Connectivism is the present and the future

We have heard a lot this summer about being facilitators and guides for students as they journey through the learning process. Up until now, I mostly thought that meant designing lesson plans with a vision to meet as many needs, learning styles, and learning targets as possible. Though my thinking has been augmented (see what I did there?), I can see that our objectives remain the same in a connectivist context. I can also see the need to increase the functionality of our planning through the use of technology. It is therefore important to keep abreast of new technological developments and how they impact the learning environment. To illuminate this fact, connectivism is a new enough idea that even the spell checker in my new computer doesn't recognize the word.

I like this visual the best:   

I am intrigued by the idea of how students in today's world have to navigate and learn in the midst of chaos. Intuitively, I can agree that there is such an incredible mass of information presented to learners and that context and structure are vitally important if students are succeed in our networked world. If it is truly our calling to change lives, we need to meet our students in the midst of the chaos of their context and journey with them as they develop personally and intellectually. We cannot count on children receiving the context and structure they need at home or in their peer groups necessarily. So we need to be constantly aware of their needs and be particularly aware of our abilities and limitations regarding all aspects of our instruction. In this sense, technology is no different than any other facet of teaching.