Connected How?

When I think about "connectivism", initially I think about connecting content to a real world application. Students need to learn about percentages in school so they know how to tip a waiter at a restaurant, utilize highly discounted sales and understand how long a technological device can last based on a percentage. But connectivism is more than just just connecting an individual's background knowledge to a specific area of learning, connectivism is also being connected to an immediately updated portal of information and people. Having a world news app or a weather app allows people to get news and weather updates as they happen and the delay until the five o'clock news is diminished. If a student wants to know the difference between "effect" and "affect", he/she is less likely to search the house for a dictionary and individually look up each definition. Instead, the student can simply google "what is the difference between effect and affect". Connectivism is revolutionizing how people receive information. ISTE Standards give support to students and educators to utilize technology and peoples' "connectedness" to the classroom.