accommodating knowledge in the age of ebologna: from commodity to living context

Transcription

1 isko 2006: knowledge organization for a global learning society wissensorganisation für den bologna prozess vienna, july 6, 2006 accommodating knowledge in the age of ebologna: from commodity to living context reinhard keil, universität paderborn

2 What is more important than sex?

3 Knowledge: Two complementary perspectives Knowledge as commodity transportation) Stored in documents and databases Complemented by metadata and ontologies Knowledge as living context transformation Created, Modified Interpreted Evaluated Arranged Deleted, in socially mediated learning processes Requires Non-sequential writing (Nelson)

4 Well-structured and formalized entities have to be embedded into cooperative interactions

5 What is interactivity? To interact (Webster): to act mutually, to perform reciprocal acts Interactions between humans and computers and interactions among human beings What do they have in common? Both are based on the exchange of symbols but only humans communicate (mutual understanding). Interactivity as a quality that can be assigned to a person or a device is a creation in the context of the modern computer. Heidi Schelhowe: Das Medium aus der Maschine (Transl. by RK)

6 Analogue media are based on inscription technologies Phonograph (two essential inventions): physics: making sound visible engineering: inscribe sound in carrier material (wax). Characteristic trait: signs once inscribed or recorded cannot be treated as manipulable objects anymore. By means of technology only the carrier material can be processed not the signs or symbols itself. Manipulating the carrier material instead of the symbols requires extensive skills and competences. Learners (users) are confined to reading only. Media (learning) objects as passive typography

7 Semantic relations of authors and readers are different G. Jean: Die Geschichte der Schrift. Ravensburger Taschenbuch, 1991 Knowledge is continually processed, reformulated, modified, extended, linked, etc. Maintaining a living body of knowledge requires many skills and resources. Inscription technologies do only provide means for manipulating the carrier materials. Semantic relations of the reader have to be embodied outside of the primary medium.

8 A first Hypertext System? The book wheel made it easier for the reader to arrange related books. Pages may have semantic relations. Exchanging books or flipping pages destroys these spatial relations. Agnos Ramelli, 1588 Cleaning up someone s desk destroys his work to a considerable degree. Note: Books can be arranged, not the content of a book Links cannot be physically attached neither to a book nor some information in the book.

9 elearning: An old hat on top of new technology Organization Create Medium Use Author Channel Technology Carrier Reader Teachers write (authoring tools) Students read (browser) Learning Environment: Transport of Documents Feedback is reduced to predefined answers (multiple choice) and system responses or has to be given via separate media channels (no object persistency) Enhancements for retrieval (metadata, ontologies), but One-Way-Road to Learning without non-sequential (co-operative) writing: indirect Interaction.

10 Can a machine interact? Can the designer know? Are you sure? Yes No Not really Are you?? There is no reason for a technical system to ask questions, because no one is listening to the answer. A piece of instructive software is an inscription of the designer s anticipation of the situation at hand. The designer requires the user to confirm his last entry he is not interested in his existential orientations. He should offer choices and make his design decisions transparent rather than speculating about his intentions. It almost always fails!

11 Can humans interact? Only indirect interaction organisation production chan. medium techn. carrier usage Author Analogue media have clearly separated channels for sending and receiving. The resulting media discontinuities could be avoided by digital media! organisation 2 Reader usage Medium 2 production chan. 2 techn. 2 carrier 2

12 Re-defining interactivity: Interactivity is an essential quality of active semiotics, with other words: active semiotics = responsiveness + interactivity responsiveness: Continuous background process evaluates arrangement of symbols during its construction and provides immediate feedback (i.e. spell checker, tool tip, database query) interactivity: The recognized object (sign or symbol) itself can be manipulated and not the carrier material only (new primary media functions arranging, marking up, linking, ) distributed cooperation: objects can be manipulated cooperatively and stored in virtual knowledge spaces

13 Active typography: the vision Today documents and applications form the core of digital media use. They represent sort of a typographic prison. Standard formats allow us to furlough to some extent. Only real interactivity objects that can be manipulated and evaluated (executed) can provide us with the full potential of digital media. But Granularity and standards of knowledge changes (new ontologies required). semantic interoperability

14 Semantic interoperability The ultimate goal: Every digital object, once into the system should not be re-entered even if different functions shall be applied to it Two important domains Cooperative distributed and continuous modification of objects Interaction across functional (applications) and organizational boundaries service infrastructures (as complement to maintaining object and device repositories such as books, computers, servers, etc.) Essential constraint: ebologna requires to act across organizational, institutional and national boundaries

15 Dimensions of embedment The Graz-Model of classification of collaboration support Aspects of cooperative learning. Differentiate team content and process

16 migrating to active typography Intertwined writing and reading of of objects (not only application sharing) Support of all forms of cooperation and distributed writing (direct interaction: human to human) Assigning roles to every user allowing him or her to write and to define who may read it Embodying a tight coupling of action-recognition through virtual social spaces Reduce media discontinuities not only on the level of object transportation but also object transformation. Viewing learning processes as continuous processes of transformation of learning objects (not just reading or executing them)

17 Pervasive elearning: integration, not isolated reading access places/ time knowledge organization distributed continuous Virtual knowledge spaces as foci and loci of learning and knowledge organization. Synchronous and asynchronous manipulation of objects according to the principle of self-administration. Not independence of time and space, but integration of distributed activities!

18 Co-operative virtual knowledge spaces Persistent areas (rooms) are connected through gates (doors links) and contain people, documents und tools (programs) which can be manipulated in synchronous and asynchronous ways. communication functions are tied to objects. Sophisticates means for role and rights management allow for the flexible realization of different scenarios ranging from traditional presentations to complex forms of self-regulated knowledge organization.

19 Structuring knowledge & discourse Single data set and a single framework of application

20 Objects become manipulable instances of knowledge

21 service-portfolios in an integrated service infrastructure complex services integrated knowledge management authoring support interactive study service interactive syllabus & ECTS accounting mobile teacher s workplace user services basic services media management Information retrieval account management (data domains) data protection (backup, archives) roles / rights management access management (entry) service portfolio accounting content synchronisation (notebook/server) student workplace content, library publication services (Web-Server, ) communication services ( , chat, ) university portal technical infrastructure networks (LAN, WLAN, ) server (DNS, NIS, ) security (Firewall, VPN, )

22 Providing functions through open interfaces

23 Layers of integration

24 From desktop to digital library Different views on the same objects

25 Conclusio Computers were innovative tools to free humans from weary mental labor Virtual knowledge spaces should be a means to free humans from computers