Abstract
This study examined the significance of connectivism theory and technology for knowledge creation in cross-cultural communication. The findings rely on the exercise designed and conducted by the facilitators of two different institutions/universities based in two different countries. This exercise was conducted for two intercultural management classes in New Delhi, India and Graz, Austria. This article used student-centric teaching approach and output-oriented methodology based on the principles of connectivism and knowledge creation. It demonstrates how these approaches foster lifelong learning in students. The task involved selection of commercial advertisements (preferably national ones), in which students were expected to work in virtual teams and find cultural differences in the interpretation between the participants from two countries: India and Austria. The key findings of this article are the following: The students learnt that an answer to a specific question might match the expectations at one point of time with one specific group of people, but might be different in some other point or with some other group of people. They examined the role of connectivism and its potential application in knowledge creation. They learnt that people generally see the world not as it is, but as they are, or, as they are conditioned to see it. Published: 21 December 2018 Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2018, 26 : 2061 - http://dx.doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v26.2061
Highlights
With the advent of technology, learning theories are changing rapidly
Based on the past researches, there are strong evidences to prove that social media can help in creating personal learning environments (PLEs) that help learners work together with people in different contexts, integrate and share the results of learning achievements, collaborate in collective knowledge generation and manage their own meaning making (Dabbagh and Kitsantas 2012)
The present study examined the significance of connectivism and technology for knowledge creation
Summary
With the advent of technology, learning theories are changing rapidly. The latest developments and presence of the Web in our day-to-day life have changed the fundamental of teaching learning process. Based on the past researches, there are strong evidences to prove that social media can help in creating PLEs that help learners work together with people in different contexts, integrate and share the results of learning achievements, collaborate in collective knowledge generation and manage their own meaning making (Dabbagh and Kitsantas 2012). George Siemens considered connectivism as a learning theory for the digital age, a successor to behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism (Siemens 2004) It involves flow of knowledge between humans and non-humans, a network comprising connections between entities which he termed as ‘nodes’. Learning theories in the digital age are more student centric and output oriented They focus on developing competencies and skills than building knowledge that has no scope of applicability. Make explicit the concept of connectivism in student support activities so that they can exploit it in their own independent learning (Bell 2009)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
