Today’s students wrestle with a torrent of information from small decisions such as choosing the color of notebooks for each class to large decisions such as choosing a major or career. Advisors provide assistance with large and small problems; in the case of choosing a career or major, advisors can shed light on majors and career opportunities of which students may or may not be aware. Towards helping academic advisors in the capacity of teaching, Muelheck, Smith, and Allen (2014) “propose using models that describe the ways student acquire knowledge and values as tools for understanding learning in advising” (p. 63). Connectivism is a model of learning that can guide first year advising through “the integration of principles explored as chaos, network, and complexity, and self-organization theories” as well as an “understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations” (Siemens, 2004, para. 23). This article examines how connectivism is useful for academic advising as a theory that links previous information to current information, incorporates technology within the realm of knowing, and guides students to look beyond their own understanding to connect information.
Origen: Connectivism: A Learning Theory for Today’s Academic Advising
