This morning I participated in the following Connected Educator event*

Unfortunately the original key speaker was unavailable due to illness. However we had the pleasure of being able to work with Roz Hussin https://plus.google.com/117219403239374562288#117219403239374562288/posts
who agreed to facilitate the session in Stephen`s place. Roz did a fabulous job of sharing with us how being a member of an online environment can reduce isolation. I`ve chosen to highlight a few of her slides which had the most impact on me.

In today`s world it is no longer enough to be able to read and write and perform basic math. She proposes the following 5R`s to be the minimum requirements to become an individual who is able to coexist in with others.

New technology can be SCARY which can cause those who are not comfortable to develop a technophobia. Roz suggests that helping students to have such a good time learning tech stuff, they forget that they were originally worried is a great strategy. Engage Technophilia- Make Learning Fun

Creating a postive digital footprint is one way of demonstrating a postive character and impression. We are more than our high school transcripts. Open source online communities are one way to help reduce societies economic barriers.

Great reads
What Connectivism Is (Stephen Downes) http://halfanhour.blogspot.de/2007/02/what-connectivism-is.html

What Connectivism Is Not (Stephen Downes) http://www.downes.ca/post/53657

Potential impact in mainstream and non-traditional education (Hussin & Kim)
Slides – https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B65XgVipBfIFbVB3d0M4bDJFQmM/edit?usp=sharing
Paper – https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B65XgVipBfIFSUI2Q0dNSUtqbU0/edit?usp=sharing