# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The students should be able to answer accurately four questions on Learning Theories. Instruction: Answer ALL questions below by selecting the correct options. Time required: 5 minutes.

# data[].attributes.body
Connectivism is a learning theory devised for explaining how learning will take place in the digital age. It explains the complexities of how learning takes place in a rapidly changing social digital world. Educators should factor in technology and the networked world we are in when considering this theory (Education-2020, 2018).
In another way, connectivism, can be viewed as a learning theory that explains how technologies used via the Internet (web applications) have created new opportunities for people to learn and share information with themselves and others. The technology used includes web browsers, email, wikis, on-line discussion forums, social networks, Youtube, and any other tool which enables the users to learn and share information with other people.  (Learning Theories, 2015)

# data[].attributes.body
"...And ever the twain shall meet!"

# data[].attributes.body
The key connectivist learning theorists are  George Siemens and Stephen Downes. Since attention was gained in the blogoshere , 2005, Siemens’ Connectivism: Learning as Network Creation (2005) and Downes’ An Introduction to Connective Knowledge (2005) an extended discussion has taken place around connectivism as a learning theory for the digital age. (as cited in, Hill & Kop, 2008)

# data[].attributes.body
The key features of connectivism are:

Much learning can happen across peer networks that take place online.

A teacher will guide students to information and answer key questions as needed to support students learning and sharing.

Students are encouraged to seek their own information online and express/explain what they find.

Shared information often results around the formation of a connected community.

(Learning Theories, 2015)

# data[].attributes.headline
Implications for learning, teaching, and online facilitation

# data[].attributes.subject
Implications for learning, teaching, and online facilitation

# data[].attributes.body
The implications of this learning theory is as follows:

Internet enabled devices are becoming popular during face to face teaching and learning activities, giving students and teachers access to global resources, online tools and services and immediate feedback.

Web 2.0 is most times seen as a hype term. Now, users use the Internet to produce web content in the form of text, images, audio and video. Users also consume content, through online services.

Genres of media tools and content frameworks such as blogs and wikis are now freely available as online resources and services, enabling individuals and groups to share and publish media, connected by links and ‘feeds’ that allow monitoring of the sources that interest us rather than rely solely on Internet searches by using alerts and notifications for the instant there is a change in the content..

Internet use has escaped into our daily lives from the laboratory. Internet access therefore has implications for students and staff, the challenge is how to work and learn effectively in the environment which is ever changing and of which we find ourselves. (University of Salford Manchester, 2009)

# data[].attributes.body
The most often used theories in creating instructional environments are Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. The three theories, were developed when technology was not used as a tool through which learning is provided. For the past twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live,  communicate, and learn. Theories that support learning needs and that describe learning principles and processes, should now be reflective of our prevailing social environments and not that of the past.

Let's think back to learners some years ago. In the past, learners would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime. Information development then was slow and the decaying relevance of knowledge had a longer half-life. Today, the principles of which we are guided, have been altered. Knowledge changes rapidly and is growing exponentially. In many areas knowledge has to be consumed in real-time as it becomes irrelevant within minutes even seconds. Knowledge has taken on a life of its own and as such, is now measured over a shorter time-frame. (as cited in, Siemens, 2005)

# data[].attributes.body
Heutagogy originates from the Greek word “self”. This learning theory is adopted to provide a holistic approach to developing the capabilities of the adult learner (further developed on principles of andragogy) and focuses on learning as active and proactive. The learners are therefore viewed as being “the major agent" in determining their own learning, garnered through their personal experiences (as cited in, Blaschke, 2012).

According to Hase and Kenyon, Heutagogy is the study of learning determined by one's self. It was devised in an attempt to challenge some traditional ideas that are still banded about in teaching and learning. Heutagogy emphasizes the thinking that there is a need for ‘knowledge sharing’ rather than ‘knowledge hoarding’. The theory therefore looks to the future and seek to connect fundamental skills needed of knowing how to learn and the pace of innovation and the changing structure of communities and workplaces. (Hase & Kenyon, 2000)

# data[].attributes.body
Heutagogy was first defined by Stewart Hase and Chris Kenyon in 2000, in studying self-determined learning.

One former theorist, Knowles (1970), had suggested an important change in the way in which educational experiences for adults should be designed. This approach was known as andragogy. Andragogy contrasted sharply with pedagogy; the teaching of children. Knowles, paper suggests there is benefit in moving from andragogy to self-determined learning, called heutagogy; it builds on humanistic theory and approaches to learning described in the 1950s. Hase and Kenyon further defined heutagogy looking at the appropriate needs of learners in the 21st century, mainly in their development of individual capability. (Hase & Kenyon, 2000)

# data[].attributes.body
In self-determined learning, it is important that learners acquire both competencies and capabilities as follows:.

Competency can be understood in acquiring knowledge and skills,

Capability is characterized by learner confidence in his or her competency

Showing the ability to take appropriate and effective action to formulate and solve problems in both familiar and unfamiliar and changing settings.

Showing self-efficacy, in knowing how to learn and continuously reflect on the learning process;

Aptly communicate and display teamwork skills, working well with others and being openly communicative

Showing creativity, particularly in applying competencies to new and unfamiliar situations and by being adaptable and flexible in approach

Displaying positive values (Hase & Kenyon, 2000)

# data[].attributes.body
Connectivism and Heutagogy, as mentioned in the introduction, are two educational theories that were founded from thoughts of behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism.  The theories delve into and examines the influence technology has on the teaching and learning environment.  Though the theories seemingly address and  deal with issues from different angles they both focus on one main idea and that is, how will learners operate in a new technological world - the digital age, where socially face to face interaction is shunned in favor of text messaging, facebook and instagram.  This is the new culture. We are now left with more questions than answers and vise versa.

# data[].attributes.headline
Implications for learning, teaching, and online facilitation

# data[].attributes.subject
Implications for learning, teaching, and online facilitation

# data[].attributes.body
The implications for heutagogy are as follows:

The higher education environment stimulates learning through various systems and structures and these determine, when, how and what is learned; these systems can either promote or inhibit the choice of what is learned and what skills are developed.

Learning is an innate process and the desire to learn is an internal process controlled by the learners themselves, thus creating a personal ontological space. Consequently, within this personal ontological space, we learn from within ourselves and the teacher is viewed as a facilitator of learning.

When something new is learned, our “being”, that is the notion of who we are is changed, as a new space, anew mode of being is created, and a new space of learning is entered. New learning possibilities are created, and the student, if encouraged, is enabled to develop as an architect of learning, where learning is arranged around their activities and their real world experience rather than driven by pre-determined syllabi or curricula content, thus enabling what is to be learned, to be context specific, facilitating an authentic approach to learning.

The student then becomes a designer of learning, subsequently building an individual pattern of learning spaces and opportunities, drawing upon their own context related technological, community, societal, subject, and discipline knowledge and skills.

The learner creates their own pattern of ideas and experiences relevant to their own mind, being and learning, embracing a holistic, authentic approach to learning.

Key to this self-determined or heutagogical process of learning is the place of the learner—who is at the heart of the learning—and the learner drives what it is to be learned rather than the constraints of a prescribed syllabus or curriculum that works in partnership with the academic tutor/lecturer who acts as a facilitator of learning.

In this approach to learning the learner and their place in community and society becomes the fulcrum of learning. Distinctly, there is a philosophical shift away from Andragogy. Traditionally the learner in the learning process was often a passive recipient in the development of knowledge, where the lecturer/teacher adopted the role of knowledge expert who simply converted their knowledge, determining what was learned and how it was to be learned.

Suggestion of associated “epistemological risk”; of learners following their interests, learning what they want to learn and creating their own curriculum, students may end up with a “warped perspective or a skewed understanding of a field” [to be noted also, there is the risk -a beneficial outcome - that the skewed perspective of a field might lead to new developments in the field previously undiscovered].

There is also a “practical risk”; the students may not have the practical skills to respond effectively to this learning approach, failing to develop and progress new skills.

The pedagogical risk is concerned with developing a “space-for-being” where the risk is “ontological” shaping the learner’s “being” and subsequently their personal identity.

Educators are encouraged to take risks with pedagogy, to be creative in their approaches to teaching and learning, that the needs of learners are to be met as they are prepared effectively to fulfil the demands and needs of communities and society. (Halsall, 2016)

# data[].attributes.body
Blaschke, L.M. (2012). Hetagogy
and lifelong learning: A review of
heutagogical practice and self-
determined learning. The
International Review of Research
in Open and Distributed Learning,
13(1). Retrieved from    http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1076/2087
Barnett, J. (2013).  Connected
teaching and learning: The uses
and implications of
connectivism in an online class.
Australasian Journal of
Educational Technology. 29 (5).
Retrieved from https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET/issue/view/54
Bell, F. (2009). Connectivism a
network theory for teaching and
learning in a connected world.
Magazine of the staff and
Educational Development
Association. 10 (3). Retrieved
from http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2569/1/ConnectivismEdDev.pdf
Siemens, G. (2015). Connectivism:
A learning theory for the digital
age. International Journal of
Instructional Technology and
Distance Learning. 2 (1).
Retrieved from http://202.116.45.236/mediawiki/resources/2/2005_siemens_Connectivism_A_LearningTheoryForTheDigitalAge.pdf
Halsall, J. (2016). Determined
learning approach:
Implications of heutagogy
society based learning. Cogent
Social Sciences Journal. 2 (1).
Retrieved from https://www.
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311886.2016.1223904
Hase, S., & Kenyon. C. (2000),
Heutagogy community of
practice: Advancing the theory
and practice of self-determined
learning. Retrieved from
https://heutagogycop.wordpress.com/history-of-heutagogy
Hase, S., & Kenyon. C. (2000), From
andragogy to heutagogy.
Retrieved from https://epubs.scu.edu.au/gcm_pubs/99/
Kop, R., & Hill, A. (2008).
Connectivism: Learning theory
of the future or vestige of the
past?. The International Review
of Research in Open and
Distributed Learning. Retrieved
from https://www.irrodl.com
Connectivism. (2014). Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyA7uGkZlY8
The heutagogical approach of
increasing online learners.
(2016). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D74LbNHpnQ

Image source
"Puring from two test tubes". creative commons

# data[].attributes.body
Are you connecting with connectivism?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A New Theory for a Digital Age-- Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/ . Make your own animated videos and animated presentations for free. PowToon is a free tool that allows you to develop cool animated clips and animated presentations for your website, office meeting, sales pitch, nonprofit fundraiser, product launch, video resume, or anything else you could use an animated explainer video.

# data[].attributes.body
How does it apply to you?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Heutagogical Approach of Increasing Online Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Heutagogical Approach of Increasing Online Learners Article highlights: 1. Process of e-learning is based on the principles of Heutagogy. 2. Heutagogy is a form of self-determined learning which focuses on increasing the capability and capacity of learner. 3. Heutagogy is coined by Stewart Hase and Chris Kenyon of Australia in 2000.