"So much to say...and so little fame" (graffiti by Bansky, subtitle by Edith)

Access to new media both changes and reflects the ways people play, think, and learn— and more generally, how they perceive themselves, relate to others, treat things, and occupy space. We see both opportunities and challenges in today’s youth infatuation for all things digital.

As the organizers of the IDC 2009 workshop on "Digital Technologies and Marginalized Youth: Reducing the Gap", our focus is on the empowerment and successful integration of marginalized youth. We look at how marginalized youth adopt digital media and what’s in it for them. We summarize all the accepted position papers in an attempt to draw lessons useful to researchers, educators, and practitioners. To conclude, we draw from Paulo Freire's "pedagogy of the oppressed" to rethink some of the prerequisites that may enable marginalized youth to find their voices while, at the same time, speaking the tongues of others (in particular those in power). Getting “lost in translations” is what paves the ways to many youngsters social exclusion.

Pdf file of paper by E.Ackermann, F. Decortis, JP Hourcade, & H. Schelhowe.

500 participants from over 40 countries will gather in Marseille to address innovations that are changing society, business and culture. The theme of LIFT / FING 2009 is: "a hands-on future" to which i add: a future that isn't mindless. "The best way to predict the future, is to invent it", said Alan Kay (and Buckminster Fuller). True! As long as the inventors - and those for whom we "innovate"— get a chance to discuss, build, and reflect upon their and our presents and futures. Lift's forte is — and has been—to filter promises that deliver from catchy buzzwords, and lasting and engaging cultural and technological contributions (innovations that stick) from dull "one nighters" (innovations that suck you in, use you up, and let you down). LIFT / FING offers a valuable forum for reflection, inspiration and contacts. Some of the questions participants will address: Could we build sustainable growth on desire as well as reason, on creativity as well as regulation? How can we become part of environmental measurement, evaluate and compare the impact of our own activities, become parts of our collective environmental consciousness? Join in to keep up with a fast changing world!—or learn to slow down when we're a on a road to nowhere :). Check out the website and the program for further information.

Related post on this blog

Here goes a link to an interview I gave to the LEGO parent website (Q&A) regarding a book i wrote, while ago, entitled "The whole child development guide". The book first came out as an internal LEGO document in 2004. It is now available in the public domain for parents, educators, and researchers to enjoy (you can download the document by clicking on the upper right side of the page, near the title). I thank Cecilia Wechstrom and Morten Lundholm for their help in making the work available. Sure means a lot to me! I had almost forgotten I had actually written this :)

"Toys from the Trash" is a brilliant counterpoint to the high-tech hype around toys, play, and learning.Scroll down and enjoy! Much smarts. No 'blows and whistle'. Pure delight :)

it levitates. It spins. It writes :)

Another gem of simplicity and ingenuity is "I love N.Y"! This time for LEGO lovers! - Check out Christoph Nieman's blog

Extrait-video d'une presentation sur l'écriture digitale, intitulée "Ecrire pour se le dire: Du Graphique au numérique". Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, Juillet 2007. Organisé par le groupe COMPAS. Pour en savoir plus, lisez le chapitre: Ackermann, E. (2008). « Notation chez l’enfant : Du Graphique au numérique ». In Apprendre demain : Sciences cognitives et éducation à l’ère numérique (Sous la direction de Andler, D. et Guerry, B). Collection Cap Digital Education. Groupe Compas. Paris : Hatier. 77-94.

Ce chapitre est accessible en fichier PDF: rubrique "papers" / entree: 20/10/2008

Related links: COMPAS's New blog. Check it out!

Here goes an interview I did for Ci'Num in 2007. Check out the video. Thanks Daniel (Erasmus) and Daniel (Kaplan) for letting me in on this. Thanks Yaz (Abbas) for the contact. Thanks all for a great Conference in Margaux!

This is an extraordinary documentary by Adam Curtis. The series comes in 4 parts and tells the tale of how Freud's ideas have been 're-purposed' by his American nephew, Edward Bernays.The documentary describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their "engineering of consent".

check it out on wickipedia or watch series directly on You Tube. You can also find links to the 2 parts on Yas's neo-nomad . Thanks Yaz for blogging this! For more information on each of the episodes, visit BBC site

1 Happiness Machines at www.bbc.co.uk
2 The Engineering of Consent at www.bbc.co.uk
3 There is a Policeman Inside All Our Head: He Must Be Destroyed at www.bbc.co.uk
4 Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering at www.bbc.co.uk

Enjoy!

Local amenities for children. From the series "A tiny street art project: little hand-painted people, left in London to fend for themselves". Very nice. check out the blog. books of the work can be found at Slinkachu's website

Still wondering whether "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"? Well then read this, now:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.



Want to know more?

[Excerpts from Wickipedia] In 1967, Ken Goodman wrote a widely-cited paper chiding educators for attempting to apply unnecessary orthographic order to a process that relied on holistic examination of words. Goodman posited the existence of three "cueing systems" that regulate literacy development (graphophonemic, semantic, syntactic), related to the linguistic domains of phonetics, semantics, and syntax respectively. According to Goodman, these systems overlap and work in tandem to help readers "guess" appropriately. He emphasized that pronouncing individual words will involve the use of all three systems

Goodman, K. (1967). Reading: A psycholinguistic guessing game. Journal of the Reading Specialist, 6, 126-135.

Here goes the latest paper by PIAZZA/PUENTE team on how places and tools can be used to help mediate mindful - and joyful - encounters between people from different generations, as well as between newcomers and old-timers to a culture.

Authors: Decortis F. , Ackermann E. , Barajas M., Magli R., Owen M., Toccafondi G .
Title/reference: From ‘La Piazza’ to ‘Puente’: How place, people and technology make intergenerational learning. In International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, Vol.1, No.1/2, 2008, p. 144-155

Abstract: The divide between generations and the need to integrate aging populations through life wide learning strategies have been evidenced by researches and policy documents. Yet, the lack of mutually beneficial learning practices calls for innovative solutions to prevent societal fragmentation. In 'La Piazza' the purpose was to identify good practices through the use of case studies and interaction design techniques and gauge the potential of digital technologies as enablers of intergenerational learning. In 'Puente', the goal is to further explore the transformative power of existing good practices and to provide guidelines for the design of environments in which young and old can grow in connection.

Keywords: intergenerational learning; generation divide; digital technologies; case studies; good practices; interaction design; aging populations; e-learning; online learning; technology enhanced learning.

Enjoy