Twitter

In case you wish to follow me on Twitter, you can find me @nfjnic
Better still, you could follow the Learning with New Media research group tweets on @LNM_Monash

Explaining habitus

I found this unexpected gem today - Kate Crehan explains habitus in a particularly useful and helpful way, though the focus of her article is on Gramsci's common sense.

Crehan, K. (2011). Gramsci's concept of common sense: A useful concept for anthropologists? Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 16(2), 273-287.

Oxford Education Conference

On May 11, I am presenting at the Oxford Education Conference. The conference theme is Implementing the Australian Curriculum and developing digital learning, held in Melbourne CBD. As one of the many workshops available, I am discussing how to conceptualise ICT when using it in your teaching. The title of the workshop is: Exploding digital myths and fears: ICT capabilities, pedagogies and strategies. 

Neil Selwyn's public lecture

While the LNM conference is an invitation only event, Neil is giving a public lecture in Melbourne and for Gippsland residents, one in Churchill at the Monash Gippsland campus.

The Melbourne lecture registration can be found here. The title of Neil's talk is

Schools and schooling in the digital age - thoughts from a UK perspective

For more information, please contact me.

The Gippsland lecture will be

Tuesday 27 March 2012, 4.30pm-6.00pm

Venue and directions:

BusEco Conference Room Building 5N Room 158 (Monash Gippsland)

Please RSVP to gippsland.research@monash.edu or phone 5122 6591 by 20 March 2012 to secure your place

 

Learning and New Media inaugural conference

It is my pleasure to convene the inaugural Learning and New Media conference which will be held on Friday 23 March, Ibis, Glen Waverly, Melbourne, VIC.

For more information, see the LNM web page.

Currently, I am the leader of LNM which is a Faculty of Education research group at Monash.

This event is part of Dr Neil Selwyn's visiting scholar program during the month of March.

danah boyd at RMIT

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending danah boyd's talk at RMIT in Melbourne CBD. Though I was late and had to leave early (very unlike me for both of those things!), her talk was really interesting. danah is very animated and her presentation was really well done. She is well known for her research into young people's use of social networking sites (SNSs) (Facebook being the predominant one currently).

Interesting points she spoke about included:
* Young people use social networking sites as one way of being in a public, rather than in the public.
* While there are public messages that are given, there is not necessarily a public meaning, i.e., only insiders will understand certain meanings.
* Young people expect surveillance but find ways to carve out their own privacy.
* Young people are about hacking the attention economy, rather than hacking secure spaces.
* There is a continuum of drama in young people's lives. What may be seen as ultra dramatic for adults, might only be weighted a little within the use of SNSs.
* Bullying is a very adult driven notion. Within the scope of possible drama, harassment, teasing and cyber-bullying occur on this continuum. She also related what I believe to be true that cyber-bullying has not necessarily meant that bullying as a whole has increased; we are just a lot more aware of it because the Internet allows us to view it happening.

She brought up the notion of the flaneur where it is important to see and to be seen, and therein lies the expectations of participation in the digital age.

For more info about danah, see http://www.danah.org/

Invited talks at Ed-Media

I'm really pleased to announce that I will be giving two invited talks at this year's world conference on educational media and technology - the Ed-Media conference in Denver, CO.

http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/

http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/speakers/2012/johnson.htm

Fast Capitalism article

“No, they’re not digital natives and they’re not addicted”: An essay critiquing contestable labels - a new online article published by Fast Capitalism.

See www.fastcapitalism.com (issue 8.2).

2 problems with Masterchef TV

MasterChef Australia is huge over here and we have regularly watched it. My viewing has curtailed recently when I realized how much reality TV – i.e. watching others’ fabricated lives I was watching instead of living my own.

Anyway, there are two points I’d like to make. I don’t claim that they are original but I guess that is what a blog is all about – having the ability to share one’s opinion whenever you want and for whatever reason.

The process of elimination is flawed. In my mind, those with the best dishes should be automatically put through to the next round (as they do in some challenges). As evidenced in this current series, the most creative and innovative cooks have been eliminated and as a result what we are left with are contestants who are merely consistent, rather than brilliant. They are safe; their creativity has been curtailed to play the game.

Arguable I know depending on who you ‘like’ the most, but it isn’t meant to be a popularity contest.

Secondly, if so many people have a dream of being a chef, why don’t they just go to chef school?