Theme+1+Table+2+(Green)

=**Theme 1 Table 2 (Green)** = Implications of continuously emerging technologies for learning and learners

Facilitator: Jerry Leeson Provocateur: **Jerry Leeson** Topic: Mass amateurisation - the implications of person centric learning with capacity for all learners and teachers to create and publish material


 * From our discussion**

As a society we haven't come to terms with what is really good about the internet, which is that everyone can now connect to everyone; and we haven't come to terms with what is really bad about it ...... that everyone can now connect to everyone. Education is embedded in society, and if society hasn't come to terms with it, it isn't surprising that education hasn't come to terms with it.

With mass amateurisation, where everyone can be a publishers, it is esssential to open education to this world. In fact, educators now have a duty of care to educate students how to use, discern and be a good citizen of the digital environment/world.

Students, especially school students now spend parts of their life in this virtual world/environment - some spending quite a lot of time. So this is their world. Some ideas already happening:

On Monday morning ... middle school in Adelaide – the English teacher asks ‘what did you put on the web’ or ‘how did you use your phone’ 'was it ok? did it hurt you?' Then they change posts etc if they can. Once a week students are asked to look at you tube and ask is content good or bad, discusss it in class, and then they create a video reviewing a week on you tube and then post it to youtube.

There is a spectrum of content sources on the web created by 'amateurs' (and what is an amateur?) from wikipedia, which can be seen as quite authoritative, whereas Twitter is (generally) unmediated and will contain varying content.

Twitter is a good example of one of the major benefits of the network - and that is networking our brain power to deal with various topics. Many professsional groups, and any group, are using Twitter to combine their knowledge pool, and to access that knowledge pool when then need info - and they can get it on demand if they have set up a big enough and on point network.

Edublogs.riverview.nsw.edu.au Blog set up for t eachers to communicate on sharing knowledge on teaching. T heir average age 51. There was no PD, just told go for it. There are now 40 teachers blogging, and it is growing all the time. Some are now using it for their classes. This demonstrates the power of 'mass amateurisation', with technology allowing teachers to do as teachers, working with each other and share info on practice and find connections. Web 2.0 tools are easy to use – take ephemeral sharing of info and ephemeral aggregation into one bit and becomes useable and shareable more widely. The intellectual capital of linking can now be captured and integrates with professional materials.

UK considering implementing twitter, wikipedia etc as part of the curriculum - need to teach the concepts rather than the products. - can we learn from this initiative?

current attitude to blocking the services is wrong. need to teach discernment and how to evaluate content.

Duty of care argument is wrong. Needs to be turned on its head - we are actually failing in our duty of care by not teaching students how to survive in our digital world.


 * Comments from the Table to be added below**

Mobility

Skills Knowledge and literacies

Assessment and curriculum development

Certification

Mass amateurisation

Teaching methods

Roles

Other