Twinning to multiply minds by minds
Derrick de Kerckhove McLuhan Program
University of Toronto Papamarkou Chair
Library of Congress
e-Twinning School Partnerships in Europe Brussels, January 16,
2005
OVERVIEW
• Secondary effects of e-Twinning• Changes in the models of education
that arise from media• Changes in the models of education
that arise from e-learning• Connected intelligence in and out of the
classroom• Strategies to promote and develop
connected intelligence in classes, institutions, cities and countries
Secondary effects of e-Twinning
• Obvious ones are multiplying resources and improving the european sensibility
• Establishing (or monitoring) a networked mentality (part of normalization)
• Creating a glocalized (via Europe) psychology
• Changing the models of pedagogy (spearheading)
Three eras
Effects of different language supporting media
on educationMEDIUM SPEECH WRITING ELECTRICITY
DOMINANTMODE
ORAL LITERATE DIGITAL
SOCIALSTRUCTURE
COLLECTIVETRIBAL
INDIVIDUALHIERARCHY
CONNECTIVEGROUPS
WHERE IS MEANING ?
CONTEXT TEXT HYPERTEXT
VECTORIAL BIAS
TO THE PAST TO THE FUTURE
TO THE PRESENT
PSYCHOLOGI-CAL DRIVE
COMMUNITY PRIVACY “PUBLICY”
PEDAGOGICAL BIAS
CRAMMING THINKING CONNECTING
Oral learning
Alphabetic learning
• Silent
• Private
• Individualized
Electronic learning
The model of the student after Gutenberg
Conquest of self
Detachment of text from contextDetachment of reader from text
Detachment of reader from contextAppropriation and privatization
of languageThe silence of internal language
become thoughtPrivatization of the self
Internalization of consciousness
Internalization of space
Image of self
Il vaut mieux une tête bien faite qu’ une tête bien pleine Michel de Montaigne
The telegraph: a marriage between language and
electricity
Electricity
• 1834: Electricity weds the alphabet• Telegraph = Language accelerated,
amplified, redistributed by electricity• Maximum speed multiplying and
distributing maximum complexity• Relentless refinement of the code from the
26 letters of the alphabet to 0/1 via Morse’s “long, short, naught”
• O/1 becomes the smallest common denominator of all our experiences, physical and mental (actual and virtual)
The digital is Phase Two of Electricity
• Phase One: ANALOG– Heat, light, amplification and instant transportation
of signal– Telephone, radio, television = Language
accelerated, amplified and redistributed– Easier to conceptualize and thus to industrialize,
wired communications precede wireless ones • Phase Two: DIGITAL
– Information, knowledge and instant reconstruction of signal
– Computers, networks, simulation = Electricity emulating command and control operations
– Take-off: the Wireless Revolution
Key biases of Phase 2
• Convergence• Integration
• Random Access• Real-time• Ubiquity• Globality
• Immersion/total surround
• Virtuality• Connectivity
• Hypertextuality• Interactivity
• Transparency
The versus the -principle• Page• Static• Analogical• Frontal• Actualized• Esplosive• Abstract• Desensorialed• Icons as illustrations
• Screen• Dynamic• Digital• Immersive• Virtualized• Implosive• Concrete• Multimedia• Icons as verbs
Screenology
• The image as close to thought as possible
• Closing the gap between the mind and external I-P
• Emigration of mind from head to screen
• Emigration of the person from body to network
Mark Ngui
A change of mind
“Rather than thinking of cognition as an isolated event that takes place inside
one’s head, cognition should be looked at as a distributed phenomenon, one that goes beyond the boundaries of a person to include environment, artifacts, social
interactions, and culture” Hutchins & Hollan
Hypertextual thinking• Your horoscope• The I Ching• Palabra, dreaming, prayer,
simulation• Hypertextual thinking an
issue of time, not space: – The only time that counts is
NOW– All links and connections are
made in REAL TIME– All simulations are manner of
prediction (pregestual)
• Under electronic conditions, the delay between project and realization is shortening
For a new pedagogical model
• Broadcast to networked
• Memory to intelligence
• “Contact hours”
• On line competencies
• Student-centered education
Ryerson’s questionnaire
• 75 criteria
• Numero 1: teamwork (4.69/5)
• Two:how to present oneself (3.87)
• Three: how to make a working plan (3.54)
• Ten: network experience
Connected intelligence
• Connective not collective• Intersubjective (Francisco
Varela)• Embodied (face-to-face
interactions)• Thought is not
internalized speech, but speech is externalized thought
CONNECTED INTELLIGENCE ON LINE
• More human than technological• More collaborative than competitive• Multiplicative• Always in favour of more connections, but
also more pertinence (hypertinence)• Always in favour of more autonomy• But without losing the connection
Jonathan Estes 4 Four Principles
• 1. e-Learning is not the golden bullet that will solve all problems in delivering education. In other words, technology cannot teach people everything they need to know; educators need to spend an equal amount if not more time on developing quality, competency-based education.
• 2. All forms of education should encourage participation and collaboration. Web Based Teaching is a relatively flat medium that doesn't enable participants to express their opinions, share their ideas, or interact with each other - unless an interactive element in included.
• 3. Educators should always use multiple learning activities so that anyone - regardless of their learning style and preferences - can absorb and retain the information.
• 4. Education should focus on learning outcomes that are measurable and demonstrable. I consider this the most important and too-often ignored educational concept.
What benefits to the students ?
• e-Twinning changes the relationships within the classroom as well as outside of it
• Reinforces the basic notion of teamwork
• Promotes self and lifelong-learning
• Increases self-confidence
• Invites to practice “just-in-time” information-processing
• The final marks are significantly improved
Eaton Center - Toronto
Naples-Toronto
When the intellect is tightly coupled to the world, decisionmaking and action can take place within the
context established by the physical environment, where the structures can often act as a distributed
intelligence. Donald Norman
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