Quote of the week #1009

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Connect….

“All knowledge is connected to all other knowledge. The fun is in making the connections.”

Arthur Aufderheide

For the last year or so, it’s been interesting to focus on the three key words which sit behind lots of thing about internet use and the growth of the web 2.0 environment.  Connect, Collaborate and Create.

We live in a world of exponentially growing amounts of knowledge, freely available and floating out there within reach.  But, knowledge simply of itself, without connection to purpose, or a prior knowledge and understanding, remains simply another unconnected fact, or piece of information. 

One of our tasks as educators is to provide narratives which enable children to connect new knowledge to a piece of held knowledge which is already meaningful.  The trick is to provide an environment in which curiosity is fostered, and where the seeking of answers to questions which have meaning is a key aspect of learning.

A powerful means of negotiating meaning for new knowledge is provided by collaboration: utilising the synergy which can flow from the inputs and connections of a range of others.

And, from this flows the third ‘C’ as learners create new knowledge and new understandings, generating, in the process, new curiosities and seeking of answers to questions which have now become meaningful.


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