After reading Siemens' article (sorry - paper) I can't see how Downes can be any worse. I hope not. Of course, it probably will be since 2 years have gone by which is plenty of time to muddy the waters, throw in a load more off-topic ideas and suggestions and wrap it all up as an educational masterpiece.
Downes (2007), What connectivism is
Alas. not much better.
At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed
across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of
the ability to construct and traverse those networks.
A bit like walking between libraries to get a book then? You can have a network of libraries that communicate with each other and share resources.
The article seems to say the Connectivism is ethereal, doesn't exist in the material world and of course we get to think about the number of Angels you can fit on a pin-head. Later on fairies and pixie dust are introduced into the argument.
I think connectivism is nothing. Just a play on words, trying to mimic some computer networking, brain synapsis functioning and a statement on what takes place already and has done for many years.
Not impressed.
Activity 19 - I considered these points in the previous post. I can see the point of designing a course that allows the learner to follow their curiosity and making what they find part of the experience, but then we may as well just say, this is the topic, go away and investigate it then report back what you found. That covers just about all the "key principles".
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