http://tedperl.edublogs.org Talking Tech and Globalizing Activism Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:23:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I finally finished reading the Jim Collins bestseller Good to Great just before the holidays. I am sorry it took me so long, because this one is truly worthy of its best seller status. I was happy to finish reading in time to work some of the book’s concepts into ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/07/good-to-great-in-the-sociology-classroom/ Innovators face the challenge of obtaining acceptance of their ideas among their peers.  The fears of traditionalists are absolutely justified though; why should educators innovate?  What real benefits to learning will be realized through bold use of new technology?  Customers buy new products because businesses create real value in those ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/05/value-propositions-in-edu-tech/ In 2006, Megan Kennedy was just an eighth grader in Hill City, Kansas, but she recently had a chance to shine not as a student, but as a teacher. Megan and several of her classmates participated in a program at her school known as “GenYes,” where students drew on ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/05/fear-not-the-student-who-knows-too-much/ Modern technology is designed to fit into a modern lifestyle, and to broaden human possibilities by reducing or eliminating old obstacles.  In other words, do not limit the potential of technology by trying to make it fit inside of outdated models and narrow-minded boxes.  A website can be as simple ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/05/make-optimal-use-of-new-technology/ I recently concluded a major project that looked at the issue of educational technology in a social, technical, curricular, and policy context. While the William and Mary course that inspired this blog was wholly unrelated to the area of k-12 educational technology (which is the primary focus of my ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/03/some-educators-treat-technology-as-a-threat/ Let us explore one of the political implications of all this, namely, community groups. The internet is not the first institution to be accused of bringing out and reinforcing dreadfully individualistic tendencies. American democracy itself has always been seen as a rather unfortunate feeder of over-individualism, as well as tyranny ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/03/community-groups/ An online presence is basically the inputs and reputation(s) that a person has online: the sum of their activities trackable to certain online roles or avatars. Note the incompleteness of such an identity: Wellman asks, "Will networked individualism deconstruct holistic individual identities? A person would become the sum of her ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/03/online-identity/ While Wellman argues that the current Glocalization is giving way to a global, information-based Networked Individualism, I am not convinced that "meatspace" is becoming obsolete. Instead, I see that while mobile technology is indeed allowing for a nonspatial social scene, people are quickly finding new ways to link previously detatched ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/02/is-meatspace-becoming-obsolete/ This post will describe some themes brought up by Barry Wellman, a professor at the University of Toronto, in his essay “Little Boxes, Glocalization, and Networked Individualism.” Following posts will examine some issues raised by the article. Wellman presents three models of social and work community interaction. Little boxes is ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2007/01/02/wellman-article/ It seems to me there are three kinds of online community. First, there's a sort of nebulous community brought together by interest - say, a blog with its regular commenters. The people there don't meet physically or even necessarily have a stated goal - just a shared interest. But they get ... http://tedperl.edublogs.org/2006/12/31/three-kinds-of-online-community/