Trailer for EC&I 831, Social Media & Open Education@University of Regina

Illustrator v. her creation

An amazing Flash animation:

http://bit.ly/CsBiQ

original source

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/077/2/e/Animator_vs__Animation_by_alanbecker.swf

Thanks to Linda Levy’s joke list…

be explicit & intentional, your business depends on it

The fascination with the occult and mysterious can betray, or at least lead astray, the kind of communication this quote from Shane is calling essential to success in life…

It’s a tricky business, being forthright — discretion is a virtue. But when is reticence an obstacle instead of a courtesy?

What are insurance companies for?

A midwife friend replied to my exasperation at the way the public option has been “sold” as the way to regulate insurance companies, instead of actually regulating insurance companies, by saying, “Why do we need the insurance companies at all? It’s crazy to give our money to somebody who says, OK, now maybe I’ll give SOME of this money to the person you need care from, or maybe I won’t…”

The root problem is still Americans’ refusal to accept the basic tenet of having a society, which is that we ought to take care of each other.

Universal healthcare for all citizens? Don't be silly!

Reflect 2.0: Digital storytelling to develop reflective learning

Just stumbled upon an interesting project in Britain–

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/usersandinnovation/reflect.aspx

The Omo People of the Rift Valley

File it correctly the first time

“Don’t say to yourself you will go back later and fix it. Nobody ever does that. File it correctly the first time, and the next time, you’ll know where it is.”

– From: http://www.atpm.com/15.09/take-control-safari.shtml

This quote is from a review by Sharon Zardetto of a book about using Safari 4 on the Mac, but seems to me to have quite wide resonance…

The myth of the “digital native”

Digital Native Map

The myth of the “digital native”

The phrase “digital native” connotes a mastery of and facility with digital tools which most young people lack–they are adept as digital consumers, but that largely implies an extreme susceptibility to the manipulations of advertisers.

Mastery should mean having a depth of understanding and a historical perspective on the thing mastered, and facility should mean having the skills, tools, and motivation to create in the digital landscape. While many youth are thus adept, as a generation the digital consumers need lots of helpful context-framing and coaching from all kinds of immigrants.

The phrase “digital native” connotes a mastery of and facility with digital tools which most young people lack–they are adept as digital consumers, but that largely implies an extreme susceptibility to the manipulations of advertisers.

Mastery should mean having a depth of understanding and an historical perspective on the thing mastered, and facility should mean having the skills, tools, and motivation to create in the digital landscape. While many youth are thus adept, as a generation the digital consumers need lots of helpful context-framing and coaching from all kinds of immigrants.

An unstated assumption of the “digital native” myth is that these kids who grew up with the internet already a part of their lives are somehow internet experts by birth. On the contrary, my experience working with students K-12 is that most do not have much understanding of the internet’s potential and uses, nor the critical and analytical skills to harness its power for their own uses. In terms of the internet, I am the native, present since it was only browsed with the original Netscape Mozilla dragon. I have watched it grow from a fascinating but tiny world of academic and community connections, where almost anyone could become a “friend” and quickly earn deep levels of trust, without ever a face-to-face meeting, into the vast and infinitely complex social web of deceit and chicanery and creativity which it is still becoming.  We all need each other, and all can contribute, and all need help of one kind and another from time to time…

Tag Galaxy

Kevin Feldman’s listserv just alerted me to Tag Galaxy, a site from Germany, was a student’s dissertation…

Woody Guthrie's Tag Galaxy