Connectivism as Pedagogy

September 26, 2019

The beauty of a blog is that it provides one with a platform to express an opinion, to agree or disagree with the most brilliant of minds. The blog provides validity to a voice, although possibly an artificial one. For, who am I to say? I am just me; but this is my blog; so I get to say. But how do we sift through all of the voices – including our own? This is, I believe, what George Siemens is concerned about, when he addresses the need to synthesize fragmented information distributed online – to make meaningful connections – . . .

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Design Renaissance – To Be or Not to Be

September 20, 2019

As we continue our conversation about the use of social media for social change, we come to design thinker, Tristan Harris, whose tagline states that he “helps the technology industry more consciously and ethically shape the human spirit and human potential.” In his TedTalk, “How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day” (April 2017), Harris . . .

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Generational Movement From Slacktivism to Activism

September 13, 2019

Even as ‘far back’ as 2013, the Pew Research Center on Internet & Technology in their “Civic Engagement in the Digital Age” report stated that 63% of SNS users had “gotten involved” with fellow citizens in a meeting or group to solve some identified problem in their community – the national average is only 48%. It is noteworthy that the PRC identified this as “involvement” in social activism rather than simply awareness, or what some have called slacktivism: mere Facebook posts (or the like) of support for social change without the political activism to back it up. . .

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