Twinning to multiply minds by minds

Derrick de Kerckhove McLuhan Program

University of Toronto Papamarkou Chair

Library of Congress

e-Twinning School Partnerships in Europe Brussels, January 16,

2005

OVERVIEW

• Secondary effects of e-Twinning• Changes in the models of education

that arise from media• Changes in the models of education

that arise from e-learning• Connected intelligence in and out of the

classroom• Strategies to promote and develop

connected intelligence in classes, institutions, cities and countries

Secondary effects of e-Twinning

• Obvious ones are multiplying resources and improving the european sensibility

• Establishing (or monitoring) a networked mentality (part of normalization)

• Creating a glocalized (via Europe) psychology

• Changing the models of pedagogy (spearheading)

Three eras

Effects of different language supporting media

on educationMEDIUM SPEECH WRITING ELECTRICITY

DOMINANTMODE

ORAL LITERATE DIGITAL

SOCIALSTRUCTURE

COLLECTIVETRIBAL

INDIVIDUALHIERARCHY

CONNECTIVEGROUPS

WHERE IS MEANING ?

CONTEXT TEXT HYPERTEXT

VECTORIAL BIAS

TO THE PAST TO THE FUTURE

TO THE PRESENT

PSYCHOLOGI-CAL DRIVE

COMMUNITY PRIVACY “PUBLICY”

PEDAGOGICAL BIAS

CRAMMING THINKING CONNECTING

Oral learning

Alphabetic learning

• Silent

• Private

• Individualized

Electronic learning

The model of the student after Gutenberg

Conquest of self

Detachment of text from contextDetachment of reader from text

Detachment of reader from contextAppropriation and privatization

of languageThe silence of internal language

become thoughtPrivatization of the self

Internalization of consciousness

Internalization of space

Image of self

Il vaut mieux une tête bien faite qu’ une tête bien pleine Michel de Montaigne

The telegraph: a marriage between language and

electricity

Electricity

• 1834: Electricity weds the alphabet• Telegraph = Language accelerated,

amplified, redistributed by electricity• Maximum speed multiplying and

distributing maximum complexity• Relentless refinement of the code from the

26 letters of the alphabet to 0/1 via Morse’s “long, short, naught”

• O/1 becomes the smallest common denominator of all our experiences, physical and mental (actual and virtual)

The digital is Phase Two of Electricity

• Phase One: ANALOG– Heat, light, amplification and instant transportation

of signal– Telephone, radio, television = Language

accelerated, amplified and redistributed– Easier to conceptualize and thus to industrialize,

wired communications precede wireless ones • Phase Two: DIGITAL

– Information, knowledge and instant reconstruction of signal

– Computers, networks, simulation = Electricity emulating command and control operations

– Take-off: the Wireless Revolution

Key biases of Phase 2

• Convergence• Integration

• Random Access• Real-time• Ubiquity• Globality

• Immersion/total surround

• Virtuality• Connectivity

• Hypertextuality• Interactivity

• Transparency

The versus the -principle• Page• Static• Analogical• Frontal• Actualized• Esplosive• Abstract• Desensorialed• Icons as illustrations

• Screen• Dynamic• Digital• Immersive• Virtualized• Implosive• Concrete• Multimedia• Icons as verbs

Screenology

• The image as close to thought as possible

• Closing the gap between the mind and external I-P

• Emigration of mind from head to screen

• Emigration of the person from body to network

Mark Ngui

A change of mind

“Rather than thinking of cognition as an isolated event that takes place inside

one’s head, cognition should be looked at as a distributed phenomenon, one that goes beyond the boundaries of a person to include environment, artifacts, social

interactions, and culture” Hutchins & Hollan

Hypertextual thinking• Your horoscope• The I Ching• Palabra, dreaming, prayer,

simulation• Hypertextual thinking an

issue of time, not space: – The only time that counts is

NOW– All links and connections are

made in REAL TIME– All simulations are manner of

prediction (pregestual)

• Under electronic conditions, the delay between project and realization is shortening

For a new pedagogical model

• Broadcast to networked

• Memory to intelligence

• “Contact hours”

• On line competencies

• Student-centered education

Ryerson’s questionnaire

• 75 criteria

• Numero 1: teamwork (4.69/5)

• Two:how to present oneself (3.87)

• Three: how to make a working plan (3.54)

• Ten: network experience

Connected intelligence

• Connective not collective• Intersubjective (Francisco

Varela)• Embodied (face-to-face

interactions)• Thought is not

internalized speech, but speech is externalized thought

CONNECTED INTELLIGENCE ON LINE

• More human than technological• More collaborative than competitive• Multiplicative• Always in favour of more connections, but

also more pertinence (hypertinence)• Always in favour of more autonomy• But without losing the connection

Jonathan Estes 4 Four Principles

• 1. e-Learning is not the golden bullet that will solve all problems in delivering education. In other words, technology cannot teach people everything they need to know; educators need to spend an equal amount if not more time on developing quality, competency-based education.

• 2. All forms of education should encourage participation and collaboration. Web Based Teaching is a relatively flat medium that doesn't enable participants to express their opinions, share their ideas, or interact with each other - unless an interactive element in included.

• 3. Educators should always use multiple learning activities so that anyone - regardless of their learning style and preferences - can absorb and retain the information.

• 4. Education should focus on learning outcomes that are measurable and demonstrable. I consider this the most important and too-often ignored educational concept.

What benefits to the students ?

• e-Twinning changes the relationships within the classroom as well as outside of it

• Reinforces the basic notion of teamwork

• Promotes self and lifelong-learning

• Increases self-confidence

• Invites to practice “just-in-time” information-processing

• The final marks are significantly improved

Eaton Center - Toronto

Naples-Toronto

When the intellect is tightly coupled to the world, decisionmaking and action can take place within the

context established by the physical environment, where the structures can often act as a distributed

intelligence. Donald Norman