Individual Learning Experience in Connectivist Environment: A Qualitative Sequence Analysis

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Individual Learning Experience in Connectivist Environment: A Qualitative Sequence Analysis
Alaa AlDahdouh, International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 2020/01/28
This is a really good paper. It's a very fair treatment of connectivism, representing the theory accurately and well. Some comments:
- instead of  the three types of networks (neural, conceptual, and external) I tend to draw on three examples where entities actually *connect*: social networks, neural networks, and artificial neural networks. Also Watts's network of crickets, if pressed.
- The paper correctly applies connectivism to problem solving, as opposed to learning some specific content. However, it forces a degree of sameness on people, in the sense that they are trying to solve problems that are put to them, rather than tasks and challenges of their own choosing.
- finally, it's a lot to ask for students to go from zero to full-on connectivism (especially in a challenging setting like Palestine). I've discussed the skills needed to be successful (cf. 'critical literacies') but there doesn't seem to be any indication that students have these skills, or are even aware of them. More...