In the way that Songlines can be used to understand country, the continuing twitter conversations and digital lines have helped connect and coalesce some of my thinking. Earlier this year I hosted this webinar which introduced me to the concept of virtual history. Kevin Lucas presented on his work in this field.
Then this work from Virtual Songlines shows the present structures as 'ghosts' on the land https://www.virtualsonglines.org/virtual-warrane-customs-house. What interests me the most is not this virtual representation of history but the concept that technology can be used to shape us. This is a question of #TheoryEdTechChat 'Q4. Does technology have agency? If so how do ed tech tools such as VLEs shape us?' Check @CEDiR_Group for more on that. Unfortunately noone posted an answer in the Twitter chat, which finds me here.
This article Which Came First, The Technology’s Agency or The Human’s Agency? is perhaps easier on my eyes than the set reading for the #TheoryEdTechChat reading. If 'technology shapes the way we use it', then there is a certain agency in VLE's or Learning Management System (LMS). I see them as walled gardens. While having an eco-system of their own, it never quite cuts it compared to the wild nature or the wild garden. Students are required to act in a certain way when interacting and submitting work in a LMS. I've just finished 3 years of online post-grad study and struggled with the walled garden at times. I would then be guided to the digital world outside of the walled garden, yet I realise that the 'open' is still walled. As we are being prompted at every corner to read Cookie Policies and Privacy Policies, the ever present little tick boxes are just too convenient and our brains just can't take that much information in, in one sitting.
Even the act of writing this blog post comes from my human agency and I use this technology to send it out. But as soon as I hit publish, I don't really know who will look at it or what impact it might have. I started this post thinking about Songlines and dream tracks. Our digital stories and digital connections (in making and connected learning) can create diverse and interesting digital landscapes (ok, I am thinking about lines of flight as well). Some that are hidden and some that are yet to be painted or exposed.
Then this work from Virtual Songlines shows the present structures as 'ghosts' on the land https://www.virtualsonglines.org/virtual-warrane-customs-house. What interests me the most is not this virtual representation of history but the concept that technology can be used to shape us. This is a question of #TheoryEdTechChat 'Q4. Does technology have agency? If so how do ed tech tools such as VLEs shape us?' Check @CEDiR_Group for more on that. Unfortunately noone posted an answer in the Twitter chat, which finds me here.
This article Which Came First, The Technology’s Agency or The Human’s Agency? is perhaps easier on my eyes than the set reading for the #TheoryEdTechChat reading. If 'technology shapes the way we use it', then there is a certain agency in VLE's or Learning Management System (LMS). I see them as walled gardens. While having an eco-system of their own, it never quite cuts it compared to the wild nature or the wild garden. Students are required to act in a certain way when interacting and submitting work in a LMS. I've just finished 3 years of online post-grad study and struggled with the walled garden at times. I would then be guided to the digital world outside of the walled garden, yet I realise that the 'open' is still walled. As we are being prompted at every corner to read Cookie Policies and Privacy Policies, the ever present little tick boxes are just too convenient and our brains just can't take that much information in, in one sitting.
Even the act of writing this blog post comes from my human agency and I use this technology to send it out. But as soon as I hit publish, I don't really know who will look at it or what impact it might have. I started this post thinking about Songlines and dream tracks. Our digital stories and digital connections (in making and connected learning) can create diverse and interesting digital landscapes (ok, I am thinking about lines of flight as well). Some that are hidden and some that are yet to be painted or exposed.
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