Melinda K.

Parsons
Essay Assignment 3
OMDE 601-9041
April 12, 2015

Connectivism in Distance Education

Introduction
Connectivism is a learning theory that may help someone think about how and
why changes in learning happen (Bell, 2007). Connectivism is a type of behaviorism,
which discusses how environment, time, current events, and an individual may affect how
people learn. Connectivism may also be based on what a students/person already know
and what the person has already experienced (Bell, 2007). Connectivism allows teachers
and students to learn how to respect other opinions, as well as see different peoples view
points. In this paper, the viewer will understand what exactly connectivism is, how it is
used in distance education, and in social media.
What is connectivism?
As stated in the introduction, connectivism is a type of learning theory that may
help someone think about how and why changes in education/learning happen (Bell,
2007). George Siemens is the founder of this new learning theory. Siemens (2004)
describes connectivism as a complexity of self-organization, and that knowledge and
understanding is based by different foundations. New information about technology and
education are always forming year by year. It is now the responsibility of teachers and
students to understand and to distinct what information is important and was is not
important. Because new information is always forming, thinking critically is now chaotic
more than ever. Different people have different ideas and opening up to others to share
the ideas. Peoples minds are always changing and developing because of education,
learning, experiencing and sharing information.
According to George Siemens (2004), there are eight principles of connectivism;

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Learning/knowledge are through different opinions.

Learning is a process of connecting information.
Learning can exist in non-human appliances (technology).
Knowing more is more vital than what is known currently.
Continuing to make and keep connections is important when it comes to

knowledge.
6. Being able to see/ makes connections in ideas and concepts are important.
7. Keeping accurate and up-to-date knowledge is the point of connectivism.
8. Decision-making, choosing what to learn and the meaning is a learning process.
These eight principles make up this type of learning theory. It is important for people to
make connections, have the most updated information, and for one to be able to come up
with ones personal conclusions and decision-making.
Connectivism and Distance Education (DE)
Distance education and connectivism relate very closely to one another. Distance
education provides the fastest and most up to date information than any traditional
classroom. Individuals who take distance education classes may use resources and/or
articles that could have been written that day and use in a paper, project, and/or
assignment for a class. When up-to-date resources are being used, one can make accurate
connections with information between topics. It also allows a person to critically think
and to come up with his/her own ideas about the information. With information coming
to people from the internet, social media, online news, and networking, people have the
capability to retrieve that information at any moment through smartphones, tablets,
televisions, radios and laptops.
Technology is key when comes to distance education. If one has a computer,
tablet, laptop, and/or a smart-phone, he/she can complete an online course. According to
Tschofen and Mackness (2012), online learning attracts anyone around the world. These
students will then share his/her experiences, knowledge, and understanding about

different topics and/or information. Distance education is offered anywhere in the world.
One class may have students from Germany, England, The United States, and South
America. When students are from different parts of the world, there will be a lot more
opinions, backgrounds, traditions, and discussion about different experiences. For
example, in a traditional classroom, students and teachers will mostly live in a twenty to
thirty mile radius from the school. Even though those students might be from different
backgrounds and culture, the students will still be the same.
Distance education allows one to individually learn and to come up with his/her
own conclusions and/or connection from the information they may find. One may also
expand on pervious knowledge to gain better understanding with up-to-date information.
According to Tschofen and Mackness (2012), connectivism has been recognized as
beginning with the individual. What Tschofen and Mackness (2012) mean by this is
that learning first begins with the individual. The individual decides what he/she wants to
learn and how deep he/she wants to get with the topic. The person also decides what kind
of connections to make when the information. The person is also in charge of how to tell
others about knowledge through his/her learning, pervious knowledge and experiences.
Connectivism and Social Media
Connectivism and social media closely connect with each other. Social media,
like Facebook and/or Twitter, provides the fastest and most up to-date-information out in
the world today. With social media, a person can find the latest news and able to read
other peoples comments and opinions about the topic. When different people are
providing different opinions, a discussion can occur where two or more people
communicate. In the discussion, different people will provide his/her opinion, and people

will start connecting ideas, digging deeper within a topic and even give real life and/or
personal experiences about the topic. All eight principles in connectivism will be easily
be check off when it comes to social media.
According to Akella (2014), Tweeting to learn: understanding Twitter through the
lens of connectivism, an individual is able to make connections and understanding
through the use of Twitter. Twitter is one of the fastest growing ways to communicate
through social media today. When you are a member on Twitter, a person can follow
different news sources, political people and/or political groups, friends, classmates, and a
person can even follow the course that the person is taking. As a Twitter member, a
person may write a status and/or post an article that the person may want others to read.
Other people may retweet the status, like, and/or comment on the article/picture
expressing his/her opinion.
When Akella (2014) writes her story about how she used Twitter during her
communication masters program, Akella explains how she was both nervous and excited
about the new adventure. Akella also explained that every week she had to post a status
on her Twitter, then, other classmates were to respond giving their opinion and prior
knowledge about the subject. Akella states that her experience with the classroom Twitter
was challenging, intense, and it really tested each students knowledge about the subjects
given. Each post and/discussion had to be detailed in a 140-character count. Explaining
oneself in a small discussion is hard to do, so a person needs to be direct, use up-to-date
resources, and opinionated at the same time. Using connectivism in distance education is
not easy because one needs to be clear as possible when explaining his/her opinion while

using factual, up-to-date resources. When reading this article, a viewer can checks off
each principle of connectivim and how it relates to distance education.
Conclusion
Connectivism is an important learning theory to have in a distance education
classroom and to have in education in general. Connectivism allows both students and
teachers to dig deeper in any subject matter. Connectivism also allows students and/or
teachers to become open minded because different people will hear about different
opinions around the world. This will allow people to learn and respect different peoples
opinions. Learning to respect other students and/or teachers opinions is critical when it
comes to distance education and connectivism. Using the eight principles of connectivism
will allow students to understand how education evolves by different peoples opinions,
and new technology and/or resources are being used. In this paper, the viewer
understands what connectivism is, how it is helpful in distance education, and how it is
used in social media.

Reference
Akella, N. (2014). Tweeting to learn: understanding Twitter through the lens of
connectivism. Insight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 964-69. Retrieved from:

http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
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Bell, F. (2011). Connectivism: Its place in theory-informed research and innovation in
technology- enabled learning. International Review of Research in Open &
Distance Learning,12(3) 98-118. Retrieved from:
http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
sid=74f0f8a5-28bf-4823-b48cef2ff7d50d11%40sessionmgr4002&vid=8&hid=111
Tschofen, C. & Mackness,J. (2012). Connectivism and dimensions of individual
experience. International Review of Research in Open and Distance learning,
13(1), 124-143. Retrieved from:
http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=5&sid=74f0f8a5-28bf-4823-b48cef2ff7d50d11%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4110
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved
from: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm