Learning Within a Connectivist Educational Collective Blog Model: A Case Study of UK Higher Education

Abstract

Abstract: The use Web 2.0 technologies and specifically blogs has become increasingly prevalent within the Higher Education (HE) sector within recent years as educators begin to maximise the opportunities such tools can provide for teaching and learning and to experiment with their usage in a wide range of context. The use of such technologies has been shown to promote learning (Garcia, Brown & Elbeltagi, 2012) however currently the manner in which these tools can be best used to promote teaching and learning is not entirely clear. It is within this context that Connectivism, a learning theory for the digital age (Siemens, 2004) has been developed as a theory which aims to provide a model through which teaching and learning using digital technologies can be better understood and managed. Connectivism is however as yet still a relatively new learning theory and not without criticism. Therefore this theory must be considered more fully before it can be accepted fully as a learning theory for the digital age. Within this research a case study of collective blog usage by students studying at an HE institution within the United Kingdom is utilised in order to explore the extent to which Connectivism can be considered to provide a sound theoretical model in which to base future teaching and learning activities of this sort. The views of academic staff and students are utilised in order to explore the extent to which the model of Connectivist learning can be applied to this case and demonstrate the complexities of considering teaching and learning in this way. The results of this study would suggest that Connectivism as a learning theory for the digital age is worthy of consideration and a number of elements of the theory can be seen within the activities undertaken however these are not seen universally across all groups involved within this project.