HKU MSc[ITE] Digital Culture and Educational Practice MITE 6305

1. HKU MSc[ITE] Digital Culture and Educational Practice MITE 6305

2. Second life http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20070319/default_standard.htm

3. Web 2.0 technologies and education Richardson (2006) we “are at the beginning of a radically different relationship with the Internet, one that has long-standing implications for educators and students” (p.133)

5. Sharing, Diggs, Recommending, Folksonomy The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

7. Total Sites Across all Domains • Bloggers: an army of irregulars (BBC) -- “The web has grown more in 2005 than it did at the height of the dotcom boom” http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html

8. What is Web2.0? • Web2.0 as a paradigm • Web as a platform (e.g., Microsoft and Google) • User control of information, subscribing and relationships, new forms of expression • Web as a point of presence, internet-mediated social environments, collective activities and plumbing • Science of user engagement and rich user experiences • Some speak of media revolution -- “we the media” (Dan Gillmor), “voice of crowds”, increased democratization and new citizenship

9. http://aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf

10. Session One Outline • Outline of module • Your expectations for this module • Nature of technology • Culture - what is it? • Sample developments • Reflections

11. Module Outline Explores the impact of the digital technologies on society, the community and the individual. Examines ways ICT have affected global and local communities and cultures, home, leisure, work and educational practices as well as our understandings of ourselves. Examines issues related to the evolution and impact of cyber-communities on adolescents and traditional educational communities

12. Module Aims To increase awareness of socio-cultural issues regarding ICT in society, the community and the individual What does ‘socio-cultural’ mean?

13. Module Aims Introduce practical techniques of applying particular socio-cultural concerns to ICT application in education Provide opportunities for students to develop ideas on digital culture and its impact on society, the workplace and on educational practice

14. Group Assignment - 30% Groups select a topic concerning cultural change, influenced by an increasing use of technology. This assignment is a small-scale documentation or interview study of cultural change that comes with specific or increased use of ICTs. Groups need to carry out their joint research and reading of the literature during the first half of the term and conduct a short presentation on their study in Session 4 (security issue, blog on environment, winki)

15. Individual Assignment - 70% The individual assignment (about 2500 words) can be an extension of the group assignment and should draw on the literature. You can focus on a particular area (eg, communicating through ICQ or MSN, playing online games, creating software for people, establishing communities of practice, writing and reading BLOGS, taking part in popular discussion sites, downloading materials from the Web, using the network to promote or run a business, hacking systems, providing protection to people against net abusive incidences / addiction, the impact of Web2.0, and so on).

16. Individual Assignment - 70% Your assignment should consider: What do people do with technology? What does technology do to people? (sick) What personal meanings do people attach to what they do with technology? (spend real $ on virtual world) What changes/impact do they see such technology applications have on society and on themselves?

17. Individual Assignment - 70% What ways do people see technology adding value to their social and work lives? How does technology change/impact on our workplace? What are the negative effects to technology adoption? (Doc upload for what to do this yr rather than what they really dostaff) What critical awareness issues should we take into account when deciding when to use or to switch use of technologies? Your individual assignment should also comment on the impact of digital culture on your own workplace.

18. Your assignments can be re-submitted for the refereed e-journal - ITEC

19. Group Formation • Form into groups (3/4 people per group) • List names of members in each group (paper to circulate) • Each group assigned a number

20. Your expectations for this module Activity In groups • Why do you think it’s important to consider social and cultural perspectives of ICT in education? Collate and submit group comments to the Discussion Forum. INCLUDE ALL NAMES IN YOUR GROUP • Why have you enrolled in this module? • What topics and issues do you hope we will cover in the module?

21. The nature of technology KWL Model What do you already KNOW? WHAT do you want to know? What have you LEARNT?

22. Personal story of technology disruption

23. Disruptive Technology (Hedberg, 2006; Christensen, 1997)

24. Culture: what is it?

25. Culture 1 • Culture = language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviours, material objects, etc. • Material culture – buildings, machines, clothes, jewelry • Nonmaterial culture – group’s way of thinking (beliefs, values, assumptions) & common behaviour (language, interaction, etc) Henslin, J. M. (2000). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 3rd ed. Boston, Allyn & Bacon, Chapter 2.

26. Culture 2 • Culture provides taken for granted orientation to life – our ‘normal’ way of understanding • Culture provides guidance – what we should/not do – what is right/wrong • Contact with radically different culture = ‘culture shock’ – challenge to our beliefs, etc. • Consequence of internalising culture = ethnocentrism – used to judge all else – can be dysfunctional

27. Culture 3 • Cultural relativism – attempt to accept others’ ways of life – helps avoid cultural ‘smugness’ Cultural Components • Sociologists – refer to nonmaterial culture as symbolic culture • Symbols – attach meaning, used to communicate • Symbols including language, gestures, norms, etc

28. Culture 4 • Gestures – using body to communicate • Used in every culture – potential confusion or misunderstanding over meaning • Large variety worldwide – can carry strong emotions • Language – primary means of communication • Allows experiences to be cumulative • Sharing past experiences, sharing future plans • Shared perspectives & understandings

29. Culture 5 • Sapir-Whorf hypothesis – our thinking & perception expressed by language but also shaped by language – ‘language determines our consciousness’ • Values, norms and sanctions • Values – standards to define good/bad • Norms – expectations, roles of behaviour that reflect group’s values • Sanctions – reactions to ways norms are followed. (+ $ reward, prize, smile) (- a fine, frown harsh words)

30. Culture 6 • Folkways & mores as norms • Folkways – norms not strictly enforced • eg not crossing at a pedestrian walkway • Mores – norms believed to be essential to core values • eg stealing, murdering • One group’s folkways may be another’s mores • eg the use of the veil • Taboos – strongly ingrained norms

31. Culture 7 Multiple cultural worlds: • Subcultures & countercultures alternative values eg ethnic groups within a society, teenage groups • Counterculture – values in opposition – challenge dominant core values • Core values change/evolve

32. Culture 8 Technology, Culture & the Global Village • Technology provides a framework for a group’s nonmaterial culture, influencing ways of thinking & how people interrelate • William Ogburn – ‘cultural lag’ – culture changes at different pace between groups • Towards the concept of ‘cultural diffusion’ • Technology and the speed of change • Changing cultures

33. Impact of technology in our lives Small group activity (3/4 max) • Can you name one example where IT has changed our lives in some way? • Name one really excellent use of ICT in society • Can you think of one bad use of ICT in society and say why you think this? Was it intended? Can this problem be overcome? Good reference: Kling (1996) ‘Computers and controversy’ for examples

34. Impact of technology in our lives • Do most people think ICT in education is a good thing? • What impact has ICT on you, on your students, in your workplace? • Is the future of education with ICT better than the present? If so why or why not?

35. Reflection Digital Culture? How might it effect educational practice

36. Second Life Ad and intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkgNn50k14 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b72CvvMuD6Q&mode=related&search= Apple store: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovL4pZod_gw&mode=related&search= Comedy and reflection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkgNn50k14 What role could Second Life play in education?

37. Second Life

38. Challenge to conventional educational institutions? ‘Faster, easier, better learning’ in a commercial world Schools Online

39. E-Learning market is forecast to reach US$54.1 billion in 2007. It is the fastest growing and most promising sector in the education industry. As the Internet changes the way people learn, both traditional educational institutions and net entrepreneurs are moving into e-Learning. Investors are pouring millions into the online education.

40. How teachers use e-learning Alexander, Hart et al, 2004

41. How teachers use e-learning Alexander, Hart et al, 2004

42. Reflections Nature of technology KWL Model What have you LEARNT?