Two pioneers of Massive Open Online Courses(MOOC) explain Connectivism
Connectivism is a learning theory that explains how internet technologies have created new opportunities for people to learn, share, and encourage others.
Who is Stephen Downes?
Stephen Downes leads the Learning and Performance Support Systems program at the National Research Council, a multi-year effort to develop personal learning technology and learning analytics. He is one of the originators of the Massive Open Online Course, is a leading voice in online and networked learning, has authored learning management and content syndication software, and is the author of the widely read e-learning newsletter OLDaily.
With Canada's National Research Council since 2001, Stephen Downes is a specialist in online learning technology and new media. He leads the Learning and Performance Support Systems research program. Through a 25 year career in the field Downes has developed and deployed a series of progressively more innovative technologies, ranging from Canada's first academic MUD in the 1990s, to one of its first web-based courses, through the development of a learning management system, an online research Stephen Downes works for the National Research Council of Canada where he has served as a Senior Researcher, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, since 2001. Affiliated with the Learning and Collaborative Technologies Group, Institute for Information Technology, Downes specializes in the fields of online learning, new media, pedagogy and philosophy.
Who is George Siemens?
George Siemens is a writer, theorist, speaker, and researcher on learning, networks, technology, analytics and visualization, openness, and organizational effectiveness in digital environments. He is the originator of Connectivism theory and author of the article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age and the book Knowing Knowledge - an exploration of the impact of the changed context and characteristics of knowledge.
Siemens is a prominent Canadian educator in the massive online open course (MOOC) format. In 2008, Siemens and Stephen Downes designed and taught a MOOC which was reported as a "landmark in the small but growing push toward 'open teaching,'" and has since offered various additional MOOCs which have gained popular worldwide attention.
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