Searching for Our Town in Web 2.

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Keynote address
UBC Okanagan Learning Conference
May 8, 2008
Web 2.0, Social networks &
Social software
Future Learning Environments

• ‘Relation-Making’ systems
• Personal "representation” systems
• Meaning is in the connections
• The locus of control is in the user
­ Stephen Downes
 Our students
Search for what they want (Google)
Ignore what they don’t want (TiVo)
Consume what they choose (iPod)
Become their own media (Facebook)

-David Porter, BC Campus

RSS-AGGREGATION
What comprises community?
Non-formal
Learning
vs

Formal Learning
The Wisdom of Crowds
Reputation systems
Reputation systems
 engagement 
matters more 
than interaction

Photocredit:
lynne_b from Flickr
The Bystander Effect

Photocredit:
Bryon Realey
 Social Loafing
and Free-Riding
Trust

Photocredit:
David Burrows
Trust -
worthy?

Photocredit:
Eve Hermann
Lonelygirl15
Godcasting
Church of Fools

www.churchoffools.com
Empathy/Forgiveness
Think different (ly)
Saskatoon Freecycle
Virtual environments are real
virtual environments are real
MMORPGs & Online Gaming
Hospitality
intimacy is critical
 Dunbar’s Number

147.8
Rick’s Number

12
Rick’s Twitter Numbers

29­98
1016
December 2001 Moms

http://talk.sheknows.com/
 Transactional Distance
• psychological distance is more important than
actual/social distance
• students want to be in a group or subgroup
• students don't always want to participate actively
• graduate students typically want to be close to their
instructors
• undergraduate students don't always want to be close
to their instructors
• students don't always want to be close to other
students

41
41
the principle of intensity
43
43
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4
 content = 
contentment

"object centred
sociality"
CIDER

http://cider.athabascau.ca/
lunch is content
the family plot
the Ken Burns filter
 Final lessons
• Communities are important to learning
• Non­formal learning is a powerful feature in 
formal learning environments
• Community approaches require a 
fundamental shift in how we look at learning 
and learners
Good virtual learning
environments and good
f2f learning
environments are more
similar than different

Photocredit:
54
54 Flynn-Burhoe
Maureen