The Connected World

Since the arrival of the World Wide Web and the introduction of smartphones and Wi-Fi, individuals and societies have become much more connected – both to each other and to a huge wealth (abbondanza) of information from every corner of the world.

In highly digitized societies, our relationship with technology begins almost from the moment we are born. Throughout our lives, we develop both an:

• online identity;
• offline identity.

This means we should think of ourselves as networked individuals, living and learning in the network society.

How Technology Has Changed Learning

This intimate connection between people and technology has had a profound effect on the way we learn. It has changed:

• how we seek out, access, use and store information;
• how we communicate, study and work together;
• how we create and share ideas.

Learning is no longer limited to a lecture theatre or classroom with a tutor. It now happens:

The Personal Learning Network

Each of us sits at the heart of our own, unique Personal Learning Network (PLN) – an empowering (che dà potere) online and face-to-face network made up of:

• people;
• devices;
• information;