Jing + Prezi for Dr. Daly's class

Here is a presentation I made in Summer 2011 with Jing and Prezi on conflict management in libraries for one of Dr. Daly's class right after I started working at Pasadena City College. It's fun to see where I was in Prezi skills...I've made some improvement but more room to grow still. 

 

I'll be taking another shot at this for the Future Scenario presentation. Watch out for this!

Disruptive innovation and periodical articles

Gather round researchers and listen to a tale from back in the day. In pre-Internet times, it was really hard to find periodical literature (AKA newspapers, magazines, and journals). You used print indexes like the Reader's Guide below to find an article citation and then you hoped the library had a subscription to the title you needed in print, microform, or microfiche. There was time spent in the stacks, you had to often use a photocopier...can you imagine???

Computer technology and the Internet severely disrupted print indexes and today we have electronic databases for abstracting and indexing articles.   

 

In Christensen's "disruptive innovation" theory, companies end up producing products or services that are actually too sophisticated, too expensive, and too complicated for many customers. As a librarian, what came to mind for me was periodical databases (newspapers, magazines, and journals). A common database at college and university libraries is EBSCOhost. 

When our students are very familiar with simple and clean Google and Wikipedia search interfaces, I argue that the Advanced Search interface is intimidating and complicated with the boolean operators, multiple fields, and search limiters.  

 

Academic library customers are our main users: students and faculty. Electronic databases have expensive annual subscriptions with prices rising faster than inflation (see EBSCO, 2011). Database companies continue to design new interfaces with more bells and whistles. I often watch students using databases when I teach library research sessions - their information seeking process does not involve complicated search strings. I can see how students can be turned off from using library databases and use free tools such as Google Scholar. 

In addition to supporting the open access movement, librarians need to advocate for better products for our students and faculty. Sometimes we need to make hard decisions such as cancelling subscriptions to databases that are difficult to use instead of arguing that we can teach users to "get over the clunky interface." I'm excited to see another disruptive technology: library discovery platforms, that allow cross-searching across library databases and books.  

TEDxUCLA: x means independent

I love TEDtalks. Compelling, simple, poignant stories. They made me laugh, they make me cry. I learn...with not much effort. When the opportunity to attend a full-day TEDx event at my alma mater, UCLA, presented itself and we didn't have class on this particular Saturday, I felt like the stars were aligned.

The "x" in TEDx signals an independently organized TED event. In some ways, this is awesome that any group that have "ideas worth sharing" can congregate in an area and borrow the TED format, sharing an amazing story in less than 18 minutes. Independent TEDx events are volunteer driven and this one was reasonably priced: $50 for students, $80 for general admission.

There were some excellent talks. My favorites were Prof Jorge Cham, author of PhD comics who discussed the Science Gap in America and Tall Bike Bobby who argued anyone can tour the U.S. on bike and rode his talk bike on stage. At the same time, I was really disappointed by the amount of technology fail that occurred: slideshows not playing video clips, two audio tracks played at the same time, Skype audio not working. My biggest complaint: two TEDtalks were played for the audiences. Seemed like filler material to me...just like the Subway box lunches.     

Since attending, I've heard that TEDx events are hit or miss. I'm glad I attended to see what the hype was all about but don't need to do it again unless the speaker list looks solid. I'd love to attend the real TED conference in Long Beach but don't have an extra $6,000-$7,500+. For now, I'll stick to the online videos on TED.com and appreciate how the Internet provides me access to amazing things for free...not unlike MOOC's but that's another blog post.

Cognitive surplus and education

Clay Shirky shares how programmers created an open-source crisis mapping system, named Ushahidi, in response to ethnic tensions and web blackouts in Kenya. This platform has been used all over the world and requires the digital technology. Participatory models such as the crisis mapping demonstrates a concept Shirky dubs as "cognitive surplus" that describes our motivation to be creative and be generous. LOLCats is an example, albeit silly, example of cognitive surplus that is participatory and communal.     

We discussed intrinsic motivation in class in relation to Drive by Daniel Pink and how punishments can be harmful. This is illustrated in the example Shirky relays with late parents at Israeli day care and fines that did not rely on social generosity. Web 2.0 tools and other internet platfroms are increasing opportunities to collaborate and create things of civic value such as Wikipedia, CouchSurfing, and Kiva (micro lending). I love that through Kiva, I can help fund small business loans in Honduras and Vietnam and re-loan money after I'm paid back.

Cognitive surplus is epitomized in open-source projects and free-ware. We see examples in education such as the learning management systems, Edmodo and Moodle. There is a shift in education occurring with free massive online open courses, or MOOCs, such as Khan Academy and MIT OpenCourseware. Anyone with an Internet connection is now able to learn for free if the motivation is there...this will change how we educators do business and what value we offer.

Hotel Rwanda or Sex in the City? Beware of the Filter Bubble

From http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news

In his viral TED talk, Eli Pariser from MoveOn.org clearly names and shows how the internet is being personalized and the impact this has on society and ethics. With web filtering or "invisible algorithmic editing of the web," the results we see in Google, Facebook, and many other web companies are being altered based on data that is collected about us. Pariser dubs this a "filter bubble" where you don't see what is edited out.  

The issue with the filter bubble is that these algorithms decide what to show us depending on what links we click on. What we want to see may differ greatly from what we need to see. Pariser's example using Netflix queues resonated with me. Although I felt like I needed to watch the film, Hotel Rwanda, that portrays genocide, I got through all seasons of Sex and the City first. With a filter bubble, I would not see the option of renting the difficult-to-watch film that helped me learn and reflect on this atrocity - and what we can do to ensure it doesn't happen again.

I agree with Pariser that a good flow of information is key to democracy and this is one of the reasons that I'm passionate about libraries and information science. He argues that web algorithms need a sense of civic responsibility embedded in them and that individuals should have some ability to control the results we see. The Internet has opened floodgates of information and has rapidly transformed our day to day lives. It's in our best interest to keep the Internet open and accessible.

To Ed.D or not Ed.D

This weekend, I attended a panel on Ed.D programs at the California Association of Professors of Education Administration (CAPEA) Conference and read Perry's article to Ed.D or not Ed.D in Kappan Magazine. A great read for current and prospective Ed.D students, describing the work of the Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate (CPED). As a prospective student, I had concerns about the perception of the Ed.D degree as a Ph.D light and I still find myself often explaining what an Ed.D degree is to family, friends, coworkers,  and even strangers. My big takeaway from the conference is that the Ed.D is a relevant degree for education practitioners and the research produced can strongly impact our fields.


The concept of praxis, combining theory and practice, has been appealing to me in my daily work in academic libraries. Go to any academic library conference and the term, "evidence-based research" is bandied about as a way to improve our services and demonstrate the value of academic libraries. Putting my library career on hold to attend a full-time Ph.D program was not an option I chose since my career path was administration, not academia. The Ed.D allows me flexibility to focus on leadership in academic libraries and to learn from a diverse group of educational leaders. The evening, weekend, and occasionally online coursework enables me to continue my full-tme work. I've gained so many insights about my own workplace through application of educational and leadership theories. Improving my work performance and leadership skills while conducting research that adds to the library and information science field makes me confident in my choice to Ed.D.

 

Caring, Daring and Sharing: Learning in New Media Environments

In the TED talk above, Cultural Anthropologist, Dr. Mike White opens with his experience in Papua New Guinea observing the introduction of books and censuses in a remote area and the dramatic impact on the culture. This rapid change is used as an analogy for social media and its impact on our culture. With opportunities as well as challenges in this new environment, Dr. White declares we need more open, caring, daring, creative, collaborative, self-motivated and voracious learners.

In order to do this, he suggests that we utilize new media to empower students and promote collaboration. Students need to become participants in the learning process and traditional models of instruction that treat students as empty vessels need to change. The current state of education is highlighted in the viral video, A Vision of Students Today, that Dr. White created with his 200 cultural anthropology students. There are many powerful new media tools that exist that allow students to be active participants in learning and impact others outside the classroom. To promote this educational shift as an instructor and a leader, I must strive to be an open, caring, daring, creative, collaborative, self-motivated, and voracious learner.