George Siemens (2004) developed a theory on an approach to learning that he called Connectivism. "Including technology and connection making as learning begins to move learning theories into a digital age." Siemens points out that using technology and making connections are linked. Combining connectivism and constructivist methods in the classroom offers students an opportunity to gain 21st century skills, he sees trends including:
- Many learners will have many different jobs spanning a variety of fields over their lifetime
- Learning now occurs in a variety of ways through communities of practice, personal networks, and through completion of work-related tasks
- Learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime
- Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking
- The organization and individual are both learning organisms
- Many of the processes previously handled by learning theories (especially in cognitive information processing) can now be off-loaded to, or supported by, technology
- Know-how and know-what are being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of where to find knowledge needed).
--excerpt from Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools by Solomon & Schrum (2007)
