George Siemens is an author, academic, futurist, and a 2005 Edublog winner.  For people interested in informal workplace learning or networked learning, his 2005 paper, "Connectivism:Learning as Network-Creation" is  a seminal paper on this topic and it is often referenced by people such as Jay Cross, the "father" of e-learning.



His new book, Knowing Knowledge,  presents learning as a connection/network-forming process. This concept is often described using the term "connectivism" (see related blog).



In it, George says:



Knowledge is changing. It develops faster, it changes more quickly, and it is more central to organizational success than in any other time in history.

Our schools, universities, corporations, and non-profit organizations, need to adapt. We need to change the spaces and structures of our society to align with the new context and characteristics of knowledge.

How we market, how we learn, how we build, how we collaborate - these are all changing. Most organizations are not prepared for the sea change washing ashore. We are conducting business in a manner that is no longer reflective of the market, or society as a whole.

One of George's most interesting quotes is found on his blog in the "about me" section. It reflects my current view of learning after spending 11 years in public and private K-12 education and a couple years in corporate learning.



George says:



When I was in the workforce, most of my learning was a by-product of other activities - learning was rarely an explicitly-focused task, and never without a higher aim. Learning was "messy", chaotic, social, collaborative, and connected with other activities and interests. Formal education, in contrast, was artificial and structured. The experience, however, was valuable in providing a space for self-evaluation and reflection. Most importantly, I've realized that certain learning challenges, by their nature, require formal, structured processes, while others require more fluid, informal approaches. The nature of each intended learning experience should drive the selection of tools and processes. Rather than outright dismissing theories and techniques which have served the learning field well for centuries, we need to retain their value for appropriate tasks. No one concept or theory is universal in its application.