S e b l o g g i n g

Walk the line

Stroomi Beach, Tallinn

Changing cubicle

Stroomi beach, Tallinn

Disputation of my thesis

The disputation of my Ph.D. thesis is scheduled for Monday, 18.06.2012 at the University of Turku (Turun Yliopisto) in lecture hall 2 of the Educarium building (T47).

My thesis titled “Emancipating and developing learning activity: Systemic intervention and re-instrumentation in higher education” is published in the Annales Universitatis Turkuensis serial.

The work was carried out under the supervision of Academy Professor Erno Lehtinen (Centre for Learning Research, University of Turku, Finland) who will serve as the “custos” at the disputation. My opponent will be Professor Juha Suoranta (School of Education, University of Tampere, Finland).

[Sebastian Fiedler]

On working democratically in education

Once you commit to working democratically, you have to take the leap of faith that says that people will make informed choices. And you must trust that if they don’t make the choices that you think in the short term are the best ones for them (like attending every class), in the long run, the experience of being in control will make them more responsible the next time they are able to exercise power.

Stephen Brookfield (1995) in Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher.

Open Here Festival – June 28 – July 1, 2012 – Dublin, Ireland

CTVR / The Telecommunications Research Centre, in collaboration with the Dublin Art and Technology Association (D.A.T.A) present Open Here, a four day festival that addresses social, technological and cultural issues surrounding the notion of the digital commons.
What does it mean to be open today?

If we speak of ‘the commons’ today as a general phenomenon, this has a lot to do with the modes of production, consumption and distribution that have emerged over the last two decades around information and communication technologies. This period has seen a growing emphasis on the social and juridical implications of sharing in the online domain, where a range of nonmarket and non-proprietary activities such as open source software, remix culture and commons-based peer production have lead some to propose the advent of a ‘digital socialism’. However, as sharing and openness become the watchwords of the new corporation – as the commons is increasingly central to capitalism – such positions are no longer straightforward.

Open Here will bring together a transdisciplinary community of critical theorists, engineers, artists, designers and industry professionals to expand debates surrounding the digital commons. Key points of discussion will include the conflictive spaces of the digital commons, tactical media, net-art, digital policy, disruptive wireless practices, alternative spectrum ownership models, next-generation networks and the political economy of infrastructure.

This festival take the form of talks, presentations, workshops, discussions and screenings. It will be held in The Science Gallery and in CTVR headquarters in Trinity College and runs from June 28th to July 1st, 2012.

[via Open Here Website]

This sure looks like an interesting event. The programme holds a good mix of talks, workshops and panels. Check it out.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

Rape yellow

Kiili Vald, Estonia

EARLI 2013 conference – August 27-31, 2013 – Munich, Germany

The conference theme responsible teaching and sustainable learning focuses on elementary issues that educational researchers investigate. Besides, it picks up EARLI’s twofold mission in researching learning and instruction and also connects to recent developments in educational research and practice…

[via EARLI 2013 conference website]

The submission deadline is October 31, 2012. For details have look at the first call (pdf) issued in March 2012.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

Tags: conference, Germany

Sail your ship

Kalamaja Sadam, Tallinn

On the ultimate fear of information technology in teaching

“To use Heidegger’s idea, one could say that the ultimate fear is that the “teaching machines” enhanced with information technology will work seamlessly together with technological rationality so that all emancipatory potential is finally lost.”

Juha Suoranta & Tere Vadén (2008) in Wikiworld: Political Economy of Digital Literacy and the Promise of Participatory Media