NSW LearnScope Blog & Podcast

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You’ll notice I’ve categorised this in the culture, conversations and conferences sections.

You’ll also notice I’m now in YouTube - eek !

Wish me luck because I’m about to be dropped into an SL presentation with Kim Flintoff from QUT being held as part of the NMC Evolution of Communication Symposium being held in NMC SL.

This is a slick and great way of bringing substantial amounts of people together with cool audio, slideshows, videos, avatars etc.

Now why would we ever go back to ppts. and some dodgy audio only conference platform when we have this available…..and, considering that we need to pay celebrities less and network more effectively with those whom we admire and love anyway…..it’s cost effective.

Woo hoo ! There I am saying that SL is cost effective because;

• people are keen to explore, create and be seen en-masse
• celebrities don’t count in SL ( or do they ?)
• the connection physically costs 1/10 of the bandwidth using video conferencing of bored educators sitting in circles nodding off
• real life creations have a place and a space to “re-live”

I’m listening ( and participating) in ;

Digital Tattoos, Digital Hoarding, and Social Networking: Turning Gold into Lead
Jared Bendis, Case Western Reserve University

It’s a great way of connecting thanks to CogDog and co. Shout outs to Jo Kay for the mentorship.

I finally made it out and it’s a breath of fresh air.

Facebook seems to getting a lot of bad press of late. Social advertising and the move by Mark Zuckerberg to open it up to outside programmers to spam the network with widgets clearly gets up the nose of many users, yet it remains the #1 choice for many.

I’ve come across this Slideshare presentation which offers a good capture of the Facebook phenomenon…

| View | Upload your own

However in this article Social Graph-iti the Economist points to forecasts that suggest it may not be #1 for long - that people want to connect with a chosen few and not be spammed by random friend-requests. They suggest that the future of social networking will not be one big social graph but instead myriad small communities on the internet to replicate the millions that exist offline; a social network for each circle of friends.

What do you think?

‘In the network era the benefits of altruism
disproportionally outweigh the benefits of selfishness.’
(Mark Pesce)

Last Friday I had an interesting day at the New Connections conference. The average age must have been about 28 so I felt decidedly aged; quite a change from the education sector!

The day focused on how to better engage young members of our communities in articulating their interests, ideas and ideals, and being post-election there was a lot of interest in democratic voice. Check out election tracker, poll bludger, crikey, and ‘how should I vote‘ which provided guidance based on issues and sms how to vote instructions, if you have not already.

For me the highlights were an opening by Tom Dawkins, Vibewire founder and National Coordinator, and a keynote by Mark Pesce. I’m assured that the session recordings will be available from the website at some point.

Tom set the scene by speaking of democracy as conversation, collective futures, dialogue vs broadcast, and a shared sense of ownership. He proposed that to create a better democracy we need to

• provide better opportunities for citizens to have a voice
• equip them with the skills to do so
• learn to listen

and he reminded that technology IS steered and controlled and manipulated. As I’ve raised in previous posts we need to always consider who is privileged in any media or strategy.

Mark spoke of the balance, and shifting pendulum of, altruism and selfishness in human existence; of sharing as an essential element for human survival. He spoke about the very IDEA of wikipedia and hyper-intelligence; that institutions are ill-prepared for the power of collaborative global networks where altruism reigns. In hyper-politics altruistic investment yields selfish results.

Blogs he said are not only a mechanism for conversation, they are a mechanism for knowledge capture - for collective intellectual output. But they need 5 people dedicated to altruistic purpose, committed as steady contributors, are the tipping point between sites being hobbies, and hyper-intelligence.

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens
can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has’
(Margaret Mead)

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[image:mobology]

Desiderata as a tagcrowd and now for the “real” version to reflect on as we count down the departure of LearnScope into the annals of time;

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

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Final reports for the LTT team as a compendium of brilliance and hardwork. Well done team…..the process was as powerful as the product.

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Perfect companion for digital immigrant | digital native debates.

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We live in an age of surveillance where  even behaviour modifications  occur in school playgrounds assisted by  technology ….how novel.

Where did the teachers get to ? Are we out sourcing everything and trading innovation for quality assurance ? Have we changed capability development for workforce development for any strategic reason other than the obvious ?

Type the key terms “surveillance” or “security” and combine it with “innovation” and “education” perhaps even ” web 2.0″ and your sure to get web 2.0 security fears.

Search amongst the current rhetoric of the Sydney Morning Herald

and you’ll find it covers a fair range of pursuits all which impact upon our ability to engage learners using the world wide web.

It’s a complex arrangement….on the one hand we want security and on the other hand  we want networked digital literacy that mirrors the reality of engaging with others using the internet.

How’s your identity (concerns) going at the moment ? Have you met with your avatar of late ?

What happens when your logged off ?

Are we all now questioning just what on earth that free and open mandate meant in terms of where we are now headed as educators ?

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I’m not of the opinion that it’s that simple.

Today’s session “in-world” stands testament to the fact that to truly embed the use of virtual worlds in an educational context, the network needs to be present, the hardware configured, the audience participative, the politics played out and the nicities done away with to get to the core of the issues such a way of communicating presents……an organization and the individual who’s brave enough to venture.

That’s if you believe it’s about communication…. as some would have us believe “it’s still just a game” or “there are no way to use this with students that lead to real jobs”.

Phew. Really ?

Why then have 8 million people decided to link their credit cards to the account and twice that visit the platform per month engaging with other humans ?

As a completely user generated environment why then have all majour companies worldwide made a presence in there if it takes money and time investment to do so ?

I can understand fully “why” the why comes up…….. though so it’s no slight on those who’s use of these platforms would be a miracle in light of the work overload they already possess.

I charged on despite numerous glitches and ditches and we engaged with Stephan Ridgway, Alex Miller, Jacqui Bates and Georgina Nuo all who availed their precious time to engage with an in-house audience in WIT Western TAFE, Orange NSW Australia.

Jo Kay led us on a brief tour of JoKaydia and then we assembled in the hairdressing salon and debated the educational potentials for Secondlife and other virtual worlds in amongst accounts from others as to the hurdles they’ve had to endure to engage with others using this platform.

[image: mobology]

It’s true. This whole notion of trying to determine whether meeting people in “real” life is more important that assuming connections through avatars is an issue.

Of how much bandwidth the platform consumes. Of the idiotic things that people get up to in there. Of how lost kids these days seem glued to monitors and not outside kicking the football around with their mates.

It’s all true and at the same time it’s not. It’s a challenge to consider what this means for us all and needs to be interrogated, enquired about, considered, examined and most of all engaged with to better understand it’s potential and then after careful consideration decisions can be made.

Not based on what SMH has to say outright. Thinking beyond ……..

[image : Lee Reynolds]ps. the paradox of it all is that not two hours later I was up and into the SL PLATO process drama session in Godot with Kim Flintoff and a number of other willing conscriptees….yet another great example of SLeducation .