... and finally, Thing No #17

Wow! That was actually quite a powerful video clip. 3 things particularly struck me:

1. What a revolution this has been. Putting what is happening now in a historical context really made me see what a big change is occurring and how necessary it is for institutions to keep pace with what is going on.

2. That connection, contexts, complexity and conotation are more important than content. I do think we need to be careful to maintain a role for content and understand that we are talking about new tools for learning rather than replacing the learning of content altogether. Nevertheless, I could see what Federman was talking about so clearly in relation to my experience. For the last 3 years I have been taking exams every October which cover everything I am supposed to have learnt between February and September. I spend a couple of months cramming and usually do quite well, but the scarey thing is how much of that content I have forgotten a couple of months later. Fortunately, with the help of conection, contexts, complexity and conotation I know how to refind it (and how to find new even more up-to-date, relevant material)!

3. That all this public messaging & twittering & selling your soul online actually represents a switch from media for the masses to media by the masses. Not totally convinced by this either, but, socialist that I am, I like the idea and am pondering on it... Certainly, I like the fact that collaborative construction of knowledge provides faster access to more up-to-date material; and I definately felt my identitiy was being falsely constructed when Jenny posted my google page on my blog with the background theme of happy little animals bouncing around...

So maybe there is something in all of this...