Media Literacy: Making Sense Of New Technologies And Media by George Siemens - Sep 05 09
In this weekly Media Literacy Digest, open education advocate George Siemens, shares his latest insights, discoveries and doubts on the impact that information and communication technologies have on our society and work.
Photo credit: Sunil Kumar
Inside this Media Literacy Digest:
- Struggling For a Metaphor of Change - I am trying to find a metaphor of change that captures what is happening in society, technology, education, training, learning and development.
- Social Media, Connectivism - Two reminders: the next social media session and the open Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2009 course.
- How Companies Are Benefiting From Web 2.0 - A report that tries to quantify value generated from use of emerging technologies on internal processes, customer interactions and supplier interactions.
- The Doomed Global Campus - Universities are trying to unlock the online education model. Many fail. Global Campus is the most recent.
- More Aggregation Fun - "We have limits to our cognitive capacity. As a result, we will have to look for new methods to make sense of abundance."
- Putting It Together Again - The web has been quite effective at breaking down content elements from coherent frameworks to fragmented pieces. This causes confusion and frustration for many.
- 3D Video Conferencing - This video demonstrates 3D video conferencing with eye contact and person to person (rather than person to camera) communication.
- Getting Started With Visualization - Data visualization serves a grunt cognition role: patterns and connections are revealed in an image that might take hours (or days) to discover otherwise.
- Paying For Content? - PaidContent analyzes the current state of "pay for online" newspapers. Result? Mixed.
- Online Learning As a Strategic Asset - Online Learning as a Strategic Asset is a good report, addressing many of the pitfalls I often see in universities and colleges as departments decide they need this internet thing for their courses.
eLearning Resources and News
learning, networks, knowledge, technology, trends
by George Siemens
Struggling For a Metaphor of Change
I am trying to find a metaphor of change that captures what is happening in:
- society,
- technology,
- education,
- training,
- learning,
- development.
I doubt a single metaphor will do... or if one can be found, it will need to account for
- multiple,
- simultaneous,
- chaotic,
- disruptive change pressures.
Anyway, the post: Struggling for a metaphor for change.
Social Media, Connectivism
Two quick, random, reminders:
Dave Cormier and I will be hosting the next social media session (no charge) with AACE on Tuesday, September 8. Information is available here.
The open Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2009 (CCK09) course (Stephen Downes and I are facilitating) will begin in about a weeks time. Registration is free...or you can enroll for credit if you are so moved.
How Companies Are Benefiting From Web 2.0
A free report (registration required) on how companies are benefiting from web 2.0:
We found that successful companies not only tightly integrate Web 2.0 technologies with the work flows of their employees but also create a "networked company," linking themselves with customers and suppliers through the use of Web 2.0 tools.Despite the current recession, respondents overwhelmingly say that they will continue to invest in Web 2.0.
The report tries to quantify value generated from use of emerging technologies on internal processes, customer interactions, and supplier interactions.
are prominent.
Not surprisingly, results and benefits centre on increased knowledge sharing and exchange of ideas.
The Doomed Global Campus
(Some) Universities are trying to unlock the online education model. Many fail. Global Campus is the most recent. The problem in this instance is not with the online environment, but with the model of implementation.
Faculty - who as I understand it are often required in formal education - were marginalized as the university sought to duplicate for-profit models.
Universities serve a different role in society than the one served by private industry. University leaders need to come to some understanding of this distinction.
What is the value formal higher education plays in society? Play to come to some understanding of this distinction.
Stop trying to be a second rate University of Phoenix or Capella or Walden.
Unfortunately, I suspect the failure of Global Campus will provide naysayers with an example of why online education does not. The real lesson here is one of implementation failure.
More Aggregation Fun
I am, once again, on a visualization kick. Something has to give in our ability to manage information.
We have limits to our cognitive capacity. As a result, we will have to look for new methods to make sense of abundance. Webtrendmap uses the following model:
Click above to enlarge image
The model emphasizes the role of curators (slightly related: curatorial teaching) in support of aggregation.
What fun we are having with data.
Putting It Together Again
The web has been quite effective at breaking down content elements from coherent frameworks to fragmented pieces. This causes confusion and frustration for many (learners in particular can be overwhelmed when trying to form a coherent narrative of a complex subject without the guide of a book or course).
Breaking things down into smaller pieces was a necessary step to lead into the more important work of repacking elements to reflect varying contexts and interests.
Tony Hirst is brilliant at this - he treats data as a paint brush to create new information canvases (i.e. overlaying twitter feeds to YouTube presentations).
Powerhouse Museum is channeling Tony: About NSW - an important post detailing their effort "to build a contextual discovery service that assists in exposing existing content online".
Similarly, the key to open education effectiveness is not in making the resources available...it is in packaging them in a contextual manner without heavy curatorial oversight.
3D Video Conferencing
The quality (authenticity?) of video conferencing has improved significantly over the last several years.
I deliver video conference presentations to conferences or organizations fairly regularly. University of Manitoba, point of origin for most of my video conferencing, uses Tandberg. The experience is... ok.
It is tough presenting to a conference when you, as the presenter, lack visual cues. Sure, you can see the people seated around tables and you can see the layout of the room, but if it is a larger group, you miss the important communication signals of eye contact, raised eyebrows... or people falling asleep.
Video conferencing with smaller groups does allow for transition of greater detail (a smile, confused look), but it does not allow for eye contact. Contact is with the camera. Tracking eye movement is important for feeling connected with others.
This video, via Workplace Learning Today, demonstrates 3D video conferencing with eye contact and person to person (rather than person to camera) communication. It is rudimentary, but still seems to add a different dimension to video conferencing.
Getting Started With Visualization
Data visualization serves a grunt cognition role: patterns and connections are revealed in an image that might take hours (or days) to discover otherwise.
For example - a tag cloud is a quick snapshot of popularity of certain topics in a paper (when posted in a site like Many Eyes) or on a website. Or look at this image of the learning management system marketplace, providing information about the development of the LMS field, acquisitions, and market share.
The ability to visualize data to explore patterns is a basic literacy... and will continue to grow in importance as information quantity increases.
FlowingData has posted a summary of how to get started with visualization:
Are you looking to get into data visualization, but do not quite know where to begin?With all of the available tools to help you visualize data, it can be confusing where to start.
The good news is, well, that there are a lot of (free) available tools out there to help you get started. It is just a matter of deciding which one suits you best. This is a guide to help you figure that out.
Paying For Content?
I guess it is a natural progression:
- Newspapers ignore the online environment,
- realize it is important and try to charge for content online,
- realize people do not want to pay,
- newspapers offer content for free,
- they realize they are not profitable,
- they decide to charge again.
This progress is natural because newspapers are attempting to preserve existing models. Which means they will continue to return to the same methods that work well in the past. In fact, they will become obstinate - yesterday's survival tactics become today's neurosis.
PaidContent analyzes the current state of "pay for online" newspapers. Result? Mixed. Some smaller markets are fairing well. Others report huge drops in site visits.
Online Learning As a Strategic Asset
The use of online and blended learning in traditional courses and training programs is fairly diverse.
In some instances, faculty members or trainers simply decide they want to try podcasting or blogs or video in their courses. These bubbles of innovation exist on almost any campus or organization.
In other instances - more rare and expensive - an organization plans to "move online". This involves a change in:
- design process,
- allocation of resources,
- new policies,
- skill development of staff or trainers.
This process can be effective if it is taken with a strategic view on transforming the learning experience for the online environment, rather than simply transferring it.
A valuable report (in two parts) has been produced by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and Sloan-C: Online Learning as a Strategic Asset.
It is a good report, addressing many of the pitfalls I often see in universities and colleges as departments decide they need this internet thing for their courses (a realization often facilitated by the loss of students to institutions that offer online programs).
The section on faculty is quite insightful: 24% of faculty responding teach at least one online course (that seems high), only 9% were developing online courses, more females than males teach online, most faculty teach online to meet needs of student flexibility.
My complaint: a fine line exists between providing structure for innovation to flourish and killing innovation. At parts (especially when the focus turns to benchmarking and intellectual property), the report veers into the land of innovation killing.
Related: Terry Anderson and I are offering a face-to-face workshop in November: strategic considerations of technology.
Originally written by George Siemens for elearnspace and first published on September 3rd, 2009 in his newsletter eLearning Resources and News.
About George Siemens
George Siemens is the Associate Director in the Learning Technologies Centre at the University of Manitoba. George blogs at www.elearnspace.org where he shares his vision on the educational landscape and the impact that media technologies have on the educational system. George Siemens is also the author of Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age and the book "Knowing Knowledge" where he developes a learning theory called connectivism which uses a network as the central metaphor for learning and focuses on knowledge as a way to making connections.
Photo credits:
Struggling For a Metaphor of Change - World Culture Pictorial
Social Media, Connectivism - GTS Community
How Companies Are Benefiting From Web 2.0 - Grki
The Doomed Global Campus - Eye My Degree
More Aggregation Fun - Roman Lebedev
Putting It Together Again - Vitalik
3D Video Conferencing - Picpics
Getting Started With Visualization - Ktsdesign
Paying For Content? - Elena Aliaga
Online Learning As a Strategic Asset - Bruce Shippee
Reference: Elearnspace [ Read more ]
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