Mark Granovetter introduced more than thirty years ago the notion of “the strength of weak ties” - the idea that for many purposes, a large network of loose connections can be more useful for meeting many of your needs than a small network of close connections, e.g. for finding a job. This may seem counter-intuitive, but just think about it: there is typically a relatively large overlap between your network of connections and those of your close friends or family members. You already know or regularly interact with many of the same people, and it’s probably unlikely they’ll be able to pull out of a hat a connection to a person you don’t know, who possesses just the skills or resources you’re looking for. A former colleague who’s since moved on to a new occupation, however, is probably more likely to know new people and be able to put you in touch with what (or who) you need.
What’s new is the rapidly growing set of technologies that allow you to form and maintain these connections. Technology teachers are often early adopters of such technologies, for several reasons - the sheer geek factor is for some of us a drawcard in itself, of course, but there’s more to it - whereas the kids typically use the tools for enjoyment and connecting with friends, I’m personally also interested in exploring the potential for increasing access to information and learning opportunities, and possibly even (at the risk of sounding pretentious) enhancing student ‘agency’ - their capacity to make choices and to impose those choices on the world.
A while back I quoted a statement that young people today are permanently connected to their networks via ‘invisible tentacles’: texting, instant messaging, Facebook, multiplayer online games and more. Those who see this merely as fun, but somewhat trivial, pursuits, or even time-wasting, are missing the point. These modes of communication are not just add-ons to more traditional forms of interaction, but have become integral new modes of communication that change interaction, and sometimes even augment the capabilities of the individual.
Okay, once again I run the risk of sounding pompous, so let me just give you an example:
a colleague in another international school was stumped by a technical problem, so he posted a question on Twitter (an Internet tool that allows you to broadcast SMS-like messages to multiple users). Of the several hundred people who follow him on Twitter (most of them in different countries and many of whom he’s never actually met face to face), at least a handful were logged on at that time and read his question immediately. One of them knew someone who knew the answer, and within fifteen minutes of asking his question, my colleague was watching a short video tutorial walking him through the solution he needed step by step.
That’s pretty powerful stuff, and it was made possible only by the real-time capabilities offered by such networked communication tools. I use Twitter myself, and have it open in the sidebar of my Internet browser, so I can glance over at the latest messages from my network whenever I feel like it, without losing more than a few seconds of productivity.
When today’s learners become tomorrow’s workforce, will they bring with them these tools? I think it’s likely that the ability to build, maintain and draw upon a wide network of contacts using a range of digital tools will become an essential skill in many professions and roles in the near future. Perhaps it’s time to start looking at ways to use such tools in the classroom as well?
