Collectivism vs. Connectivism
In elearnspace today (”Collective Intelligence? Nah. Connective Intelligence“) George Siemens discusses his reservations about the increasing emphasis on collectivism in learning - e.g. the collective mind - and argues it doesn’t sit well with him.
“I can (and have) used the term myself to explain the combined efforts of “the many” in achieving an outcome, solving a problem, or determining the value of a resources (such as voting/rating systems in Amazon and Digg). As a term, it resonates with people - the value of being part of a larger community and sharing and creating information together is valuable, if not necessary today.”
In a social software sense I see these two concepts as highlighting an important distinction between wiki and blog.
Wiki’s, being single sites that enable editing and contributions by small through vast communities of users, cater largely to the concept of group collectivism. When developing a wiki, the participatory activities of each individual user contribute to the development of a single knowledgebase. In a sense, the wiki comes to represent the group mind.
This is a powerful concept that enables the aggregating of multiple perspectives and insights into a far more holistic piece of work than could be produced by an individual alone. In doing this however the contributions of each individual contributor are largely absorbed to the point where there is no clear delineation between what they have produced, and what has been produced by others.
As useful an exercise as this is, it raises fundamental questions on the role and importance of the individual in the process.
At stake, Siemens argues, is the question of “how we are to perceive the individual in a world where the collaborative/collective is increasingly valued. Collective intelligence places the collective first. Connective intelligence places the individual node first.”
In the context of education, the purpose of schools and institutions is to facilitate learning. Group work and collectivistic activities can go a long way to doing this, however the opportunity for individual synthesis and exploration must be nurtured as well. This is the significance of connectivism.
As Siemens explains,
“…people do not think together in coming to certain conclusions, but rather than people think on their own and the value of the collaborative comes in the connection and combination of ideas. Each person retains their own identity and ideas, but they are shaped and influenced by the work of others.”
The opportunity for synthesis and exploration necessitates a space for reflection and room to grow. A blog is therefore far more appropriate for this sort of activity than a wiki, because: Blogs are connective; a Wiki is collective.
Anytime a wiki is used in the classroom, blogs should be as well because they enable students to take the information that has emerged from the collectivistic activities and further explore them through connectivistic ones.
References:
- ”Collective Intelligence? Nah. Connective Intelligence“, elearnspace, 18 February 2008
- “Collective or Connective Intelligence?“, Connectivism Blog, 21 February 2008
- “2008 Horizon Report“, New Media Consortium/Educause, 2008
- “Groups vs. Networks“, Stephen Downes, Presentation to EFest, Wellington, New Zealand, 27 September 2006
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008