Will Technology Based Networks Lead to a New Age of Enlightenment and an Early Years Wiki?

Last week was a week of networks and networking.  On Wednesday I was at an event organised by the Social Business Trust (SBT.)  It was called ‘Social Enterprise Potential in UK Education’ and a central theme was how we connect and form communities of like-minded people where we can converse and debate and learn from each other. I ended up having a very lively conversation with the Development Head of Ark Academies and Brett Wigdortz of Teach First or as I said to him Teach Early Years First! I think we will continue the discourse as we had much to say.

On Thursday we hosted the annual Margaret Horn lecture, ‘United World Entrepreneurial Leaders and our Creative Future’ and we were really looking at how entrepreneurial leaders are using technology to develop networks that connect people. We had presentations from Greg Kyle-Langley from Coutts Bank and One Young World and Thomas Sweetman from Sticky Board both in their own ways pointing to the importance of connecting globally and regionally.

We also had a powerful piece from Paul Spinks co-chair of the London Network of Men in Childcare (MiC LDN celebrate its 1st birthday this week  – look out for my blog on the  huffington post) reaffirming the need for networks based on issues and finally, as I was host I could use some of the time to present the idea of the global portal for Early Years in the form of an Institute of Early Years where we can network with people interested in  or working in Early Years and who want to freely share, connect or campaign on issues relating to small children across the world.

Finally, on Friday I was invited to an event at Channel 4 exploring the notion of public value and one of the speakers was Jimmy Wales who set up Wikipedia particularly because he wanted people to have free access to information. His main point is that a successful network depended on having a shared sense of purpose that ensured a wide reach and a group of supporters who ensured the business retained its vitality and kept them motivated and engaged.  I was heartened by his story and thought that the global portal in the form of IEY was not such a crazy idea after all. An Early Years wiki!

So do you think we are engaged in a New Age of Enlightenment ? In Immanuel Kant’s famous essay “What is Enlightenment?” (1784), he described this as the freedom to use one’s own intelligence.  For others in the17^th and 18^th centuries enlightenment was a process of spreading and discussing changing sociabilities and cultural practices and this was reflected in the great explosion of books.  Is the new age of enlightenment reflected in our digital proliferation such as Google, Wikipedia, Twitter and Youtube ? Can we use it to get us to think more, consider more and learn better from each other?  I certainly always learn more about music, check out my latest discovery – Nightmares on Wax.

There is no doubt that it can provide access to a wider world but will that be enough to change sensibilities for the long term and for the better. What do you think?