This document discusses the changing nature of literacy and learning in an era of knowledge abundance enabled by digital networks and the Internet. It argues that we must rethink what it means to be literate and how education is structured to take advantage of network tools that connect people and allow knowledge to be shared more openly. Key network literacies discussed include developing an online identity, contributing knowledge through participation as a resident rather than just a visitor, and making connections by engaging with audiences and building communities of shared interests through hashtags and other networking tools. The focus is on how education can cultivate learners who can navigate and help others navigate a world of abundant, openly accessible knowledge distributed through online networks.

1. EDUCATION IN ABUNDANCE:
Network Literacies & Learning
Bonnie Stewart
@bonstewart
University of Prince Edward Island
#Elearning16
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Network_bot_drill_down_compromised_areas.JPG

2. me at work, last APRIL 17th

3. So. Yes. Thank you for inviting me.
J

4. knowledge scarcity
knowledge abundance
open practices
public models
market models
closed practices
Personalizing Beyond Content…
in Changing Times

5. NETWORKS

6. Digital + network tools connect people
to each other

7. (When we let them)

8. • How we think about tools shapes
what we can do with them.
• How we think about learning
shapes what we can do with
education.

9. What does it mean to be literate
in the 21st century?

10. Literacies = tools + concepts
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zzpza/3269784239/

11. Literacy, 400 BCE = Threat to
Knowledge

12. Literacy, 1500 CE = Control of
Knowledge

13. Literacies, 2016 BCE = Management &
Synthesis of Knowledge

14. Expanding & expanding……
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies

15. What literacies are you working on?
Where are YOUR strengths?

16. THINK : PAIR : SHARE
What literacies are you working on?
What literacies are the faculty &
students you work with working on?

17. LITERACIES OF ABUNDANCE

18. Knowledge Abundance
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakleyoriginals/4142641838/

19. "For the first time in human history, two related
propositions are true. One, it no longer is possible to
store within the human brain all of the information
that a human needs.
Second, it no longer is necessary to store within the
human brain all of the information that humans
need.
Education needs to be geared toward
the handling of data rather than the accumulation
of data.”
- Berlo, 1975

20. Abundance =
integration of media into
daily life

21. …and education.

22. Sometimes abundance can be
overload
http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/2191408271/

23. Structure of Abundance = Networks
https://plus.google.com/+DaveGray/posts/CQRVeKEsUvF?
pid=5751686447270321954&oid=117373186752666867801

24. Networks are not JUST digital
h"ps://www.flickr.com/photos/ironypoisoning/8133705441

25. Networking:
many-to-many communications
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/thumb/d/d8/Do_Not_Adjust_Your_Set.jpg/280px-
Do_Not_Adjust_Your_Set.jpg

26. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ooohoooh/1350774613/
Networks are not just for consuming,
but connecting

27. Many-to-many communications
allow us to create ourselves
as network nodes, forming webs of
visible (& invisible) connections

28. …Like a party line with
various private/public options
https://www.flickr.com/photos/94342662@N00/3869483214/

29. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21031300@N02/4076687726/
And permanence.

30. Abundance = the internet as the
world’s biggest small town

31. Educating in Abundance =
Network Learning

32. So. Trying to map network literacies
over systems of education:
What does that LOOK like?

34. Many-to-many communications, & org
structures CAN co-exist

35. http://www.telecomtv.com/articles/tablets/retro-chic-apples-original-macintosh-reimagined-12100
Just add technology?

37. Architecture of participation

38. This was the promise of Web 2.0
http://img12.deviantart.net/f1e6/i/2008/081/e/7/web_2_0___everybody_contribute_by_sulich.png

39. It cannot be achieved by just
putting content online.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sepblog/3649959481

40. Literacy 1: IDENTITY

41. Identity = Price of Admission
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8468788107

42. Digital identity = reputation built
through repeated interactions

43. In institutional
structures, an
individual has a role.
In a networked
culture, an individual
has an identity, which
it is his/her job to
differentiate.

44. Digital identity = control

45. You need to work on your identity
before it will work for you

46. Identity need not be fully public,
but should allow in-group identification

47. Should scaffold & extend conversations
& resource-sharing
@hypothes_is!

48. Should open new conversations

49. Should model how to navigate
many-to-many communications
with minimal harm / damage
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ooocha/2632434274/sizes/z/in/photostream/

50. To lead networked learning, facilitators
need to be
networked too.
BUT THEY DO NOT NEED
TO BE EXPERTS.

51. To get started (in any network)…

52. Building network literacies on your
campus = choices
https://www.flickr.com/photos/42386632@N00/8528725328/

53. Literacy 2: CONTRIBUTION

54. Visitors & Residents
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mistergc/20550559482/

55. There is no such thing as
a digital native.

56. Visitors | Residents
• The web as an
untidy garden
tool shed
• Actions are
instrumental - users
leave no social
trace
• Task is priority
• The web as a
human, social,
connected place
• Engagement leaves
social traces &
connections (&
content) behind
• Synthesis is priority

57. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jiscinfonet/12947691804/in/album-72157641903755433/

58. Where are YOUR practices?

59. Emphasizing content & consumption
prioritizes visitor approaches
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belber_Suitcase.jpg

60. But learners must learn to be productive
residents in a world of knowledge
abundance.

61. …and algorithms? and data?
???

62. Literacy 3: CONNECTION

63. Networked learning =
learning with an audience
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tattoodjay/4129779298/

64. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmesis/21126825/
Audiences = people
The Internet = people

65. WHAT YOU NEED TO ASK:
• What kinds of conversations do you want to
have access to?
• What audiences do you want for your
learners? What audiences matter to them?
• What do you – and your learners – have to
offer that isn’t being seen right now?

66. Connect beyond the walls of the
classroom
https://www.flickr.com/photos/danieldslee/5523383653

67. Support students to build real
audiences for their work

68. Support professionals to, too.
#s enable connection across distance,
over shared interests.
• #highered
• #OpenEd
• #edchat
• #digped
• #BYOD
• #educolor
• #lrnchat
• #digilit
• #MinecraftEdu
• #edtech

69. Create #s to focus conversations or
build awareness of upcoming events

70. NETWORKED LEARNERS:
CONTRIBUTE TO ABUNDANCE.
CONNECT.
CHANGE.

71. Be the change that will help people
navigate change
knowledge scarcity
knowledge abundance
open practices
public models
market models
closed practices

72. THANK YOU.
@bonstewart
bstewart@upei.ca