Nature of modern learning

What is the nature of the modern world? I don't think a blog post could do the answer to that question justice, but here is a glimpse into current research that illustrates new learning principles connected with the modern world and the demands that students are facing as they leave their high school or university.

The principles of Connectivism written by Goerge Seimens is called a learning theory for the Digital Age. It seeks to explain complex learning in a rapidly changing social and modern world. Essentially, learning is a process associated more often occurring through connections in a network.

The principles of Connectivism are as follows:


1) Learning and knowledge rest in the diversity of opinions.
2) Learning is a process of connecting sources of information.
3) Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
4) Capacity to know more is more important and critical then what is currently known.
5) Nurturing and maintaining connection is needed to facilitate connected learning.
6) Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts, is a core skill.
7) Currency (accurate and up to date knowledge) is the intent of all Connectivist learning activities.
8) Decision making is itself a learning process.

The principle that caught my attention was the fourth. We can definitely see the shift from the world we knew a few decades ago to the present. Memorization was the key to success. Now, there is too much information to memorize, all you need to know now is how to locate it.

References:

Siemens, G. (2006). Knowing knowledge. Lulu. com. Chicago

Walling, D. R. (2014). Designing learning for tablet classrooms: Innovations in instruction. New York, NY: Springer.