A Learner is like a Honeybee

Honeybees live in a social hive, which is their network. Just like honeybees, students live in an increasingly social society, where people are connected to each other at all times. In Siemens’ video on connectivism he states that learning is the “network that learners create”. In other words, students learn from many sources that are included in their network, such as teachers, parents, friends, computers, and other non-human devices. Like honeybees, students learn and gain knowledge from their social network. Siemens also states that “knowledge is really about the distribution that occurs across an entire network”, both internally and externally. Honeybees distribute their knowledge by hunting out pollen and then communicating this new knowledge to their network through dance. Similarly, students discover new knowledge and then can share it with their network. Furthermore, honeybees do not only learn from each other, but they learn from the environment and its changes. Likewise, students learn from other non-human devices that are part of their network, like the Internet. Both honeybees and students create a network to gain and distribute knowledge.

Honeybees and students live in a world that is constantly changing. Therefore, “our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today.” Due to this changing world connectivism places an “emphasis on knowledge that is rapidly evolving and how to stay current”(Siemens, 2005). Honeybees are foragers. They are always seeking out new sources of pollen in the constantly changing environment. Students need to be foragers who seek out knowledge. Not only do they need to develop knowledge through their network, but student also need the skills to stay current.

Therefore, a learner is like a honeybee. Both live in social communities in which they gain and share new knowledge and both live in a changing world, where they must learn the skills to stay current.