Simple administrative tools help a small university experiment and explore its application needs: "If you’re working in a higher-ed IT shop, you’re likely supporting one of several course management systems, Blackboard and WebCT being the two names that come up most often. But you’re also acutely aware of the educational relevance of blogs, wikis, and related applications and services sprouting everywhere. This stuff is mostly open source software."
This statement addresses the complex learning challenges with which I'm currently grappling (and the micro/macro neuro-representation I've been discussing - i.e. what happens in our brain is a micro representation of what happens in societal learning/network formation). Uncertainty, Neuromodulation, and Attention (via Neuronodes): "Uncertainty in various forms plagues our interactions with the environment. In a Bayesian statistical framework, optimal inference and prediction, based on unreliable observations in changing contexts, require the representation and manipulation of different forms of uncertainty...Making inferences about the state of the world and predictions about the future based on many different kinds of uncertain information sources is one of the most fundamental computational tasks facing the brain. Doing so successfully requires explicit handling of the uncertainties." (emphasis mine)
This list of knowledge behaviours (which includes elements like fostering trust, being trustworthy, sharing what you know, helping others learn, connecting with people outside of current clique) is interesting. I agree with the elements listed. The intent is to develop the skills of individuals in order to participate in larger organizational KM efforts. Information literacy serves a similar purpose in creating key skills needed to function in our current information overload climate. The emphasis on skill development is critical...but it does require reflection on the purposes information literacy and KM are intended to serve . Going through the list, I was reminded of some of my concern with knowledge management as a whole: why bother? Much like I dislike the term "learning management", I dislike the term of knowledge management. Do we really manage knowledge?
I recall glory days of 1999 when software vendors were creating huge platforms to categorize and organize the knowledge of employees. That thread of thinking still exists. Why bother managing knowledge? Why not focus on fostering exchange and dialogue? Much like I favor learning ecologies over courses, I favor knowledge fostering (in spaces and ecologies) over mangagement and categorization. My concern with KM is the same as with learning: the information base that comprises knowledge (and learning) changes too fast to remain an organizational value point. The value point is now the ability to create and maintain an accurate image of what's happening and what really exists. This isn't possible through a data base. It is possible through networks and connections. The conduit, not the content, is king.
I'm splitting hairs here, but isn't that what we really want? No one wants a database of knowledge (well, maybe NSA does :))...everyone wants "use and application" - information/knowledge when we need it for the intended task. It's the intent of KM, like learning, that creates value.
I've uploaded my presentation to Red River College on Plagiarism: .ppt files and an accompanying MS Word
The attempt to trademark Web 2.0 (in reference to conferences) would be comical if it didn't provide such a clear contrast between prevailing thoughts on content creation and online connection-forming. Web 2.0 is (in theory) about sharing, building on others' work, creating connections, openness, etc. Trademarking the concept seems a bit like using extra salt to achieve an effective sodium-free diet.
I was asked to submit a whitepaper for Google's 2006 Training Summit. A .pdf version of the paper is here: Learning in Synch with Life: New Models, New Processes. As always, comments are appreciated (if you have difficulties with commenting on this blog, feel free to email them to me: gsiemens@elearnspace.org).
Everybody's a network (via Stephen): "In the future of media, which is now, everybody is a network. In the past, networks were defined by control of content or distribution. But now, you can’t own all distribution and content is controlled where it’s created. So, I wonder, where’s the value and where’s the money in the fully networked world?... Networks are about aggregation more than distribution; they are about finding and being found."
An interesting thread on slashdot on what it means to be computer literate (I would suggest that computer literacy is a basic, foundational skill...individuals need to get past this level and move toward information literacy - this is where they will experience the bulk of their "return" for time invested (and is critical to stay afloat and knowledgeable today)): What is computer literacy?
Our compartments of life (home, work, virtual, physical) are blending into one constant, indistinguishable stream. Switched on, burnt out (via SmartMobs): "The inability to detach from the workplace, whether the pressure comes from the individual or the employer, is a factor in the steady rise of anxiety disorders, Brecht says: "People are burning out with the pressures of work and not being able to get away from it.""
How Google Plans to Change the Scope of Googling: "These days, employees feel increasingly confident that they can find anything, just as long as it’s external information. But if it’s right under their noses in their companies’ databases, their confidence will often be much lower."
I had a nice chat with Jay Cross yesterday. Jay, along with Stephen and Maish, formed the core of my earliest foray into blogging and online learning. They have continued to remain core nodes in my own personal learning network.
Jay and I have a shared interest in the changing dynamics of learning. He is approaching things from his work in informal learning (he has a book coming out later this year), while I have approached things from connectivism. Periodically, one of us will write a post or article, and send a note to the other expressing the similarity of thought. Often, after watching a Breeze presentation Jay has done, I'll be struck with the sense of "I've thought those things and come to those same conclusions!" (I have similar experiences with Stephen Downes' work). It's a neat feeling to connect with other thinkers who are walking a similar path.
On that note, I just read Jay's post on Knowledge flow. Great insights..."Knowledge used to be solid stuff. The ancient Greeks studied the same logic I confronted in high-school geometry. Newton's Laws of Motion had a three-hundred year run. Mickey Mouse is 77 years old. Knowledge is melting. It is becoming liquid. It flows."
This is the heart of what I think will happen in our learning spaces and structures: "A true Web 2.0 application is one that gets better the more people use it. Google gets smarter every time someone makes a link on the web. Google gets smarter every time someone makes a search. It gets smarter every time someone clicks on an ad. And it immediately acts on that information to improve the experience for everyone else.
It's for this reason that I argue that the real heart of Web 2.0 is harnessing collective intelligence.
And it's for that same reason that I argue that Web 2.0 represents not just a turning point for the computer industry but for the world as a whole."
I'm putting together a workshop for dealing with plagiarism (I'll post .ppt notes next week or so) for RRC faculty. I've encountered a few useful resources:
Assignments that help reduce plagiarism (via IDOS)
Plagiarism resource page
Plagiarism - Wikipedia
Assessment in Higher Education
Personally, I'm not a big fan of plagiarism detection methods (though I understand they are more critical in certain disciplines). Instead of policing student work, we need to design activities in a manner that requires learners to generate authentic work (problem based learning, simulations, etc.). Even in essay writing, a draft outline with periodic submissions of progress can reduce the likelihood of academic dishonesty. It's challenging for both educators and students - we are asking them to work and think collaboratively (building on the ideas and thoughts of each other) and yet maintain a sense of individuality.
Is technology changing our brains?: "In just a couple of decades, we have slipped away from a culture based essentially on words to one based essentially on images, or pictures. This is probably one of the great shifts in the story of modern humans but we take it almost for granted.
There can be little doubt that the structures, never mind the surface form, of the English language are changing fast.
The process of traditional book-reading, which involves following an author through a series of interconnected steps in a logical fashion. We read other narratives and compare them, and so "build up a conceptual framework that enables us to evaluate further journeys... One might argue that this is the basis of education ... Traditional education, she says, enables us to "turn information into knowledge."
Put like that, it is obvious where her worries lie. The flickering up and flashing away again of multimedia images do not allow those connections , and therefore the context, to build up. ..."
I've stated in the past that the direction of media is the direction of eduction. In making this statement, I'm referring specifically to the process of decentralization and strong shift to end user control. Media 2.0 Physics: "From a world where attention is abundant and distribution channels are scarce...To a world where distribution is unlimited and attention is scarce" Or put another way, previously, one person (the editor, producer, teacher) was the filter for thousands, today the thousands have each become filters (contrast one editor for one newspaper with thousands of readers, with thousands of editors each creating their own news sources...and perhaps only a few readers (i.e. blogs)).
Most internet users view software use as a transaction - we'll accept inconveniences and intrusions if the software solves a significantly large problem, or presents/enables an opportunity. Some great points made in this article - Whose Space?: "However, as far as business strategy is concerned, you can forget the read-write web. That's something enthusiasts like me talk about on our blogs, but MySpace is part of a larger movement: harnessing social networking to provide marketing information. All the players, from Amazon through Friendster, Google through Yahoo, are playing this game. The model for the new web economy seems to be to run a single, centralised service that acts as a carrier for advertising, be it MySpace's occasionally popup-laden banners or Google's AdWords."
Video blogging is gaining momentum as an alternative entertainment/news source. Over the last few weeks, I've become a regular viewer of Ze Frank's The Show. As Dave Winer has stated, Ze is so good at communicating via this medium that it's revolutionary. Embracing a medium for its attributes, instead of simply transferring elements from existing media, is the heart of effective elearning, online journalism, and internet entertainment. Rocketboom was one of the first popular vlogs, but it essentially duplicated a TV-based newscast. Ze manages to transcend the ties to TV news and provide a product that is much more reflective of citizen journalism/entertainment.
My current focus is on how we can achieve intended aims through decentralized and distributed processes. I think this is a significant question that we need to answer as we move away from the controlled centre that exists in education (and most of society's structures). We still need to achieve desired outcomes...but we can't achieve them in the same linear, structured approach that has been utilized in the past. Here are some thoughts of the challenge - 2.0 Needs to Help Me FIGURE OUT What I Want: "...given infinite choice, most of us DON’T KNOW exactly what we want...To put it simply: 1.0 constrained us with too few choices and too little control, but 2.0 is overwhelming us with too many choices and too much control."
An interesting exploration of what it means to "exist" in a progressively online world (the statement "I can be Googled therefore I am" is interesting)...I'm not sure I completely subscribe to the utilitarian notions of being online (to gain attention) - I blog primarily to capture thoughts, ideas, and to learn through reflection on the work of others. Paying Attention: "In a world of attention scarcity, we will not continue to receive attention unless we earn that right. If we do not receive attention, we risk becoming progressively marginalized. Receiving attention becomes far more important than it ever was and will require far more effort than in the past. "
Today was one of those days where I realized just how far I've moved from "what is acceptable" in education. I was reviewing a useful site (Rubric for Online Instruction). The site offers various rubrics to determine the quality of an online course. As I was exploring the rubrics, it occurred to me that I'm not asking the questions the resource is intending to answer. In fact, I'm not asking many of the questions that formal education is trying to answer. Not sure what to think of that. I imagine an individual can completely delude himself into thinking he has some insight (when in reality, he is blissfully unaware). So, with the understanding that I may be completely off-base, I must state (yet again) that I our education system is struggling with issues that are simply not relevant today. We are at the "trying to catch up with change in society and technology stage"...but I think we should be less focused on catching up with change and more committed to trying to transform our educational structures. Alvin Toffler put it well in a recent book: "Mass education designed for the industrial age meets the needs of neither the pre-industrial village nor the post-industrial future...indeed, all education - has to be totally reconceptualized."
I've uploaded a presentation I delivered on Friday on "Learning in Context" (.ppt - 1.6 mb). The focus is on how different learning needs require different approaches. Game-based learning will meet different needs than formal learning...communities serve a different purpose than informal learning. Need drives the tool selected. Mono-chromatic views of learning (one tool does it all, all the time) are inadequate.
I find doing a dry-run of presentations helps me to get a sense of where my ideas are confusing or incongruent. Later this morning, I'll be delivering the following (or some thing like it) presentation at ECOO: Learning Networks: Neural and Social (opens presentation window). What happens, in our brains, on a microlevel, is reflective of what happens in learning networks on a macro level. The tremendous capacity of the human brain is driven by its ability to form connections (each of our 100 billion neurons are capable of forming between 1 - 10,000 connections). This presentation explores some changes in our understanding of learning, and what it means for how we design our educational structures and spaces.
The change-pressures listed here read like they were crafted with educational fields in mind: 6 Facets of the Future of PR (.pdf)
To put it bluntly, we (education, business, healthcare) don't understand what networks are doing to our spaces and structures. We know things are changing...but the depth and final end-product (that is probably the wrong way to see it - process is more accurate) is uncertain. 2.0 Business Model Doomsday Scenario: "The network effect turns everything into a media platform, while at the same time obviating the need for media as a marketing vehicle because brands can use the network itself as a marketing vehicle."
Defining knowledge is a pain. Perspective is everything...but only to the extent that it aligns to the use intended. David Weinberger provides an illustration of how we come to "know" that a beetle is a member of a particular species: What knowledge looks like: "No one part of this system — ranging from pins and red labels to an institutional commitment that's spanned generations — is knowledge. All of it together is."
One of the elements missing in this view (though perhaps it is implicit) is how the fields and aspects of knowledge link and connect...and how the knowledge itself was created through social interactions and dialogue. The end product of knowledge is nice...but the process of acquiring (I like "connecting" better) knowledge is where all the fun stuff happens (i.e. where knowledge gets "life"). The hierarchy of knowledge is much less intriguing than the life of knoweldge. For example, it may be nice to know how beetles are classified...but for knowledge to be useful, I'm interested more in watching a live beetle do what live beetles do. Classifying is an example of what is wrong with our views of knowledge...actionability is critical.
"Unconferences", like all things "un" these days, is gaining momentum (a quick Google search shows the number). Gurteen has a useful differentiation between traditional conferences and unconferences - reads like the differences in classrooms...I'm at the ECOO conference this week...some of the thoughts expressed by transitioning conferences are particularly relevant (one of their questionnaires asks about extended, month-long conferences (online before and after)…the thinking is starting to shift).
Stephen Downes is blogging again (great to see you back, Stephen!). In a recent newsletter, he links to Learning Communities and Web 2.0 (.pdf) (by David Porter). It's largely a review of web 2.0 and implications for learning, but well-worth the read. It brings the pieces together for a good, high level, overview.
This is hardly a surprise: More Professors Ban Laptops in Class: "As the professor lectured on the law, the student wore a poker face. But that was probably because, under the guise of taking notes on his laptop, the student actually was playing poker — online, using the school's wireless Internet connection."
There are two approaches that potentially address this problem (and yes, it is a problem - I notice it in our own laptop programs. On the one hand we want students to have a choice - they are adults, afterall - but on the other hand, instructors end up teaching and re-teaching key concepts, impacting those learners who are paying attention): 1) ban laptops, 2) adjust teaching approaches (i.e. make it more engaging)...as well as teaching learners needed skills to function in today's information environment.
At a recent conference, I was surprised at the similarity of concerns facing healthcare, financial markets, media, and education. All of these markets are experiencing the same challenge: the center isn't holding, and the edges (i.e. networks) are forcing a restructuring in how things are done. Wired has an article (Ultimate Guide to Online Video) exploring the new reality of video: "Television was a one-way medium - big broadcasters pushing content into our living rooms at a specific time and place.
Not anymore. Online video has arrived, unleashed from the networks, cable companies, and media giants. Thanks to growing bandwidth, easy access to the means of production, and cheap storage, it's exploding all around us and becoming a very real, very different way to experience news and entertainment."
I've been saying this for years...but these trends are at the doorstep of education. We may still control certification, but the learning act itself is quickly moving into the hands of learners.