Digital
Connectedness
SOLSTICE Conference
Keynote
Sue Beckingham | @suebecks
4-5 June 2015
Digital Connectedness
The exponential growth of social media and the ubiquitous
use of mobile technology has changed the way we
communicate both socially and for many also
professionally. Digital spaces have to some extent removed
barriers enabling social learning that is no longer
constrained geographically (spacial boundaries) or by
time-zone differences (temporal boundaries).
It is therefore timely to consider our digital
capabilities and how these can be used to communicate and
collaborate; and through interconnectedness provide
opportunities for lifelong and lifewide learning that
extend beyond the formal learning we are all familiar
with.
This talk will consider why a professional online presence
is so important; the value of using social media to
develop global personal learning networks; and how through
open sharing with our interconnected networks it is
possible to develop our scholarly practice.
Connectedness
“People need to learn how to connect to new
people on a regular basis. No person has
all the knowledge needed to work completely
alone in our connected society.
Neither does any company. Neither does any
government. We are all connected AND
dependent on each other.”
Harold Jarche
Social connectedness
how people come together, connect and interact.
Micro-level = family, friends, acquaintances
Meso-level = work, closed online community
Macro-level = conferences, open online community
Our ancient ancestors built the Library of
Alexandria to gather the world’s knowledge in
papyrus scrolls
TODAY smartphones turn every palm into an
interconnected knowledge library
the written word would weaken men's
characters...
and the abundance of books is a
distraction...
English coffeehouses in the
17th century
Video telephony in the year
2000, as imagined in 1910
The Notificator
Social Networking ‘1935 style’
'To aid persons who wish to inform friends of
their whereabouts.'
Image source: The Guardian
Childhood memories
An outside view...
A futuristic utopia...
The TRI-function reCORDER
A portable sensing, computing and data communication device
'tri' referring to the device's primary functions
sensing + computing + recording
Letters, call boxes, phone
locks....
and even then information overload
was considered an issue...
“What information consumes is
rather obvious: it consumes the
attention of its recipients.
Hence a wealth of information
creates a poverty of attention,
and a need to allocate that
attention efficiently among the
overabundance of information
sources that might consume it.”
Herbert Simon 1971
HOW do we
connect
digitally?
Hubspot 2012
http://www.slideshare.net/HubSpot/50-mobilefactsdeck62812
Smart technology growth
Mary Meeker 2015
Internet Trends Report
Mary Meeker 2015 Internet Trends Report
mobile microcoordination
checking the time
planning meals
checking sport scores
arranging to meet
eta expected time of arrival
checking where our children are
perpetual connection
reading
email
social media
podcasts
SOCIAL
social
messaging
texting
talking
image
sharing
games
video
messaging
WORK
watching
video
chat
"Connectedness makes us not only
connected, but also it has created
an always-on society that lives in
real-time where the line
between the real and virtual worlds
blur to the point of oneness."
Brian Solis 2015
“Networks of people are being
mediated such that people are
easily able to see who is
connected to whom and leverage
loose ties to achieve all sorts
of work-related goals.
Individual knowledge is often
less important than being
connected to the right people.”
Danah Boyd 2013
The evolution of networks
from dyads... to triads...
to close-knit networks... and loose-knit networks...
to complex interconnected relationships
Complex LinkedIn network
diversity and creativity
“Working cooperatively in well
established teams is important
for the exchange of knowledge
and for understanding what
others know.
However... innovation... arises
when new ideas, from
people in different
groups and communities,
are brought together”
(Gratton, 2007)
Jesse Stromel (2015)
http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/twitter-and-the-locus-of-research/
Information overload?
..or filter failure?
Clay Shirky
Our attention span (8 seconds)
now less than
that of a goldfish (9 seconds)
Attention spans - Microsoft
WHY do we
connect
digitally?
Purpose
People around the globe mostly
use digital devices for three
primary purposes:
• relationship building/maintaining
• information gathering
• entertainment viewing/participation
Not so new but still
relevant....
The Civic Long Tail
Social media is creating the conditions for
the emergence of a civic long tail, a mass
of loosely connected, small-scale
conversations, campaigns and interest
groups, which might occasionally
coalesce to create a mass movement.
From now on, governments everywhere
will have to contend and work with
this civic long tail.
Leadbetter 2011:10
"Every company is a digital
company and almost every job is a
digital job"
Chris Mairs 2014
Digital Citizen: basic digital
skills
Digital Worker: intermediate
digital skills
Digital Maker: able to build
digital technology
Digital Muggle: currently
requiring no digital skills
http://www.ukdigitalskills.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Binder7-REDUCED2.pdf
Assessment of digital skill
level required for different
jobs skills
Chris Mairs 2014
10%
7%
Digital Muggle
Digital Citizen
46%
37%
Digital Worker
Digital Maker
Nielsen 2015
By 2020
More than seven billion people
and businesses, and at least
30 billion devices, will be
connected to the Internet.
With people, businesses and things
communicating, transacting and even
negotiating with each other, a new
world comes into being — the world
of digital business.
Gartner 2014
Considerations
Persistence
Online expressions are
automatically recorded
and archived
Searchability
Content in networked
publics can be accessed
through search
Structural
affordances
of networked
publics
Scalability
The potential
visibility of content
in networked publics is
great
Replicability
Content made out of
bits can be duplicated
Boyd 2011:46 in A Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Network Sites
Networked Participatory
Scholarship
The emergent practice of scholars’ use of
participatory technologies and online social
networks to share, reflect upon, critique,
improve, validate and further their scholarship
Veletsianos and Kimmons 2012
The Digitally Connected Scholar
A connected
curriculum
Fung 2015, UCL
connected
learning
"Connected learning thrives in a socially meaningful and
knowledge-rich ecology of ongoing participation
Online platforms can make learning resources abundant,
accessible, and visible across all learner settings."
"When the topic is
personally interesting and
relevant, learners achieve
much higher-order learning
outcomes."
The Connected Learning Research Network and
Digital Media & Learning Research Hub
How visible is your
learning?
Interconnected networks
seeking
sensing
sharing
is finding things out and keeping up to date.
Building a network of colleagues is helpful in this
regard. It not only allows us to “pull” information,
but also have it “pushed” to us by trusted sources.
Good curators are valued members of knowledge
is how we personalize information and use it.
Sensing includes reflection and putting into
practice what we have learned. Often it requires
experimentation, as we learn best by doing.
includes exchanging resources, ideas, and
experiences with our networks as well as
collaborating with our colleagues.
Adapted from Jarche 2014
Academic research silos be gone!....
Become more open
Dr @LauraPasquini 2015
• network with colleagues
• solicit feedback and reflect on your
research and teaching
• reach multiple audiences
• cultivate your identity as a scholar
• become more open
Openness is the practice of sharing resources and materials (e.g.,
syllabi, lectures, research papers) in a way that allows others
to retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute them.
Getting Connected
Welcome @EricStoller
Using Social Media to Listen and Learn
about UK Higher Education
#LTHEchat
http://lthechat.com/
@LTHEchat #LTHEchat
The Lurker
to be in a hidden place : to wait in a secret or hidden
place especially in order to do something wrong or
harmful
computers : to read messages written by other people on
the Internet in a newsgroup, chat room, etc., without
writing any messages yourself
Vicariousness
experiences or felt by watching, hearing about, or
reading about someone else rather than by doing
something yourself
Positive Silent Engagement PSE
I would like to argue that
positive silent engagement is
not only valuable, but an
essential component of digital
connectedness.
We learn by listening. It is no
different online
Global digital connectedness
Connectedness
build
connections
group
discussions
collaboration
opportunities
share your
expertise
https://press.linkedin.com/about-linkedin
BARRIERS to
connecting
digitally
"Stick
with the
herd"
"Get ahead
of the herd"
"Hold on
there"
Pragmatists
"Let's try
it"
Conservatives
Visionaries
Skeptics
Techies
innovators
"Hmm...
no way"
early
adopters
early
majority
late
majority
laggards
Digital connectedness takes time,
but...
What you plant now
you will harvest later
Og Mandino
Why aren’t more people
connected globally?
Is it that:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
devices are too expensive.
service plans are too expensive.
mobile networks are few and far between.
content isn’t available in the local language.
people aren't sure what value the Internet will bring.
power sources are limited or costly.
networks can’t support large amounts of data.
The NOW of
digital
connectedness
The Power of Facebook in the Gihembe
Refugee Camp, Rwanda
The camp doesn't have electricity but people use Facebook
every day. Learn more at: www.thesenumbers.org
http://thesenumbers.org/
Internet.org is a Facebook-led
initiative bringing together
technology leaders, non-profits and
local communities to connect the two
thirds of the world that doesn't have
Internet access.
Everyone participating in
Internet.org has come together to
meet this challenge because they
believe in the power of a
connected world.
Connecting the world by
the sky
Solar-powered high altitude,
long endurance aircraft that
can stay aloft for months, can
be quickly deployed and deliver
reliable internet connections.
Facebook Connectivity Lab
Inventing the future of
connectivity
https://twitter.com/internet_org
Google's Project Loon
Project Loon balloons travel approximately 20 km above the
Earth’s surface in the stratosphere. Winds in the
stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind varies
in speed and direction. Project Loon uses software
algorithms to determine where its balloons need to go,
then moves each one into a layer of wind blowing in the
right direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can
be arranged to form one large communications network.
Balloon powered internet for
everyone
The first pilot tester to connect to
balloon-powered Internet for the first
time in New Zealand
The FUTURE
of digital
connectedness
Sue Beckingham | @suebecks
Educational Developer with a research interest in the use of social media
in education.
Blog: http://socialmediaforlearning.com/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/suebeckingham