Learning theories

Dear Readers, We invite you to permeate the advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) from the perspective of educational changes, especially in the implementation of semi-presential courses in higher education. Connectivism emerges in this context as a new educational approach. This theory proposed by George Siemens and Steven Downes (2004) points out that knowledge is distributed in a network of connections and that learning therefore consists of the ability to build these networks and circulate in them, thus developing the ability to reflect, decide and share. In this investigative journey, new perspectives imposed by the connectivist theory emerged that were necessary for a better understanding: the constant traffic through learning theories for comparison purposes, the heutagogical and andragogical models of learning, knowledge in networks and the instructional design of distance learning courses. Thus, the approach relied on the theoretical contribution and ideas of Siemens, Downes, Zezina Belan, Vani Moreira Kensky, Andrea Filatro, Jose Manoel Moran, Augusto de Franco, Jean Piaget, Skinner and others who provided an interdisciplinary character to the research.