Connectivism Creates Connections

Connectivism provides the connections and networks to broaden the type and amount of content available to us, thus also increasing the amount we can learn from this content. Learning is about making connections between our schema and new information to make sense of it. Our students are doing this constantly.

Connection is a key concept for everything that I do in my school. My role is to help teachers and students make meaningful connections between content and using technology. It is important to help students and teachers to understanding that learning and technology are not separate but rather one when done appropriately.

For me, connecting to social networks is the most rewarding way to grow as an educator. Through twitter and blogs, not only can I share content with my personal learning network but I can consume it as well. I have made connections to educators from all over the world that I never would have been able to meet in person. Thus, enriching my personal learning experience.

While it may be easier to make the connections as an adult, it is important that we help students make connections and create networks not just within our school but also globally. One way we did this last year was to use Mystery Skype to learn about other regions of the world and the children who lived there. From there, we were able to contact them should we need them as a resource for future projects. This helped our students become more globally aware and understand how using your connections can help you learn more about the world you live in.