George Siemens

Setting the context: why we need new learning models

George Siemens, PhD

October 16, 2012

Complex problems

Knowledge problems

Social problems

“…the fundamental task of education is to enculturate youth into this knowledge-creating civilization and to help them find a place in it…traditional educational practices –with its emphasis on knowledge transmission – as well as newer constructivist methods both appear to be limited in scope if not entirely missing the point”

Scardamalia and Bereiter (2006, Cambridge Handbook of Learning Sciences)

The growing influence of networks as a model for understanding the world…

Hierarchy Edge Bundles3D File Manager

http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/

Political blogosphere, 2004 Blue Brain

Recognition of complexity and networks as underpinning attributes

of social, science, education

http://drunks-and-lampposts.com/2012/06/13/graphing-the-history-of-philosophy/

http://drunks-and-lampposts.com/2012/06/13/graphing-the-history-of-philosophy/

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004803

Making the world’s knowledge relatable

http://linkeddata.org/

Wellman (2002)

http://research.uow.edu.au/learningnetworks/seeing/snapp/index.html

Weak ties

Empirical evidence that the stronger the tie connecting two individuals, the more similar they are, in various ways

Mark Granovetter (1973)

Our education system faces information that is:

OpenAccessibleDistributedScalableSocialNetworkedSelf-organizedAdaptiveGlobalMultimedia-based

“The world is one big data problem”Gilad Elbaz

“Social data is set to be surpassed in the data economy, though, by data published by physical, real-world objects like sensors, smart grids and connected devices.”

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/china_moves_to_dominate_the_next_stage_of_the_web_internet_of_things.php

Externalization of thought and concepts

…so that it can be analyzed, interpreted, tested, evaluate

d

MOOCs

Massive (maybe)

Open (sort of)

Online (yep)

Course (sort of)

A bit of (recent) history:

2007:

- David Wiley: open wiki-based course

- Alec Couros: Social media and Open Education

2008:

- CCK08

- Slew of other open courses

2011:

- Stanford AI births Coursera and Udacity

Phil Hill, 2012

gsiemens @gmailTwitterSkypeFBWherever

www.elearnspace.org

www.connectivism.ca

www.learninganalytics.net