Web 2.0 Slam - 'Performing' Innovative Practice

by Ms Frances Bell, Ms Helen Keegan, Ms Josie Fraser

Background:
New and emerging technologies can be perceived as having a steamroller effect - be there or be square! In this workshop, participants will describe, evaluate, even critique Web 2.0 as a means of understanding exploring the potential of social networking by performance. From the Social Shaping of Technology, we present the concept of innofusion which recognises that user needs and requirements do not pre-exist but are discovered and incorporated by users in the course of their struggle to get the technology to work as they wish (Fleck 1988).

The workshop activity will support participants' reflexive engagement with innovative practice, as well as modelling the performative and improvisational structure of much innovative practice, as they are asked to create a 90 second presentation or slam.

The activity trigger is the ubiquitous video by Mike Wesch, The Machine is Us/ing Us (Wesch 2007) viewed over 1 million times. Taking a single concept from this video, the separation of form and content, Helen Keegan and Frances Bell will present examples from our own practice with students, to highlight this concept in the context of social networking and what is generally called Web 2.0.

Having grounded Web 2.0 in the practice of learning and teaching, Josie Fraser will provide an overview of her framework for personalisation "Personalisation in Electronic Environments") which was developed specifically to provide an evaluation tool for activities, sites and services developed and used within education. The slot will focus on dynamic (or deep) personalisation as a practice particularly well facilitated by web 2.0.

Visual montages of positive and negative statements on the impact of Web 2.0 on education today and the issues (such as copyright, identity, ethics, governance, privacy, inclusion) will link to the activity proper.

Helen, Josie and Frances will each demonstrate a slam, followed by participants working in pairs to develop their slam. The workshop finale will be the performance and evaluation of the slams using an informal 5 point approach where each participant votes on 2 slams, randomly assigned. Prizes will then be awarded!
(There will be limit of 30 participants to ensure full participation)
Workshop Outline

Time (minutes) Activity
5 Getting started - Innofusion, Web 2.0 and Slams
5 The Machine is Us/ing US video
1 Highlight 'Form and Content ' - Visual montage of issues from video
5 Whirlwind tour of some Web 2.0 applications and services
12 Grounding Web 2.0 in practice
8 Dynamic Personalisation - an opportunity for radical change
1 Visual montage of positive and negative statements/ quotes
5 3 x 90 second slams to get the ball rolling
Helen " Affective Aspects of Blogs"
Josie "Personalisation as Emancipation"
Frances "Ethical dilemmas of Web 2.0"
2 Slam title selection (presented on Post-it note, to be uploaded immediately to Web 2.0 Slam Flickr group by workshop organisers)
15 Slam preparation
25 Slam delivery
5 Points mean Prizes

Fleck, J. (1988), Innofusion or diffusation? The nature of technological developments in robotics, 7, Edinburgh University.

Wesch, M. (2007), Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us, Youtube, (Video), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE.

ID Number: 1298

Date: Wednesday, 5th September 2007

Time: 0900

Location: Law and Social Sciences Building, Room B1

Theme: Designing learning spaces

Presentation: Web 2.ppt (The file which you can access from this link is the responsibility of the author of the Abstract to which the file relates, not ALT.