Social media strategies for the web, scanning information, learning via dialogue and participation, how micropublishers manage their information and publishing workflow are just some of the interesting topics that are included in this juicy weekly digest.

Photo credit: Vasyl Yakobchuk

But there is more: social network usage, learning 2.0, overcoming bias and socializing when teaching and learning.

George Siemens, Master New Media educational technologies and learning expert contributor, takes you into another great scanning journey to see, discover and understand how media and new technologies are rapidly changing the way we think, work and collaborate.

Here the details:

Connecting with the Facebook Generation: Social Media Strategies for Web 2.0

An interesting and lengthy presentation on how universities/colleges can connect with learners who are active in social technologies - Connecting with the Facebook Generation: Social Media Strategies for Web 2.0

Is Scanning Important?

Tony Karrer and Michele Martin have been throwing out lots of ideas on their new Work Literacy site ("Work Literacy is a network of individuals, companies and organizations who are interested in learning, defining, mentoring, teaching and consulting on the frameworks, skills, methods and tools of modern knowledge work.").

A recent post - (Is scanning important: "Scanning is very important to me and occupies a fair amount of my time. I consider it essential to staying on the forefront. When I begin to work with a new client, I often set up various scanning activities for me to be in a continuous learning mode around their world."

Transforming the Way To Learn through Dialogue and Participation

Transforming the way to learn through dialogue and participation: "Overtime, I think universities have become more removed from society and gradually have been involved in a production of knowledge, which tends to objectify reality...I think teachers have to, almost, relearn the pedagogical approaches.

Even if we think about dialogue as a conversation, we should not escape from the fact that there are many power relationships that influence the relationship between teachers and students. If teachers engage with students in conversation, unless both sides are aware of the expectations, and of the power relations experienced, it can be very difficult for that conversation to be based really on an equitable basis."

Issues of power and control are central to many changes in society and education. Wikipedia? It's about trust/authority/power. Classrooms? Power/control/authority are the defining elements. And yet, we are now at a point where no one person has the ability to see a field in its entirety. We are all seeing small fragments at best.

Theoretically at least, more contributors=more diverse ways of seeing the field. The downside, of course, is that we get completely overwhelmed because we have not yet adjusted our tools and our methods for handling abundance.

OLDaily Production

In this age of personal production, it is interesting to see how different people manage their information and content.

We often talk about how anyone can be a publisher - blogger, podcaster, webcaster, or whatever. But how do people manage their resources? How does a micropublisher find, filter, and share resources? One of the most prolific bloggers in the edtech domain - Stephen Downes - has put together a short presentation on how he manages OLDaily.

I would like to see how other micropublishers and bloggers gather and make sense of materials they publish (such as Robin Good, Brian Lamb, D’Arcy Norman, Alec Couros, Dave Snowden, Jay Cross, Will Richardson, etc.).

Bring on the sensemaking screencast series. Hey, can we have that as a meme?

Social Network Users vs. Age

A short study on social network users by age.

Depending on the tool in question, significant drops occur at about 18 years for MySpace and Facebook users and 35ish for LinkedIn and Flickr users.

I wonder how those trends will hold up as people age...i.e. do Facebook users continue to Facebook as they get older? Do they switch to other platforms? Or do they stop all together?

Solid Thinking: A Challengable Position on Learning 2.0 and the Incumbent

Mark Nichols tackles a broad theme on change within education (and offers a short critique on connectivism...which is revisited in the discussion portion of the post): Solid thinking: A challengable position on learning 2.0 and the incumbent. In particular, Mark suggests we don`t need as broad a change model as some have suggested and that educational reform is best handled by including web 2.0 concepts and tools under the broad umbrella of social constructivism and some degree of centralized control and hierarchy.

Overcoming Bias...and the Hadron Collider

Overcoming Bias is an interesting blog exploring a mix of philosophy, futurism, and obscure concepts/ ideas (or is that an oxymoron when used in the same sentence as "philosophy"?). Recently, they posted on one of lawsuits around the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). LHC is a particle accelerator that a few individuals fear will cause the universe to unravel. Which would then in turn make global warming a largely moot concept.

Interesting discussion follows in the Overcoming Bias post on probability theory (and when we are willing to gamble with "being wrong") as well as information validity.

Socializing Teaching and Learning

I've posted slides from my presentation today to the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education. Topic: Socializing Teaching and Learning. I posted audio on my U of M blog (yes, I know, I can sync the slides on Slideshare).

Originally written by George Siemens and published as weekly email digest on eLearning Resources and News. First published on June 21st 2008.

To learn more about George Siemens and to access extensive information and resources on elearning check out www.elearnspace.org. Explore also George Siemens connectivism site for resources on the changing nature of learning and check out his new book "Knowing Knowledge".