A presentation for the ECAWA 2008 conference

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?

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