Digital connectedness: maximizing the potential of your network
Sue Beckingham FSEDA (@suebecks #cll1213)SEDA and Sheffield Hallam University
“People need to learn how to connect to new people on a regular basis. No person has all the knowledge needed to work completely alone in our connected society. Neither does any company. Neither does any government.
We are all connected AND dependent on each other.”
Harold Jarche
Connectedness
students
colleagues
family
friendsspecialism acquaintances
business advisors
service providers
Connections
YOU
YOU
students and
alumni
colleagues
family
friendsspecialism acquaintances
business advisors
service providers
Strong Connections
bossesco-workers
subordinates
school/uni, hobbies, neighbours, work etc
parents siblingschildren
students and
alumni
colleagues
family
friendsspecialism acquaintances
business advisors
service providers
Weak Connections
YOU
Exchanges could be between...
lecturer and student
student and student
student and employer
administrator and CEO
educator and
journalist
researcher and
funding body
lifelong learner and
lifelong learner
Knowledge from a network perspective is about
connecting experiences, relationships, and
situations.Jarche 2013
Purposes of Networking
•buying, selling, getting a job, getting a contract, advertising, etc.Transactions
•business, music, friendship, romance, hobbies, college, etc.Relationships
•campaigns, aid, human rights, climate change, politics, etc.Awareness
•medical, recovery programmes, mental health, self-help, etc.Care
•learning networks, research, personal development, etc.Knowledge
•music, video, sports, etc.Entertainment
•online religious practice, religious groups, spiritual paths, etc.Religion and spirituality
The Tracker Model (West in D'Souza 2011)
A “social network” can be defined as a set of nodes or actors (persons or organizations) linked by social
relationships or ties of a specified type.
A tie or relation between two actors has both strength and content. The content might include information,
advice, or friendship, shared interest or membership, and typically some level of trust.
Castilla, Hwang, Granovetter and Granovetter. 2000
The strength of interpersonal ties is a combination of the amount of time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy (mutual confiding and the reciprocal services which characterises the tie Granovetter 1973:1361
(Hoffman and Casnocha 2012:06)
However… weak ties can uniquely serve as bridges to other worlds and thus can pass on information or opportunities you have not heard about.
Six degrees of separation theoryAnyone can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances and that we are just six introductions away from any other person
1st 2nd 3rd
YOU
Three degrees is the magic number because when you’re introduced to a 2nd or 3rd degree connection,
at least one person in an introduction chain personally knows the origin or target person
Danah Boyd 2013
Social Media Scholar and Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research
“Social networks aren't technologies. They're relationships between people. And those relationships might be mediated through technology, but it's the relationships that matter more than the technology.”
Social Media:
• is a listening tool• a conversation facilitator• a stakeholder connector• a personal learning
network• a news channel• a social networking
channel
Social Media:
• can enable connections• is a two-way enabling
dialogue providing opportunities for feedback and interaction
• is now an integral component of how we can communicate with our communities and connections
Social media is "used to describe the type of
media that is based on conversation and
interaction between people online.
Where media means digital words, sounds &
pictures which are typically shared via the
internet
International School Bangkok http://isb21.wikispaces.com/
21st Century Literacy Skills
Graphic literacy i.e. infographics
Navigation literacy i.e. internet geography
Context and connections literacy i.e. PLNs
Focus literacy i.e. time for solitude switch
Multitasking literacy i.e. appliances, people
Scepticism literacy i.e. ‘crap detection’
Ethical literacy i.e. trust
Ra
inie
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d W
ellm
an
(20
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2-2
74)
New Literacies for Networked Individuals
BUT… Are we seeing all that we could? Beware online "filter bubbles"
Eli Pariser 2011 – Screenshot from TED talk
57 signals Google looks at
Invisible algorithmic editing of the web....
Is personalising what you see but potentially narrowing our
worldview
FilterBy developing good connections with shared interests,
collaboratively we can filter what is relevant to us
In pairs discuss how you currently find experts
Tip:For a future exercise answers could be collated in a shared Google Doc
“Networks of people are being mediated such that people are easily able to see who is connected to whom and leverage loose ties to achieve all sorts of work-related goals.
Individual knowledge is often less important than being connected to the right people.”Danah Boyd 2013
Go to LInkedIn Maps
Log in with your LinkedIn username and password
How to create visualisations of your connections
Note: you may revoke authorisation for these apps from the settings on each tool
Couros 2008
Many Educators have been networking and sharing for some time. How do we help get more on board?
Sue BeckinghamEducational Developer
Sheffield Hallam University
@suebeckshttp://uk.linkedin.com/in/suebeckinghamhttp://gplus.to/suebecks
Changing the Learning Landscape – Where are we now with digital literacies?University of Exeter