“But I’m a Busy Person. I Don’t Have Time for Technology!”

Ginger Lewman reflects back on this statement which she uttered in 2007.  Since then she started using social networks and says that her professional life is now completely different. She was using laptops in her classroom and had to learn from one of the 5th graders in making the most of using them, until she started using online networks and communities

All of a sudden, I was bringing tools and tech knowledge to my kids! Things they’d never heard of! It was me, not the 5th grader! How? I was spending HOURS in these networks, neglecting my family, lesson plans, and probably other things I didn’t even notice. But I did notice it was taking a lot of time. Looking back, I did it simply because Kevin told me to and he was the only support (beyond the 5th grader and the other kids’ parents) I was getting in building this school.

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Visiolibriphobia: Fear of Facebook

Afshan Jafar on Inside Higher Ed reveals why he is currently not on Facebook and starts an interesting discussion. Whilst he sees many possibilities for extending professional networks he is concerned about some of the social connections and also the commodification of ourselves and our lives.

FB seems to have brought everyone together under the guise of one big happy “friendly” family: why would I want to shatter that illusion by not “friending” people? People who couldn’t have cared less about each other in high school and maybe even tormented each other, now devour every single update and picture posted by their “friends”: “Ate the best strawberries ever today!!!”, “Vacationing in Hawaii and Italy and Switzerland”, “Going into labor”, “Awesome party this weekend”, “Have a headache” (I wonder why?!) and so on. I have friends whose “friends” lists exceed 1,000 people! How many hours a day do they spend in front of this beast?

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Whether the digital era improves society is up to its users – that’s us

Danah Boyd writes in the Guardian Battle for the Internet series. She looks at the impact of fear and notes how it can be a mechanism of control, how people are responding to overwhelming information through their online connections, where psychological warfare is being used to try and capture and maintain people’s attention. She questions whether radical transparency is worthwhile and mentions how people are

How do these impact people’s online experience through their networks. She notes that people have access to more people through more networks with more visibility and wonders about the implications in terms of their relationships.

it’s high time we examined the values that are propagated through our tools. We all need to think critically about the information we create, consume and share

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Home News Local Atlantic City News Atlantic City News South Jersey high school librarians teaching students how to use high technology in their research

Diane D’Amico looks at the changes since a loss of state aid forced libraries to rethink, close or re-evolve.  Whilst they still have books, the increased interest in using different technologies for searching has its challenges and opportunities

“Research is done differently now,” she said. “Everything is more electronic, using databases. But students still need guidance. They may be digital natives with technology, but they don’t always know how to search effectively or responsibly. They believe if they find it on the Internet, it must be true.”

The libraries are being used as learning and social hubs with the increased physical spaces providing opportunities for spreading out beyond the classroom.  She interviews a range of different librarians who are exploring different ideas.

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Getting to know you: Introducing Teresa Penedo

Contributed by Liz Renshaw

I teach in two places – e-learning with adults and children’s dance and gymnastics.

My name is Teresa. I am MSc. in Human Movement, and live in Brazil.

2. Why did you decide to participate Change11?

I thank my friend Daisy Grisolia who told me about the course. I immediately accepted and was very happy.

3.What were a couple of highlights so far in Mooc?

I learn a lot in the Mooc each week. The CCK11 was shorter than the Change 11 Mooc.

4. How do you deal with the abundance of information on Mooc?

I am not afraid of the flow of information. I take what immediately catches my attention. I am happy in this tangle of information. I like the chaos because it represents numerous possibilities and freedom.

5. How are you going to build and sustain your Personal Learning Network?

I love blogs, and I intend to build a blogroll to continue reading.

6. Do you see any disadvantages with any social networking tools?

I do not know any social networks that do not have friends! I like to experiment to see whether they are good or bad.

7. Did some presenters really resonated with you?

They all leave their share of knowledge. Some of the subjects were very new to me.

8. Anything else at all!

I love MOOCs.

The Emerging Science of Connected Networks

by KFC, Technology Review by MIT

This article looks at the study of networks and how single or individual networks cannot reproduce the emergent behaviour found in networks of networks, looking at models with loosely linked networks such as with the spread of diseases and the challenge for complexity scientists.

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See also

• Complex Systems and Networks
• Network Science