The Width of the World

SpeEdChange.at.Medium

In 2009 I wrote the blog post below in response to a post by [Wikipedia Co-founder] Larry Sanger. It is dated (of course) but as schools and school systems continue to fight against relevant uses of technology by students and teachers, I think it remains important. Relevant meaning — relevant for learners who may live in to the 22nd Century. One note, in the end Twitter has led to lifelong friendships, Twitter is why I live where I live, where I’ve had the opportunity for great work with children.

At some point, around 20,000 years ago, humans realized the importance of communicating asynchronously, communicating with people they might never meet. This also asked visiting learners to control their own learning, to construct their own context — no one stood alongside these paintings offering interpretation.

Do new forms of social networking help us or hurt us as humans?

Larry Sanger wrote a blog on this, and sent out the link on Twitter. Larry notes his disillusionment with “web 2.0,” with his concerns being (a) “Facelessness. Frequently, we find ourselves in conversation with people we don’t know. We have nothing invested with them socially”, (b) “Groupthink. The second reason Web 2.0 is becoming obnoxious to me is that I really, really hate groupthink,” and © “Such a godawful waste of time. The first time we see a shiny new Internet toy, we are all oohs and aahs. But, OK…isn’t it time to stop it with the “Which Star Trek character are you?” quizzes on Facebook? … Seriously, to my way of thinking, there are worthwhile Web 2.0 projects — like, of course, the Citizendium and WatchKnow (not launched yet) — but it seems like the vast majority…