Reflection on Connectivism

Connectivism is a learning theory proposed by George Siemens for the way the new digital student will learn.  Siemens (2005) states  "Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing." 

I see Sieman’s point of view.  There is too much information to be able to ‘know’ everything.  And so, in current society, the channels that allow us to access information have become much more important.  However, I do not believe they have become more important than the information itself.  As teachers, we want our students to become someone who fixes the world’s problems and makes new discoveries.  However, if a person has to cover all the basic information about a topic every time it is encountered, then they will never end up at the solution or new discovery because there will not be enough time.  This is where the “knowing” and “recalling” remain an essential part of learning.  Learning needs to be a continual building of information in our minds rather than just on a computer network.