Fwd: [Teach and Learn Online] Steven Parker witnesses the revolution while we sit on our hands

[Leigh Blackall]

A nice post by Steven Parker testifying that the socially networked software revolution is indeed gripping parts of Australias young folk:

As soon as The Veronica's came on stage, on and up went around 100 mobile phones... Lisa (one of the Veronica's) posed questions to the audience..... 'Who has a mobile phone!?', followed by 'Who's on MYSPACE?'. The crowd overwhelmingly screamed back "Yaahhh!!" with 100's of mobile phones aloft!! …

Steven then went on to rightly say:

One could see that as more people (at a younger age) move to embrace this new way of experimenting with technology to 'make a connection', and with the rapid development of these Web2.0 technologies the need for mainstream teachers (primary through to tertiary) to be aware and get involved to understand it's application to utilise in pedagogy is NOW.

Comments from the Van Guard of Australian educationalists working with socially networked software models expose some things that educational departments in Australia should be ashamed of.

Too bad that in DET NSW if you want to check out The veronicas myspace

http://groups.myspace.com/OfficialVeronicasGroup you have attempted to access has been classified as Custom Deny_NSWTAFE. ACCESS DENIED!!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons (Attribution) license.

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Posted by Leigh Blackall to Teach and Learn Online at 4/21/2006 01:34:00 PM

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Leigh Blackall
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[Sean FitzGerald]

Did you see Wesley Fryer talking about how his blog has been blocked from some school districts in the US for simply mentioning the term Myspace?!

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/04/16/podcast53-censored-for-relevance/

Will Richardson and others have taken up the theme - http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/battling-censorship/

Miguel MGuhlin has gone as far as putting out a A Call to Disobedience - http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2006/04/entry_1383.htm - suggesting everyone put the word "Myspace" on their blog.

And now I see Wesley's latest post is about schools banning iPods - http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/04/20/reactionary-statist-school-leaders-ban-ipods/

Ironically, I'm sitting here in Sydney listening to Radio FBI, a great alternative radio station, and they are raving about how great Myspace is.

Digital divide indeed! But who's leaving who behind?

Sean

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Sean FitzGerald
Tel: +61 (0)2 9360 3291
Mob: +61 (0)404 130 342
Skype: seamusy
Email: se...@tig.com.au
Website: http://seanfitz.wikispaces.com/
Blog: http://elgg.net/seanfitz/weblog/

It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work.
Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier.
-- Thomas Robert Gaines

[mobology]

Leigh,

I also think Steven's post
[http://teachandlearnonline.blogspot.com/2006/04/steven-parker-witnesses-revolution.html]
is fine.......... in a kind of naive sense of observation witness
paradigm.

Great Steven. They are using their mobiles as cameras and social
participatory connective devices as they were constructed to do so.
Woot !

Youtube woot! Msn woot !

In some way the mobile revolution has reached the Australian masses but
again MOBILE DOES NOT = YOUTH. We are constantly whether be default or
by social conditioning restricting our conversations by not referring
to the fact that we are using the technology ourselves ( the oldies )
NOW....we dont need to prepare our serselves for the future cause we
god damned well are it !

My kids only teach me what i'm willing to listen to. The 'future'
generations of tommorow dont give a hoot what we woot. We need not
examine it any further . The answer is in DOING it!

Out there the world is heaving with change that shows that the
Australian ed. sector is if nothing else reluctant to immerse itself in
the true web 2.0. Why ? The answers are obvious. We all do our bit to
effect change and make it work for others.

As far as the mobile world goes it's got little to do with teachers not
wanting to engage this way, it's more that the legalities for doing so
and the implications for the sector as a whole prevent educators
engaging using these mobile devices. We are in a fragile political time
and the education sector IS the vanguard of society and the activists
inside it's bowels are treading an ever increasingly fine line between
magician and maveric. Mobile is and threatens to continues to remain so
on the 'always-off' mandate especially in the K-12 sector. Privacy,
security etc. are too tricky to contemplate.

I think policy change is needed even to acknowledge the fact that a
great deal of our IP and mobile IP is being driven offshore and that
the sector as a whole is phreeking that it may spell the end of the
education paradigm as we know it. Policy change is effected by
awareness, open-word and action.

More socially-engaged art and participatory design practice revolutions
occur while the education sector cuts it's teeth and asks questions of
m-learning ;

http://www.takeawayfestival.com/
http://www.mobileactive.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2005/12/mobile_web_20_w.html

I cant be bothered standing around whilst others ask; where do we stand
on this issue ? How are you authorised to speak on this topic ? What is
mlearning and where is it located ? Where can i get the best mobile
phone deal and why do young people of today spend so much time on their
mobiles ?

Bah!

[Leigh Blackall]

I think its an important observation you make Alex, that we limit or conversations by only refering to youth when we talk mobile.. I read a US stat that 60% of their workforce does not sit in front of a computer all day (surprisingly low stat I thought) but almost all the trades have mobiles. So it should be bleeding obvious that we should be rushing to training via these devices... and so far I think MibilEd is it. Doesn't matter what model phone you have, if it can txt message then you have access to wikifies information via audio. I rate mobilEd as the most important demo of mLearning I've seen yet.

[Paterson, Anne]

Alex Hayes posted:

We are in a fragile political time
and the education sector IS the vanguard of society and the activists
inside it's bowels are treading an ever increasingly fine line between
magician and maveric.

I couldnt agree with you more Alex - you need to have magic powers or the charisma of Ghandi to get anything to happen.

Yes the world is heaving with change, so why are such obvious social changes around technology not being picked up on more easily - it should be obvious that this is a direction that we need to move into readily and embrace for the use of all our teachers and learners.

I would like to see a more enabling and positive approach at Senior Management leve, and less fear, in the education sector to the educational opportunities presented by Web 2.0 and mobility.

Alexs post said it all for me, I am too disenchanted at the moment to do anything. However, there are many practitioners that are working magic around them, and that is encouraging.

Anne

________________________________

Leigh,

Bah!

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[mobology]

In 200_ I was facilitating a christmas pageant performance at Casuarina
Prison Western Australia.

The premise or topic of the performance was that of " communication.
Paradox really considering that the only way the individuals gained
communication whilst they were on remand was to lorded over due to one
phone - one prisoner. Drug wing - assault all too common.

I dont know whether it was the isolation or the threat of lording that
kept individuals close to animal but the performance with 'god"
effected one extra phone where calls could be made and lessening threat
and physical defilement. My 'white trash" status only gained ears on
the presence on the significant others whose rules made life easier and
whose keys rattled locks.

Same goes . Blogging effects change. Rattles locks. Moblogging is upon
my late night consideration one of the most potent lock rattler to
date. Potent. Risk laden.

Each pic / post reveals the workings or lack of. Each pictorial chink
reveals the workings and inner picture of the machine - corporate,
tight and tangible. Each feed feeds the world with the static
dimensions of a pedagogy framed in no less than a thousand words.

Mobile blogging is run Lola run.

Policy begets conversation. Debate. Position. Place.

Hundreds of moblogging chinks now exist in the ed. armour. Students
await.

Mlearning is pedagogy on legs.