TTIX 2010Where Am I Aiming?Me, We and the Networks

Nancy White

Full Circle Associates

http://www.fullcirc.com

@NancyWhite

Wiki: http://bit.ly/daOQVLhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/4344037016/

http://technologyforcommunities.com/

Tech + Social:Tech + Social:Technology has

fundamentally changed how we can be together

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/4342064654/in/photostream/

People People FormsForms PolaritiesPolarities

RolesRoles

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachstern/87431231/

#1 People Forms(me, we, network)

and why this matters

http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/4380427452/

Go Solo?

Pairs, triads and very small groups –

Fly with the flock?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/3428218606/

Roam the network?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sagarpatil/3684077399/

The “community” word often messes us up.

http://completeinnovator.com/2010/02/09/defining-the-%E2%80%9Csocial-team%E2%80%9D/

In the real world, we associate ourselves with

communities to find people of similar interests with whom to interact. These communities are important to define the overall population of socially connected people; but they’re useless as a way to actually get anything done. When we set out to actually achieve something, we abandon the broader “community” concept in favor of focused subgroups of active individuals that are more motivated and able to get things done.

Boris Pluskowski

These “Social Teams,” can be massive groups of hundreds, or even thousands of people in an online setting. They are teams on a scale never seen before, and on a playing field of incomprehensible proportions. Team members may never have met each other, but nevertheless choose to work with each other to achieve a mutually desirable goal or function.

Social Teams are not top-down, nor bottom-up; they can be purposely set-up, or self-formed by team members; they can exist in purely social settings or as corporate sponsored groups.

They are a collection of individuals who have a common understanding of the “game they’re playing” (ie the team’s purpose); know in which goal they’re trying to score in (ie have a shared understanding of what ‘a win’ looks like); and are collaborating together to achieve that aim.

They incorporate the structure of a traditional team, with the social contract of a community.

Boris Pluskowski

http://completeinnovator.com/2010/02/09/defining-the-%E2%80%9Csocial-team%E2%80%9D/

Communities are:Held together by some common interests of a large group of people. Although there may be pre-existing interpersonal relationship between members of a community, it is not required. So new members usually do not know most of the people in the community. Any one person may be part of many communities. They have overlapping and nested structure.

Social Networks are:Held together by pre-established interpersonal relationships between individuals. So you know everyone that is directly connected to you.Each person has one social network. But a person can have different social graphs depending on what relationship we want to focus on. They have a network structure.

http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/Community-vs-Social-Network/ba-p/5283

Michael Wu - Telligent

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualPersonal identity,

interest & trajectory

Bounded membership; group identity,

shared interest, human centered

Boundaryless; fuzzy, intersecting

interests, object centered sociality

(Engeström)

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualConsciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotion

Distinct power/trust dynamics, shared forward movement or strong blocking, stasis, attention to maintenance, language Flows around

blocks, less cohesion, distributed power/trust, change

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualBlogs, email, portfolios, PLEs, RSS readers,personal media accounts…

Forums, wikis, group blogs, LMS, content mgmt systems, platforms…Facebook,

ELGG, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia,etc…

What are the implications for you?

• How you teach?

• Design for learning?

• Understand curricula & learning agendas?

• What your learners need and want?

Individual Community Network

Where are you currently aiming

your efforts?

Example: Triangulation

• External support person(s)

• Learning Connection to a domain-

related network or community

• Intentional external validation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_6/320344409/

Action

Connection 4employment

Scale

#2Polarities

TOGETHERNESS SEPARATENESS

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angerboy/201582453/

community timecommunity space

shifting engagement & rhythm...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcafe/227358678/

Participation Reification

Vocabularies, tools, concepts, methods, stories, papers, pictures, reports…

Conversing, experimenting, practicing, learning, planning…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcafe/227358678/

INTERACTING PUBLISHING

INDIVIDUAL GROUP

Designed for groups, experienced as individuals

Does not imply homogeneity

Multimembership

Attention

togetherness separateness

participation reification

individual group

rhythm

interaction

identity

F2F Community platform

#3Roles (yeah, yours!)

enable people to…

• discover & appropriate useful technology

• be in and use communities & networks (people)

• express their identity

• find and create content

• usefully participate

facilitators community leaderstechnology stewards network weaversIndependent thinkers

15% solution

Noticing and using the influence, discretion and power individuals have right now.

– Keith McCandless

Dan’s almost completed picture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anotherphotograph/418050703/

Epilogue

Nancy White Full Circle Associateshttp://www.fullcirc.com

@NancyWhite

Talk Wiki:Wiki: http://bit.ly/daOQVL

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/4343303449/in/photostream/

new fabric of connectivity

- - togetherness and separation

- - always on

- - virtual presence

- - peripherality

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

active technology landscape

- interacting and publishing

- social/informational computing

- semantic web

- digital footprint

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

multiple engagement modes

- generalized self-expression

- mass collaboration

- creative re-appropriation

- thin connections/weak ties

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

reconfigured geographies

- competing spaces

- multimembership

- dynamic boundaries

- global reach

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009