The document discusses architectures for participation in collaborative communities and their effects on students and teachers. It talks about how produsage enables all participants to both produce and consume information. It also discusses edupunk movements that favor accessibility over design and reject corporate control of education. The document raises questions around blocking sites like Wikipedia and whether this encourages or limits learning. It suggests safety online is about protecting from predators, not limiting access, and that denying internet access disadvantages students. Overall, the document advocates for more participatory, responsive and transparent technology policies in education.

1. architectures for participation

2. intended to protect

3. but what is the effect?

4. what students expect

5. what teachers imagine

6. how it often feels

7. http://produsage.org/produsage in collaborative communities the creation of shared content takes place in a networked, participatory environment which breaks down the boundaries between producers and consumers and instead enables all participants to be users as well as producers of information and knowledge (Axel Bruns) produsage: more than user-created content

8. effective schools the ultimate in collaborative communities

9. … the more radical the innovation, the more the uncertainty, the more you need innovation in use to work out what a technology is for… Charles Leadbeater

10. edupunk d.i.y. edtech

11. a DIY movement that "favors technical accessibility over grand design" (Caufield) "instructional use of blogs, wikis, various mashups, and podcasting among many other uses of emerging technologies" (Wikipedia) "rejection of efforts by government and corporate interests in using emerging technologies to exercise control over education" (Wikipedia) "student-centered, resourceful, teacher or community-created rather than corporate-sourced, and underwritten by a progressive political stance" (Stephen Downes)

12. it’s when the internet combines with these kinds of passionate pro-am consumers who are knowledgable; they’ve got the incentive to innovate; they’ve got the tools; they want to… that you get this kind of explosive innovation… that require new kinds of organisation… how can we organise ourselves without organisations… that’s now possible… Charles Leadbeater

13. "Recently, our school board made the decision to block Wikipedia from our school district's WAN system. This was a complete block — there aren't even provisions in place for teachers or administrators to input a password to bypass the restriction. The reason given was that Wikipedia (being user created and edited) did not represent a credible or reliable source of information for schools. Should we block sites such as Wikipedia because students may be exposed to misinformation, or should we encourage sites such as Wikipedia as an outlet for students to investigate and determine the validity of the information?" http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/13/2018210

14. “… the battle which is constant and ongoing is tiring and belittling…” is this really the way we want our innovative and forward-looking teachers and students feeling?

15. safety online is all about keeping adult predators away

16. or is it?

17. the site of most harm to children

18. evidence suggests the greatest stranger danger comes from children’s peers! Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

19. if safety is the goal then is this really the answer? http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/Cybersafety_SeminarSlides.pdf

20. Like Tanya Notley, I also support the idea that “denying many students without home internet access use of these sites to learn and participate in an increasingly networked society ” is of disadvantage from an inclusion, ethical and social equality perspective. Alexander Hayes http://alexanderhayes.wirenode.mobi/service/RssReader?fid=4079474&eid=6938246&page=0

21. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/07/whats-wrong-with-dopa.html These "trendy" chatrooms, wikis, and blogs are also amazing tools that are helping multinational businesses cooperate. They are an essential backbone the globalization of business. Everywhere we are emphasizing the need to collaborate, cooperate, and eliminate duplicate services. The most valuable collaboration tools in the history of mankind must be taught to our children but through this act, the vast majority of Americans will be ignorant by design. We protect children through education, not through ignorance!

22. I believe, however, that any time you take power out of the hands of local educators that you serve to weaken them. The conduit of communications in the 21st century is the Internet. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/07/whats-wrong-with-dopa.html

23. students must learn how to be responsible, competent net citizens who can protect their privacy and safety, and that of those they will be responsible for as adults http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/07/whats-wrong-with-dopa.html

24. ubiquitous and vernacular technology use seems the obvious starting point working at leisure - productive/generative play

25. ban | block approaches effectively limit capacity building

26. without people the architecture is pointless

28. How long before the gate keeping function in schools is irrelevant?

29. we no longer need Organisations for us to organise and collaborate - to achieve large and complex tasks

30. new worlds beckon

31. Educational systems demonstrate considerable robustness and resilience in the face of both environmental and intended change. Despite many attempts to reform educational systems to make them more effective and efficient, little change has been realised in over a century. Classical bureaucratic, managerial and economics based approaches to reform have proven to be limited in effect. Dr Chris Goldspink

32. “ policy decisions” are always someone’s interpretation of something far more idealistic

33. how can educational technology use start to feel like its more connected to the real world?

34. participatory community complexity adaptive timely responsive transparent

35. what are the features of enabling IT policies and practices in educational settings?

36. Learning processes should involve stakeholders in coalitions for change. The centre acts as a catalyst for change – providing and supporting multiple stimuli for change at multiple sites at the same time Change comes from the ‘inside out’ as active experimentation is encouraged and supported in a principles based framework based on trust. Focus on long term social and individual benefits (i.e. the orientation of policy) as a central target for improvement rather than short-term outputs. Have all stakeholders work to establish a set of core values/principles as an integration and reference point for decisions.

37. Encourage rigour in an environment endorsing pluralism - rather than striving for consensus or conformity. Value expertise (including practical experience) but eschew ‘experts’ as holders of universal truths - encourage a constructivist or critical realist orientation to knowledge and one which values praxis – both theory and practice – or knowledge as process/enaction. Tighten structures by focusing temporary coalition building around curriculum and instruction while loosening structures of conformance and control – in other words build self-organising heterarchies and loosen controlling hierarchies Provide rich information to all actors in the system about the impact of their action on the long-term goals that matter to them and to other stakeholders. ‘ Patch’ the system into small groupings of committed people. Establish opportunities for these groups to interact, share (ideas and members) and ensure groups address diverse focal points to widen the search for fresh insights upon which to base action for improvement. Adopt a holistic orientation to stakeholders (i.e. focus on a concern with social and emotional wellbeing rather than instrumental) – focus on relationship building, integrity and trust. Rethinking Educational Reform - A loosely coupled and complex systems perspective. Dr Chris Goldspink Educational Management Administration & Leadership, Vol. 35, No. 1, 27-50 (2007)

38. a new meeting place for students, teachers and administrators they all belong to the the management team in educational reform