3 Social Learning Trends to Watch in 2012

By Sharlyn Lauby, January, 2012. Open Forum.

 Investments in training appear to be on the rise. Many experts expect that training will be a major focus for organizations in the upcoming year. It makes sense. As our economy continues to move in a positive direction, consumers will demand better service.

This translates to a need for customer-service training, as well as management and leadership training. These are all poised for increases in 2012.

The amount spent on training jumped about 13 percent from 2010, according to the 2011 Training Industry Report. The expenditures included increases in overall training budgets and payroll, and spending on outside products and services.

Along with the increased attention on training, a conversation about value and retention is happening. Ways to engage participants and enhance the value of training are part of that discussion, as new tools and methods emerge.

Here are three areas that combine social development with learning. Consider integrating them in your business during this year.

1. Social learning

Tony Bingham, president and CEO of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), is helping, is helping define social learning.

“Social learning is learning with and from others, often—but not always—with social media tools," Bingham says. "Social learning is a powerful approach to sharing and discovering a whole array of options. [It leads] to more informed decision-making and a more intimate, expansive and dynamic understanding of the culture and context in which we work.”

There are many benefits to incorporating social learning into an organization.

“Incorporating social learning creates networks of knowledgeable people to work across time and space to make informed decisions and solve complex problems," Bingham says. "Learning happens more quickly and broadly. Innovation happens faster. And tacit knowledge can be retained and reused.”

Companies are paying attention to the benefits. ASTD’s research report, "Transforming Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies," indicates that 87 percent of respondents predict that their companies are more likely to use Web 2.0 technologies in the next three years than they currently do. Bingham offers several examples of how companies are applying social learning in his book, The New Social Learning.

2. Social networking techniques

Defining social learning is still a work in progress. Many trainers use social networking platforms to create activities and exercises for their programs. Jane Bozarth, e-learning coordinator for the State of North Carolina and author of Social Media for Trainers, explains how using social networks can enhance training.

“Social media tools help to amplify the social and informal learning already going on in organizations all the time, every day, and make the learning available on a much larger scale," says Bozarth. "They provide ways to connect talent pools and expertise in an organization or within a practice area, and can offer just-in-time solutions to problems and performance issues.”

The reaction from participants is very positive.

“Participants are happy to engage with one another using social media tools for training purposes," says Bozarth. "They find it convenient, useful for learning at the moment of need, and [it helps them] develop a greater sense of control over their learning.”

Trainers shouldn’t fear adding a social component to their programs. Bozarth says it’s pretty easy to do.

“Social media tools are just tools. [They] can be effectively employed to support the gamut of training activities, from introductions to role plays to discussions of video clips, and anything in between,” she says.

Bozarth hopes "learning and development practitioners [will move] toward partnering with learners and away from feeling their role is to direct them.”

3. Gamification

A frequent training request is make subjects fun. What better way to learn a new topic than by playing a game?

“Studies indicate that games, when designed properly, motivate learners, improve learner retention and encourage students who aren’t typically ‘academic’ to partake in the learning process," says Karl M. Kapp, professor of instructional technology at Bloomsburg University and author of The Gamification of Training: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Learning and Instruction. "There is no reason learning has to always be hard or difficult.”

It’s important to note that not all games are created equal when it comes to learning.

“Some people see gamification simply as the process of adding points, badges or rewards to the learning process and instantly creating engagement, interactivity and motivation for learning, says Kapp. "This view is wrong.”

Look at the real reasons why games are popular, says Kapp, and apply those elements to the process. “When done correctly, gamification provides an experience that is inherently engaging and, most importantly, promotes learning. The elements of games that make for effective gamification are … storytelling (which provides a context), challenge, immediate feedback, sense of curiosity, problem-solving, a sense of accomplishment, autonomy and mastery.”

Adding social networks and games to training programs has the potential to shake up the learning experience. It can create constant learning opportunities, real-time knowledge-sharing and improved participant engagement.

Social Media and the Hedgehog's Dilemma

Finding the right distance when working and living online

Published on January 8, 2012 by Lisa Rivero in Creative Synthesis

One cold winter's day, a group of hedgehogs crowded together for warmth so as not to freeze to death. However, the pain from the mass of spines soon caused them to separate again, until the cold forced them back together, and thus they continued, moving from one source of discomfort to another, until they found a distance that allowed them to live but without the benefits of the full warmth of community.


Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, in the middle of the nineteenth century, published the parable of the hedgehogs (also translated as porcupines) as a way to describe the dilemma faced by human beings as we simultaneously crave and reject connection. In 1921, Sigmund Freud referenced the parable in Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Egoin his discussion of the "ambivalence of feeling" inherent in long-term relationships. A character in the episode "The Hedgehog's Dilemma" of the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion sums up the problem: "The nearer we get, the deeper we hurt each other." And so we back away.


In the twenty-first century, we can see the hedgehog's dilemma play out online, especially in the world of social media.

The Lure of Social Media
I'm a morning person and always have been, up before the sun, 4:45 a.m. every day, wide awake when many people have yet to enter their last cycle of REM sleep. It is my best, most alert, and most productive time of the day. Whatever work I do in those first two or three hours is what I do most efficiently.

So, how do I spend this precious time? All too often, I read and answer email (and delete spam), check Facebook (where I read about and see photos of what other people are doing), tweet and retweet, and read and comment on a few of my favorite blogs.

Do I then close all those open tabs and focus on my own work and writing?
No. I usually start the process over again.
We can think of the call of social media as a standing invitation to a virtual sitting-room. For writers and others who require long, uninterrupted time in which to create and a comfortable relationship with themselves that allows them to be alone, the problem is akin to what Virginia Woolf described in her classic essay, "A Room of One's Own":

"If a woman wrote, she would have to write in the common sitting-room. And, as Miss Nightingale was so vehemently to complain,—'women never have an half hour . . . that they can call their own'- she was always interrupted.... Jane Austen wrote like that to the end of her days. 'How she was able to effect all this', her nephew writes in his Memoir, 'is surprising, for she had no separate study to repair to, and most of the work must have been done in the general sitting-room, subject to all kinds of casual interruptions.'"

Unlike Jane Austen, however, we enter social media's virtual sitting-room of our own accord, and we often stay far longer than we had planned. We tell ourselves that the distractions we find there are part of our work, that we are networking or building our platforms. There is some truth in this. Writers today, for example, are told to have an online presence in the form of websites, blogs, Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages. Before they can approach a publisher, even first-time authors are expected to have built a readership to which they can market their book.

So far, so good. But we tend to forget the opportunity cost, which is often the solitary writing practice, free from all kinds of casual interruptions, that we need in order to finish the book we hope one day to finish in the first place.

Will You Opt In or Opt Out?
I am continually trying to wrap my head around social media, working to figure out the most comfortable combination, fit, level of involvement, and boundaries so as both to enjoy the process and to meet my own goals. I use the word "comfortable" deliberately. For anyone for whom social media is part personal and part professional, the ever increasing social media options—from Twitter to LinkedIn, Goodreads to Google+—can very quickly be a source of discomfort at the same time that they are useful and informative and oh so much fun. This discomfort is especially keen for introverts and others who are overwhelmed by crowds and noise and competing distractions, virtual or otherwise.

I am no Luddite, nor do I wish for a return to the days before the internet. On a nearly daily basis, I am amazed by and appreciative of the options both informational and communal that my 20-year-old son and the college students in my classroom take for granted. Social media can lead to very real connections. Last year, for example, I realized through a Facebook status by a Milwaukee writer whom I first met through blogging, that not only did our sons share many years together in a local children's theater company, but our husbands have known each other and worked together for 25 years. Our "circles" intersect in a Venn diagram illuminated by our online networking, making eventual face-to-face meeting even more meaningful.

My problem is not with social media, but with myself and how I use it. Until now, my default position has been one of "opting out," to borrow a marketing term. Opting out is a "tacit yes" to everything, unless we give permission to opt out in specific areas.

It's time for me to switch to "opting in," checking only those social media boxes that work best for me, with a tacit no to all the rest.

Nicholas Carr writes in The Shallows of how, when he began writing the book, he "wrote in disconnected spurts," similar to blogging, and that, in order to finish the book, he needed to disconnect almost completely, to opt in:

"There was no cell phone service at our new home, and the Internet arrived through a relatively poky DSL connection. I canceled my Twitter account, put my Facebook membership on hiatus, and mothballed my blog. I shut down my RSS reader and curtailed my skyping and instant messaging. Most important, I throttled back my e-mail application. It had long been set to check for new messages every minute. I reset it to check only once an hour, and when that created too much of a distraction, I began keeping the program closed much of the day."

Interestingly, Carr found that after he finished the book, he quickly returned to his old multi-tasking and email habits, showing just how difficult it is to resist the online siren song. Like Schopenhauer, Carr, in the end, is a pessimist. I would like to think we have more control over our attention and time and choices than he proposes.

The Challenge: Finding the Place of Stillness
Lev Grossman's TIME magazine article on best-selling novelist Jonathan Franzen is worth reading for anyone on a personal quest to create a new, more balanced relationship with modern technology and social media:

"Franzen works in a rented office that he has stripped of all distractions. He uses a heavy, obsolete Dell laptop from which he has scoured any trace of hearts and solitaire, down to the level of the operating system. Because Franzen believes you can't write serious fiction on a computer that's connected to the Internet, he not only removed the Dell's wireless card but also permanently blocked its Ethernet port. 'What you have to do,' he explains, 'is you plug in an Ethernet cable with superglue, and then you saw off the little head of it.."

Grossman continues:

"Reading, in its quietness and sustained concentration, is the opposite of busyness. 'We are so distracted by and engulfed by the technologies we've created, and by the constant barrage of so-called information that comes our way, that more than ever to immerse yourself in an involving book seems socially useful,' Franzen says. 'The place of stillness that you have to go to to write, but also to read seriously, is the point where you can actually make responsible decisions, where you can actually engage productively with an otherwise scary and unmanageable world..'"

The important question posed by the hedgehog's dilemma for working and living online may be to what extent we use social media as the middle, safe distance to avoid having not only closer, unplugged relationships with others, but quieter and deeper relationships with ourselves. Today's early adopters may be those who find creative ways to incorporate less of the newest technology in their lives rather than more. Finding that place of stillness is not always easy in today's world. Not easy, but also not impossible.

What is your experience of the hedgehog's dilemma as it relates to working and living online? Let's share what works.

Multiplatform E-Learning Systems and Technologies.

Mobile Devices for Ubiquitous ICT-Based Education

Multiplatform e-learning systems are emerging technologies that provide integrated learning content to various accessing devices.

Multiplatform E-Learning Systems and Technologies: Mobile Devices for Ubiquitous ICT-Based Educationaddresses technical challenges, design frameworks, and development experiences of the future that integrate multiple mobile devices into a single multiplatform e-learning system. With expert international contributions, this collection benefits researchers, academicians, and practitioners interested in this growing field.

Open publication - Free publishing - More e-leraning

Radiografía Chile Digital 2a Ed.: Redes Sociales, Móviles y Vídeo Juegos.

RADIOGRAFÍA DEL CHILE DIGITAL 2.0: REDES SOCIALES, MÓVILES Y VIDEOJUEGOS EN LA ERA DIGITAL. Miguel Arias Cerón. (2a. Ed.) 2011.

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Open publication - Free publishing - More chile

Aprendizaje Invisible Hacia una nueva ecología de la educación

Aprendizaje Invisible

Hacia una nueva ecología de la educación

"El aprendizaje invisible es una propuesta conceptual que surge como resultado de varios 

años de investigación y que procura integrar diversas perspectivas en relación con un nuevo paradigma de aprendizaje y desarrollo del capital humano, especialmente relevante en el marco del siglo XXI. Esta mirada toma en cuenta el impacto de los avances tecnológicos y las transformaciones de la educación formal, no formal e informal, además de aquellos metaespacios intermedios. Bajo este enfoque se busca explorar un panorama de opciones para la creación de futuros relevantes para la educación actual. Aprendizaje invisible no pretende proponer una teoría como tal, sino una metateoría capaz de integrar diferentes ideas y perspectivas. Por ello ha sido descrito como un protoparadigma, que se encuentra en fase beta y en plena etapa de construcción."

—Cristóbal Cobo & John Moravec

Descarga el libro pdf en castellano: Click!

Lee un extracto:

De capitulo 1

EL LEGADO DE LA EDUCACIÓ́N: ¿PARA QUÉ́ ESTAMOS EDUCANDO?

La industrialización europea vino acompañada de una serie de transformaciones políticas, económicas y sociales que afectaron directamente a la educación. Los regentes querían sustituir a los aristócratas del gobierno por ciudadanos a los que se les hubiese inculcado el orgullo por la patria y la disposición para trabajar por el “bien” del país. Al mismo tiempo, el crecimiento económi- co demandaba un mayor número de operarios en las fábricas y de funcionarios del gobierno para administrar el sistema.

Para poder satisfacer estas necesidades, Federico II de Prusia puso en marcha en 1763 lo que se conoce como la reforma más radical dentro de la historia de la educación: la escolarización obligatoria. Todos los niños de entre cinco y trece años tenían que asistir a la escuela, construida siempre en terreno propiedad del Estado. Allí se ponían en práctica los principios de la produc- ción industrial. Por ejemplo, los alumnos se sentaban mirando a la cabecera de la clase donde el profesor, símbolo de la autoridad absoluta, los bombardeaba con información y propaganda del gobierno, a fin de “cargar” de datos sus cabezas, como si se trata- se de recipientes vacíos.

En otras palabras, en la etapa industrial el Estado se ocupaba de fabricar estudiantes leales al sistema y capacitados para trabajar en el futuro como operarios o funcionarios del gobierno. Este modelo de educación obligatoria ganaría popularidad en Europa y sería importado en todo el mundo occidental donde hoy día continúa siendo el modelo de educación por antonomasia.

El problema surge cuando, en el siglo XXI, estos mismos Estados van dejando poco a poco atrás el modelo de sociedad industrial, evolucionando hacia una sociedad basada en la innovación y el conocimiento, que precisan una menor intervención guberna- mental. Es decir, la sociedad del siglo XXI no necesita un sistema educativo cuyo objeto sea generar obreros o funcionarios del gobierno.

A la luz de esta reflexión, cabe preguntarse cuál es el propósito último de la educación. ¿Educamos con el fin de fabricar obreros del siglo XVIII o, por el contrario, estamos educando a los líderes de la sociedad de la innovación y del conocimiento?

See presentation Perspectives on Invisible Learning:

Perspectives on invisible learning

View more presentations from John Moravec

Las Redes Sociales, las nuevas armas de resistencia en Chile

Las Redes Sociales, las nuevas armas de resistencia en Chile
Por Omar Mendoza. 26/08/2011 Política&Medios.
Los twitteros y los usuarios de Facebook chilenos han demostrado que el debate cibernético puede tener su reflejo en la realidad.


En los últimos tiempos hemos podido observar el inmenso poder de convocatoria y organización política  y social que tienen como protagonistas a  las redes como Twitter o Facebook. La “Primavera Árabe”, que se organizó para repudiar los regímenes de esa región,  las protestas de los “indignados” españoles, que luchan contra la corrupción y la devaluación de la política, y la intensa actividad de coordinación llevada a cabo por los estudiantes en Chile es un ejemplo claro de esta tendencia.

A nadie se le escapa que Twitter, en los últimos tiempos, se ha convertido en un buen termómetro para analizar como respira la sociedad de un país sobre una cuestión concreta. En este sentido, por el gran número de comentarios que se acumulan en relación a las protestas estudiantiles que sacuden Chile desde hace varios meses, todo parece indicar que, lejos de apagarse, el debate está más vivo que nunca. Prácticamente todos los días en las últimas semanas los “Trending Topics” chilenos han estado dominados por el conflicto estudiantil. Facebook, sin embargo, al ser más privado convierte su tráfico de información en menos visible para las autoridades, pero igualmente efectivo.

Los estudiantes chilenos están decididos a continuar con sus protestas contra el Gobierno de Sebastián Piñera y en favor de una educación gratuita y de calidad. Precedida por una intensa actividad en Twitter y las redes sociales, Santiago vivió ayer, una nueva jornada masiva de movilizaciones de universitarios, secundarios y profesores, cuya asistencia alcanzó, según los organizadores, la abultada cifra de 100.000 personas y que ha tenido su reflejo cibernético en la etiqueta #marchadelosparaguas.

Por su parte, esta semana Felipe Bulnes, ministro de Educación, ha lanzado una propuesta que sigue sin convencer a los estudiantes pero que recoge varias de sus reclamaciones. Por un lado, la ampliación de la oferta de becas y créditos para que los estudiantes tengan un acceso más igualitario a la educación, lo que incluye una reducción de los intereses del préstamo estatal de un 6% a un 2%; por otro, poner fin al lucro en el sector, reducir su municipalización y una reforma constitucional que garantice la calidad en la educación. Una propuesta que a los estudiantes sigue sin convercerles y que no ha podido parar la movilización de hoy, ampliamente planeada a través de una intensa actividad en Twitter y otras redes sociales.

El sistema educativo chileno ha sido heredado por la democracia de la dictadura de Augusto Pinochet y mantiene unas elevadas tasas que impiden a los estudiantes con menos recursos acceder a la educación superior. Si lo hacen, deben soportar varios años de alto endeudamiento para poder pagar sus estudios. Además, los estudiantes reclaman que el Estado se ocupe del sector, y no los municipios, y que la educación, una de las más caras del mundo según la OCDE, sea gratuita y accesible universalmente para todos los ciudadanos.

El conflicto se ha hecho crónico en el peor momento posible para Sebastián Piñera, cuya popularidad se ha desplomado de manera vertiginosa en los últimos meses por la conflictividad social que asola Chile desde que inició su mandato. Ecologistas, mineros, estudiantes y grandes partes de la ciudadanía ven con malos ojos su gestión, que según los últimos sondeos ha alcanzado un 52% de desaprobación. Sin embargo, el dato más sangrante es el de su popularidad, que ha vuelto a caer y se sitúa en un 26%, la peor valoración jamás dada a un líder chileno en las últimas dos décadas. El poder de las redes sociales y de la transmisión de información ha contribuido sin duda a que entre la población chilena circulen corrientes de opinión que se oponen al presidente.

Riots database of 2.5m tweets reveals complex picture of interaction.

24/08/2011. Guardian.co.uk 

When David Cameron addressed an emergency session of parliament convened in the aftermath of four consecutive nights of rioting and looting across England, he quickly turned to the supposed role played by social media.

"Everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck by how they were organised via social media," the prime minister told the House. "We are working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality."

His claims were backed by some MPs and senior police, who revealed they had considered switching off social network sites at the height of the disturbances, but were unsure of their legal powers.

Yet preliminary analysis of how Twitter was used during the unrest presents a more complex picture, showing little immediate evidence that the social network was used to orchestrate disorder.

The Guardian has compiled a unique database of more than 2.5m tweets containing keywords, phrases and hashtags linked to England's riots.

Preliminary analysis of this Twitter activity in 12 riot locations shows the majority of surging social media traffic occurs after the first verified reports of incidents in an area, which could suggest that Twitter was used far more by those seeking to follow fast-moving events than to incite trouble – although it is not possible to say it played no role.

The tweets also reflect a shift in social media use during the week. Most reports place the initial disturbances in Tottenham between 8pm and 9pm on Saturday night. The number of tweets referencing the area surged in the wake of these first troubles: up from 15 between 7pm and 8pm to 15,000 between 10pm and 11pm.

Later in the week Twitter may even have helped spread warnings about trouble. On the following Tuesday Greater Manchester police gave a press conference at 2pm warning of potential issues later that day. This was mirrored by tweets mentioning the city jumping to over 1,000 an hour before trouble began, peaking at around 12,000 an hour after disturbances had started.

In areas such as Hackney Twitter filled with reports of stores closing early and police presence building in the area, hours ahead of the outbreak of trouble.

The Guardian database, which contains riot-related tweets sent between midnight on 6 August – the day riots began in Tottenham – and 8pm on 17 August, will be subject to more advanced analysis in the coming weeks as part of an ongoing investigation into the riots.

Several Facebook users have already been imprisoned for their use of the service during the unrest.

Two men who attempted to use Facebook to arrange riots, which did not materialise, were sentenced to four years in prison, while David Glyn Jones, 21, who posted: "Given the chance I'd love to smash up a police car, wouldn't you?", was sentenced to four months. The prime minister said he supported the "tough message" the court rulings had sent out.

Anecdotal evidence suggests BlackBerry Messenger was also used by some rioters to disseminate messages inciting unrest. However, the free pin-protected service, popular among young people, was also used extensively by those seeking to avoid trouble.

Executives from Facebook, Twitter and the BlackBerry manufacturer RIM, who have been resisting calls to shut down their networks, are to meet the home secretary to discuss further action.

The Network Society - Manuel Castells

The Network Society: a cross-cultural perspective.
Manuel Castells - one of the world's pre-eminent social scientists - has drawn together a stellar group of contributors to explore the patterns and dynamics of the network society in its cultural and institutional diversity. The book analyzes the technological, cultural and institutional transformation of societies around the world in terms of the critical role of electronic communication networks in business, everyday life, public services, social interaction and politics. The contributors demonstrate that the network society is the new form of social organization in the Information age, replacing the Industrial society. 

Open publication - Free publishing - More cultural

The book analyzes processes of technological transformation in interaction with social culture in different cultural and institutional contexts: the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Finland, Russia, China, India, Canada, and Catalonia. The topics examined include business productivity, global financial markets, cultural identity, the uses of the Internet in education and health, the anti-globalization movement, political processes, media and identity, and public policies to guide technological development. Taken together these studies show that the network society adopts very different forms, depending on the cultural and institutional environments in which it evolves. The Network Society is an outstanding and original volume of direct interest in academia - particularly in the fields of social sciences, communication studies, and business schools - as well as for policymakers engaged in technological policy and economic development. Business and management experts will also discover much of value to them within this book.

Google Is Like a 'Mental Prosthetic'

By Rachelle Dragani. TechNewsWorld. 07/15/11

The prevalence of online search engines and the ease with which information can be looked up on the Internet may be changing the way our brains work, according to recent research. Knowing that information can be accessed later changes the way our brains remember it. Instead of having a dumbing-down effect on overall cognition, though, it may actually be helpful.

The way search engines like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) make it almost effortless to find the answers to any question with a few taps of the fingertips could be changing the way our memory works, according to a study published recently in the research journal Science.

The report, co-authored by Betsy Sparrow, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Columbia University; Jenny Liu at the University of Wisconsin Madison; and Daniel Wegner at Harvard, suggests that the brain is much less likely to recall information when it knows it can find the information quickly online. Instead, the brain will more often remember where the information can be retrieved, rather than what the information actually is.

The study was conducted in four experiments.

Volunteers, all college students, were asked to answer a series of questions or perform cognitive tasks. In one experiment, the students were asked trivia questions and asked to type their answers. Half the volunteers thought their information would be saved, the other thought it would be erased. Sparrow said the students who believed their data would disappear remembered the answers better than the other group.

In another experiment, the volunteers were told their information was being saved in general folders such as "FACTS" and "NAMES." The students remembered where there data was stored more often than they remembered the data itself.

The research suggests that someone who feels they have access to information later, like many people do with the Internet, are less likely to memorize small pieces of information since it is so often readily available.

Memory Doomsday?

This doesn't necessarily mean that memory or cognition is deteriorating in the information age. People have always relied on other tools to remember certain bits of information, and with the advent of search engines, the Internet has become the latest resource.

The research, according to Daniel Wegner, professor of psychology at Harvard and one of the co-authors of the study, was prompted in part by a theory he and his wife developed in the '80s called "transactive memory." The widely studied theory suggests that people in a group such as a married couple or close friends depend on each other to remember alternate pieces of information.
For instance, a husband may rely on his wife to remember what time dinner reservations are, or someone might turn to their history buff friend to recall what year Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation."Thinking with computers is a natural extension of that. In the same way you depend on a friend, now you depend on Google," Wegner told TechNewsWorld.

Growing Capabilities

Dependence on Google or other resources may indeed be an indication of an expansion of mental capability and potential rather than a dumbing-down effect on cognition.

"We're a lot smarter now, and that's why we use it. We've become somewhat addicted because it really extends mental capacities. It's kind of like a mental prosthetic device that's better than what you've had before," Wegner said.

In fact, our brain is wisely strategizing, according to Paul Reber, professor and director of brain, behavior and cognition at Northwestern University.

"It indicates an impressive amount of effective strategic memory use. It's not hard to overwhelm our memory abilities -- if you have a large amount of information to try to learn, you'll need to spend a long time at it or you are going to lose or forget some items. If some of those items can be looked up again easily, it makes a lot of sense to focus our attention and resources on the other items to remember," Reber told TechNewsWorld.

With more data, images and information to process, our brains are actually opening up to create room for more analyzing capability rather than useless storage.

"There's no evidence we are forgetting things more rapidly now than before the Internet. It seems likely that with a much larger amount of information generally around, we are probably trying to remember more. In addition to studying what we forget, it would be important to look at how much we remember," Reber said.

That influx of information from technology can co-exist with mental cognition without damaging it.
"More information makes us smarter, not stupider," said Reber.

Nintendo and Sony on games education

Nintendo and Sony on games education.

By Rob Crossley. Develop. EDUCATION WEEK: Revisit David Yarnton and Ray Maguire talks at Learning Without Frontiers

The UK executive arm of Nintendo and Sony last month provided their own insight on the state of games-based education.

As shown in the videos below, both David Yarnton and Ray Maguire speak candidly to a packed industry crowd at the Learning Without Frontiers event.

Yarnton, Nintendo UK general manager, discusses the positive impact of video games and interactive entertainment on society, reaching across age, culture and gender groups.

Maguire, the managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment UK, calls for a co-ordinated initiative between education and industry, supported by government, to encourage the development of better-skilled graduates.

What’s In A Check-In? ~ The Psychology Of Geosocial

What’s In A Check-In? ~ The Psychology Of Geosocial

By Jamie Lipson. 16/07/2011- involver.com.

From Foursquare to Facebook Places to Twitter’s Location functionality, check-ins seem to be all the rage. However, while geosocial is a constant buzz in the social media space, it has failed to gain mainstream traction. Why is this the case? Why wouldn’t people want to know where their friends are on a Friday night? Is there a social risk attached to geosocial? Are there privacy concerns? To grabble with these questions, this post will take the form of a psychological analysis, showing how prevailing social media conventions have resulted in geosocial’s lackluster mainstream adoption.

Locations vs. Places
There is a difference between a location and a place. Locations are simply coordinates, whereas a place has social value, it can create engagement. 31º14’06″N/115º48’40″W doesn’t resonate with people, but checking in at a wedding or a funeral does (this may not be proper etiquette, however becoming the Foursquare mayor of your local cemetery can be mighty tempting).

The psychological thought process of checking in on your favorite geosocial application is informed by the psychology surrounding our social identity. The amplification effects of sharing content on social networks is so potentially massive, that we all abstract our behavior to some extent (consciously or subconsciously). People share content because it gives them social capital, and we all want to preserve and bolster our social identities.

Where Social Identity & Reality Collide
The tendency to not use geosocial applications is an extension of our need to maintain the social identities that we have all created for ourselves. The need to maintain our social identity trickles down and influences where we check in and where we don’t. Checking in to a boring (or even embarrassing) place does not bolster ones social graph, and as a result people tend to forgo the check-in process altogether.

Imagine that you really just want to go to McDonalds, but you know that the gastropub down the street would result in greater engagement with your social network. Resisting the temptation for a $20 burger, you enjoy your Big Mac in private. Of course this is not to say that no one is proud to eat at McDonalds, it depends on the person. The point is that if a place sends signals that will resonate with your social network, you’ll be more likely to check in. If not, you won’t check in at all. Whatever your food preferences may be (or for that matter preferences for anything), our social identities always prevents us from utilizing geosocial applications 100% of the time.

People check in to places for many reasons. Perhaps they can get a discount, or maybe they want a Foursquare badge. But in more instances than not, people will utilize a geosocial application in the hopes of creating engagement and bettering their social identity. The fear is not that people will know where they are at all times, its that no one will care or give accolades to where they actually go. Primal human insecurity is at the root of geosocial’s sluggish mainstream adoption, as people are choosing simply not to play for fear of compromising their finely cultivated social identities.