For so long our educational system had been set up in such a way that the teacher, professor, instructor was the holder or keeper of knowledge. We went to school so that we could receive knowledge from our teachers. School work was set up to serve the needs of the individuals.
Fast forward many years, even to today, and we see that education has become a group effort. Students sit in groups or pods more than ever. Students are expected to work with each other throughout the day. Teachers are even collaborating with each other more than ever. Just look at the availability of content on teacherspayteachers.com/ for proof.
As I look at education and see collaboration becoming more and more prevalent, the opposite seems to be true for our society. It seems like more than ever that we are divided. Is COVID real? Is COVID a hoax? Pro-life or pro-choice? Republican or democratic? As a society there seems to be a plague where we have lost the ability to have civil discourse. We have given up hope of trusting one another except for...
THE INTERNET!
As I reflect on the things that I learned today, I kept thinking about how the internet is just one giant trust and collaboration exercise.
When we don't know the answer to something, we trust that Google will have the answer for us. How did the answer get on Google? Somebody had to put it on the internet first. By turning to Google for the answer we are intrinsically saying that we trust the collaboration of others to provide me with the knowledge that I need.
When we don't know how to do something we start the trust process all over again but instead of using Google we turn to Youtube.
Wikipedia may be the greatest example of collaboration and trust that the internet has to offer. I haven't been on wikipedia enough to know but I would be willing to wager that there is not a single wikipedia article that does not have a solo author. Wikipedia thrives off of the trust and collaboration of the human race. We trust each other to make sure that Wikipedia has relevant and accurate information. We work together to make sure this information is cited correctly. Wikipedia and subsequently the internet is proof that knowledge does not belong to one person but instead shines when shared.
Some people may think that we will never get along as humans but the Internet is proof that we can!
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