The beauty of connected learning lies in the idea that, because of technology, learning has become even more inclusive. According to the Connected Learning Alliance in “Connected Learning: The Power of Making Learning Relevant,” through the internet, social media, and, of course, schools, gathering information has become easier than ever. Sometimes, learning an entire skill can just be a click away. Since learning and information is becoming even more accessible to the masses, it leaves me to wonder: is connected learning the great equalizer?
Apart from the students who, for one reason or another, have limited access to education or the internet, most students of today are essentially equipped to learn anything their heart desires. Want to learn how to make a basket? You can Google that. Want to learn how to use HTML to build a website, but never took a computer science or graphic design class? There are YouTube tutorials for that. Therefore, in a way, connected learning allows students to become their own expert through the expertise of others. Thanks to the internet, everyone (again, with the exception of some) has the ability to go after exactly what they want and when they want it.
With that being said, do you think there is potential for the internet, social media, and web-based tools to ever become so accessible and powerful that it, in a way, depreciates a formal education? Do you think it could ever get to a point that everyone has enough information at their fingertips that the “standard” education could be replaced?
I agree with the availability of information on the internet. However, a) the human mind is capable of learning so much and then all the information acquired beyond a certain point does not stick, b) you might need to use HTML once or twice, and unless you make a point of practicing it every day, you will simply forget how to use it and it will not be a learnt skill.
Education has often been viewed as a great equalizer. It is not only the information that is the equalizer, but as you mention the access to it. This is why concepts such as open access journals have a supporting role in connected learning. Paywalls are the bane of this mindset.
I can personally speak to the concepts of learning html. I have done that on the fly and have learned a good deal of this and angular.
One thing that I believe prevents a truly open education environment is accountability of information. We have access to it, but what review was placed and does this actually re-enforce a rather specific type of mob mentality? This leave academic to be a filter or a node for where and how students can access and synthesize information.
Hi,
I really like the question you pose. But I do not think we can ever get rid of some formal guidance in education. I think it’s a great equalizer in that information is no longer so sacrosanct. Most people can now access information on all kinds of subjects, too. In addition, where we have trained is still an important indicator to employers regarding what we have learned, that there are gatekeepers trying to make sure that we know of what we speak and do in our professional lives. What did you think?
Generally, I agree with you that internet greatly increases personal ability and possibility to pursue knowledge and truth. However, I think this statement might deserve further reflection, you said: “Thanks to the internet, everyone (again, with the exception of some) has the ability to go after exactly what they want and when they want it.” I am not sure what you exactly mean by “exception”, but it seems you have under-estimated the obstacles of learning even in this internet era.
Horizontally speaking (I mean comparing different regions at the same time across the world), you can see different countries have obvious differences regarding their internet accessibility. Traditional political powers in authoritative regimes definitely can shape the mass’s perception of the real world. China’s greatfire fire wall is pretty effective to block information the regime doesn’t like and manipulate people’s opinions. In the long term they may lose, but it is hard to make conclusion that one can pursue what they like through web in such scenario.
Vertically speaking (I mean comparing different times within a particular region), even in the “freest” society it is still naïve to believe people can get what they like. Internet is still subjective to power game, although it provides more chances for the ordinary people to take part in than the past. Take google for example, any term you search has been rated and categorized by google company according to their standards. They probably has put something they want people to see on the very top, and if you want different information, you will need to turn 20 pages, which most likely will exhaust your patience in the first place. Take Sweden for another example, they can brag about their merits as a free society, but if you want to check their national data of rape crimes committed by immigrants, you will find you simply cannot find those data, because since 1996 the Swedish government has stopped publishing relevant data. It does not matter if you have internet or not. Why is that? Because in Sweden any discussion about crimes related to immigrants could be labeled as “racism”, which has become a national mood. In this scenario, are you confident you can get whatever you like to know?
Just keep in mind, internet is just a tool, and how you can use that tool may still be subject to thousands’ years of human nature.
Hi, I have posted something under this blog but it disappeared. I don’t know that goes wrong.
Hi, I see my posting again, I think you need to check your “moderation” setting.
With internet, almost everyone can access information and learn anything they want equally. But how to select proper information efficiently from a huge database, especially for beginners? When you try to learn html with YouTube, you will get millions of results. Which one is better/the best? The one with most views? Maybe not. According to my experience, some students waste a lot of time to get information or get wrong information without guidance.
Formal education will never be replace by Connected Learning but in a way it can work as a tool to improve the formal education. One of the problem that I see with CL is related to amount of information available to everybody. You mention something about people having “the ability to go after exactly what they want and when they want it”. In other words people will never have the opportunity to expand their minds or imagination due to the fact that they will always search what they need and nothing else. As Albert Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge”, and Im sure that students are not getting that by a click of a button. They will get it in places such as a classroom where you have an open environment.
I also have the same concern. I think connected learning is great for graduate students because they do not need a mentor to learn a course! However, the connected learning can be problematic when we use it for lower-level students without combining it with the traditional way of learning. I agree with Freddie, traditional education will never be replaced by connected learning but the combination of them will improve learning.
I really enjoyed reading this, and especially appreciated Xiang’s comments about accessibility. Also we should talk about how we understand “standard learning” and “traditional education.”
I really like the questions you have posed here. I doubt that connected learning would fully replace formal education; at least I am not able to envision it. However, I strongly feel that connected learning can augment formal education. With the internet being almost universally available now or at the very cusp of it, I feel that connected learning can definitely be the great equalizer. I have seen several grass root innovations (plenty of examples on youtube), especially from individuals belonging to educationally backward communities – these have been possible through the dearth of resources available online. These are self-taught individuals that have either not gone through a formal education or gone through a poor education system.