I have a thing for space dogs, especially Laika, the first living being to orbit the earth. Less than a month after the launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957, the Soviets sent Laika to the great beyond in Sputnik 2. The fact of her voyage made her an instant celebrity as well as a […]
Monthly Archives: October 2014
The platform of web belongs to the people
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After watching the documentary “Aaron Swartz Internet’s own boy” it seemed to me that the people in high power positions and in charge of law lag behind on the current internet culture. And it is not only internet culture, it is the whole atmosphere in society. For a while the interest of young people in […]
Web as a basic human right should have a built in responsibility of curation
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Is web and access to web a basic human right like freedom from torture or the right to a fair trial? People seem to think so. And my home country Finland was the first country to include it in the law in 2009. It does make a lot of sense when we consider the basic […]
Nugget: Illusion of well-oiled machines and predictable serenity
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We live in a world that works well if the pieces are stable and have predictable effects on one another. We think of complex institutions and organizations as being like well-oiled machines that work reliably and almost serenely so long as their subordinate pieces perform their designated tasks. -2002 David Weinberger “Small pieces loosely joined” […]
The Internet and Open Knowledge.
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Not only is web fluency is a requirement for success in most modern work and social environments, but language of networks and social structures are increasingly used in how we talk about the offline learning experience as well. The paradigm … Continue reading →
Double Creative Disruption Nugget
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The internet’s disruptiveness is a consequence of its technical DNA. In programmers’ parlance, it’s a feature, not a bug – i.e. an intentional facility, not a mistake. And it’s difficult to see how we could disable the network’s facility for generating unpleasant surprises without also disabling the other forms of creativity it engenders. — John […]
Can I really protect learners online? Or should they do it for themselves?
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After reading Jonathan Worth’s “does my data show in this” and listening to the IT security expert Ben talk about our data being used for less charitable purposes by companies and individuals, I freaked out for a good while. How much responsibility am I really taking on when moving my class online? What is the […]
Social Engagement in Higher Education.
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My posts have been somewhat delayed due to a whirlwind of lab benchwork, travel and postdoc hunting. I have been participating in the live discussions but sometimes find it difficult to sit down and consolidate/communicate my thoughts. That’s one of … Continue reading →