“Change is the only constant in life.”
Heraclitus
Social Constructivism in a Connected World
Living is about making and adapting to change. The world 20 years ago was different than it is now. The world as we know it now will be different tomorrow. Even more notably, these changes are happening at an increasing rate. Meanwhile, the learning environment in classrooms across the united states stagnates; it is stuck in the Industrial Age. However, change in our education system is possible.
Learning in the time of COVID
The Coronavirus pandemic is proof that the world as we knew it could change at the drop of the hat and that classrooms can keep up. COVID-19 enhanced changes that were slowly happening in education. They were just sped up by the pandemic. For example, take technology use within schools. Over the course of four days in March of 2020, technology integration within schools changed more than it had over the previous four years (Cahill, 2020). This includes the increased of tools such as learning management systems, video conferencing, and teacher-created and curated media.
Connectivity and Social Media
There is also the phenomenon of social media. People are constantly connected in a way that they weren’t even prior to the pandemic. Finally, now that students are back in class, they are begging to continue to ride the wave of change in the form of authentic, connected learning environments. The behavior problems teachers see are evidence that they want more. Like all people, they want autonomy, mastery, and purpose (Stephenson et al., 2010). The more connected we are, the smaller our world becomes, and the more our interactions affect our environment. That is to say, humans change the environment which changes humans (Thomas & Brown, 2011). “What happens to learn when we move from the stable infrastructure of the twentieth century to the fluid infrastructure of the twenty-first century, where technology is constantly creating and responding to change?” (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 17)
Thesis
“Because learning is as much about the environment as it is about a person and the environment evolves, I posit that learning theory must continue to evolve too. Humans learn in a similar way – inquisitively, always exploring their environment – but in a different context. As humans, we change our environment, so what we know about the environment changes. What was true has changed. As we become connected through technology, knowledge no longer exists in a vacuum. What we know exists in ourselves, in others, and in non-human appliances” (Stateler, 2022).
“Learning must be about creating a meaningful environment for knowledge construction that goes beyond what we see as capable now into a realm that explores what might be capable. As I explore what I believe, I notice the importance of the evolving knowledge of the collective combined with the individual learner. I also notice the importance of creating an environment that encourages individuals to follow their passions, to know where to find the information, and where learners have autonomy, mastery, and purpose” (Stateler, 2022).
My Life as a Learner
“Good learners are curious; they pursue understanding diligently; good learners know that a lot of learning isn’t fun; failure frightens good learners, but they know it’s beneficial; good learners make knowledge their own; good learners never run out of questions, and they share what they’ve learned. Students could use these characteristics to think about how they approach learning” (Haave, 2015).
My life as a learner isn’t complete without context. I am an elder Millenial. In that time period, this means that I barely made the cutoff to be able to afford a house, I got into my career in a stable career path before the recession, and I got a university education. My career is peppered with job changes. Concerning technology, television, radio, and computers have always been a part of my life. Computers were in their early stages and still experimental, and I didn’t grow up as “exposed” or connected as the current generation. Finally, in reference to location, I am from a small town midwestern town that is stuck in the 1950s. This altered my experience in that I was quite sheltered. However, I always sought a connection to something more. All of this shaped me and defines who I am as a part of the collective.
I view all interactions with the world as learning opportunities (Harapnuik, 2021). Also, I like to write, reflect and make connections between ideas that are otherwise unconnected. I embody mastery and the learner’s mindset: Everything and everyone is a resource for learning. The ability to entertain an idea I disagree with and have the ability to change my mind with ease. I rarely read an instruction manual. That is, I like experimenting and iterating, especially when it comes to technology. I am not afraid to poke around or mess something up. As a friend of mine says, “Technologists are just better at Googling than you.” Finally, when it comes to applying knowledge, a common phrase comes to mind: “When you know better, you do better.”
What is learning?
Defined:
For starters, I would like to include my favorite definition. “Learning is a process that is often not under our control and is wrapped up in the environments we inhabit and the relationships we make. It involves encountering signals from the senses; attending to them; looking for connections and meanings, and framing them so that we may act” (Boydston, 2013). In other words, learners come to the table with prior knowledge. They make connections between new information to preexisting knowledge. Finally, in the right learning environment, learners exhibit metacognition: They can monitor their understanding and problem-solving skills (Donovan et al., 1999).
Based on these definitions, ideas, and my own prior knowledge, I believe that learning is:
Iteration:
“Learning IS the hard way. Specifically, it is sitting in the discomfort, wrestling with thoughts and ideas that push against the rock of cognitive dissonance in our individual perceptions of reality” (Stateler, 2022).
Making Connections:
“Everything I understand about learning lies in connecting new ideas to our stories. To be able to learn we must break these stories apart, dissect them, and reflect on how new information fits in or replaces old stories” (Stateler, 2022). When you truly learn, you can make connections to the stories you tell yourself. Finally, your new learning is incorporated into your story.
Personal:
“Author, futurist, and philosopher Robert Anton Wilson (2008) says that “all perception is a gamble” and refers to the concept of naive realism. Naive realism is the idea that one person’s perspective encompasses the whole of reality. Wilson argues that this thinking is incomplete, as everyone is looking at reality through their own “reality tunnel,” that is filtered through past experiences, social constructs, and our location in space-time. Any observation cannot be separated from the observer. This means that if I make an observation, my thoughts, experiences, and ideas affect that observation. I cannot separate it from who I am” (Stateler, 2022).
Collective:
Most people seek connection. After all, we are prosocial, we thrive as a society when we exhibit such behaviors as altruism, cooperation, and caregiving. For example, Student and adult learners are already connecting and creating their own collective environments on social media, through VR and video gaming, and in other virtual communities. We learn in a network and simultaneously affect the network. Also, we are born into collective knowledge. The collective past and knowledge affect us individually, as we will in turn affect the collective.
Experiential:
All learning is based on experience, whether it is your own experience or someone else’s. According to What is Learning? (Boydston, 2013) there are four elements of experiential learning: Concrete experience, observation and reflection, making connections, and action or inaction based on the learning.
Tacit and explicit:
Learning can be something the body knows. For example, I remember a favorite hockey player of mine recounting how he practiced. He would sit in a chair at the blue line and shoot “slappers” from that chair toward the goal. This action taught his body the correct positioning to take hard-hitting shots from the outermost edge. Then, he would remove the chair and repeat the motion. This is an example of tacit, or bodily knowledge. I could explicitly understand this concept, but unless I practice it’s not something I will be able to do. Another term for this is muscle memory.
Teaching vs. Learning
It is my belief that teaching is all about the teacher, while learning is about the learner. We are all born to learn. Dr. Harapnuik (2021) says it best: “The learner’s mindset is intrinsic. The danger arises when schools try to take the task of learning away from children.” He goes on to explain that, “children don’t need formal teaching, but an opportunity to learn” (Harapnuik, 2021). What does this mean? “They need to be given a rich environment, containing many things potentially of interest. They need a teacher who is sensitive to their needs, who can judge what materials will challenge them at a given point in time, who can help when they need help, and who has faith in their capacity to learn” (Harapnuik, 2021).
We know that to be effective, teachers must draw out preexisting knowledge sometimes misconceptions, teach some subjects in-depth, and integrate metacognition into their lessons seamlessly (Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education et al., 1999). How might a teacher do this? We must change the role of the teacher and create a significant learning environment. How People Learn (Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education et al., 1999) suggests creating a community-centered approach. This is supported by A New Culture of Learning (2011) which suggests the following frameworks in our ever-changing world:
- “A massive information network that provides almost unlimited access and resources to learn about anything,” and
- “A bounded and structured environment that allows for unlimited agency to build and experiment with things within those boundaries” (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 19).
The same concepts apply to teaching versus learning philosophy. A learning philosophy is better suited as we move toward a new, student-centered culture of learning. Learning becomes “a lifelong interest that is renewed and redefined on a continual basis” (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 32). Likewise, everything and everyone around us is a resource for learning (Thomas & Brown, 2011).
Social Constructivism in a Connected World
While I really connected with Connectivism, I believe in a mashup of learning ideologies.
As a person: Humanism, Maslow and Rogers
At the height of the pandemic, the saying “Maslow before Blooms” infiltrated my social media feed and eventually my e•mail inbox. This saying refers to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs broke down human motivation into a hierarchy of needs, which is most often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid” (Learning Theory Project Team of HKU, 2018). Before, during, and after the pandemic, it is still important to remember to reach the affective domain before the cognitive. Humans must be faced with an appropriate level of fear to make changes. Too little and they get complacent. Too much and they are overloaded. In both instances, they are unable to learn.
As a learner: Constructivism, Dewey and Piaget
Learning is the individual and social construction of knowledge and understanding “Every individual exists in a continually changing world of experience in which he is the center” (Rogers & Freiberg, 1994). Humans are not empty jars to be filled. Rather, they come to the table with their own ideas and build knowledge on their own through experiences. This really connects with Robert Anton Wilson’s (2008) concept of reality tunnels. That is, we all build our own meaning and cannot, at this time, know precisely how another person views the world.
As we change: Connectivism, Siemans, Thomas, and Brown
We continue to become more connected within society and the half-life of knowledge decreases at an exponential rate. As social media makes the collective personal and the network of knowledge increase, we are faced with a multitude of questions.
- “How are learning theories impacted when knowledge is no longer acquired in a linear manner?
- What adjustments need to be made with learning theories when technology performs many of the cognitive operations previously performed by learners (information storage and retrieval).
- How can we continue to stay current in a rapidly evolving information ecology?
- How do learning theories address moments where performance is needed in the absence of complete understanding?
- What is the impact of networks and complexity theories on learning?
- What is the impact of chaos as a complex pattern recognition process on learning?
- With increased recognition of interconnections in differing fields of knowledge, how are systems and ecology theories perceived in light of learning tasks?” (Siemens, 2005, p. 3).
Connectivism answers these questions.
“Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations” (Siemens, 2005, p. 8). As the half-life of knowledge gets smaller and smaller, new information is constant (Siemens, 2005). As its name states, Connectivism is about making connections. “The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital” (Siemens, 2005, p. 8). It is also important to “recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday” (Siemens, 2005, p. 8) In A New Culture of Learning, Thomas and Brown (2011) described this by saying that individuals affect the collective which affects individuals and on and on. As our world speeds up, change happens more rapidly, and we continue to blur the lines between humans and machines, Connectivism and a new culture can meet humanity’s learning needs.
Under Connectivism, learning and knowledge are better when presented with a diversity of opinions (Siemens, 2005). For this reason, nurturing and maintaining human connections is important. Also, learning and information may reside in non-human appliances (Siemens, 2005). One goal of Connectivim is the continual desire to know more than what is currently known. In fact, this is a critical aspect of Connectivism. Connections between fields, ideas, and concepts are also important concepts in Connectivism. In Connectivist learning activities, the main currency is up-to-date knowledge. Learners seek the context or the “where” of information to make connections between old and new information (Thomas & Brown, 2011).
Generally an evolving Social Constructivist. To me, this means that humans have individual perceptions and make personal connections to information. As humanity evolves, Connectivism provides the answers to questions about collective knowledge.
Ride the Wave of Change
My learning theory is about learning in a culture of continuous change. Because I work in the technology department at the forefront of change, I am in a unique position to enact the concepts outlined in my learning theory. In my proposal, I state that “My goal is to lead us toward increased digital productivity. This will increase confidence in using the technology that already exists. Also, we will prepare all office staff for continued changes as they work alongside machines. Finally, we will model paperless opportunities for teachers that we may grow our district toward becoming paperless. This is but one step toward increasing blended learning environments in GCISD” (Stateler, 2021).
We must use intentional, meaningful planning to create a significant learning environment where learning can not just happen but take on a life of its own. Our ultimate goal: Create lifelong adult and student learners who thrive on change that they may have a positive impact on our world.
References
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Cahill, T. (2020). GCISD Apple Vanguard Cohort Meeting.
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, & Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice. (1999). How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice (J. W. Pellegrino, J. D. Bransford, & M. S. Donovan, Eds.). National Academies Press.
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Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 1-9. https://itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm
Stateler, K. (2021). My Proposal: Paperless Office, Paperless District. Cookies N Cache. https://karinstateler.com/?page_id=95
Stateler, K. (2022). Learning Manifesto. Karin Stateler. https://karinstateler.com/?page_id=332
Stateler, K. (2022, Jan 16). Promoting Change: Perception is a Gamble. Cookies N Cache. https://karinstateler.com/?p=427
Stateler, K. (2022, Feb 21). From Cog to Metacognition: My Story. Cookies N Cache. https://karinstateler.com/?p=619
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