes it, stores it, and retrieves it (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Constructivist theory believes that learners create meaning from their experiences and knowledge is created through the interaction of the learner and the environment (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). While these theories have all greatly shaped the way we understand and think about learning, they were developed before learning was impacted by technology (Siemans, 2005). More recently, a theory called Connectivism has taken root.  According to Siemans, “connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired and the ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital” (Siemens, 2005, para. 24). Siemans outlines 3 components of Connectivism: Chaos Theory, Importance of Networks, and Complexity and Self-Organization:

Chaos Theory proposes that regardless of how unconnected events may seem, there are patterns that can be found that explain the relationships between the otherwise unrelated events. A key learning task is recognizing when things have changed and making adjustments (Davis et al., 2010).

Importance of Networks is the idea that we are all connected to an intricate network of entities or nodes, and that we have a reciprocal relationship with this network where we share and gather information (Davis et al., 2010). Our networks include people, technology, social systems, etc.

Complexity and Self-Organization is the idea that learners are part of a complex system that is largely unpredictable and uncontrollable, however, the system has an ability to self-organize by forming a network (Davis et al., 2010).   

Technology has greatly impacted the way we gather or interact with information, creating much greater access to information and increasing the speed of learning. Since we cannot possibly know, gather, and learn all of the information available to us, “we derive our competence from forming connections” (Siemans, 2010, para.14) and developing our personal learning networks.

Creating a mind map is a great way to visualize your own networks! To create my mind map, I used Canva which has loads of creating tools that make producing things like this very user-friendly. While creating my mind map, I had to think about all the ways that I connect with knowledge and then organize these network nodes in a way that made sense to me. The exercise was enlightening. I had no idea how many network nodes I had, and how dependent I am on many of them for my learning. It’s really a complex web of learning and it’s dynamic – as I grow, develop new relationships, and experience new things, my network expands and changes. Each node contributes in unique and important ways to how I gather and process new information.

Reflecting on my mind map, I can see how important many of my connections are and how they have changed over time. For example, social media was always something I considered recreational. While creating my mind map and thinking critically about how and why I use certain social media apps, it occurred to me that I use apps like Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest much more now for learning than for entertainment. When I have a question or need information about a specific topic, I typically start by seeking out experts on those platforms. Another revelation was how dependent my learning is on the relationships in my life. My connections with the people in my life provide an important avenue for me to share and gather huge amounts of information. After creating my own mind map, I can see the value in mind mapping. It really helps you visualize the “cross-pollinating” effects within the learning process and to see just how vast your learning network is!

 
Have you ever created a mind map?  I would love to hear your experiences!

References
 
Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2010). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/piq.21143