The Social Network

Below is my “revised version” of a story that I received from my beloved one.  I share this with you by adapting it to the social network (instead of computers). 

A Spanish Teacher was explaining to her class that, in Spanish,

unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

‘House’ for instance, is feminine: ‘la casa.’

‘Pencil,’ however, is masculine: ‘el lapiz.’

So, a student asked, ‘What gender is ‘social network’?

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether ‘social network’ should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

 

 

 

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation. The men’s group decided that social network should definitely be of the feminine gender, because:

1. No one but their creator understands the internal logic of the network;

2. The language network members use to communicate with other members is sometimes incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes or criticisms are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one of the networks, you find yourself spending half of your available time in checking on the updates.  

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women’s group, however, concluded that social network should be Masculine, because:

1. In order to socialise with each other, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data  and information but still no body can comprehend all by themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but sometimes they may BECOME the problem (especially when the network is choked with information overload); and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better one to join.

Who won?  

This is to be shared with all the smart women you know…and all the men that have a good sense of humor.

But please take it as a laugh only.

John

I see, and I remember…..

Will raises an important question in his interesting People remember 10%, 20%… .  What is the correct figures for how much people remember through their senses – reading, hearing, seeing, hearing and seeing, and doing.    Will concludes with the following suggestions and comments:

How to Improve the Situation

It will seem obvious, but each and every one of us must take responsibility for the information we transmit to ensure its integrity. More importantly, we must be actively skeptical of the information we receive. We ought to check the facts, investigate the evidence, and evaluate the research. Finally, we must continue our personal search for knowledge—for it is only with knowledge that we can validly evaluate the claims that we encounter.

George Siemens asks “What can visuals do that text can’t?”, and Dave Gray just presented such a visual about text that answers the question.  In the What can visuals do by X28

The verbal description of the communication process has to use words, like “pack” and “unpack” a thought, which keep suggesting the misconception that the content is invariably transported across the communication channel (which, in turn, suggests a false supremacy of content). The visual, by contrast, immediately shows how different and how much richer the ideas at both sides of the “pipe” are, and that the connection may be more important than the content.

On Communicating visually George says

Some sloppy research on the old “10%hear, 20%read, 80%do”

He further raises these questions:

Why I want to use images/visuals. To increase effectiveness of learners who take a course I teach? To improve my ability to communicate? What can visuals do that text can’t? And where is the research that supports that claim?

“I hear, and I forget;
I see, and I remember;
I do, and I understand”

from Confucius, the famous Chinese Philosopher and Thinker.  It’s an educational philosophy often quoted in educational journals and books. To what extent is it still applicable at this digital age?

Images, visuals have all played different “roles” under different context, situations, and they seem to form not only a visual pattern, but also microscopic patterns which are not visible by human eyes.  They could be seen under electronic microscope - or patterns within patterns, and within patterns.   The big patterns are made up of small patterns.  And that’s the challenge!

Let’s see below an enigma:

What is this pattern made up of?  Did you see the pattern?

Besides, there are also hearing and sound patterns (the music, the songs), tactile patterns (the pains, the tinkling, the itch) and breathing patterns (the stresses, the relaxation, the sleep) etc. that may be associated with the showing of images and visuals, and the text in learning.  Through the linking of visual patterns to other patterns such as sound, tactile and breathing, will it add to our understanding of why some people learn better with certain senses and not others?  Also, will that explain why some people who are known as “visual learners” will find it easier to identify with visual aids.  Though this is not backed up or explained fully by research findings, this could be an interesting area to explore.  See my previous Comments on What Makes You a Blogger? on this.  I am not sure if there has been any researches done on this.  If not, is it worthwhile to do so?

When we are communicating with blogs, images and visuals add a different dimension in communicating the tacit knowledge.  Such images and visuals often stay the test of time and space in their physical forms.  They could, however, be perceived differently by different readers and bloggers.  Same images and visuals presented  could lead to hundreds or even thousands of interpretation, if it is left alone as a Flickr image or slide show without words or explanation.  Such images may also be interpreted differently by the same reader at a later time, in a different space or angle.   There is also the saying: “A picture worths more than thousand words”.   So, what does this mean?

Would it reveal you with the philosophy of life through those images and visuals, in a different dimension, time and space?

See pictures below and I would like you to share with me what you see:

After a week, would you be interpreting these pictures the same way or differently?

If I were to talk about power in the network, how about this picture?

What do you think about the power of this “crab”?  Does it provide you with a pattern or knowledge of power?

So, if we are to consider the notion that knowledge IS THE PATTERN (adapted from George and Stephen under Connectivism), does it mean that by studying, revealing  and reflecting on the pattern (images, visual or others such as sound or hearing, tactile, breathing) OR texts, we could gain a deeper understanding of knowledge (both tacit and explicit knowledge) – the PATTERNS?

What could we conclude?  Can visual help us in communicating better?  Will we be able to remember “a message” or “knowledge or pattern” better?  Do we learn better with visuals and images? You decide.

To be continued….

Transformational Thinking behind blogging and on-line discussion

This is my response to Jenny’s What Makes a Post Valuable.  Jenny writes:

For me, the post has to resonate with my own experience in some way. It has to make a connection, either to my understanding and experience of the subject or in a social capacity. This initial connection makes the post meaningful and makes me read on.

Deciding whether a post is valuable or not is slightly different. I have to relate the post to my own context, experience and needs and determine whether the post will have an effect on any of these.  As a tutor online I try to connect with my student. To do this I try to find out as much as I can about them so that I can connect with them on a personal level and post something that resonates with their experience and is meaningful. I think this initial relationship building can help successive posts to become more meaningful and hopefully valuable.

May I refer to my previous posts on Parallel Thinking – the 6 hats in blog discussion and Transformational Thinking – the additional hats in thinking in my interpretation of transformational thinking behind blogging, or on-line discussion over the network?

Here is the suggested model based on 8 hats:

1. Whenever we read a post in a blog or microblog, we might be looking for information (white hat).   We may ask questions on “What information is available from this blog?”, and “What information is missing?”, “What information is based on facts, beliefs or opinions etc.?” (white and black hats) etc.

2. Then when we found some relevance or resonance with our experience, we will continue to critically ask if the information presented is meaningful or not (black hat).

3. We then find out more information from our learner or blogger by retrieving and searching backgrounds of the learner or the blogger via the introduction to blog, previous blogs or URL links (white hat again). 

4. We may further reflect on the experience ourselves and see how our experiences could echo with that of the learner or blogger, or if there are new experiences that could be acquired.  This relates to the whole thinking, reflection process (blue hat)

5. We will then respond to questions or leave comments, suggest modifications, or provide advice (green hat).  We will also formulate the comments and response in message that the learner or blogger could comprehend. We will also try to use creative thinking in the process.  This could include using innovative responses (e.g. a video or graphic response or a referral to such media) (green hat).   

6 And if the comment is received with “acknowledgement” by the learner/blogger, then it may turn up to be meaningful and valuable one (yellow hat) from their perspectives.   These may be validated through their responses or feedback to the educator/reader.

7. Throughout these reading/reflection/response processes, we (the educator/blogger) may have thought about the intention and identity of the learner/blogger (purple hat) and check whether the post contains unique concepts that relate to the learner. 

8. As an educator, one could further inspire the learner/blogger through the use of media (videos, pictures, slides, music or songs, lyrics, poems, story) that will transmit our emotions or remarks of an emotional nature – likes or dislikes, love or hatred  in our response post or comments left on the learners’ post (red hat).  

9. These responses will assist in connecting ourselves with the other bloggers /learners with the nature or our spirits (colourless or transparent hat).

The above metaphors of hats may not happen in a linear fashion, and there could be loops and shortcuts when the educator and learner have established further connections with each other.  Further validation of this model via research (surveys, interviews, and discussions) is required.

How about a concept or mind map on the above?

How do these sound to you?