George Siemens - Conectivismo (Lima, 2012)

George Siemens y su teoría del conectivismo en el marco del Encuentro Internacional de Educación 2012 - 2013 de la Fundación Telefónica durante el evento presencial realizado en la ciudad de Lima, Perú.

The psychological meaning of personal record collections and the impact of changing technological forms

This study explored the personal psychological meanings ascribed to collections of recorded music in a small sample of 20 British consumers. In-depth interviews were conducted with the col-lectors and the data analysed according to the conventions of grounded theory. Three aspects of record collecting were identified as psychologically important: two aspects – records’ status as sacred objects, and record collections as a facet of the self – were felt to be typical of traditional recorded music formats, particularly vinyl. The third, music as sensual (sensory and emotional) experience, appears to be related to contemporary trends in downloading digital music for storage on an iPod or similar player. It is suggested that this third aspect may increase in importance in the future, although aspects 1 and 2 remain salient, even for younger consumers.

TransVoz aplicación para la inclusión de personas con "Capacidades Auditivas Diferentes"

Aquí podrás ver cómo funciona la plataforma TransVoz aplicación para la inclusión de personas con "Capacidades Auditivas Diferentes" desarrollada por Red-Apis!

Pixel Logic: How the Next 10 Years Will Reinvent Your Life.

Russel Smith & Michael Foster. Huff Post Tech. 17/04/2012.

As a culture, we are living in an age of digital and cultural reinvention. The world will look back upon the two decades before and after the millennium as a fascinating time to be alive, and we get to experience it firsthand. What's driving the changes we're all experiencing? The main factor is technology. Current technology can already process our experiences faster than we can think about them. Whether we welcome it or not, it's unavoidable, and greater digital acceleration will happen.

All around us, the future is unevenly spread out in expanding digital cities, and dense pockets within these cities -- and in other parts of the world, dollops of the future have been squeezed out more sparingly, in small towns and distant regions barely on the digital map.

Fluid Identities and Connecting to the Universe Next Door

Human identities change greatly over the course of a lifetime, and the near future asks us to reinvent ourselves many more times -- with each reinvention based on a mixture of internal adaptations, individual desires, and external cultural forces.

Time travel or teleportation aren't on the near horizon, but scientists are inching closer to finding proof of life on distant planets. While the theory of living in a multiverse, where other universes exist next door (unseen) and connect to our universe isn't close to being proven, it is now in the cultural zeitgeist as a theory to consider. The TV program Fringe presented us with the challenges involved in having a funhouse mirror universe right next door, especially if your doppelganger had your face and your job. And of course, having a similar hair color, so it's easy to dye-to-match, helps when one must take over another's identity in an alternate universe.

Novelty, Fractal Patterns, and Quantum Physics

The exposure to moments of novelty will increase, until humans adapt to this ongoing pattern of hyper-contextualized-awareness. The world of hyper-meaning will become standard fare, and carrying on hyper-connected games and multi-sensory artistic experiences will become a part of one's daily life. A segment of each day could be centered around connecting to the world of fractals and going on a hyper-dimension mini-vacation, which might be similar to taking a walk inside a Jackson Pollock or Willem de Kooning painting.

Computers will become more sensitive to modeling and finding patterns, and quantum computing will help people make the leap to connecting seemingly unrelated fields such as: poetry, economics, biology and politics. By getting closer to the experience of serendipity in computing and farther away from predictability, the easier it will become for the human mind to increase its understanding of complex systems.

Fully Immersed in a Gaming Universe

The gaming culture has become more interactive, more realistic, and will eventually become more fully immersive. One can easily picture gamers entering a pod (perhaps in the shape of the human form), or a room devoted exclusively to the world of the game. Advances in motion technology and voice capture will refine the multiple layers, lives, and selves one can inhabit and interact with inside the game.

The early 1990s dream of virtual reality was delayed, but it has stayed on track to becoming a reality by making gaming culture mainstream culture. When the military aims to recruit young people with superior hand-eye coordination and a sharp mind, they now search for able-bodied recruits who have spent countless hours merged with a gaming console, and find just the skills and high-tech adaptability required for facing life and death in situations that call for immediate decision-making capabilities, since this is the focal point of a vast majority of games.

The Point System Paints a Bull's-eye on Your Heart

Have you been getting enough sleep lately? No? Sorry, that's going to cost you some points. Had an orange and some whole grain cereal for breakfast? Points added. We're on the verge of the health care industry meets Moneyball. And in the near future, your health statistic could be updated on a weekly or hourly basis, and payments on your monthly premium could fluctuate like the stock market.

An unhealthy lifestyle will affect the points you accumulate, and if your numbers fall below a set level, you could be dropped off the charts, as far as major health insurance providers are concerned. Forget Powerball, the real lottery system will be your ability to pay for a ticket to get in and stay in to a health care system that truly has your best interests at heart, as long as you subscribe to a heart-healthy diet.

Over the next decade, these ideas, trends and systems will increasingly affect how our society shifts and evolves.

Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction

Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction
Jerald J. Block

Internet addiction appears to be a common disorder that merits inclusion in DSM-V. Conceptually, the diagnosis is a compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder that involves online and/or offline computer usage (1, 2) and consists of at least three subtypes: excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations, and e-mail/text messaging (3). All of the variants share the following four components: 1) excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives, 2) withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible, 3) tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use, and 4) negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue (3, 4).

Some of the most interesting research on Internet addiction has been published in South Korea. After a series of 10 cardiopulmonary-related deaths in Internet cafés (5) and a game-related murder (6), South Korea considers Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues (7). Using data from 2006, the South Korean government estimates that approximately 210,000 South Korean children (2.1%; ages 6—19) are afflicted and require treatment (5). About 80% of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications, and perhaps 20% to 24% require hospitalization (7).

Since the average South Korean high school student spends about 23 hours each week gaming (8), another 1.2 million are believed to be at risk for addiction and to require basic counseling. In particular, therapists worry about the increasing number of individuals dropping out from school or work to spend time on computers (5). As of June 2007, South Korea has trained 1,043 counselors in the treatment of Internet addiction and enlisted over 190 hospitals and treatment centers (7). Preventive measures are now being introduced into schools (9).

China is also greatly concerned about the disorder. At a recent conference, Tao Ran, Ph.D., Director of Addiction Medicine at Beijing Military Region Central Hospital, reported 13.7% of Chinese adolescent Internet users meet Internet addiction diagnostic criteria—about 10 million teenagers. As a result, in 2007 China began restricting computer game use; current laws now discourage more than 3 hours of daily game use (10).

In the United States, accurate estimates of the prevalence of the disorder are lacking (11, 12). Unlike in Asia, where Internet cafés are frequently used, in the United States games and virtual sex are accessed from the home. Attempts to measure the phenomenon are clouded by shame, denial, and minimization (3). The issue is further complicated by comorbidity. About 86% of Internet addiction cases have some other DSM-IV diagnosis present. In one study, the average patient had 1.5 other diagnoses (7). In the United States, patients generally present only for the comorbid condition(s). Thus, unless the therapist is specifically looking for Internet addiction, it is unlikely to be detected (3). In Asia, however, therapists are taught to screen for it.

Despite the cultural differences, our case descriptions are remarkably similar to those of our Asian colleagues (8, 13—15), and we appear to be dealing with the same issue. Unfortunately, Internet addiction is resistant to treatment, entails significant risks (16), and has high relapse rates. Moreover, it also makes comorbid disorders less responsive to therapy (3).

References:

1. Dell’Osso B, Altamura AC, Allen A, Marazziti D, Hollander E: Epidemiologic and clinical updates on impulse control disorders: a critical review. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2006; 256:464—475

 

2.

Hollander E, Stein DJ (eds): Clinical Manual of Impulse-Control Disorders. Arlington, Va, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2006

 

3.

Block JJ: Pathological computer use in the USA, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 433

 

4.

Beard KW, Wolf EM: Modification in the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction. Cyberpsychol Behav 2001; 4:377—383

 

5.

Choi YH: Advancement of IT and seriousness of youth Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 20

 

6.

Koh YS: Development and application of K-Scale as diagnostic scale for Korean Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 294

 

7.

Ahn DH: Korean policy on treatment and rehabilitation for adolescents’ Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 49

 

8.

Kim BN: From Internet to "family-net": Internet addict vs. digital leader, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 196

 

9.

Ju YA: School-based programs for Internet addiction prevention and intervention, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 243

 

10.

The more they play, the more they lose. People’s Daily Online, April 10, 2007

 

11.

Aboujaoude E, Koran LM, Gamel N, Large MD, Serpe RT: Potential markers for problematic Internet use: a telephone survey of 2,513 adults. CNS Spectr 2006; 11:750—755

 

12.

Block JJ: Prevalence underestimated in problematic Internet use study (letter). CNS Spectr 2007; 12:14

 

13.

Lee HC: Internet addiction treatment model: cognitive and behavioral approach, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 138

 

14.

Block JJ: Pathological computer game use. Psychiatric Times, March 1, 2007, p 49

 

15.

Ko CH: The case of online gaming addiction without other comorbid psychiatric disorders, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction, Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 401

 

16.

Block JJ: Lessons from Columbine: virtual and real rage. Am J Forensic Psychiatry 2007; 28:5—33