World without walls...

This article provided me with a lot to think about. Some quotes that resonated for me are ;"We must find our own teachers, and they must find us".  " We need to think of ourselves as connectors first and content experts second". I guess I'm trying to figure out how to be an effective connector."More than learning content, the emphasis is on using social networking tools to teach global collaboration and communication, allowing students to create their own networks in the process". I hope that if we are communicating with people from around the world then we will think more about global issues as being our issues. 

However, what I find disconcerting is that if you think about the number of people NOT connected through social networking,if the world were a village of 100 people only 1 would have a computer, then does this method of educating ourselves and our students continue to exclude the majority of the world's inhabitants? 

I agree that in our current world  thinking critically, being skillful at sifting though all the info out there to focus on the 'good stuff' is essential. After all content is just a google search away. I guess I can accept that since it's not humanly possible to sift through all the info on the web  alone we need to rely on our social network to help with this herculean task. We need to be discerning about who our social network consists of, another herculean task. 

 I'm pleased to see the human elements of nurturing relationships, negotiation, communication, planning and healthy balance between screen time and face to face time are considered essential.