Whose Connectivism?

I would like to make just one point, that it is not "Siemen's 'Connectivism,'" that he gave a name to a theory and approach a number of us had been working on for some time. I don't mind saying I borrow the name from him, but I would certainly say this is as much my theory (and that of numerous other people) as it is his. Here, for example, are four papers I wrote before Siemens's 'Connectivism' (which appeared December 12, 2004):

- http://www.downes.ca/post/53882 Cascades and Connectivity  (Nov 29, 2004)
- http://www.downes.ca/post/20  The Buntine Oration: Learning Networks (October 8, 2004)
- http://www.downes.ca/post/7804  Reusable Media, Social Software and Openness in Education (September 7, 2004)
- http://www.downes.ca/post/46  The Semantic Social Network (February 14, 2004)
and many more http://www.downes.ca/me/articles.htm

or even read my newsletter from 2002:

- http://www.downes.ca/archive/02/04_12_news_OLWeekly.htm

The whole point of connectivism is that the 'great author' theory of knowledge is wrong. I would never claim to have invented connectivism. But neither should Siemens be awarded such a claim (and to be very fair, I've never seen any indication from him that he would make such a claim). We all invented connectivism.