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Digital Media & Learning Conf. Extended Deadline (11/5)
by Alex Halavais 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Just a quick note to let you know that the Digital Media & Learning conference has extended its proposal deadline to November 5th. Hope to see many of you in Long Beach. - Alex CALL FOR PROPOSALS Digital Media and Learning Conference 2011: http://dmlcentral.net/conference2011 DML Conference Submission System: http://fastapps.hri.uci.edu/ ** Submission Deadline extended to Friday, November 5th (11:59pm PST) ** Conference dates: March 3 -5, 2011 Location: Hilton Long Beach, Long Beach, California DESIGNING LEARNING FUTURES In the twenty-first century a profound shift is underway. Digital media are central in almost every aspect of daily life, most notably in how we learn, communicate, reflect, (co-) produce, consume, create identities, share knowledge, and understand political issues. Corresponding with this increasing accessibility of digital and networked tools, we see new forms of public and private collectives which serve as seedbeds for user-driven innovation, the prevalence of many-to-many distribution models and the large-scale online aggregation of information and culture. This increased access to information, knowledge, and platforms has prompted new learning ecologies that possess the potential to support the kinds of situated, learner-driven, socially inflected, participatory learning opportunities we know are possible today. Alongside transforming how we create, access, and use knowledge, these changes raise a series of socio-technical concerns regarding the tools, technologies, and policies that underpin digital media practices and their related learning opportunities. These issues operate on both macro and micro levels. They range from processes and protocols shaping the flow and tracking of data in social network sites like Facebook or MySpace to reward and reputation systems in multiplayer online games, collaborative DIY communities like Instructable.com or deviantART, as well as to emergent problematic practices like sexting and cyberbullying. These are, in short, concerns that give shape to both formal and informal learning ecologies and learning experiences. Developing an understanding of the impact of digital media experiences on learning, civic engagement, and professional and ethical development requires that we consider the implications of the design frameworks, institutional configurations, social practices, and research methodologies at play in our connected world. As Bruno Latour notes, “New innovation will be absolutely necessary if we are to adequately represent the conflicting natures of all the things that are to be designed.” Understanding the role of innovation in light of past and present digital media practices is thus central to imagining and designing learning futures. To this end, the conference will focus upon themes of understanding the types of processes, methods, collaborations, and institutional models required for innovation. We are also concerned with gaining insight into the roles contradicting stakeholders (disciplines, institutions, economies, etc.) may play. This includes designers of social network sites, games, or mobile applications and learning environments such as afterschool programs, schools and other sites of learning. It also includes social scientists studying youth engagement in interest or friendship-driven communities, those involved in developing profiles of participants in intergenerational learning environments, practitioners looking to help integrate technology into learning environments, researchers studying the intersection of learning and socio-technical practices, and policy makers seeking to shape the future of connected learning, to name but a few possible participant profiles. >From these diverse perspectives, we seek to address the following questions: What are the central concerns shaping learning within peer-based, participatory, open ecologies? What are the new collectives (including hybrid public institutional models) that are emerging in today's open learning ecologies? How is learning happening in user-innovation communities? How does remix, mentorship, sharing, and exchange occur? How do issues such as cyberbullying, problematic content, and privacy shape participation in these ecologies? How is diversity shaping learning constituencies? What forms of identities become possible? What are the relationships between different stakeholders, such as learner-centered partnerships and collaborations between teachers, administrators, students, institutions, policy makers, researchers, and designers? What are the design-driven pedagogies and learning models we should explore? What is the role of embedded assessment in understanding learning? How do we understand flow and engagement? What is the knowledge base required of designers, researchers, and practitioners working on peer-based, participatory, open learning ecologies today? What is missing? What new forms of knowledge need to be developed? What existing frameworks need to be rethought? What core socio-technical practices are shaping (or have the potential to shape) the future of learning? What practices may be impeding innovation or getting in the way of learning? How can and should knowledge about practices shape policy, design, and implementation of innovations? We seek to support collective inquiry into the infrastructures and practices key to digital media and learning, whether research practices, learning protocols, assessment schemes, game design, or the creation of participatory undertakings. This conversation welcomes those engaged in developing a critical understanding of the design and broader socio-technical concerns shaping learning futures, as well as in other well articulated issues key to comprehending the impact and possibilities of digital media for learning. All participants are encouraged to reflect on the implications of their work for social practice—to consider the impact of their own practice or research findings on how things are currently done or could be done differently. ABOUT THE WORKSHOP AND PANEL PROPOSALS We welcome workshops and panels along four themes: Youth, Digital Media and Empowerment; Emerging Platforms and Policies; New Collectives and Digital Media and Participatory Learning. The themes have been conceptualized by key members of the conference committee. All proposed panels and workshops will be collectively evaluated by the conference committee. Youth, Digital Media, and Empowerment This strand focuses specifically on young people’s participation in the digital media world. Youth participatory practices are influenced by a variety of social and contextual factors including distinct youth-driven interests and learning ecologies, adult mentoring, institutional infrastructures, creative partnerships, and cultural diversity. We are especially interested in panels, papers, and workshops that explore how new media technologies are leveraged to promote youth health and well-being, youth media production, and dynamic expressions of civic engagement. Moreover, what kinds of institutional infrastructures lead to programs and interventions that empower young voices, fortify social and knowledge networks, and develop the digital media skills and competencies that invigorate young critical citizens? Also, how are creative partnerships, programmatic initiatives, and the widespread diffusion of social and mobile media platforms challenging the “participation gap?” How are socially stigmatized and marginal youth populations embracing social media to build networks for personal enrichment, communal empowerment, and social change? Finally, workshops and panels that discuss the art and science of interdisciplinary collaboration, design innovation, and programming offer the opportunity for vibrant discussion, planning and intervention. Emerging Platforms and Policies The rise of Web2.0 has introduced numerous platforms into everyday life, from social network sites like MySpace and Facebook to media-sharing services like YouTube and uStream to blogging and microblogging tools like Tumblr and Twitter. These platforms have been leveraged by people of all ages to build community, share ideas, collaborate, and hang out. While many of these platforms were designed to enable “user-generated content,” there are often conflicts between what designers intend and what participants actually do on each site. In short, these platforms were not designed for the kinds of learning that often transpires on these sites. The goal of this track is to explore the tensions between the design of emerging platforms and the practices that unfold on them, with specific attention given to the policy challenges that emerge. How does the technology respond practice and how do users repurpose technology? Who gets to set the community norms and how are these norms negotiated? How are values— like privacy, safety, and transparency—embedded in the technology and how does this shape socio-technical practices? What happens when conflicts emerge between the users and the creators? How does the tension between technical design and personal practices configure these spaces? New Collectives The last 10 years have seen the rise of organizations and institutions that mash-up mission, market and mass participation. Organizations like Wikipedia, Mozilla and Creative Commons have shown that this hybrid model can shift whole industries—increasing how knowledge is shared and spread, promoting the wide adoption of web standards, making legally-backed knowledge sharing easy and widespread. Many have proclaimed that these new collectives can also transform education and learning for the better. The track will explore the ways that innovators in the learning world might tap into the power of these hybrid organizational models. We’ll ask questions like: What makes new collectives tick? Where are they getting traction in the world of learning? Where are they getting stuck? Can they challenge traditional approaches to accreditation, assessment and content creation in education? Or even shift the terrain of learning and education as a whole? Digital Media and Learning We welcome submissions that address ongoing or innovative directions in research and practice relating to digital media and learning. WORKSHOP PROPOSALS AND FORMATS This year we will be accepting proposals in three formats: panels, workshops and short talks. Panels bring together in discussion four participants representing a range of ideas and projects. Panels are scheduled for 90 minutes and should include a mix of individuals working in areas of research, theory, and practice. Workshops provide an opportunity for hands-on exploration and/or problem solving. They can be organized around a core challenge that participants come together to work on or around a tool, platform, or concept. Workshops are scheduled for 120 minutes and should be highly participatory. Finally, we welcome short, 5 minute talks where presenters speak for five minutes on their work, research or a subject relevant to the conference theme and/or subthemes. We will not be soliciting full papers. To organize a panel or workshop, please feel free to use our DML2011 Discussion Forum on wikidot. The DML2011 Conference proposal system will open on October 18, 2010 and full proposals will be due on November 5, 2010. To propose a panel, participants will be required to register with Fastapps http://fastapps.hri.uci.edu/, our submission system at the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. We encourage participants to submit proposals when their application materials are complete. Panel and Workshop proposal abstracts should cover the theme, format (e.g. discussion, interactive, presentations), how the session addresses the theme of the conference and/or subtheme in up to 400 words. Short talk abstracts should cover the theme, format (e.g. discussion, interactive, presentations), how the talk addresses the theme of the conference and/or subtheme in up to 250 words. List of participants, affiliations, emails and titles of talks/presentations (if applicable) should also be included. Each individual will be limited to participation on no more than two panels at the conference. Participants will be expected to fund their own travel and accommodation. Student Volunteers Wanted: The DML Conference Committee is looking for student volunteers to assist with the 2011 Annual Conference in Long Beach, CA from March 3-5, 2010. Duties include assisting with registration, providing information to conference participants and troubleshooting technical problems along with other administrative tasks. Student volunteers will work scheduled shifts lasting 4 to 5 hours each day during the conference. The Committee will waive registration fees and provide accommodations for student volunteers. Applicants are to submit a letter of interest no longer than 500 words that also addresses their qualifications for the position. Experience with computing platforms and audio/visual equipment is not required but valued. Email letters of interest to Kimberly Austin kaustin <at> uchicago <dot> edu no later than November 6, 2010. We will notify selected volunteers by Dec. 12 -- -- // // This email is // [x] assumed public and may be blogged / forwarded. // [ ] assumed to be private, please ask before redistributing. // // Alexander C. Halavais, ciberflâneur // http://alex.halavais.net //

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FB, research ethics, and privacy
by Charles Ess 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

In case you're interested in those issues and haven't seen it yet: <http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/what-facebook-tells-researchers-abou t-friendship-and-race/27872?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en> One of the comments to the story suggests, shall we say, that there would be different IRB responses to the study - itself an interesting dimension to all of this. In any event, enjoy - -charles Institut for Informations- og Medievidenskab Helsingforsgade 14 8200 Århus N. Denmark mail: <imvce(a)hum.au.dk> tel: (+45) 8942 9250 Professor, Philosophy and Religion Drury University, Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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what should an introductory course cover in such a fast-changing field?
by Tery G 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Hi all, I asked a while back about acceptable resources for one of my classes. I've heard offline from a few people who are currently designing courses similar to mine, and who asked what I covered. We thought that might be an interesting question to ask on this list. Background on my course: I teach in a Media Arts department and the class is called Digital Media Literacy. I designed it years ago, and I could not find a single model for it, so it would be especially interesting for me to hear now what people do or would do in this type of course. The course is designed to introduce our freshmen to both the concepts and some of the tools we use to create digital media (so it's a 100-level course). Some of the class is spent on tools, currently Audacity for sound, Photoshop for images, Quicktime for video, and Keynote for presentations. I introduce them to at least three browsers, so they stop thinking IE *is* the web. There are a handful of other utilities that we use: file transfer programs, SnapZPro, etc. We do a quick history of the internet and of the web (including the internet gift economy, though it barely exists anymore). We cover file compression, types of compression, and when and why they need to compress files. The more I read about search engines, the more I want them to understand about these tools that they use to gather the information they use to live their lives, let alone write their papers. So, we cover search engines in general, and Google in particular. Then we use the library databases. I'm still following the controversy about whether and how PowerPoint affects the way we think, so we read and talk about that. We look at copyright issues and Creative Commons licensing. We look at net neutrality. I'm probably forgetting something; I don't have my syllabus in front of me right now. I've been staying away from things that seem trendy to me, and that I have not been able to see academic value to, like Twitter and Second Life. I included each once, but didn't get enough out of it and you can't include everything . . . Their final project is a multimedia presentation on a topic of their choice, as long as it's related to digital media or media arts. They critique each other's presentations as they build them, so this is a sneaky way of working in more material while also giving them more practice with the tools we've covered all semester. So the question from me, and some others on the list, is -- if you were designing this type of course, what would you put in? Best, Tery Griffin

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Qi
by Carmen Stavrositu 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Sent from my iPhone

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Qualitative content analysis
by helen roinioti 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Hi all! I have a quick question and i hope (to be honest, i am sure) that someone will help me. I am searching for articles on qualitative content analysis in online discussion forums. The main concept is to use an inductive logic of theory building through a deductive handling of material, something which can be achieved through grounded theory and specifically through open coding...Any suggestions?Please? Thank you Elina

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Re: [Air-L] what should an introductory course cover in such a fast-changing field?
by Umar Ruhi 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Hi Tery, Last year, I helped in the development of a similar course. Based on your description, I gather that your course is geared towards “creating” and “accessing” digital media. If that’s the case, then the skills-based components you’ve outlined make a lot of sense. The only additions I would make are: i) include a blogging component, either in an individual or a group context; and ii) include a content feeds (e.g. RSS) component. If you want ideas other than “creating” and “accessing” digital media, you can introduce “analyzing” and “evaluating” digital media as well. These dimensions will allow you to incorporate more skills-based components such as providing an overview of website and social media analytics (using tools such as google analytics), and also touch upon the media that you’ve deliberately excluded (microblogging, and virtual worlds) by way of asking students to perform short critical reviews and assessments. I understand if these dimensions are beyond the expectations in a first-year course. The course that I’ve based my suggestions on was a second-year course. Hope this helps. Best, Umar Ruhi Umar Ruhi, Assistant Professor, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa Management Consultant, Web/Enterprise 2.0 Website: http://www.umar.biz Email: umar(a)umar.biz > Message: 10 > Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:37:31 -0400 > From: Tery G <teryg93(a)gmail.com> > To: Air-L <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> > Subject: [Air-L] what should an introductory course cover in such a > fast-changing field? > Message-ID: > <AANLkTimEdzCXXs+6SUn+wJY_0or+_ykJhFqqULyNMqGE(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Hi all, > > I asked a while back about acceptable resources for one of my classes. I've > heard offline from a few people who are currently designing courses similar > to mine, and who asked what I covered. We thought that might be an > interesting question to ask on this list. > > Background on my course: I teach in a Media Arts department and the class is > called Digital Media Literacy. I designed it years ago, and I could not find > a single model for it, so it would be especially interesting for me to hear > now what people do or would do in this type of course. > > The course is designed to introduce our freshmen to both the concepts and > some of the tools we use to create digital media (so it's a 100-level > course). Some of the class is spent on tools, currently Audacity for sound, > Photoshop for images, Quicktime for video, and Keynote for presentations. I > introduce them to at least three browsers, so they stop thinking IE *is* the > web. There are a handful of other utilities that we use: file transfer > programs, SnapZPro, etc. We do a quick history of the internet and of the > web (including the internet gift economy, though it barely exists anymore). > We cover file compression, types of compression, and when and why they need > to compress files. > > The more I read about search engines, the more I want them to understand > about these tools that they use to gather the information they use to live > their lives, let alone write their papers. So, we cover search engines in > general, and Google in particular. Then we use the library databases. I'm > still following the controversy about whether and how PowerPoint affects the > way we think, so we read and talk about that. We look at copyright issues > and Creative Commons licensing. We look at net neutrality. I'm probably > forgetting something; I don't have my syllabus in front of me right now. > > I've been staying away from things that seem trendy to me, and that I have > not been able to see academic value to, like Twitter and Second Life. I > included each once, but didn't get enough out of it and you can't include > everything . . . > > Their final project is a multimedia presentation on a topic of their choice, > as long as it's related to digital media or media arts. They critique each > other's presentations as they build them, so this is a sneaky way of working > in more material while also giving them more practice with the tools we've > covered all semester. > > So the question from me, and some others on the list, is -- if you were > designing this type of course, what would you put in? > > Best, > Tery Griffin >

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The end is nigh
by live 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

I'm slightly tongue in cheek with that subject line, however something has come to pass this week which may change everything. So for many years, security for typical online users has only been a passing thought, if a thought at all - so many users use the web via non end-to-end encrypted http. This week at Toorcon 12 (hacker conference), a developer Eric Butler release a Firefox add-on called Firesheep that has put many major site engineers in a tizzy. Using this quick, easy add-on a user can easily hijack the authenticated Facebook sessions of people sharing the same wi-fi network. Or any site's session, not just Facebook, if it's unencrypted. Basically, you can control another users Facebook account if they are logged into Facebook on the same wifi network as yourself. Or you can Twitter as them. Or be on Amazon or Google. All by downloading this little plug-in. Think your information's safe at the airport, using their wifi network? Think again. I've downloaded the plug-in and know that it works. So, my interest leads to these kinds of questions: how is this going to change our society's view on security? It only takes one incident in the news - say a tragic event befalls someone who had a stalker - before the lawsuits begin flying and no amount of tight legal EULA will stop this digital economy from slowing way down. Will Mom and Pop Wilson get to understand what an encrypted http is? Are we growing up in our society's education & understanding of technology? Would love some feedback on these thoughts. Firesheep can be found here: http://codebutler.com/firesheep Cheers, @SharonG [Non-traditional undergraduate student still looking for an Anthropology or Experimental, Applied, or Social Psychology graduate program to call home. Suggestions welcome.]

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Digital and New Media Studies position at University of Wisconsin, Madison
by Jonathan Gray 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

I posted this a month ago, but just a reminder of my department's position in Digital and New Media, to be housed within our dept's Media and Cultural Studies area. This is one of four Digital Studies positions at UW this year, in fact, the others being in Art, English, and Library and Information Studies, and it represents a push in hiring and other resources on the part of the university towards more work on new media. The successful candidates in all four positions will be able to play a major role in directing the future of the Digital Studies initiative, so we welcome those with ideas for what such an initiative could/should look like, and with the enthusiasm to realize those ideas. The full posting is here -- http://commarts.wisc.edu/info/positions/index.php#digitalstudies Questions on the search can be directed to me, preferably at my non-listserv email: jagray3(a)wisc.edu Jonathan Gray Associate Professor, Media and Cultural Studies Dept of Communication Arts University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Affective Fabrics of Digital Cultures: podcasts and presentations are now available to view
by Adi Kuntsman 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

Dear colleagues, 'Affective Fabrics of Digital Cultures: Feelings, Technologies, Politics' is a two day international conference that took place in Manchester, UK in June this year. We now have podcasts of all the plenary sessions, as well as texts of most presentations. Please visit the conference website to view/read/download/get inspired :) http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/ricc/events/digital_affect/index… Adi -- Dr. Adi Kuntsman Leverhulme Early Career Fellow Research Institute for Cosmopolitan Cultures The University of Manchester Second Floor, Arthur Lewis Building, room 2.007 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/ricc/index.html http://adi.kuntsman.googlepages.com

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images of global politics (Game related)
by jeremy hunsinger 27 Oct '10

27 Oct '10

Hi everyone, Please respond to jeremy(a)tmttlt.com and i'll be willing to share the list with anyone that asks. I'm looking for the images of global, world, or international politics that are canonical to your mind. Keep in mind that these things can be intensely local, so I'm asking for as many thing as you can imagine that you think you would share with people from your community/ies as you imagine them. This is for a project that I'm working on in the Spring that will integrate video/images/texts/ and videogames into a course on global politics targeted at freshmen and sophomores. I've found that most of my undergraduate students haven't even seen the Tiananmen square tank video, images from the Bhopal disaster, the Challenger explosion, and a myriad of other highly symbolic videos that have influenced world events. Some have seen video of the fall of the Berlin wall, and such, but none had seen the canonical picture of President Richard Nixon and Elvis (which is sort of symbolic of the transformation of the role of global leaders in the media age). It doesn't have to be explicitly politics either, because media and civil society events have had significant effect too So if you would send me your list of images, televised, from newspapers, from the internet, or otherwise mediated to you. I don't need urls, i just need the Event. I would be most grateful. Note this project is for teaching, not research, the contents of your emails will be compiled and anonymized and shared with whomever asks for copies. As such, none of your personal information will be published or otherwise disseminated in any manner. Please send them to jeremy(a)tmttlt.com (it is actually a gmail address, so if you want to avoid sending things to gmail, don't send, i'm using it because it has better spam filters, not that you are going to send me spam, but that the address will be public and thus be spammed by spammers) Thanks and if you want a copy of the list ask off list. Jeremy Hunsinger Political Science Center for Digital Discourse and Culture Virginia Tech () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.tmttlt.com You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. --Mark Twain

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