Conversations on Networking, Education, Communities, and Technology

Are you interested in these themes? I bet you are.

A world wide community of practice of teachers and educators are organizing free online conference with the above topic. Take a look of the conference website.

The invited speakers (or keynotes, as they are called) includes:

• Etienne Wenger,
• Barbara Ganley,
• Stephen Downes,
• George Siemens,
• Robin Good,
• Leigh Blackall, and
• me (that is Teemu Leinonen).

The dates are: Friday May 18th, Saturday May 19th and Sunday May 20th.

The even is free but you should register yourself by creating an account to the site. In the website(s) everything is a bit chaotic but that is the price of “do it yourself” and voluntarism (something I highly appreciate).

Check the schedule where you will also find what kind of software you will need to join the online sessions. Organizers of each session are using a bit different tools.

Also, have a look of the abstracts of the invited speakers. Interesting stuff. Here is what I am going to talk about:

Beyond blogs and wikis: What about getting together and building some meaning?

When thinking about new technology in teaching and learning we should more often ask the question what is important for most people? According to radical design thinker Victor Papanek, people really need such things as: peace, clear air and water, housing, food, clothing, transport, freedom and equality, dignity, participation of making goals for society and one self, activity with meaning, children and knowledge that the children have everything they really need and will have children of their own. From the Papanek’s list we may consider “activity with meaning” as a synonym of good learning and teaching.

Brazilian educator Paulo Freire made a difference between “banking education” and “problem- posing education”. In the first someone is trying to tell people what they should do and how, when the later one is asking people to define problems in their everyday life and join with other people to solve them. Problem-posing education does not only require dialogue among the people, but teaching of each other, co- investigation and joint responsibility of the process.

According to David Bohn dialogue aims to reach a shared meaning, which is the glue that holds people and societies together.

In my talk I am asking how well so called Web 2.0 and social software are supporting human activity with meaning, problem-posing education and real dialogue. Can we go beyond blogs, wikis, PLE’s and “buddy lists”?