Why Social Networks Matter

Why Social Networks Matter Dr. Alec Couros OLA Super Conference OSLA Spotlight Speaker February 2012 Toronto, Ontario

#sc12#tlchat#libchat

Outdated Faculty Proﬁle

The Blur

An Open Educator

eci831.ca

“Web 2.0 tools exist that might allow academics to reﬂectand reimagine what they do as scholars. Such tools might positively affect -- even transform - research, teaching, and service responsibilities - only if scholars choose to build serious academic lives online, presenting semi-public selves and becoming invested in and connected to the work of their peers and students.” (Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009)

Open Doctrine

journey(quick version)

Knowledge

knowledge• what is k?• how is k acquired?• how do we know what we know?• why do we know what we know?• what do humans know?• who controls k?• how is k controlled?

human thought/ideas human language source codehigh-level language (e.g. C++, Java, PERL) low-level language (assembly language) code irretrievable machine code (binary)

@jonmott

From NAGPS (2011) via h4p://bit.ly/oIwVut

Openness

“Open Education is the simple and powerful idea that the world’s knowledge is a public good and that technology in general andthe Worldwide Web in particular provide an extraordinary opportunity for everyone to share, use, and reuse knowledge.” (William & Flora Hewlett Foundation)

Free/Open Content “describes any kind of creative work in a format that explicitly allows copying and modifying of its information by anyone, notexclusively by a closed organization, ﬁrm, or individual.” (Wikipedia)

media shift

Shifts in MediaEarly Day of PC in Schools Today’s Social/Mobile Reality

Shifts in Society

“The average digital birth of children happens at about 6 months.” “In Canada, US, UK, France Italy, Germany & Spain ... 81% of children under the age of two have some kind of digital proﬁle or footprint.”

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dkuropatwa/4285762190

Consume

Produce

Share http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/4802611949/

myth of the digital native

Children and young people are described as ‘the collaboration generation’, eager to work togethertowards common goals, share content and draw upon“the power of mass collaboration”. This combination of individualisation and collaboration is often presented as giving young people a propensity to question, challenge and critique. These are individuals who “typically can’t imagine a life where citizens didn’t have the tools to constantly think critically, exchange views, challenge, authenticate, verify, or debunk. The Digital Native - Myth & Reality, Selwyn (2009)

Are We To Believe This?

Or This?

“... age is not a determining factor in students’ digital lives; rather, their familiarity and experience using ICTs is more relevant.” “... the notion of ‘digital natives’ is inaccurate: those with such attributes are effectively a digital elite. Instead of a new net generation growing up to replace an older analogue generation, there is a deepening digital divide ... characterized not by age but by access and opportunity.”

Postliterate are “those who can read who choose to meet their primary information and recreational needs through audio, video, graphics, and gaming. Print forthe postliterate is relegated to brief personal messages, short information needs, and other functional, highlypragmatic uses such as instructions, signage, and time- management device entries - each often highly supplemented by graphics. The postliterate’s need forextended works or larger amounts of information is met through visual and/or auditory formats. Libraries for a Postliterate Society, Johnson (2009)

in practice

Categories of Tools

Blogs & Wikis

Simple Blogging

Microblogging

Social Bookmarking

Info/File Management

Media Sharing

Social Networking

Social Curation

Networks

Network Literacies • “Understanding how networks work is one of the most important literacies of the 21st century.” (2010)Howard Rheingold

Politicshttp://www.anduro.com/calgary-mayor-race.html

Services

Reputation

Meaningful Projects“Dear Photograph:Thank you for everything we had.”

Protest

Human Connections

God bless you and your familythrough this difﬁcult time.

My best attempt, I onlyremoved the tubing, leftcolors and levels alone. Iam sorry for your loss.

I color corrected theskintones a bit as well.

minor lighting, a 6 x 4 crop for printing in standard size & removed some of the background. well done fellow redditors !!!!

Hope nobody thinks this is in poor taste... please acceptmy warmest wishes and deepest sympathy for your loss.

Fixed thechair

OK black background gone. Sorry it took so long, hadto start over. Thanks again to wahoorob for doing thehard part.

Sorry for the late help. I wentfor simplicity. Enjoy - and Ihope you remember her well.

Tools + Networks

Example #1: Power Of (Global) Audience ps22chorus.blogspot.com

Example #2: Learning Through Networks

Example #3: Teaching/Learning Online

big ideas

Digital Fluency

Framework for Student Learning, Government of Alberta (2011)

“Technological fluency means much more than the ability to use technological tools;that would be equivalent to understanding a few common phrases in a language. To become truly fluent in a language (like English or French), one must be able toarticulate a complex idea or tell an engaging story -- that is, to be able to make things of significance with these tools. ” The Computer Clubhouse: Technology Fluency in the Inner City, Resnick, Rusk, & Cooke (1998)

The Difference Between Digital Literacy & Digital Fluency, C. Briggs (2011)

“... our ability to use digital technologies to have the intended positive effect on people & situations.” “... the more ﬂuent a person is, the better they are able to predict the outcome of their actions.” The Difference Between Digital Literacy & Digital Fluency, C. Briggs (2011)

Sharing http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/4802611949/

On Sharing ... “it’s about overcoming the inner 2 year old in you that screams mine, mine, it’s mine.” (Wiley, TEDxNYED, 2010)

Identityhttp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jaumedurgell/740880616/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Best Job in the World

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/will-lion/3356252350/

Relationships

21st Century Learning Networks

@shareski

Don’t limit a child to yourown learning, for he was born in another time. ~Tagore http://couros.ca couros@gmail.com @courosa

http://thedigitalfrontline.com	231
http://www.scoop.it	163
http://couros.wikispaces.com	77
http://www.thestudyblogosphere.com	28
http://a0.twimg.com	4
http://tweetedtimes.com	1
http://www.linkedin.com	1

Why Social Networks Matter

by Alec Couros

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