Growing the New Technopolis

sounds like a vegas gig. well, we’ve been covering some ground of late.

quickly: the Tennessee Campus Compact has been formally created and hallelujah! Thanks to TNNC Director Mani Hull for her efforts  on our behalf. Also, to Tennessee State University president Dr. Melvin N. Johnson for leading these efforts to their fruition. It’s a great feeling.

Also– the DMSC moves forward in support of an ecology of innovation that can converge a unique blend of academic technology and engaged scholarship. Digital citizenship. Digital fluency. Our product: Digital Media Enterprise.

We promote professional development in higher education and community, bridging the academy and industry.

website: www.tnsandbox.com

Direct from the folks at Edublogs:

“We’ve got some pretty big news this week, something we’ve been working on for quite a while and something we think you will love. It’s now simple to create blogs for all your students (or colleagues) without having to leave the comfort of your own blog! All you have to do is visit the ‘Users’ tab in your admin area, pop in a username, email address and blog title and the system will automatically create a blog (you can create up to 15 at once) and email the login details to the new user.”

http://edublogs.org/2008/03/11/simply-create-blogs-and-usernames-for-your-students/

It’s been far too long since either Bob or I has posted anything here at the New Technopolois blog. But don’t let that fool you! We’ve each been busy in our own ways, cultivating interest among our respective institutions and elsewhere for a committed approach to technology integration in an academic-scholarly/service-learning context. Bob’s been doing some great work with the Digital Media Sandbox Consortium, a multi-state collective driven by his campus (TSU) that looks to create a NCAA-style digital media tournament for students at the higher ed level. See www.tnsandbox.com for more on this project.

Meanwhile, I finally finished my master’s degree in information science in December and have been keeping very busy with my work responsibilities here at Carolina Law, where I’ve served since Jan. ‘07 as the assistant dean for IT. But along with that, I’ve been spearheading the iTunes U project for Carolina and am now, along with Bob and another UNC colleague, participating in this year’s Carolina Challenge. The CC is an entrepreneurial competition for UNC students, faculty, and staff with a business track and a social/non-profit track. We’ll be competing in the latter with our DMAC (Digital Media Arts Co-op) serving as the model for that. More news to follow…

I stumbled upon this series of great video tutorials on blogging. I hate to admit that they use Blogger, not WordPress, as their example platform, but there’s lots of good stuff here. This link may only be available through the end of the month, so hurry to check it out. At the bottom of the page, there are a couple tutorials specifically geared towards educators.

Blogging Workshop – Movies

This is great stuff! Found on the thriving Madison, WI citizen media site, MadisonCommons.org, this feature article focuses on the summer podcasting program run for  youth out of a local community center. This is very close to the kind of work for which Bob and I continue to advocate (and apply for grants!).

http://www.madisoncommons.org/article.php?storyid=1091

Fascinating recent post on Jenkins’ blog. An interview with Youth Radio producers and student participants, in which he starts out by debunking what he feels are some of the myths surrounding the whole digital natives vs. digital immigrants construct. This also speaks to youth as active producers of high-quality digital content.

http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/08/youth_radio.html 

It’s been a long hot summer indeed. Too long between posts for this old dog, but following a nice retreat to DC for the Campus Technology Conference (where Bob and I first started to solidify our ideas last year in Boston), I’m headed into the fall academic semester with renewed focus. Bob and I continue to stir the pot through various contacts near and far, and the tri-state digital media “sandbox” consortium (TN, NC, VA) appears to be shaping up quite nicely. More news as it happens, but meanwhile, the MacArthur Foundation continues its focus on digital learning with their second major grant competition…
http://www.dmlcompetition.net/

The time is now to write your congressional representative and ask him/her to support the new ATTAIN bill. Quoting from the EdTech Action Network’s site (which is worth bookmarking):

“The Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act was introduced on May 23rd by Representatives Roybal-Allard, Hinojosa, Biggert and Kind.  This bipartisan bill revamps the No Child Left Behind Act’s (NCLB) Enhancing Education Through Technology program (EETT), and would target federal education technology resources towards technology professional development, systemic reform initiatives with strong technology components, and, most importantly, schools failing to attain proficiency in core curricular subjects.”

Please visit http://www.edtechactionnetwork.org/index.html soon to make your voice heard!

A very thoughtful article in T.H.E Journal on improving the quality and accessibility of educational podcasting.

http://www.thejournal.com/articles/20818 

This is quite good.

Have to say i’ve been flummoxed by two new book purchases off Amazon (web 1.0), both by Henry Jenkins of MIT. CONVERGENCE CULTURE and FANS, BLOGGERS, AND GAMERS. Doug turned me on to him, and I have been tracking him ever since (see post below). Jenkins bedazzles, his mind working through those pages in a hybrid style of rigor and ease. His references are far-ranging and his insights drill very deep. An intimidating combination to encounter. One idea echoes with the characterization of curriculum theorists,Ralph Tyler and Hilda Taba: Tyler is characterized as a top-down model of education and curriculum design, and  Taba is depicted more as a bottom-up model.

 This depiction echoes Jenkins’s idea of Convergence: Corporate Convergence (top-down) and grass-roots convergence, (bottom-up). Where the two meet is the floating needle of our culture. The tipping point meets the long tail.

 Is the idea of convergence culture distinct from emergent culture? Or do we have another hybridization of terms? The application of these terms to 21 century media (web 2.0 and 3.0) fascinates and continues to compel.

 Jenkins will be a guide for some time. So very much he has digested and recast as perspective on this churning churn we are all trying to stir. The blend of lazer intellect and humanity is pretty much irresistable. Yielding the field to him. And signing off…