Badges and Adapting Education for a Digital World

As I have begun officially working as part of the Mormon badges project (more on that later!), I have had the chance to do more research about the ties between education and technology and the potential for open educational content.

In the course of my research, I found an interesting quote in Curtis J. Bonk’s book , World Is Open : How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. He makes the claim that now,  ‘‘’Anyone can now learn anything from anyone at anytime’.… it does not matter if you are a scientist on a ship in Antarctic waters or a young girl in a Philippine village— you can learn when and where you want and from whomever you are interested in learning” (7).

As I’ve begun working more with the idea of badges and how to use technology effectively for education, this is a fascinating idea. Traditional learning models state that we must learn from certified professionals (aka teachers) who can demonstrate clearly where and how they gained their expertise. But it’s pretty exciting to be able to learn from each other, not just the formal experts. I do think that there is something that can be learned from each person, and it’s powerful that through the internet we can connect with those who have the knowledge and skills we want to learn. And this is true no matter where they’re from throughout the world or if they have the formal degree or not.

Of course this raises major questions about credibility, which my team mate Ellys Dyck addressed on her blog, and regarding how we can find the best possible teachers and “experts” throughout the world if we’re not looking for degrees. I was surprised to read in Martin Ebner and Mandy Schiefner’s book Looking Toward the Future of Technology-Enhanced Education : Ubiquitous Learning and the Digital Native that in fact those who are considered the “net generation” often have trouble judging this very same issue. They wrote that “these children, who are often called the net generation, are very smart in their use of new technology, but they are not very sophisticated in terms of media literacy, and do not obtain high scores in judging and reasoning” (xxv).

So how do we preserve the credibility of a traditional educational system while allowing for the flexibility and diversity inherent in the internet and especially web 2.0? This is where I think badges will play a very important role, although it seems to be that there are quite a few kinks left to be worked out of the system. I really think the idea of clear certification, although with more flexibility, like is possible with the badge system is an important step towards establishing a new step for education in our digital culture.

The Media Fast: Or what Making Non-Alcoholic Beverages Taught me about Digital Culture

I went into my media fast this weekend expecting to feel disconnected, rather anti-social and a lot more productive when it came to my homework. That sounds pretty pessimistic, but as the time to officially give up my media loomed closer, I could suddenly come up with more and more reasons why my digital devices were so important to me. I couldn’t help but imagine what if I came across someone who was dying on the side of the road. How would I call 911? What if I lost my friends (and my ride) leaving the broadcast in the morning? Or what if I desperately needed to make a call or text a friend to solidify our plans for dinner that next evening?

 

Despite my fears, I did find the media fast very liberating. It was nice to be able to say that I can in fact survive without my technology, my devices and my texting. But I definitely saw how impossible it is to actually escape technology and still manage to get nearly anything done. I (stupidly) chose to do my media fast on the Sunday when church was cancelled for the Brigham City Temple Dedication. Thus within the first few hours of my time “without media” I already had technically failed as I attended and watched the broadcast. But I decided to keep going with my fast. I was fine for the few hours following the broadcast when I had no real need to get on the internet or use my phone. While I worked on homework and hung out with my roommates, I felt like I was going back to an early, simpler time. Then once again, reality struck.

My roommates and I were in charge of a bringing a Mexican drink for a dinner party at our friends’ apartment that evening. We had decided that we were going to bring virgin margaritas as a fun, and relatively easy to prepare drink for the party. This was a good plan in theory, up until I was the only person at home to actually put things together. What had sounded like a simple project, suddenly took on lots of complications as I couldn’t Google the recipe I had planned to use. Or even call my mother to ask for advice on how to properly put salt around the rims of our glasses. And then as I was just combining things (hoping it would turn out to be something resembling a margarita), I couldn’t even figure out how to work the fancy blender I had borrowed from a friend. Thankfully my sister decided to come over about then, and I handed her my phone and my computer. She called my friend about the blender and found online that you need to use lemon juice to get the salt to stick around the edges of the glass. After that I was able to throw things together in the fancy blender that I then knew how to work.

Although I didn’t Google and call myself, I definitely saw that I really couldn’t survive without my digital media. Maybe things would have worked out if I hadn’t let my sister cheat for me, but they sure would have been much more complicated. Either way my media fast highlighted the importance of relationships (the real, face to face kind), but it also showed me how much all of my devices have become a part of my life. I was really surprised that I missed the internet the most when I was attempting to cook, and that it wasn’t Facebook or my email that really got me in trouble. At least for me, this media is such a tool in my life and has become deeply embedded within my daily tasks not just my social interactions. In fact the social part was the easiest to go without, and I think it was the most liberating to actually have to talk to someone face to face rather than texting or Facebook-ing them. Yet I now see clearer how deeply technology has become embedded in my life, and I don’t think it is necessarily in a bad or harmful way.

And did I manage to use the break from media to get a lot of homework done? No. Ironically it became yet another excuse to procrastinate.

More Thoughts on Themes in Anna Karenina

As I’ve been able to spend more time reading through Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, I’ve already been able to see that there are a number of very relevant themes to today’s digital world and culture. I discussed in a previous post the importance of moderation and balance, which is ultimately shown through the different successful or unsuccessful relationships throughout the novel. But more than that, the novel raises a number of other issues which I hope to explore further. I’ve included below some of my thoughts as I’ve gone through the text and some of the preliminary research I’ve been able to do. Keep in mind this is me attempting to explore and reach out to more topics, and so I’ve included some more ideas and directions.

 Ethical Issues/Social Problems

Much of the literary criticism of the text seems to focus on the different ethical issues that arise from the central conflict (Anna Karenina’s infidelity), and there is a lot of discussion about society’s reaction to the monster it ultimately helped to create. The ideas of social judgment and reactions towards actions that raise ethical and moral questions are still very important today. Just as in the time when Tolstoy was writing, the question remains on how we deal with the social problems that we ourselves create (directly or indirectly). While these are often not as obvious as Anna's fall from "social grace," I see this directly relating to our cult of the celebrity (Kristen Stewart anyone?) as well as our reactions to social problems stemming from the Internet (such as cyber-bullying). I think that Tolstoy's treatment of tough social issues has a lot to teach us about our own problems, and especially the ones that our society is (directly or indirectly) encouraging and thus promulgating.

 

Some sources I want to return back to:

• Raises interesting questions about the moral issues of adultery and judgement in our modern society. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/sep/10/refuse-judge-anna-karenina-tom-stoppard
•  Another look at the effects of social class and the ethical pluralism it creates. "Scapegoating, Double-Plotting, and the Justice of Anna Karenina" --http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/discover/10.5699/modelangrevi.106.1.0179?uid=47387&uid=3739928&uid=2&uid=5909576&uid=3&uid=67&uid=5912200&uid=62&uid=3739256&uid=19974&sid=21101198356911
• Discusses the ties between economic and social status with moral elevation. Ties the novel to modern day examples and issues with social structures and hierarchies. “The Dismantling of Hierarchy and the Defense of Social Class in Anna Karenina.” -- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9434.2011.00633.x/abstract;jsessionid= 905C9551DF3F139722992AD56DE55D3F.d01t03
• Anna Karenina in Our Time: Seeing More Wisely.--
• This full length book examines the surprisingly radical and modern social ideas of Tolstoy's text while challenging typical readings of the text.  Saul Morrison, Anna Karenina in Our Time: Seeing More Wisely.-- HBLL PG 3365 .A63 M67 2007

Moderation/Balance

See previous blog post

 

Language

            Language plays a very important role within the text, and it is particularly interesting to look at how translation alters meaning. I see this being a very applicable theme through Tolstoy’s emphasis on the simplicity and purity of language, which applies to the importance and rhetoric of speaking and writing online.

Some sources I want to return back to:

 

• I found this quote to be a very applicable observation of what we value in writing and language. “The sensation produced by Princess Myakaya’s speeches was always unique, and the secret of the sensation she produced lay in the fact that though she spoke not always appropriately, as now, she said simple things with some sense in them. In the society in which she lived such plain statements produced the effect of the wittiest epigram. Princess Myakaya could never see why it had that effect, but she knew it had, and took advantage of it.”
• Explores Tolstoy’s use of the phrase v glubine dusi  (at the bottom of one’s heart) and how this effects and exemplifies the characters’ psychology, rhetoric and morality. “Psychology, Rhetoric and Morality in Anna Karenina: At the Bottom of Whose Heart?” -- http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/openurl?volume=39&date=1995&spage=261&issn=00376752&issue=2
•  Interesting article about the role of children within the text, and more specifically how their language reflects the truth and reality that is not exemplified by society as a whole. Ties back to simplicity of language and thought as in above passage. The Grammar of Child-Rearing in Anna Karenina -- http://ac.els-cdn.com/S030434799781719X/1-s2.0-S030434799781719X-main.pdf?_tid=36ac4b1e-0368-11e2-9090-00000aacb361&acdnat=1348175870_44594ffead072aa475650320bb60df38
• The role of the word “prelest” or charm throughout the text and the action. “Treacherous 'Charm' in Anna Karenina” -- http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/openurl? volume=39&date=1995&spage=214&issn=00376752&issue=2

 

Reactions to Text/ Remakes

With the upcoming film adaption of the text, there is a lot of discussion about movie adaptions of the text and what the new one will focus on.

Some sources I want to return back to:

• Tolstoy's, guiding light: the philosophical writings of the author of War and Peace inspired followers from Moscow to Croydon and led to the creation of a Christian anarchist reform movement. Charlotte Alston examines the activities and influence of Tolstoy's disciples -- http://web.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ehost/detail?sid=4d2975f8-cb6e-44bc-8cc8-1b568ef65459%40sessionmgr4&vid=1&hid=14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=wdh&AN=54590631
• This full length book discusses remakes of the text, and also the text as a cross between the tale of Carmen and Joan of Arc. Film Remakes as Ritual and Disguise : From Carmen to Ripley -- http://search.lib.byu.edu/byu/id:doab12872

 

These are just a few more relevant themes that I see directly connecting to both Anna Karenina and to today's digital culture. Any more I should be sure and include?

Cyberbullying: Reactions and Thoughts on Regulation

Following a post by Audrey Blake about cyber bullying, I’ve found myself thinking about many of the issues she raised, and I’ve been particularly curious about what can be done to stop and regulate the issue. Audrey posted a link to the Megan Meier foundation, and as I read through Megan’s tragic story, I was struck by the numerous issues that arise as we try to prosecute people for cyber bullying. I think it is easy to agree that something should be done, but I wonder how we deal with the complications of legal and social elements that are tied with this bullying. And things are further complicated as more than just students are becoming involved with this very negative treatment.

Megan’s story highlights how difficult it is to prosecute someone who is acting online, and it raises questions about how we criminalize what we do online. Megan’s suicide was prompted by her friend (with her friend’s parents!) creating a false MySpace account and using it to create a false identity to find out information about Megan and to bully her. The issue with the case was that even after the suicide, how can a link be made with online and offline actions and to prove that the online actions were actually what caused Megan’s death? I was glad to hear that, “In May [2007], a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, where MySpace.com has its headquarters, indicted Drew [Megan’s friend’s mother] on charges of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress — in other words, violating MySpace’s terms of use by faking an identity.”

I firmly believe that our actions online must both be treated and prosecuted to the same extent as any action we do offline. But the legal technicalities are still very tricky. After having done more research on story, local prosecutors originally concluded that there was no law addressing Drew’s behavior, and they declined to press charges for her role in Megan’s suicide. But thankfully a court was able to convict Drew on some charge rather than letting her go completely free.

Growing up, I definitely heard about the issue of cyber bullying, although it was something that I never really thought applied to me. School officials had stated that they would not tolerate it, and I remember hearing about different schools throughout the country taking steps to act against the demoralizing effects of this bullying. But I wonder how much we need to regulate through policy and how much should be raising awareness of the very real effects of the bullying. I think it is vital to emphasize that although the bullying is not happening face to face, the effects can still be life changing and just as damaging as physical violence. And maybe these psychological effects are even more demoralizing and vicious.

I believe that more than just students, their parents or school officials must understand the very horrible effects of these actions. Through raising awareness of the very real effects of digital bullying, we can help prevent many of these cases. And I was glad to see that there are means of doing this, such as the ABC family movie Audrey mentions. But I think we also need to ensure that the law is able to deal with the after effects, and that there is policy that is in place when cyberbullying does occur. Although Megan’s bullies were eventually convicted of some crime, I think there should be clearer rules to persecute these online crimes for the actual crime they commit. Identity should not change, no matter where crime is committed, and cyberbullying is no exception. Every state needs clearer laws to address this situation (and every state doesn't have them!), and we need to continue to raise awareness on the issue for more than just school age children. I do believe that even those of us without our own children (or siblings) who might be cyberbullied have a duty to help make the internet a safer place for everyone.

Anna Karenina: Preliminary Thoughts on Digital and Social Change

Years ago I read Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina as a school assignment, and while I greatly enjoyed it, I’ll admit that I didn’t get as much out of it as I wanted to. Since then I have been looking for an opportunity to spend the time to reread it and really come to understand the complex issues I probably missed when I was fourteen. Tolstoy’s writing addresses numerous complex issues from divorce, to social change to technological advancement, which make it a fascinating book for today. Not to mention there is soon to be a new film adaption.

But even more than that, Tolstoy provides a useful framework for understanding the change in our world, whether he was addressing yesterday’s problems or the problems of one hundred years ago. His vividly depicted characters, who are torn between right and wrong, and change and tradition, become the watermark for seeing our own culture and its unique problems. Through each difficult, conflicted decision that Tolstoy portrays, the author’s voice reaches across the years with a voice of warning, caution and hope.

Now while Tolstoy definitely wasn’t writing about the digital age, I see that he was providing clear guidelines as to how to deal with the social aspects, as well as the other symptoms of change, that occur within our rapidly evolving digital society. The most noticeable of these social aspects is different family and marital relationships around which the book is based. Most obviously is the failing relationship between Anna and her husband, which is contrasted with Levin and his new wife. Interestingly these relationships strengthen or fail in response to the degrees of cultural isolation or over-exposure from the rapidly evolving world of Russia in the late nineteenth century. I think it is very telling that Anna ends her own life through the means of one of the most important technological innovations of her time: the train.

Although this is just scratching the surface, Tolstoy is sending some sort of message of the dangers of over-exposure and the need for preserving a sense of balance. Through the success or failure of each character, Tolstoy illustrates a clear message for today of where we need to draw the line to preserve our literal and digital sanity.

 

And I think this is as important a message today as it was in Tolstoy's day.

 

To Change or Not to Change: Thoughts on Intellectual Property and Copyright

Yesterday while sitting in class, I had a discussion of what piracy and intellectual property means for us today with the accessibility of everything of the internet. Building off of my reading from Piracy: Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates by Adrian Johns, I have been coming to see that our digital culture has many of the same historical piracy and copyright issues that originated with the printing press. Johns argues that our current issues with intellectual property relate to:

The core issues of traditional political theory and practice: issues of privacy, accountability, and autonomy. That is why it was worth tracking the history of the enforcement enterprise back all the way to the seventeenth century and the origins of modern political order. Such issues have, it seems, dogged intellectual property policing throughout its history, because of the nature of the enterprise. They continue to do so today in new forms and media (507).

Johns argues throughout his book that we are today facing the same issues that have been relevant to the book/printing industries since their conception. These fundamental issues of privacy, autonomy and accountability must be at the center of any decision we make today about our new media and digital forms.

As I’ve come to think more about this system, I’ve come to wonder more about whether it would be better to completely revamp our current intellectual property system to better address the needs of today’s culture. Johns uses the example of Google’s online book translation project, which raised a number of questions about the legality of an open-access library online. This example highlighted to me that there are a number of problems that the current copyright system is not prepared to address. Furthermore the popularity of e-readers, as well as the wealth of (legal and illegal) information available online, is definitely not something the original laws were created to address. With the popularity of the internet and the increasing ease of finding any sort of information online, I do wonder if the rules of a traditional book culture should apply to our copyright system.

Johnson proposes at the end of his book that, “At present we have a system that is conceptually simple, in that it is professedly based on a small number of ideal premises that are impervious to historical change. But it is hopelessly complex in practice, because the everyday life of creativity and commerce is historical. A reticulated system would be more complex in theory, because it would require more premises” (517). Although it sounds great to say yes let’s change the entire system, I do wonder what exactly would be the best method of addressing the hopeless complexities of everyday life in our digital culture. Perhaps simply relying on more alternatives to copyrights and patents would help us to address current problems of the system as they would address more “premises” or situations and contexts. From what I know of the creative commons licenses they seem like a valuable way to address the need to collaborate of the internet.  I think we need more flexible solutions like this to fully cover all of the different copyright situations in an ever expanding digital world.

Although I am just scratching the surface, I wonder if this sort of complete revamping is what is needed. The challenges of our digital age seem to require more creative solutions than are presently being employed, and I personally would like to explore more of the alternatives to address the complex questions and concerns that will and have already arisen. Although I definitely don’t have all the answers, I appreciate Johns’s insights and hope to explore other potential solutions.

Review: Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates

I have recently been exploring Adrian Johns's book Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates. Although I have yet to finish this lengthy book (600 + pages), I have found it to be a fascinating look at how current piracy and intellectual property problems are in fact a product of the last three hundred years of printing culture. Johns argues that we must look at the developments of the past to be able to understand what must be done (or not done) to address the problem of piracy.
At the end of his book, he also addresses whether in fact we are going to see the end of intellectual property with the expansion of the digital age.


The book is worth checking out for anyone who is interested in the current issues surrounding intellectual property and would like to better understand the historical context. I've included my review of the text from Goodreads below:
 

Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates by Adrian Johns
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although this is a lengthy look at both the legal and historical aspects of piracy in our current age, this is an excellent way to put our day’s current piracy issues in their appropriate historical context. Johns takes the current issues and problems of piracy and copyright and demonstrates that in fact this problem is centuries old. Through examining intellectual property as it relates to print throughout the last three hundred years, the author raises interesting questions about how to address the problems of piracy today.

This book is clearly well researched, with a painstaking eye to documenting every relevant detail of history and current events. At times this is overwhelming, but it is to be expected in a 600 (plus) page book. But what really brought the subject matter alive for me, and kept me interested despite the legal complexities, was the vivid and approachable style of the text. Although there are a lot of details to take in, what I’ve explore of the text brilliantly incorporates history with the present, through relevant fact and anecdotes, to create an informative yet interesting read.

This book is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to better understand intellectual policy and how the concept has developed throughout history, and it raises questions we each must address in our increasingly digital world.


View all my reviews

Welcome!

As much as it pains me to admit it, I have always been a little behind when it comes to technology (and especially social media). Facebook and I were not well acquainted until most of my friends had been on for most of high school, and I am just now really jumping on the Google + and Pinterest bandwagons.  Not to mention that printers hate me (my roommates can already attest to that fact).

Yet this summer, I had my first blogging experience while interning in London for a small NGO working with women’s rights issues. From my first day there I was asked to write for their blog on pertinent issues to the UK and their advocacy work. What a way to start a new job! But as I kept being assigned topics to write and post about, I quickly saw that although the whole world could possibly be reading (and judging) every word I said, this new medium had the power for so much good. And even more importantly my writing skills, carefully crafted as an English major at a well-known university, suddenly came to life and became invaluable. Rather than just writing about the literature I love so much, I could champion causes and issues that were important to me.

This blog is a similar experiment for me. Throughout the upcoming months I’m excited to explore digital culture in a way that makes sense coming from a literary background, but I hope I can also explore important and relevant issues for me and the world around me. I already find it fascinating to see the intersection between the old and the new, the traditional and the ground breaking. And I hope to take a closer look at the “side-effects” of these new meetings in our increasingly digital world and the new ethical, moral and social questions that are arising.

So welcome aboard. It should be an interesting (and terrifyingly amazing) next few months!