CCK09: What about teaching?
Stephen Downes on connectivism and teaching, arguing that this theory isn't really about classroom teaching.
This theory is, first and foremost, a theory about learning. This is why I tweeted a few weeks ago that people - including teachers - should be viewing Connectivism as a theory describing how to <span style="font-style: italic;">learn</span>, not how to teach. And what it says about learning, essentially, is that you should immerse yourselve in the relevant environment, observe and practice the common actions in that environment, and reflect on that practice.
So - insofar as there is a pedagogy attached to Connectivism, I content that it involves more and more removing students from a structured and managed classroom environment, and more and more providing means for them to be immersed in communities of practitioners, and for this to happen at a younger and younger age, and in addition, to more and more create in practitioners the expectation and responsibility of working openly and including new and inexperienced members into their communities.
So to me, an answer to the question "What impact does networked learning have on *in class* activity?" should be, "it eliminates it". <br><br>Now I realize that this is not helpful to teachers looking for tips and tricks for in-class activities. Such teachers, I contend, shpuld be looking for eays of moving their students out of their classrooms and into authentic learning environments, while at the same time fostering the communicative and reasoning skills (which has often been neglected) that will enable them to begin participating in such environments.
