Connected learning is when active dialogue occurs between people with a common interest across a communication channel such as the Internet. It is not sufficient to be a networked learner, drawing on the resources of the Internet, one must be interactive. Interactivity is a two way channel, where change occurs at both ends.
Reading a blog post is a one way process where only the reader is changed by the act. The blog post or its author is unaffected by the process i.e. there is no feedback loop. A multi-way conversation using a Twitter hashtag, however, is an interactive experience where multiple people respond to each other and each participant is affected in some way. If there is no change at both ends of the communication channel, there is no ‘connection’.