internet – Page 2 – David The Aussie

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davidtheaussie - 03/12/2013

Morozov’s new book warns of how too much reliance on the internet as a ‘solution’ is counter productive to what the internet was designed to achieve.

In this interview with The Guardian, Morozov talks about the perils of technology and how it limits democracy, promotes authoritarianism and removes choice and innovation.

What is the role of technology in our lives? Do we want it to do the thinking for us by obviating problem solving? Or are technologies there to enhance our problem solving? Morozov’s view is that there’s a very real danger that over-reliance on technology to automate thinking makes us dumb. Moreover, he questions the roles of Facebook and Google as controllers of thinking and innovation, by not scrutinising such companies closely enough.

If Twitter, he argues, promotes people and sites which support twitter, then they’re following a business model rather than a model of net-neutrality. This is where users should be more critical of what they consume and what they believe, Morozov asserts.

Overall, Morozov pushes for more independent thought and less reliance on internet sound bites and click throughs. The internet is more about marketing, advertising and dominance.

While his concerns are valid, I disagree with his assertion that groups like TED are a failure because it’s not “deep”. While depth is (obviously) desired, there’s also a need to appeal to viewers in a consumable way. If TED talks were nuclear physics, then the audience would be limited and TED would be less successful. Instead, TED seems to me to be striving towards getting ideas out there and gaining interest. It’s a starting point for many people to begin digging further and finding the ‘depth’ that Morozov desires.

Like TOR networks, perhaps learning can be thought of in stages: entry node, middle node, exit node. TED is an entry node and, thus, it’s interesting and consumable without being too deep. Middle node learning would take place via scientific forums, wikis and academic readings (via Google Scholar).

None the less, I’ll try and acquire a copy of Morozov’s book. It looks like a good read.

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How about flipping the school instead?

davidtheaussie - 03/07/2013

How about flipping the school instead?

The idea of flipping the classroom, albeit new, has become a somewhat cliched concept already. Teachers talk about how the classroom can be radically changed by using the internet to change the way we teach. I’m not deriding this methodology. In fact, I agree it has its merits – in that it illustrates education’s willingness to change.

However the entrenched problem of the system itself still remains. Why are children sitting in a classroom, isolated from each other by computer screens? They are learning but what’s the point of traveling all the way to school to get on the internet?

While some would say that the 1-on-1 tutoring and contact with the teacher is the key ingredient, it doesn’t really answer the question. Students can get that assistance in other ways, such as by a teacher on a webcam (perhaps using Google hangouts). The teacher could use a shared drawing space app to draw and write problems which the student could see while listening to the teacher’s explanation. The teacher could also refer the student to a different instructional video. Another approach would be to have students conference together and explain to each other. Or just use a dedicated forum to ask for help. The student, as well as learning about a math problem, could be learning online interaction skills and research skills while they find the answer to the problem.

Finally, the student could also be getting help from their *gasp* parents in finding ways to solve problems or answer questions they don’t understand.

Flipping the classroom is great … but it’s still a classroom. Technology has always been shoehorned into schools for more political benefit than educational benefit. Kids are learning more online away from classrooms (and away from formal education) than ever. Teachers should not be instructors. They should become a guide, a sounding board or even a safety net for when students need a boost.

Flip the education system. Remove the classroom from the picture and see how quickly kids adapt to an education that they control.

The rise of social learning …

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We live in a world …

davidtheaussie - 03/05/2013

We live in a world …

a world where volunteers openly write, edit, and rewrite the largest collection of knowledge artefacts that humankind has ever seen.
a world where powerful tools exist that redefine our ability to solve problems and help us to visualize what we know in ways that were once not easily possible.
a world where 72 hours of video is uploaded every minute (and that’s just toYoutube).
a world where anyone with an Internet connection can learn along with millions of others through connected learning opportunities.
a world where a 9-year-old blogger can have a greater voice and more external impact than her entire school district.
a world where institutional & personal reputation is becoming increasingly important, but more so, where qualifiers of reputation are tracked and recorded through your interactions with others.
a world where views on privacy have changed and where teens are struggling to redefine their social spaces while corporate giants are building their business models on a less private future.
a world where racist message meant for a few can quickly end up being seen, remixed, and repurposed and viewed by millions, but where those same communication dynamics can allow a young scientist to creatively share her passions.
a world where bullying incidents can quickly go viral, but where forces of human kindness can help the victims, raise awareness, and foster networks of support.
a world where the world’s most popular song (the one your kids are singing, dancing to, and remixing) is written entirely in Korean.
a world where video screencasts from an untrained educator are viewed by millions of learners, attract millions of dollars in funding, provoke thousands of educators to ‘flip their classrooms‘, and cause educators to critique and discuss the importance of pedagogy. And,
a world where governments, corporations and educational institutions try to control all of these forces but most often, realize that their attempts are futile.

A wonderful blog post over at Open Thinking looking at the changes in the way education happens and the emergence of new educational spaces around the world. Change is happening so fast that we can barely keep up … documenting it (let alone studying it or using it) is a race against whatever unseen changes come next.

Things will move ahead. New tools will be created and new technologies will be used in ways that were never envisioned. Kids in impoverished Indian villages will have an online presence as powerful as MIT or the White House. The open exchange of ideas is no longer able to be controlled … how do teachers survive and adapt in this environment?

Change. It’s not going away …