Talk at Premier Digital Conference, on theme of information, churches & informational mission.

2. Dr Magnus Ramage, The Open University
@magnusramage, magnus.ramage@open.ac.uk
presentonearth.blogspot.co.uk
Making a Difference for God

3. • Accidentally ambiguous!
• Definition of information as
‘the difference that makes a difference’
• But also… making a difference in the world
(Lk 4, Mt 25, Mt 28)
• ‘Informational mission’
Double meaning of title

4. • Foundational to today’s society
– money, music and friendship recast in terms of information
• Online communication is all about information
– words, words, words
– but also images, video, symbols, positioning…
• So we have to understand information better
Why information matters

5. • DTMD: 10 year project studying information
– Five workshops, most international
– Academics from all disciplines, looking for ‘family
resemblances’ in treatment of information
– Narrative is crucial
• URC Blended Learning Task Group: how do we combine
online & offline learning in effective ways?
Influences

6. • (Telephone) communication = transmission
of message from source to destination
• Encoding information into bits (0,1)
– efficiency, noise, channel capacity
• “the semantic aspects of communication
are irrelevant to the engineering problem”
Defining information:
Claude Shannon

7. • Anthropologist, cybernetician, psychologist
• Many differences from one thing to another
in the world (“things that get on a map”)
• Some differences matter, some don’t
• Information is “a difference which makes a
difference” (to some person in some setting)
Defining information:
Gregory Bateson

8. • Two stage process
• Looking for differences between one thing and another
– selecting those difference (which do you notice & which not?)
• Which of these differences actually make a difference?
– how do they affect your understanding, or perception,
or ability to make sense of something?
Making use of DTMD

9. • In Vienna for a conference, attended worship
on the evening of a strangely quiet day…
• Four differences that made a difference for me:
– Understanding why the city was quiet
– Working in an unfamiliar language (German)
– Catholic theology of eucharist (as a Protestant)
– Rich symbolism: the tale of the monstrance
Application 1:
Corpus Christi in Vienna

10. • Course on being welcome as a church
• Differences:
– what’s on your website/noticeboard/service sheet
– how you treat your visitors: friendly? cold? left in dark?
– premises: easy to get into & around?
• Which of these make a difference to being welcoming?
Application 2:
Everybody Welcome

11. • What information is actually on them?
– We welcome all people… but not those people…
– We’re only for insiders!
– We’ve forgotten how to update our website
• Is it easy to find things? For whom?
• Which of these differences make a difference?
Application 3: Examining
church websites

15. • Growing in importance for many denominations
• Key part of blended learning strategy
• But need to be clear that the learning is one or more of:
– relevant / enticing / instrumental
– fit for a specific role / validity requirements / life changing
• Learners as part of the Body of Christ – in community
Application 4:
Online learning spaces

16. • All communication is based on information
• Which of that information makes a difference?
– it may not be the bits you intended!
• When creating any communication, think:
– what kind of message am I trying to convey?
– what information is really communicated here?
What really makes
a difference?