Connectivism and School Age Children

The main principles of the newest theory in learning, Connectivism, are as follows:
- Knowledge is an array of connections
- Making sense of the world through exploration
- Learning through social networking
- Technology integration

A theory based on these principles undoubtedly has bearing in our world today. The corporate world relies heavily on collaboration of employees, projects based on latest information, and social networking; we have all heard that it is not always what you know but who you know. But what place does this theory really have in schools among our young, underdeveloped students?
In my opinion, students need structure in all areas of their lives including learning. The idea that students now learn by making sense of chaos is, to say the least, far too futuristic if just not true. Children do not gain skills for abstract thinking until around 6 or 7th grade, respectively. Because of this, I do not think a teacher should carryout all of his/her teaching methods based on the connectivism theory of learning. I visualize an example from our Moodle conversations as an example of connectivism in action. We, as students, work together to make meaning of concepts by sharing our ideas which are primarily based on our experiences. This kind of learning is far to broad for a youngster's mind. What young children need before they take on learning in this form, is build their background knowledge or schema.
I want to emphasize that I am not suggesting students only learn through lecture during the early years. Students would benefit immensely from hands on learning and social interaction with peers. My point is that they should not just be thrown into the huge world of internet and digital resources. I think this would be nothing but stimulus overload, and have the adverse of affect of causing students to shut down.
I do, however, agree with the principles of connecectivsm if we apply them to upper high school and beyond. Schools are no longer preparing students for a lifelong career, and an education is the path to success. So students must know be taught how to be lifelong learners. They must practice their analytical and critical thinking skills, so they will know how to evaluate and apply all of the latest research throughout their careers. I think that this is where connectivism comes in to play, and serves as a legitimate theory of learning.