Reflections on George Siemens talk for TEDxNYED on Connectivism

This is an older entry that I initially wrote in my journal but didn't post. I'm trying my best to network more, so here goes.

In his talk for TEDxNYED back in March, George Siemens raised many interesting points about the way in which education on the whole is changing as a result of connectivism and the social networking of Web 2.0. Siemens claims that we need to teach children how to relate properly with each other in the online networked environment. Schools cannot “lock away” the computers or refuse to acknowledge the social network sites; we have a responsibility to teach students what they are and how to use them to improve their knowledge base. What he doesn’t go into is how to appropriately teach this new kind of communication; using networking sites to improve knowledge is a huge can of worms. I know this because of the field study I did using discussion boards last year. In the end, it was a fiasco because I had not set the parameters for proper or appropriate discussions at the start of the project. Having guidelines and expectations is a necessary thing despite the fact that the students I teach are "digital natives."
It’s great to say that students need to learn how to connect with one another in order to be better citizens of the world, but they need to be taught how to appropriately communicate as well. This really requires baby steps; I think this needs to begin in Kindergarten and continue from there on a consistent basis. As it stands right now, Siemens believes that connections have gone awry; we are not connecting with each other in schools. And this carries over into society at large.
I loved the Harvard University experiment that he spoke about where professors and graduates alike could not explain why we have seasons. Again, isn't this something that should have been taught Kindergarten? Are we really that disconnected? And what about those students who don't feel comfortable connecting with others, or who choose not to connect. They will always be a part of society. Where do they fit into this social network? This is a big topic and one that I will continue to mull over. Stay tuned.