The basic understanding, or, fact-based theory
Dave Ferguson, Dave's Whiteboard, June 3, 2014

I like this post. Not because I agree with it, necessarily - I don't really think the answer to "do you understand?" is "let me demonstrate". But I think there's a sense to be made of the idea that knowing is about doing rather than some mental state. I've often said, "to know is to recognize" - but recognition isn't a mental state, like a belief or an idea. It is a physical state - quite literally, the organization of connections - which is manifest as a disposition, the propensity to respond appropriately in an authentic environment. To do, in other words, rather than to know. Theories and concepts can help associate different perceptual states and make us better recognizers. But they are an aid to learning, not the objective.

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Mastering the Internet of Everything
Harold Jarche, June 3, 2014

Harold Jarche writes, "Many people are just figuring out Web 1.0, mastering their web browsers, email and the like. Others are getting into Web 2.0, using social media to connect to people and join communities of practice. And now along comes the internet of everything (IoE). How will we be able to master this new network paradigm, or will it master us?" Jarche says it's about finding balance. "We will have to get skilled at constantly lumping data and things together, then filtering and categorizing the changing landscape." I think it's a matter of understanding that when we look at information, we are seeing it from a perspective, with a limited point of view, and appreciating that - the way we appreciate a sunset, instead of complaining that we can't see the whole sky. (This post was not sponsored by Cisco).

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Learner Control in Personal Learning Environments: A Cross- Cultural Study
Ilona Buchem, Gemma Tur Ferrer, Tobias Hölterhof, Journal of Literacy, Technology, June 3, 2014

According to the authors, "research on learner control in context of PLE has moved beyond computer assisted programs, intelligent tutoring systems and learning management systems towards authentic learning contexts mediated by technology in which the learner may have a greater control of either tangible or intangible elements of a learning environment." This paper develops that research, looking at degrees of perceived personal ownership in cross-cultural settings. The paper is from a special issue of the Journal of Literacy and Technology  on personal learning environments.

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Are we faking cultural literacy?
Anna Maria Tremonti, CBC | The Current, June 3, 2014

I listened to this interesting segment on CBC Radio this morning while receiving dental treatment. It featured Alexandra Samuel from Vision Critical, Theresa Moritz of the University of Toronto's Woodsworth College, and the Mozilla Foundation's web literacy lead Doug Belshaw. The discussion centred around the idea that there is some common core of cultural materials that make a person culturally literate - that is, educated well enough to understand the references in newspapers and magazines, a social Rosetta Stone, as it were. Referring back to E.D. Hirsh's list of listed 5,000 essential concepts and names that 'every American needs to know', this discussion was placed in the context of an article in this week's New York Times on faking cultural literacy. It's interesting to think of culture as a type of language that makes it possible to communicate, but it's a mistake, I think, to confuse knowing a language, which is an extended facility (as in playing a game), with knowing a set of facts, which is a rubrics cube.

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How we're on the verge of an amazing new open web #indieweb
Ben Werdmuller, Benwerd, June 3, 2014

Ben Werdmuller may have a startup invested in the concept, but his view of an indieweb is sound and something I support (see also, "domain of one's own"). "The idea is simple: instead of everyone giving all their information to a site like Facebook, they keep it themselves, but still get to communicate easily using all of the great user experience discoveries we've made. You can still share selfies, make friends, listen to music together and share links, but now you do it in a space that's really yours, and that you get to have more control over."

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