Technological advancements like Web 2.0 tools, service-oriented architecture, and emerging social practices around self-publishing and social bookmarking are transforming the creative industries and challenging traditional educational and institutional structures. This presents opportunities for personalization, as technology gives individuals more power to manage their work, home, and learning in a synergized way without constraints. The SPLICE project aims to empower all stakeholders in this area by enabling connections between learners, teachers and practitioners and helping institutions adapt to accommodate a more personalized approach.

1. Technology, Personalisation and Practice in the Creative Industries Mark Johnson University of Bolton

2. Why are you here? Curiosity? Networking? Opportunities? Education?

3. What’s happening Technological transformation Emerging social practices with technology Challenges to Educational and Institutional structure … PERSONALISATION

4. Technological Transformation Web2.0 Wikis, googledocs, blogging, Skype, MSN, YouTube, FlickR, RSS, aggregators, YahooPipes, etc… Service Oriented Architecture Breaking down big systems into small units of functionality Can be reorganised, reused… … By anyone!

5. Emerging Social Practices Self-Publishing The YouTube Phenomenon e.g. Angry BT customer ! Blogging, podcasting, photoblogging http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/ http:// www.imagekind.com Self-Organisation Social Bookmarking Facebook Information Management RSS, Google Desktop, Netvibes, flickR

6. Challenges to Educational and Institutional Structure Problems with centralised provision of resources Need to push more responsibility onto the individual Peer networks and self-organisation challenge traditional hierarchical structures Challenges to educational authority – wikipedia?.. Educational content available to all Educational technology available to all? Distinctions between learning, working and living becoming blurred

7. Personalisation We think in terms of “us … and them ” Education and Industry Teachers and Learners Government and ‘the people’ Providers and Customers But everyday life is more “ me and us” Our family, friends, colleagues, etc Personalisation is about removing the constraints imposed by them allowing me to be more powerful.

8. What are the constraints on your practice? Technological constraints Institutional constraints Government constraints Personal constraints (i.e. constraints imposed by me)

9. What to do to free yourself from constraint? Technological constraints Investment, training, personal development Institutional constraints Reorganisation, develop new practices Government constraints Finding more efficient ways of meeting regulatory requirements Personal constraints Redefining personal objectives, goals, targets… EDUCATION! (often emotional issues)

10. Removal of Constraint and Personal Synergy Technologies can impose constraints as well as remove them We have a tendency to devise ‘systems’ (say at institution or government level) to remove a constraint in one area, only to increase constraint in another! … Which is why this has to be a personal matter … Technology gives individuals the ability to extend their power With personal computer technology, one of those powers is to allow us to create synergies between the things that we do. So we all manage our personal complexity (in whatever area of our lives) more effectively…

11. In a personally synergised world… Actions relating to work can be coordinated with actions relating to home, or to learning… We can manage the different people we choose to be depending on what we are doing… Connections made in one area of life may be used to the advantage of another… Practices useful to one area of life may be applied to another… We use technology to help us take control over our ‘whole selves’ Empowers us It constrains no-one else

12. The SPLICE project This is what the SPLICE project is seeking to do… We want to empower all our stakeholders: Learners, teachers, practitioners We want to enable them to make connections between each other through technology We want to find out how an institution can adapt to accommodate this… We want to identify the challenges to achieving it… JOIN US: http://splicegroup.ning.com !!