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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

In an Era of Connection and Content

I grew up spending large chunks of my summer vacations in the neighbouring British Council Library. Information was scarce finding it in the library was like wading through Ali Baba's cave.

After an internal mail urging 'innovation' it struck me that all the learning companies I've worked in never pinned down the way learning has changed.

Now we have two main components, Connection and Content, that drive the way learning works today.

Content:

Gradually information has moved from being the means by which one could gain value. Earlier if you had information you had the edge.
Information is now commoditized. 
My experiences from my childhood was like finding and drinking hungrily from a dripping tap compared to the phenomenon now where we are trying to drink the river standing in the torrent. 
It is not only the Internet. Although it IS the main conduit.
What one does with the content is now more important than just being in possession of it.
Existence of MooCs, social media, Wikipedia, are all indicators of this phenomenon.
Curated content is more important than just having the content.
Content that is arranged better is more discoverable. Greater discoverability is the first step to being more valuable.

Connection:

Connectivity is the Magnus Carlsen of learning now. Sharing has multiple positive outcomes in terms of learning:

  • Social validation
  • Better curation
  • Adds perspectives
  • Promotes continuity through varied ownership, so that if the prinicple sponsor/champion is removed the learning is still in public memory and it can still be continued.