'Infantilising' - social networking under attack again

Oh no... my Twaddle alarm has just gone off...

Facebook et al risk 'infantilising' the human mind | Media | guardian.co.uk:

"She also warned against 'a much more marked preference for the here-and-now, where the immediacy of an experience trumps any regard for the consequences. After all, whenever you play a computer game, you can always just play it again; everything you do is reversible. The emphasis is on the thrill of the moment, the buzz of rescuing the princess in the game. No care is given for the princess herself, for the content or for any long-term significance, because there is none. This type of activity, a disregard for consequence, can be compared with the thrill of compulsive gambling or compulsive eating."

Yes, of course, Lady Greenfield... game playing is despicable... the thrill of the moment. The lack of long term significance. And shocking when you consider that human beings haven't been playing games for hundreds and hundreds of years. Oh... ermmm... slight flaw in the argument...

She goes on to say...

"She said she feared "real conversation in real time may eventually give way to these sanitised and easier screen dialogues, in much the same way as killing, skinning and butchering an animal to eat has been replaced by the convenience of packages of meat on the supermarket shelf. Perhaps future generations will recoil with similar horror at the messiness, unpredictability and immediate personal involvement of a three-dimensional, real-time interaction."

Isn't that just a fabulous quote? Comparing real conversation with butchery. Fan-tas-tic!

Coupled with Twitter giving you cancer. Hasn't this just been a splendid news week for social technologies? If you're after a list of other 'interesting' things that'll give you cancer... take a look at this from the Daily Dust. :o)

Wordle your work

I've been aware of Wordle as a tool for a while but have never wordled a piece of my own 'real' work before. It's actually really helpful! The following is the Wordle I created of my project proposal which is looking into the impact of tutor-provided scaffolding within online discussion on students' communication:It's a relief to see that the main themes I wanted to investigate appear strongly in the resulting Wordle. If you're after a tool to help you pick out key themes and issues or to double-check that your argument is staying tight and focused... Wordle's not bad little academic tool, huh?

Wonder how many academic uses of it are taking place right now? Will have to see if I can track a few down! V.useful!

Zotero moves cloud-wards

Online Research: Zotero Moves Into the Cloud - ReadWriteWeb:

"Zotero, the popular open-source research and bibliography tool, just announced the latest version of its Firefox plugin (1.5b1), which now allows users to synchronize their databases between different machines, as well as a number of smaller updates that will make it even easier to create and curate bibliographies with Zotero.

Zotero also announced a new online component to its plugin, which, in conjunction with the new synchronization features, automatically creates an online backup of your database on Zotero.org."

Fantastic! This is a great little tool for academic research... and its move into the cloud builds in a layer of flexibility that other note-taking services such as those from EverNote and Zoho have been offering for a while. Will be giving this one a good bashing over the next few weeks... not least because I've got a lit review to write and any help is good help in my book!

Take a look at the full ReadWriteWeb article for more details on this 'un. My inner nerd is happy! :o)

eLearning Links (weekly)

• What is good writing

  tags: online, writing, elearning, style, usability, readability, learning, education, NTUEDU

• “Standards Are Like Sausages” « UK Web Focus

  “Standards are like sausages” suggested Charles McCathieNevile at the OzeWAI 2009 conference. “I like sausages” he went on to say “but I’m not keen on exploring too closely how they’re made“.

  tags: sausages, ukwebfocus, accessibility, standards, elearning, W3C, web, design, NTUEDU

• A study of the effective use of social software to support student learning and engagement : JISC

  tags: jisc, elearning, online, socialnetworking, social, web, learning, informal, engagement, HigherEducation, NTUEDU, casestudies

• Web Use Project: The Participation Divide: Content Creation and Sharing in the Digital Age

  This paper looks at the prevalence of creative activity and sharing in an age when the barriers to disseminating material have been considerably lowered compared to earlier times. We use unique data to explore the extent to which young adults create video, music, writing and artistic photography, as well as the prevalence of sharing such material online. Findings suggest that despite new opportunities to engage in such distribution of content, relatively few people are taking advantage of these recent developments. Moreover, neither creation nor sharing is randomly distributed among a diverse group of young adults. Consistent with existing literature, creative activity is related to a person?s socioeconomic status as measured by parental schooling. The novel act of sharing online, however, is considerably different with men much more likely to engage in it. However, once we control for Internet user skill, men and women are equally likely to post their materials on the Web.

  tags: divide, digital, content, creation, sharing, media, use, online, learning, education, elearning, NTUEDU

• Sketchory

  tags: creativecommons, sketchory, sketch, share, images, elearning, online, free, presentations

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Facebook privacy update

Facebook backtracks after online privacy protest | Technology | The Guardian:

"Facebook is under unprecedented scrutiny for its policies on retention of personal data after users criticised the site for breaching privacy. After a wave of protests, the world's largest social networking site yesterday announced that it was reversing its recent decision to keep copies of users' messages online, even after they had left the network."

... the story continues...

Wonder how it will resolve? In my mind, Facebook are still on a 'treat with caution' alert until they establish what they're actually about with regards their Terms and Conditions!

Dire predictions for future health... as per usual...

BBC NEWS | UK | Online networking 'harms health':

"Dr Sigman makes his warning in Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology.

A lack of 'real' social networking, involving personal interaction, may have biological effects, he suggests.

He also says that evidence suggests that a lack of face-to-face networking could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance.

This, he claims, could increase the risk of health problems as serious as cancer, strokes, heart disease, and dementia."

Oh, I so want to read the original 'study'.

Nonsense of the highest order. Where is the evidence that people are diminishing their face-to-face activity because of social networking? It reminds me of the splendidly stupid technology predictions of the past which included such gems as "The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.", Charlie Chaplin, actor, producer, director, and studio founder, 1916 and “The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys”,Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878.

We're good at predicting the end of everything, aren't we? Social breakdown as the result of technological change. As per usual.

I quite fancy nominating Dr Sigman's predictions for inclusion in the "Imagining the Internet" site...

PS Don't read this blog. It may give you heart disease. ;o)

Update: Have a look at this analysis of the report by Charles Arthur in "The Guardian"... and take a look at the full study from The Biologist too. Both definitely worth a sniff!

Until death do us part... and beyond...

Facebook's New Terms Of Service: "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever.":

"Facebook's terms of service (TOS) used to say that when you closed an account on their network, any rights they claimed to the original content you uploaded would expire. Not anymore.

Now, anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later. Want to close your account? Good for you, but Facebook still has the right to do whatever it wants with your old content. They can even sublicense it if they want."

Cripes! Not seen Facebook's new terms and conditions? Take a look at the above article from The Consumerist.

It appears there is life after web 2.0 death... at least when Facebook own your content and own it... forever. *cue sound of mad cackling laughter*

Ethical educational issue for consideration number 35234: If you encourage your students to use web 2.0 services, make sure they are comfortable with the implications of signing up for that 'free' service!

eLearning Links (weekly)

• Facebook a valid educational tool, teachers told | Education | Education Guardian

  Teachers and lecturers are getting the lowdown on how to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo in an educational way.
  
  Most schools and colleges in the UK block access to the websites but they are missing out on their potential for education, a government-funded guide says.
  
  The report for Childnet International and funded by Becta, the government body for technology in learning, says while teachers and lecturers may be using social networking services they may not recognise the educational potential for their students.
  
  Schools could help students develop "e-portfolios" where learners can record their achievements and collect examples of their work, the guide suggests. Or teachers could use social networking services to set up groups that "semi-formalise" students' online communications and "document discussions and milestones as they go".

  tags: facebook, e-portfolios, socialnetworking, students, learning, informal, environment, PLE, education, tools, elearning, NTUEDU

• Social networking - digizen.org

  Becta report which specifically look at Social Networking in Education:
  
  "Young People and Social Networking Services"
  
  The project is designed to investigate how social networking services can and are being used to support personalised formal and informal learning by young people in schools and colleges.

  tags: socialnetworking, research, youth, youngpeople, students, experience, online, elearning, informal, PLE, education, T175, NTUEDU

• UK universities offer downloadable lectures | Education | Education Guardian

  Prof Peter Mobbs, who leads the academic aspect of UCL on iTunes U, said: "Our students will be able to revisit materials presented to them in lectures, so they can learn anywhere and anytime.
  
  "Furthermore, our students are among the world's best and brightest, and I want them to be involved in generating and sharing their own content - discovery, analysis, imaginings - through audio and visual media, in collaboration with staff and other students."
  
  Prof Denise Kirkpatrick, pro-vice-chancellor (Learning and Teaching) at The Open University, said: "Making available selected video and audio items from among the university's highly-rated course materials via iTunes U to audiences worldwide offers a new channel for the university. We can open up free access to educational resources as well as a window for our potential students." A number of top US universities, including, Stanford, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, already publish materials via the iTunes U service.

  tags: mobilelearning, mobile, itunesu, university, highereducation, learning, online, elearning, NTUEDU, research

• A Recipe for Motivation: Easy to Read, Easy to Do: Scientific American

  Like this article - reminds us that little adjustments can make a big difference
  
  One of the most ­famous American cartoonists of the 20th century was Rube Goldberg, who was widely known for his “Goldberg machines.” Each of these comical inventions depicted a complex set of “instructions” for completing what should have been a fairly simple everyday task. His Self-Operating Napkin, for example, required 13 sequential steps involving a parrot, a cigar lighter, a rocket and a sickle—along with various strings, springs and pendulums.
  
  The cartoons were funny because they poked good-­natured fun at a fundamental irony of human psychology. People will make even the simplest task much more complicated than it needs to be, yet all this overexplaining rarely helps. Indeed, the opposite is often true: Goldberg’s convoluted “how-to” instructions may make us laugh, but they also leave us feeling exhausted. If that is what it takes to use a napkin, why would we bother?

  tags: psychology, readability, online, coursedesign, writing, skill, feel, elearning, education, NTUEDU

• Tate Podcasts

  Tate offers a range of audio and video downloads (podcasts), including audio tours, interviews and recordings of talks and discussions.
  
  You may download the podcasts to your computer using special software and transfer them to a portable audio player.

  tags: podcasts, art&design, elearning, online, education, multimedia, tate, NTUEDU

• A critical review of the use of the concept of reflection in Higher Education

  This paper considers the various definitions of reflection and its role in learning. It suggests two approaches take to the use of reflection in education. Soft approaches that highlight reflection as important in learning and activities may be suggested to students to improve their learning. Hard approaches have more techniques to train people to reflect effectively. The paper considers issues and problems with both approaches and the implications for educational practice.
  Source: BEST conference, April 2002

  tags: reflection, education, elearning, highereducation, learning, NTUEDU, BEST, learningdesign

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Click-jacking on Twitter

A few minutes ago I kept noticing people Twitter streams saying "Don't click..." and then giving a TinyUrl. A few minutes after that, and along come more messages saying 'don't click the don't click thing'. Which obviously got me thinking... so I headed off to do a quick search...



The above screenshot - taken less than a minute after my search on Twitter to see how many people had fallen into the "Don't click" click-jacking trap. 1000+ in 60 seconds. That's some rate of effect, huh?

Want to read more about this stuff? There's an article about it at DarkReading which will fill you in as well as this from Evil Genius which gives the how to on the whole thing.

Fascinating to watch it happen... to watch people's Twitter reactions and to see the speed it could take hold. Probably just as fascinating to see how quickly I blogged about it too though!

If you don't know what it is or why it's being sent to you... DON'T CLICK! DON'T! Honestly. DON'T! :o)

eLearning Links 02/11/2009

• Facebook a valid educational tool, teachers told | Education | Education Guardian

  Teachers and lecturers are getting the lowdown on how to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo in an educational way.
  
  Most schools and colleges in the UK block access to the websites but they are missing out on their potential for education, a government-funded guide says.
  
  The report for Childnet International and funded by Becta, the government body for technology in learning, says while teachers and lecturers may be using social networking services they may not recognise the educational potential for their students.
  
  Schools could help students develop "e-portfolios" where learners can record their achievements and collect examples of their work, the guide suggests. Or teachers could use social networking services to set up groups that "semi-formalise" students' online communications and "document discussions and milestones as they go".

  tags: facebook, e-portfolios, socialnetworking, students, learning, informal, environment, PLE, education, tools, elearning, NTUEDU

• Social networking - digizen.org

  Becta report which specifically look at Social Networking in Education:
  
  "Young People and Social Networking Services"
  
  The project is designed to investigate how social networking services can and are being used to support personalised formal and informal learning by young people in schools and colleges.

  tags: socialnetworking, research, youth, youngpeople, students, experience, online, elearning, informal, PLE, education, T175, NTUEDU

• UK universities offer downloadable lectures | Education | Education Guardian

  Prof Peter Mobbs, who leads the academic aspect of UCL on iTunes U, said: "Our students will be able to revisit materials presented to them in lectures, so they can learn anywhere and anytime.
  
  "Furthermore, our students are among the world's best and brightest, and I want them to be involved in generating and sharing their own content - discovery, analysis, imaginings - through audio and visual media, in collaboration with staff and other students."
  
  Prof Denise Kirkpatrick, pro-vice-chancellor (Learning and Teaching) at The Open University, said: "Making available selected video and audio items from among the university's highly-rated course materials via iTunes U to audiences worldwide offers a new channel for the university. We can open up free access to educational resources as well as a window for our potential students." A number of top US universities, including, Stanford, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, already publish materials via the iTunes U service.

  tags: mobilelearning, mobile, itunesu, university, highereducation, learning, online, elearning, NTUEDU, research

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

A distinct lack of sympathy...

Saw the following on an article in "The Guardian" about graduates in the recession...

Graduates on their experience of the recession: 'You feel useless, bored of doing nothing' | Money | The Guardian:

"Ian White, 21, lives in London with his girlfriend's family. He graduated from Cambridge University last year with a first in theology.

'I didn't know what I wanted to do when I graduated so I went travelling for six months. Ultimately, I want to be a comedy writer but I knew that wasn't going to happen straight away so I've been looking for any work.

'Initially, I was looking for decent work - graduate schemes. I didn't want to do media sales or anything like that. I was looking at things like being a librarian, something more bearable. Now I've given up and I'm looking for anything: bar work, catering - I've been all around the shops in my local area. I can't even get those jobs."

Is it just me who lacks sympathy for this kind of situation? "I didn't know what I wanted to do"... "I'm looking for anything"... "something more bearable". It doesn't exactly shout 'I am the right person for the job, I have the skills, enthusiasm and drive you're looking for', does it?

Another quote in the same article:

"I won't apply for graduate jobs any more because it's so disheartening"

This from someone who's been looking for jobs for 3 months... max.

I'm sure I should have more sympathy*, but at some point they're going to have to realise that being a graduate is not the be all and end all to your life. To get a job you are more than the sum of pieces of paper you've accumulated along the way. Jumping the 'right' hurdles does not automatically award you the right to any job you think will do for now. Qualifications only open the door. You have to walk through it.

Good grief. I turned into a grumpy old woman overnight!


* I didn't automatically get a graduate job when I first left university and made the decision to go back to college to do further study and temped for a further year before getting my first permanent post

eLearning Links 02/10/2009

• A Recipe for Motivation: Easy to Read, Easy to Do: Scientific American

  Like this article - reminds us that little adjustments can make a big difference
  
  One of the most ­famous American cartoonists of the 20th century was Rube Goldberg, who was widely known for his “Goldberg machines.” Each of these comical inventions depicted a complex set of “instructions” for completing what should have been a fairly simple everyday task. His Self-Operating Napkin, for example, required 13 sequential steps involving a parrot, a cigar lighter, a rocket and a sickle—along with various strings, springs and pendulums.
  
  The cartoons were funny because they poked good-­natured fun at a fundamental irony of human psychology. People will make even the simplest task much more complicated than it needs to be, yet all this overexplaining rarely helps. Indeed, the opposite is often true: Goldberg’s convoluted “how-to” instructions may make us laugh, but they also leave us feeling exhausted. If that is what it takes to use a napkin, why would we bother?

  tags: psychology, readability, online, coursedesign, writing, skill, feel, elearning, education, NTUEDU

• Tate Podcasts

  Tate offers a range of audio and video downloads (podcasts), including audio tours, interviews and recordings of talks and discussions.
  
  You may download the podcasts to your computer using special software and transfer them to a portable audio player.

  tags: podcasts, art&design, elearning, online, education, multimedia, tate, NTUEDU

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Creativity and learning - again

Interview: Ken Robinson | Education | The Guardian:

"Robinson believes the curriculum should be much more personalised. 'Learning happens in the minds and souls, not in the databases of multiple-choice tests.'"

Fantastic quote! It leads on from what I was saying yesterday. Creativity in learning and front-loaded structure go together like peas and icecream. The article goes on to say,

But on the whole, despite all the money, initiatives and trendsetting, the concept of creativity is still not filtering down into the classroom, says Teresa Cremin, professor of education at the Open University and an expert on creativity in primary schools.

She believes many teachers still think being creative means they have to be flamboyant and extrovert. While many schools are creative, many others pay lip service to the creativity agenda, she argues.

This might mean a day off the curriculum to do "the arts" after pupils have sat tests. It's a myth to call this creative learning, she says. Creativity must be embedded into everyday teaching and learning. "Many schools haven't got a handle on the language of creativity and are reticent about teaching more creatively," she says. "They are worried they won't achieve standards in other things."

She agrees with much of Robinson's argument. "If you have a school system which rewards conformity and avoids risk-taking, then youngsters will be unable to cope with the world unfolding before them."

Absolutely! So often, we pay lip-service to creativity. So often we pay lip-service to the benefits of reflective thinking / writing by imagining we can slot it into a structure of prescriptive learning outcomes and measurable results if only we can direct it and adminster it by using those nice spangly web 2.0 tools.

Oh, I don't know. I realise that scaffolding has its place in helping people to take on board new ideas / concepts / skills... but we risk losing that light, creative touch if we attempt to find the magic formula for learning.

Is it too scary to imagine there isn't one? Is it too scary to imagine that the hierarchy of academic achievement isn't as we thought? That real people need real skills, real voices, real thoughts? That they need some freedom to determine what and who they are? Life doesn't have one single learning outcome attached. One test to pass.

Am thinking of starting the Campaign for Real Education...

PS I think this was another thinly disguised rant about constructive alignment and learning outcomes. Whoopsie! :o)

eLearning Links 02/09/2009

• A critical review of the use of the concept of reflection in Higher Education

  This paper considers the various definitions of reflection and its role in learning. It suggests two approaches take to the use of reflection in education. Soft approaches that highlight reflection as important in learning and activities may be suggested to students to improve their learning. Hard approaches have more techniques to train people to reflect effectively. The paper considers issues and problems with both approaches and the implications for educational practice.
  Source: BEST conference, April 2002

  tags: reflection, education, elearning, highereducation, learning, NTUEDU, BEST, learningdesign

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

The problem with formalizing reflection

Science of the Invisible: Towards reflective Twitterfolios (because ePortfolios suck and I don't want to be a prison guard): "Towards reflective Twitterfolios (because ePortfolios suck and I don't want to be a prison guard)"

Thought provoking entry from AJ Cann's "Science of the Invisible" blog.

I note it because a) this is a mental note to myself to think about it a little more (see, Alan - sometimes people do reflect when they're sat at a computer!) and b) I have a feeling that somehow wading in and attempting to formalize the outputs of something like Twitter could be seriously counterproductive.

The things I enjoy doing which are connected with my work / education, tend to be driven by me. I take ownership of them and then I enjoy what I'm doing. I like creating my own systems for storing relevant documents etc, but get bored when trying to shoe-horn them into someone else's ePortfolio system. I like thinking and mulling about stuff... but I have to have a hook which has drawn me in and being told what it is that I should look at, tends to turn me off. I like using Twitter to explore ideas with colleagues / see what's going on in the big world outside my office window. I like exploring new technologies with a view to seeing how they'll fit into my own practice / my institution's practice.

But... if someone were to say to me 'you must write a blog', 'you should use Twitter', 'you must evaluate these tools', 'you must reflect on your practice'... well, it takes away some of the essence that makes it real for me and risks turning it into educational artifice.

eLearning Links 02/06/2009

• UK Web Focus | Papers

  UK Web Focus: Peer-Reviewed Papers - including many on accessibility in a higher education context

  tags: accessibility, papers, research, UKOLN, web, elearning, assessment, NTUEDU

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Delicious vs. diigo

I admit it... I do like a new shiny bright thing. I'm a bit of an 'ooooh, what does that do' fiend, on the quiet. At the same time, once I've found a service which ticks my own personal boxes I'm a bit of a loyal bunny. For the past couple of years Delicious has been one of my favourite bits of web 2.0 goodness. I've used tags to pool resources. I've subscribed to particular tags using Google Reader to keep up to date with what's going on in particular areas. It's been fab for keeping my bookmarks in one place, no matter what computer I'm using. Everything in one place, easy to search, pop 'em on your blog... bish bash bosh.

So, tootling to something else is a bit of a surprise to me... but I have. I've started using Diigo. I haven't quite let go of Delicious but that's one of the good things about Diigo. It allows me to automatically export my bookmarks to Delicious so I don't need to use that service directly anymore. It lets me filter my tags and works directly with Blogger so I don't have to do a tortuous backdoor route to get my bookmarks into my blog. And the toolbar - I have to say that although it takes up more space than the the Delicious buttons... it's fab! You can highlight and make comments on pages and it interacts easily with some of the main social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook. It does the things you didn't realise you wanted Delicious to do, but now you've got a taste for those features, you don't really want to go back...

Diigo... me like! Have a look... see if you find Delicious slightly less delicious after using Diigo for a couple of weeks!

eLearning Links 02/04/2009

• Becta Emerging Technologies

  tags: becta, learning, elearning, education, research, technology, emerging, NTUEDU, T175

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.