The document discusses how networks and connectivity are reshaping education. It notes that more video is uploaded to YouTube every month than the major US television networks created in 60 years. Knowledge is now freely available online like air or water. While age is not a determining factor, access and opportunities create a digital divide. Network literacy including understanding how networks work is an important 21st century skill. Learning is becoming more open and social through networks, with learners gaining knowledge from many online sources rather than just educators. The paradigm is shifting from isolated learning to learning through diverse social networks.

1. The Power of Networks
And Why It Matters to Education
Dr. Alec Couros
Saskatchewan IT Summit 2012
Saskatoon, SK
May 7, 2012

2. #itsummit12

4. me

5. Who Am I?

6. The Blur

8. memories of media past

9. Gaming

10. Multi-Player

11. Piracy

12. Adaptation

13. Personalization

14. Troubleshooting

15. Mobile

16. Edtech

17. Web 1.0

19. changes in media

22. “55. New Kids have always
been known as NKOTB.
“1. There has always been an Internet
ramp on the Information Highway”
“57. They’ve often broken up with significant
others via texting, Facebook, or Myspace.”

23. mobile

24. Early Day of PC in Schools Today’s Social/Mobile Reality

29. tools

32. content

36. “60 hours of video are uploaded every
minute, or one hour of video is
uploaded to Youtube every second.”
“Over 4 billion videos are viewed a day.”
“Over 800 million unique users visit
Youtube every month.”
“More video is uploaded to YouTube in
one month that the 3 major US networks
created in 60 years.”

37. Free/Open Content
“describes any kind of creative work in a
format that explicitly allows copying and
modifying of its information by anyone, not
exclusively by a closed organization, firm, or
individual.” (Wikipedia)

39. “Today knowledge is free.
It’s like air, it’s like water...
There’s no competitive
advantage in knowing
more than the person next
to you. The world doesn’t
care what you know. What
the world cares about is
what you can do with what
you know.” (2012)
@drtonywagner

40. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/4802611949/

41. “... age is not a determining factor in
students’ digital lives; rather, their familiarity
and experience using ICTs is more relevant.”
“... the notion of ‘digital natives’ is inaccurate:
those with such attributes are effectively a
digital elite. Instead of a new net generation
growing up to replace an older analogue
generation, there is a deepening digital
divide ... characterized not by age but by
access and opportunity.”

42. from ...

43. to ...

44. literacy

45. info/media literacy
(digital) identity
network literacy

46. info/media literacy

53. memes
“The gene has it’s cultural analog too: the
meme. In cultural evolution, a meme is a
replicator and propagator - an idea, a
fashion, a chain letter, or a conspiracy
theory. On a bad day, a meme is a virus”
Lowenstein, 1999

54. http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3601144842/sizes/l/in/photostream/

56. “...for all the money, tax revenue and intelligence that Western
governments have at their disposal (they) seemingly cannot get
their heads around a simple enough concept that wherever one
is, someone is watching and recording.”
Zack Whitaker

64. what does it mean when
you like something?

65. (digital) identity

67. “The average digital birth of children
happens at about 6 months.”
“In Canada, US, UK, France Italy,
Germany & Spain ... 81% of children
under the age of two have some kind
of digital profile or footprint.”

76. http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3356252350/

80. network literacy

81. Network Literacies
• “Understanding how
networks work is one of
the most important
literacies of the 21st
century.” (2010)
Howard Rheingold

82. Politics
http://www.anduro.com/calgary-mayor-race.html

85. Service Data

90. Crowdsourcing

93. @dlnorman

94. @giuliaforsythe

95. @noiseprofessor
@noiseprofessor

96. @noiseprofessor

97. @timlauer

99. Remix

101. social learning

102. 21st Century Learning Networks

103. 21st Century Learning Networks

104. #skteachers

105. #edchat

106. #comments4kids

108. Techno-Social Affordances
• How does ‘digital’ (instant, shareable,
replicable, findable, remixable, networked,
open) reshape teaching & learning?
• What does it mean to be connected (locally,
globally)?
• Who are my teachers? Who are my
students?

109. learning in the open

111. “To answer your question, I did use
Youtube to learn how to dance. I
consider it my ‘main’ teacher.”
“10 years ago, street dance was very
exclusive, especially rare dances like popping
(the one I teach and do). You either had to
learn it from a friend that knew it or get VHS
tapes which were hard to get. Now with
Youtube, anyone, anywhere in the world can
learn previously ‘exclusive’ dance styles.”

115. Matt
Kirk
Nick

118. Thinning Walls
Private Public
Closed Open

119. how are you making learning visible?

120. how are you contributing to
the learning of others?

121. conclusion

122. “The developed world is in
the midst of a paradigm
shift both in the ways in
which people and
institutions are connected.
It is a shift from being
bound up in homogenous
“little boxes” to surfing life
through diffuse, variegated
@barrywellman social networks.” (2002)

124. fixed to place
fixed to person

125. “The person has
become the portal.”
Wellman (2002)

127. how do we get there when ...

129. What We Need Now
• Remove blocks, increase bandwidth, implement BYOD.
• Foster a culture of sharing across our province - both
through infrastructure & mindset.
• Plan, develop & support provincial digital fluency
strategy - citizenship, identity, portfolios, sharing.
• Support our admins, teachers, learners & communities
through this transition.

131. Don’t limit a child to your
own learning, for he was born
in another time. ~Tagore
http://couros.ca
couros@gmail.com
@courosa