No Man is An Island in the Digital World

No Man Is An Island by English poet, John Donne

In this Global Economy and Digital World that is Literally at Your Fingertips, John Donne's poem still rings true after almost five hundred years. It demonstrates the timelessness of classic poems, ideas, and concepts as they bear witness to a world that Mr. Donne could never have imagined. He died on March 31, 1631. He may not have been talking about the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, or the many other venues that connect us to one another, but his poem, No Man Is An Island, rings with prophetic truth.

In this global economy, data-drive collaborative world, students need to know how to effectively use the tools they have been provided in this glorious world where a cell phone acts as a bridge across towns, countries, and continents to provide learning experiences and creative thinking, so that when the "bell tolls for thee," they will know how to answer it. Closing the digital divide across cultures and socio-economic groups is a necessary step all parents and educators should advocate for the children in trusted to them. Bringing 21st skills and tools to them is the role of the Librarian as she helps them to navigate through the world of transliteracies, and helps their teachers through collaboration to unite on a journey, exciting and ever-changing as we advance ourselves and students on the life learning process.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
John Donne