The Power of Connectivism (30 Day Blogging Challenge #16)

Today's prompt:

What is the most powerful aspect of being a connected educator? What are you grateful for?

While reading the book, The Connected Educator:  Learning and Leading in the Digital Age, I was introduced to the term connectivism (a learning theory first introduced by George Siemens in 2004).  I was struck by the idea that technology is not only changing the ways in which we learn, but the ways that we define knowledge and the learning process itself.

The most powerful aspect of being a connected educator is that I have the world at my fingertips and on my own schedule!  I can learn about anything I want to learn about at any time, and I can actively see what other teachers around the world are doing to make learning more relevant and engaging for their students.  Since I am not currently working under a contract, I am grateful for the ability to stay connected with other educators and keep a pulse on changing trends in public education. 

I love the way that being a connected educator allows me to share my thoughts and ideas, as well as exploring the ideas and creations of others.  I am grateful that crowd sourcing invites diverse people to create knowledge together in ways that were previously not possible.