Pondering Media, Literacy, & Learning in a Connected World

Dr. Alec CourosRegina Teacher’s ConferenceRegina, SaskatchewanMarch 8, 2013

#regteach

me

ABANDONED

The Blur

personal(ish)

One Photograph - Everyday - Online

professional(ish)

~2000 participants from ~70 countries

change

the way we were...

Gaming

Mobile Gaming

Multi-Player Gaming

Music Piracy

System Upgrade

Media Personalization

Troubleshooting

EdTech

“The Complete Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia”

shifts

Convergence

Ubiquity

atoms <---> bitsscarcity <---> abundanceconsuming <---> creating

standardization <---> personalizationindividuals <---> networks

significant shifts in media

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/24/obama-in-berlin-video-of_n_114771.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/24/obama-in-berlin-video-of_n_114771.html

“More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month that the 3 major US networks created in 60 years.”

“72 hours of video are uploaded every minute, or one hour of video is uploaded to Youtube every second.”

@drtonywagner

“Today knowledge is free. It’s like air, it’s like water...

There’s no competitive advantage in knowing

more than the person next to you. The world doesn’t care what you know. What the world cares about is

what you can do with what you know.” (2012)

influence of technology

Poll #1: How many hours of screen time do you average per week?

Poll #2: What percentage of that screen time is used for engaging in social media?

Poll #3: Have you ever ‘creeped’ somebody’s Facebook profile?

Children aged 12-15 are spending on average 17.1 hours/week on the Internet (equivalent to their TV time)

Smart phone ownership is at 28% for 12-15 year-olds.

12-15 year-olds are prolific social networkers. 1 in 4 have a Twitter profile, & an average of 286 FB friends.

37% of 3-4 year-olds use the Internet.

relationships

130,729 people like this130,729 people like this

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alainbachellier/2572801898/in/photostream/

"To immortalize this moment ... the girl seems to forget the original pleasure."

attention & curiosity

participatory culture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3601144842/sizes/l/in/photostream/

What’s your background in video

editing?

I just do it for fun. I’m self-taught.

How long did it take to film and edit?

I started in November, but then I had to start from

scratch a couple months afterwards, so I spent

months and months on it.

slide by @gcouros

“I made a deal with my students at the start of a video project this semester, that if they collaboratively wrote an entire script and filmed it that I would do by best to

share out their final product.... I believe they have created something amazing due to their passion and

determination to have their voice heard.”

identity

“The average digital birth of children happens at about 6 months.”

“In Canada, US, UK, France Italy, Germany & Spain ... 81% of children under the age of two have some kind

of digital profile or footprint.”

Easily Copied

Viewable by MillionsEasily Edited

Instantly Shared

by DEFAULT

with EFFORT

PRIVATE

PUBLIC

Teaching Resilience

literacy

Children and young people are described as ‘the collaboration generation’, eager to work together

towards common goals, share content and draw upon “the power of mass collaboration”. This combination of individualisation and collaboration is often presented

as giving young people a propensity to question, challenge and critique. These are individuals who “typically can’t imagine a life where citizens didn’t

have the tools to constantly think critically, exchange views, challenge, authenticate, verify, or debunk.

The Digital Native - Myth & Reality, Selwyn (2009)

Look At This Savvy Kid!

zOMG, Look at the Learning!

Salad is Amazing!

“... age is not a determining factor in students’ digital lives; rather, their familiarity and

experience using ICTs is more relevant.”

“... the notion of ‘digital natives’ is inaccurate: those with such attributes are effectively a

digital elite. Instead of a new net generation growing up to replace an older analogue generation, there is a deepening digital

divide ... characterized not by age but by access and opportunity.”

21st Century Readers/Writers Must ...• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology.

• Build relationships with others to pose & solve problems collaboratively and cross culturally.

• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes.

• Manage, analyze, & synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information.

• Create, critique, and analyze multimedia texts.

• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments.

NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriulum & Assessment (2007)

places to start

1Embrace & Model New Tools of Connectivity

Objectivism

Group growth

(Schwier)(Leinonen)

Individual growth

CognitivismConstructivism

Social Learning

shifts in edtech

start with 1 tool

2Connect & Learn Via Social Networks

21st Century Learning Networks

21st Century Learning Networks

Returning Fall 2013 - eci831.ca

3Participate Through Emerging Forms of Expression

1Consume, Create, Remix & Share

4Be (Appropriately) Open

“Martha shows every facet of great learning: real world change, making the environment around her better,

sharing her thinking with the world, having a conscious for the world beyond her immediate horizons, and

robustness in the face of incredible media and social media pressure.” (McIntosh, 2012)

original slide by George Couros

conclusion

“Some of the comments on Youtube make you weep for the future of humanity, just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and naked hatred.”

(Lev Grossman)@leverus

humanize

NOT

industrialize

personalize

NOT

standardize

Private Public

Closed Open

thank you

http://couros.cacouros@gmail.com

@courosa

Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born

in another time. ~Tagore