Why Don't You Just Tell Me What You Want to Learn?
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I can confidently say that without EME6414 I would have no exposure to the term "folksonomy". However, if you really want to understand how adults learn in the Information Age and this time of Web 2.0, things like folksonomy will be requisite in your exploration. Folksonomy, from what I gleaned from the article in week 4's reading, is the people-driven approach to gathering, classifying, and categorizing information. This at first does not sound intriguing - why do I care what another learner calls or categorizes other information? I have had this sentiment when made to create word-based diagrams for college courses. When reviewing others' work it feels like an amalgam of the same. It's governed by the source of information, right? It should look the same. What's the point?
Consider from the designer perspective. To do more than engage learners or create exciting edutainment, to get learners to retain the information, being aware of how they work together and create folksonomy becomes important. Otherwise, you could be Kramer faking being a Moviefone:
(If you are too young to remember Seinfeld, you might need the context that before the Internet in order to find out the times at our local movie theatre, we had to call an automated system...did I ruin the joke by explaining it?)
In other words, what learners call something becomes important in how the information is presented, processed, and learning assessed throughout a learning experience. If we learners have separated colors by warmth, the ROY G BIV distinction in a learning module for paint mixers might be problematic. The remedy is ultimately to understand the learner: use the discovery steps of the design process to meet and test learners.
There's an additional element that could be explored here: the DEI element of folksonomy. Who determines what the tags are in a truly democratized forum? If the designers or instructors are, are we ensuring that they are thinking through diverse lenses? The most sensitive dimension is in language: even with an assumed academic version of a spoken language, translation and non-native learners may change the landscape.
One of my favorite self-help gurus, Iyanla Vanzant, is infamous for the statement "let's call a thing a thing, people!" In folksonomy, that's important...but it can't be assumed to take place in a vacuum. How can we make the tools and the users do better in this space?
Delving into the Prensky article regarding digital immigrants vs digital natives, I can't get past a quote in the opening paragraph: Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. Even beyond the concept of comparing learners in a designer's target population based on their entry into Web 2.0, how learners approach life from their variable cultural contexts and dimensions of diversity must inform how technology works in design. What is the point of designing learning within a social media or relflexive content if there are significant barriers to learners accessing the platform? The digital divide is real and separates learners still based on racial and economic terms worldwide. In the corporate context, while companies have an obligation to stratify the equipment and platform access, the time and investment to allows learners access can also vary on the same lines. It's about diversity! Does design get people in, protect th...
I use two Instagram accounts regularly. For #eme6414, I use my public account, dedicated to my holistic health journey @fitby40orelse . Therefore, a Instagram challenge was right up my street. Imagine my surprise when I was playing catch up. Monday, I shared the advice (and pet peeve) of people using their video calling out in public. This is the problem with the use of "intuitive technology" that requires no training...nobody told you that it was rude, did they? Required netiquette classes for all! https://www.instagram.com/p/CfDV7sVD5UU/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Tuesday, I recalled the days of early pandemic when churches were closed and we worshipped at home. I was smart enough to capture on my personal account one communion Sunday when I had no bread or grape juice. With Ritz crackers and orange juice I remembered Christ. As we look at how tech changes our life, I was proud of that moment. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfIiRFcs-MF/?igshid=YmM...
In hearing one of my peer's using SoundCloud audio in their weekly blog post, it made me realize how much another Web 2.0 element plays in my life. Thanks to smartphones and unlimited* streaming data, the radio has yielded to the podcast in my car. When I had to commute to the office, I learned quickly that the rush-hour radio in South Florida was unreliable at best. The music I wanted to hear - and remembered from the fleeting trips to Miami from my childhood - was hidden behind flighty signals, interminable commercials, and unimaginative DJs. Starting with podcasts from favorite DJs, I replaced the unreliable with digital mixes. Then my tastes began to evolve. Longer trips in the car can make even the best record spinning monotonous. For those, I started to find the talk shows. Politics, faith, and pop culture were the spaces I migrated to for these moments. Then the pandemic came and uprooted my daily routine. The talk shows becam...
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