In his essay, “What is the unique idea in connectivism,” George Siemens discusses the differences between connectivism and constructivism arising after a twitter post asking, “when a constructivist constructs knowledge, where does it reside physically/biologically?” It seems to me that in distinguishing connectivism from constructivism, Siemens has answered his own question. If knowledge is something that we construct, the making connections and creating networks is how we construct knowledge. Where does knowledge reside? In the connectoins, whether among neurons, among ideas, or among people.
Siemens describes technology and networks as playing a key role in connectivism, but technology and networks have been a part of the human conditon for millions of years. We know little about humanity before the invention of tools (if indeed humans predate the use of tools) and even less of human culture in the absence of tools. Humans are social animals, so we’ve always existed in a network. Certainly the types of tools and networks we use have changed, but the nature of learning within the context of technology and networks hasn’t.
