Today's education also brings with it new concepts that are gradually gaining prominence, such as gamification , the flipped classroom, eLearning and connectivism .
The latter is well known to Ángel Fidalgo, a professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid “with a vocation and concern for improving teaching”, and who has also given several workshops and talks during the International Congress on Learning, Innovation and Cooperation ( CINAIC ).
How would you explain what connectivism is in education?
In the traditional model of education we are used to students being evaluated on what they are capable of doing individually. They are supposed to learn and even if they work in a team, in the end the grade is individual.
Connectivism, on the other hand, is a way of approaching education in which, if we all, and I am talking about students and teachers, share and collaborate, it allows us to value how the individual participates in collective learning .
Connectivism is part of educational innovation
What then are the principles of connectivism?
As for evaluation , one of the principles of connectivism is to add to the “traditional evaluation” how the individual contributes knowledge or community learning. That is, not only what he or she has been able to absorb but also what he or she is able to contribute to transform.
Thus, this type of assessment no longer only involves a contribution of academic knowledge but also values.
How would connectivism help improve teaching?
It would help a lot because when a subject starts again, it restarts. In some cases, such as eLearning systems or online learning processes, it is even literal: the students restart, the contributions to the forums restart, etc. And this is really a bit absurd.
If you teach the subject within the scope of connectivism, the subject gains experience. That is, if a student has acquired a certain amount of experience, why can't that experience be used in the next course with new students? In this way, subsequent learning can be improved.
The educational model does not promote educational innovation; it does not promote teachers giving up their vacation hours and using their own resources to innovate.
What is the relationship between connectivism and ICT?
In this case, ICTs are a facilitator. If a student is reviewing something on the subway and suddenly comments that he has understood something very well, he is already transmitting to other classmates who are taking the course that he has understood it.
In this case, let's say, the impact is immediate with technology. If this relationship did not exist, it is most likely that this student would go home and the next day go to university without saying anything.
So what technology will allow is that feedback can be given immediately at any time, and it is important that feedback be as immediate as possible .
What challenges must education face if it wants to achieve the connectivist model?
If we want to achieve the connectivist model, the most important challenge we have to achieve is to change habits. The big problem we have is that the educational model, the way we do things, generates habits that, for both teachers and students, are not usually participatory.
If you use an active methodology, the student follows this active methodology and participates, but if you don't use an active methodology, he decides to be passive. And the same goes for the teachers. They are used to the passive habits of the students and this means that the model continues as it is.
The big challenge , therefore, is to get both students and teachers to actively participate . If we are talking about a class without technology, for example, active students would ask more questions and if they do not agree with a vision, they would propose another one.
This is the habit that must be made to come out naturally.
The flipped classroom is a form of active teaching
We have several lines. Some are already consolidating and going well, lawyers mailing list while others are still being tested.
Among those that are becoming established is, for example, flip teaching , that is, a set of microvideos are made where students work on various concepts from home and then in class we make the sessions a little more practical and as a team.
An example of something experimental and whose results we are currently analyzing is with connectivism, breaking that passive habit of the students, and at the moment the indicators indicate that both in grades and in participation in class as well as in attendance and delivery of voluntary work, everything we are doing with connectivism is going quite well.
What we also have to measure now is the effort because if the results are the same, both in the class where the experiment is being carried out and in the one where it is not, but it has taken the first 20 hours more, then that means that we have done something wrong.
It is effective, but it remains to be seen if it is efficient . We are in the testing phase.
What advice would you give to teachers who are still hesitant to embrace educational innovation?
It depends a lot on the context in general, but the first thing is to understand them. The educational model does not promote educational innovation; it does not promote teachers giving up their vacation hours and using their own resources to innovate.
What does “no prima” mean? It means that if you dedicate yourself to other things, you will rise. Therefore, the first thing is to have a certain empathy.