The exponential growth of social media and the ubiquitous use of mobile technology has changed the way we communicate both socially and for many also professionally. Digital spaces have to some extent removed barriers enabling social learning that is no longer constrained geographically (spacial boundaries) or by time-zone differences (temporal boundaries). It is therefore timely to consider our digital capabilities and how these can be used to communicate and collaborate; and through interconnectedness provide opportunities for lifelong and lifewide learning that extend beyond the formal learning we are all familiar with. This talk will consider why a professional online presence is so important; the value of using social media to develop global personal learning networks; and how through open sharing with our interconnected networks it is possible to develop our scholarly practice.

1. Digital
Connectedness
SOLSTICE Conference
Keynote
Sue Beckingham | @suebecks
4-5 June 2015

2. Digital Connectedness
The exponential growth of social media and the ubiquitous
mobile technology has changed the way we communicate both
socially and for many also professionally. Digital spaces
to some extent removed barriers enabling social learning
no longer constrained geographically (spacial boundaries)
time-zone differences (temporal boundaries).
It is therefore timely to consider our digital
how these can be used to communicate and collaborate; and
through interconnectedness provide opportunities for
and lifewide learning that extend beyond the formal
are all familiar with.
This talk will consider why a professional online presence
important; the value of using social media to develop
personal learning networks; and how through open sharing
our interconnected networks it is possible to develop our
scholarly practice.

3. Neither does any company. Neither does any
government. We are all connected AND dependent
on each other.”
Harold Jarche
Connectedness
“People need to learn how to connect to new
people on a regular basis. No person has all
the knowledge needed to work completely alone
in our connected society.

4. Social connectedness
how people come together, connect and interact.
Micro-level = family, friends, acquaintances
Meso-level = work, closed online community
Macro-level = conferences, open online community

5. Our ancient ancestors built the Library of
Alexandria to gather the world’s knowledge in
papyrus scrolls
TODAY smartphones turn every palm into an
interconnected knowledge library

6. the written word would weaken men's
characters...
and the abundance of books is a
distraction...

7. English coffeehouses in the
17th century

8. Video telephony in the year
2000, as imagined in 1910

10. The Notificator
Social Networking ‘1935 style’
'To aid persons who wish to inform friends of
their whereabouts.' Image source: The Guardian

11. A futuristic utopia...
An outside view...
Childhood memories

12. The TRI-function reCORDER
A portable sensing, computing and data communication device
'tri' referring to the device's primary functions
sensing + computing + recording

13. Letters, call boxes, phone
locks....

14. and even then information overload
was considered an issue...
“What information consumes is
rather obvious: it consumes the
attention of its recipients.
Hence a wealth of information
creates a poverty of attention,
and a need to allocate that
attention efficiently among the
overabundance of information
sources that might consume it.”
Herbert Simon 1971

15. HOW do we
connect
digitally?

16. Hubspot 2012
http://www.slideshare.net/HubSpot/50-mobilefactsdeck62812

17. Smart technology growth
Mary Meeker 2015
Internet Trends Report

18. Mary Meeker 2015 Internet Trends Report

19. mobile microcoordination
checking the time
checking where our children are
eta expected time of arrival
arranging to meet
checking sport scores
planning meals

20. perpetual connection
email
social media
reading
watching
video
podcasts
games
texting
video
messaging
image
sharing
social
messaging
talking
chat
WORK
SOCIAL

21. "Connectedness makes us not only
connected, but also it has created an
always-on society that lives in real-
time where the line
between the real and virtual worlds
blur to the point of oneness."
Brian Solis 2015

22. “Networks of people are being
mediated such that people are
easily able to see who is connected
to whom and leverage loose ties to
achieve all sorts of work-related
goals.
Individual knowledge is often less
important than being connected to
the right people.”
Danah Boyd 2013

23. The evolution of networks
from dyads... to triads...
to close-knit networks... and loose-knit networks...
to complex interconnected relationships

24. Complex LinkedIn network

25. diversity and creativity

26. “Working cooperatively in well
established teams is important for
the exchange of knowledge and for
understanding what others know.
However... innovation... arises
when new ideas, from
people in different
groups and communities,
are brought together”
(Gratton, 2007)

27. Jesse Stromel (2015)
http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/twitter-and-the-locus-of-research/

28. Information overload?
..or filter failure?
Clay Shirky

29. Our attention [may] span (8 seconds)
now less than
Attention spans - Microsoft
that of a goldfish (9 seconds)

30. WHY do we
connect
digitally?

31. People around the globe mostly
use digital devices for three
primary purposes:
• relationship building/maintaining
• information gathering
• entertainment viewing/participation
Purpose

32. Not so new but still
relevant....

33. The Civic Long Tail
Social media is creating the conditions for
emergence of a civic long tail, a mass of
loosely connected, small-scale
conversations, campaigns and interest
which might occasionally
coalesce to create a mass movement.
From now on, governments everywhere
will have to contend and work with
this civic long tail.
Leadbetter 2011:10

34. Digital Citizen: basic digital
skills
Digital Worker: intermediate
digital skills
Digital Maker: able to build
digital technology
Digital Muggle: currently
requiring no digital skills
"Every company is a digital
company and almost every job is a
digital job"
Chris Mairs 2014
http://www.ukdigitalskills.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Binder7-REDUCED2.pdf

35. Assessment of digital skill level
required for different jobs skills
Chris Mairs 2014
Digital Muggle
Digital Citizen
Digital Worker
Digital Maker
37%46%
10% 7%

36. Nielsen 2015

37. By 2020
More than seven billion people
and businesses, and at least
30 billion devices, will be connected to
the Internet.
With people, businesses and things
communicating, transacting and even
negotiating with each other, a new world
comes into being — the world of digital
business.
Gartner 2014

38. Considerations
Persistence
Online expressions are
automatically recorded and
archived
Searchability
Content in networked publics
can be accessed through
search
Scalability
The potential visibility of
content in networked publics
is great
Replicability
Content made out of bits can
be duplicated
Structural
affordances of
networked
publics
Boyd 2011:46 in A Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Network Sites

39. Networked Participatory
Scholarship
The emergent practice of scholars’ use of
participatory technologies and online social networks
to share, reflect upon, critique, improve, validate
and further their scholarship
Veletsianos and Kimmons 2012
The Digitally Connected Scholar

40. A connected
curriculum
Fung 2015, UCL

41. connected
learning

42. "Connected learning thrives in a socially meaningful and
knowledge-rich ecology of ongoing participation
Online platforms can make learning resources abundant,
accessible, and visible across all learner settings."
The Connected Learning Research Network and
Digital Media & Learning Research Hub
"When the topic is personally
interesting and relevant,
learners achieve much higher-
order learning outcomes."

43. How visible is your
learning?

44. seeking
sensing
sharing
Adapted from Jarche 2014
is how we personalize information and use it. Sensing
includes reflection and putting into practice what we
have learned. Often it requires experimentation, as we
learn best by doing.
is finding things out and keeping up to date. Building a
network of colleagues is helpful in this regard. It not
only allows us to “pull” information, but also have it
“pushed” to us by trusted sources. Good curators are
valued members of knowledge
includes exchanging resources, ideas, and experiences
with our networks as well as collaborating with our
colleagues.
Interconnected networks

45. Academic research silos be gone!....
Become more open
Dr @LauraPasquini 2015
• network with colleagues
• solicit feedback and reflect on your
research and teaching
• reach multiple audiences
• cultivate your identity as a scholar
• become more open
Openness is the practice of sharing resources and materials (e.g.,
syllabi, lectures, research papers) in a way that allows others to retain,
reuse, revise, remix and redistribute them.

46. Welcome @EricStoller
Using Social Media to Listen and Learn
about UK Higher Education
Getting Connected

47. #LTHEchat
http://lthechat.com/ @LTHEchat #LTHEchat

48. The Lurker
to be in a hidden place : to wait in a secret or hidden
place especially in order to do something wrong or harmful
computers : to read messages written by other people on the
Internet in a newsgroup, chat room, etc., without writing
any messages yourself
Vicariousness
experiences or felt by watching, hearing about, or
reading about someone else rather than by doing something
yourself

49. Positive Silent Engagement PSE
I would like to argue that
positive silent engagement is not
only valuable, but an essential
component of digital
connectedness.
We learn by listening. It is no
different online

50. Global digital connectedness

51. https://press.linkedin.com/about-linkedin
build
connections
group
discussions
collaboration
opportunities
share your
expertise
Connectedness

52. BARRIERS to
connecting
digitally

53. innovators early early late laggards
adopters majority majority
Techies
Conservatives
Pragmatists
Visionaries
Skeptics
"Let's try
it"
"Get ahead
of the herd"
"Stick
with the
herd"
"Hold on
there"
"Hmm...
no way"

55. Digital connectedness takes time,
but...
What you plant now
you will harvest later
Og Mandino

56. Why aren’t more people
connected globally?
Is it that:
• devices are too expensive.
• service plans are too expensive.
• mobile networks are few and far between.
• content isn’t available in the local language.
• people aren't sure what value the Internet will bring.
• power sources are limited or costly.
• networks can’t support large amounts of data.

57. The NOW of
digital
connectedness

58. The Power of Facebook in the Gihembe Refugee
Camp, Rwanda
The camp doesn't have electricity but people use Facebook every
day. Learn more at: www.thesenumbers.org

59. http://thesenumbers.org/

60. Internet.org is a Facebook-led
initiative bringing together technology
leaders, non-profits and local
communities to connect the two thirds of
the world that doesn't have Internet
access.
Everyone participating in Internet.org
has come together to meet this challenge
because they believe in the power of a
connected world.

62. Solar-powered high altitude, long
endurance aircraft that can stay
aloft for months, can be quickly
deployed and deliver reliable
internet connections.
Connecting the world by the
sky
Facebook Connectivity Lab

63. https://twitter.com/internet_org
Inventing the future of
connectivity

64. Project Loon balloons travel approximately 20 km above the
Earth’s surface in the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere
are stratified, and each layer of wind varies in speed and
direction. Project Loon uses software algorithms to determine
where its balloons need to go, then moves each one into a layer
of wind blowing in the right direction. By moving with the wind,
the balloons can be arranged to form one large communications
network.
Google's Project Loon

65. Balloon powered internet for
everyone

66. The first pilot tester to connect to balloon-
powered Internet for the first time in New
Zealand

67. The FUTURE of
digital
connectedness

69. Sue Beckingham | @suebecks
Educational Developer with a research interest in the use of social media
in education.
Blog: http://socialmediaforlearning.com/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/suebeckingham