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Connectivism is a new learning paradigm and a learning theory introduced in 2005 by George Siemens. This theory attempts to approach learning and knowledge in context of technological improvements during the last few decades, since impact of this achievements cannot be ignored.
Siemens' connectivism incorporates ideas from three areas: chaos theory, networks and complexity and self-organization to explain his theory and expands terms of learning and knowledge. He views on the learning process, in terms of nodes and links between them, as on establishing connections (links) between different nodes. Nodes can represent virtually anything (a community, individual, …), and the stronger the connection is, the faster the information will flow between the nodes. Aggregated nodes form the network, but the network itself can only have limited influence on the nodes.
According to Siemens' “Connectivism: Learning as Network-Creation”, elements and characteristics of a network include:
Connections between the nodes can depend on various factors which make them
Learning, according to him, can also reside outside a person (within a database or an organization).