Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Where is the ‘theory’ within the field of educational technology research?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I'm left scratching my head at this one. If there is any discipline in which there is a proliferation of 'theory', it is education. You want theories, look here (and this list doesn't even include connectivism). Anyhow, here's the concern, according to the authors. There is "persistent criticism that there is little explicit use of theory to conceptualise research." From where I sit, this paper (and education research generally) has it backwards. A theory is the outcome of research. It offers an explanation of the evidence. From my perspective, that's what connectivism is - it's an explanation of what we observe in our research, not some sort of 'frame' or 'filter' or 'lens'. These are ways of distorting the evidence, rather than explaining it. P.S. see also this shorter blog post, which will be all that's left after this article disappears behind a paywall.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 3:08 p.m.

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