[p2p-research] Fwd: THIRD WORLD UNIVERSITIES FORUM

Tue Apr 28 17:34:54 CEST 2009

Paola:

Something wierd is going.  You and I keep ending up in the same discussions
talking about ourselves in similar ways in fairly different corners of the
web...and their are others like us.

Of all the many blogs I look at, I always resonated with Michel's most.
There are others, like George Siemens, and come to find they are also
habitating similar spaces as each other.  Yet when I try to make it all neat
and pretty for myself--it is difficult to see the theoretical structure.  It
is something like realist, post-structural, mutualist, pro-civil society,
semi-anarchist, greenish, sympathetic to socialism but extremely
antithetical to autocracy, loss of liberties...?

Many of us are self-educated in a Deweyian sense--wanderers, habitual
researchers with little drive to "publish".  We are often employed at the
peripheries of universities or in social welfare organizations that are
international yet with local focuses.

"We" are a something.  Webniks?  Even the people we interact with in the
academic/university framework tend to be similar persons or linked ones.
--Philanthropy, net governance, civil society theorists, e-democracy types,
people who link social sciences and evolution closely...

I would like to articulate what "we" is...not to institutionalize it, but to
understand this wierd co-location of several of us on twitter, in listservs,
in peripheral university roles related to governance and civil society
theory, disaster recovery and few more recurring touchpoints.

Any ideas anyone?

Ryan Lanham

On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 9:48 AM, <paola.dimaio at gmail.com> wrote:

> HI Pamela
>
> thanks for your interest
>
> It's very complicated, coming from a multidisciplinary background, and with
> years of work experience in different fields, (and never made money really)
> I consider myself as always learning most things , and occasionally teaching
> something along the way.
>
> When I taught software engineering, my students could teach me PHP
> programmeing, for any thing that I can teach, there are ten things that I
> can learn from others,
>
> however many institutions are still set up to prevent knowledge sharing ,
> with their silly and redundant organisationa, bureaucratic and social
> structures, they are just  pretending  nobody asks the right questions, and
> nobody answers them
>
>  I work as a lecturer and researcher, and now doing a phd (I enrolled a
> couple of months ago, back to being a student and have mixed feelings about
> it)  . My field is 'systems engineering' and one reason I love that, is that
> it encompasses everything. ahah, blows my mind too, yes, systems, and
> systems of systems..... haha ... everything
>
> There is a lot that I would like to share about the topics of discussion,
> maybe one day we should have a multiconference and
> speak on video to one another. sorry If I am not participating more
> actively in discussion, topics are improtant and v interesting
>
> I see HE should be more seen as CE (continuing Education) better still
> continuing learning,  I regard learning as
> a) knowledge transfer, which needs processes to be enabled and supported,
> that is the role of unis in the future I think, as well as b) personal and
> social experiences that expand one mind and consciouness
>
> where do I fit? you tell me......
> lets talk more soon
>
> PDM
>
>
>
> I
>
> On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 11:29 AM, Pamela McLean <pam54321 at googlemail.com>wrote:
>
>> Thanks for your response Paola
>>
>> I do find some of the people are open, but the system does not help
>> regarding interaction and collaboration (No time to explain that or put it
>> in context at present).
>>
>> I wonder "where you fit" regarding HE, teaching learning etc. I am
>> interested in your observations and would understand them better with more
>> context.
>>
>> Pam
>>
>>
>> 2009/4/28 <paola.dimaio at gmail.com>
>>
>> Pamela
>>>
>>> Most of the things your write below are exactly what I wanted to say but
>>> did not have time to articulate, in relation to the role of unis and
>>> lecturers etc
>>
>>
>>
>>> quick comments
>>> 1.hopefully they have open boundaries, meaning that we do not have to
>>> 'go' to interact with them
>>>
>>
>>> 2. learning pertains to life, and the fact that you are not an academic
>>> does not mean that you dont know someting about academica, academics tend to
>>> be ver narrow minded cause they know extremely well their domain, and are
>>> totally ignorant of many other things
>>>
>>> 3.i do believe in self directedness, but I would continue to emphasise
>>> the need for becoming acquainted with the body of literature. I mean, i
>>> would expect anone who is learning a topic to familiarise themselves with
>>> everything that there is to know about it, including the standard
>>> sillabus.
>>
>> however what I see is that today professors and all tell their students
>>> what *they* consider the version of the truth, thus leaving the student
>>> under tthe impression that everything elese dos not matter or is false. I
>>> hope in the future students will be able to put together what their
>>> professor says, and compare it with what other professors say, and then
>>> become self directed in what they consider sould be pursued further
>>>
>>> 4, I see change happen from the top, but a lot is 'wasted' due to
>>> systemic reasons, of which I would like to discuss in more detail when
>>> possible. i see web based technologies already in place offering the
>>> greatest potential for change from the bottom up, and people not using them.
>>> looks to me that the processes and procedures need to be revised
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> p
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 11:48 PM, Pamela McLean <pam54321 at googlemail.com
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> This topic really interests me - but as a non-academic I'm not
>>>> considering attending and I don't submit papers to journals because papers
>>>> get peer reviewed and my writing is too journalistic  - I only describe what
>>>> I have observed in practice and thought about, and I don't  relate it to
>>>> adademic research. This is because, as a practitioner, I don't know enough
>>>> (if anything) about relevant academic research.
>>>>
>>>> I wonder if anyone will be going? I wonder how this looks from the
>>>> academic side of the fence. I would be interested in contributing to this is
>>>> there was an appropriate way to do so.
>>>>
>>>> From my informal education side I think what is happening  in the
>>>> informal sector has pointers for where higher education may go in future. I
>>>> think that what post-graduate level independent, self-directed, learners are
>>>> doing (online, outside of universities, to continue their learning) may have
>>>> some relevance to universities.
>>>>
>>>> I have the impression there is a move towards self direction in some
>>>> university courses. For example in some situations students are able to
>>>> include self directed work (events they have attended, additional things
>>>> they have read or followed up in some way) in their online portfolios of
>>>> work (presumably this influences how their work is judged in some way). I
>>>> think of two presentations I've heard at different events in London recently
>>>> which were relevant to this trend. (Philip Butler for instance is doing
>>>> interesting work related to this in his work using Moodle, also someone else
>>>> - probably at CDE London - is doing work with music students which includes
>>>> capturing many different aspects of the music itself and the student's work
>>>> related to it.)
>>>>
>>>> I know that when I was studying with the OU there was great freedom to
>>>> create your own personal, very individual, degree course. The courses that
>>>> made up the degree could be selected from various faculties, as long as you
>>>> were progressing appropriately in your level of study and you judged that
>>>> you had the necessary knowledge and skills to tackle the course you had
>>>> chosen. This opportunity to choose meant there could be a unique and useful
>>>> relationship between formal OU courses (studied  in your "spare time") and
>>>> what you had already learned (and were continuing to learn) in your parallel
>>>> life in the "real world" of "the university of life" and full-time work.
>>>>
>>>> I think there is already much more flexibility, such as credit
>>>> transfers, than when I was back in the sixth-form discovering what
>>>> universities offered ( and failing to go to one). I hope there will be
>>>> increasing flexibility in future university courses, with many more degrees
>>>> offering the variety I enjoyed through my OU studies (perhaps this already
>>>> happens).
>>>>
>>>> I also wonder about the role of universities in accrediting people at
>>>> the end of their studies. I think people want accreditataion normally in
>>>> order to enter the full-time employment market. I think (in some areas of
>>>> work, especially those that relate to information) we are moving away from
>>>> full-time permanent jobs towards a more independent, dynamic approach to
>>>> earning a living. I think it will become  less usual to have a full-time
>>>> permanent job and more usual to have short term collaborative work (with
>>>> individual people often having a portfolio of projects they are working on,
>>>> perhaps in a number of different collaborative teams).
>>>>
>>>> I think students (working towards information related work) will
>>>> gradually develop and demonstrate competence (perhaps through voluntary
>>>> work) by being involved in projects (perhaps "real" projects, perhaps
>>>> "artificial" projects set up for learning purposes only). As they
>>>> demonstrate competence  they will be offered more challenging opportunities
>>>> to prove their worth (like the system in Appache - as I understand it - of
>>>> rising though merit).  Ultimately people, who  are good enough, will be
>>>> invited to take part in projects that are being done for money. These
>>>> opportunities to work for money may well be happening in parallel with
>>>> university studies. Any student who has sufficiently developed and showcased
>>>> his/her skills in order to attract a portfolio of paid projects may then
>>>> have reduced motivation to continue to the end of a university course in
>>>> order to get formal accreditation. This is particularly likely if  the
>>>> student has dicsovered how to continue studying well outside of the formal
>>>> system
>>>>
>>>> I wonder if the main role of the university may become one of mentoring
>>>> the students (rather then lecturing/teaching them and testing them). If you
>>>> are a student then the main difference between independent informal learning
>>>> and learning at a univirsity may be the opportunity to have someone who is
>>>> your personal mentor, guiding you through your individual learning journey,
>>>> helping you to clarify what you might need to learn next and how you might
>>>> go about it. Of course it is possible this personal mentoring role is how
>>>> universities tend to work now anyhow - I don't know - I'm not in the system
>>>> .
>>>>
>>>> I wonder if the need for additional provision in the "Third World" may
>>>> mean that new things tend to happen there faster - but I don't know about
>>>> that. However various things I have been reading seem to suggest change is
>>>> on the way everywhere - but I don't know abou tthat either e.g
>>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27taylor.html?pagewanted=1
>>>>
>>>> I wonder what those of you in the academic system see happening.
>>>>
>>>> Pam
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>> From: Wittel, Andreas <andreas.wittel at ntu.ac.uk>
>>>> Date: 2009/4/27
>>>> Subject: [p2p-research] THIRD WORLD UNIVERSITIES FORUM
>>>> To:
>>>> Cc: Peer-To-Peer Research List <p2presearch at listcultures.org>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This could be an opportunity to develop a vision for the future of
>>>> universities, something which could be considered to be a position
>>>> associated with the p2p foundation. Is there some interest for
>>>> collaboration?
>>>>
>>>> Andreas
>>>>
>>>> THIRD WORLD UNIVERSITIES FORUM
>>>> Davos, Switzerland
>>>> 9-11 January 2010
>>>> http://UniversitiesForum.com <http://universitiesforum.com/> <
>>>> https://outlook.ntu.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://UniversitiesForum.com
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>> Inspired partly by the success of World Economic Forum in hosting global
>>>> conversations about emerging issues of economic policy, the World
>>>> Universities Forum (WUF) was created in 2008 in the belief that academe must
>>>> better engage today's most crucial questions, and that higher education
>>>> itself must be included as part of the wider discussion of global change.
>>>>  The Forum encourages the participation of university executives,
>>>> administrators, scholars and research students, as well as journalists,
>>>> policy makers, business and political leaders, and others who understand
>>>> that the importance of the university extends well beyond campus. While WUF
>>>> encourages conversations about all aspects of higher education policy and
>>>> practice, the keynotes for the third WUF have been invited to consider
>>>> issues of the current global economic crisis and its implications for
>>>> universities.
>>>>
>>>> Keynote speakers include:
>>>> * Professor Eva Egron-Polak (International Association of Universities,
>>>> France)
>>>> * Professor Jonathan Jansen (Rector, University of the Free State, South
>>>> Africa)
>>>> * Professor Simon Marginson (University of Melbourne, Australia)
>>>> * Professor Nigel Thrift (Vice Chancellor, University of Warwick, UK)
>>>> * Professor Pandhyala B.G. Tilak (National University of Educational
>>>> Planning & Administration, India)
>>>>
>>>> In addition, the Forum will also include numerous paper, workshop and
>>>> colloquium presentations. We would particularly like to invite you to
>>>> respond to the Forum Call-for-Papers. Presenters may choose to submit
>>>> written papers for publication in the refereed Journal of the World
>>>> Universities Forum. If you are unable to attend the Forum in person, virtual
>>>> registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for
>>>> review and possible publication in the Journal, and provide access to the
>>>> online edition of the Journal.
>>>>
>>>> Whether you are a virtual or in-person presenter at this Conference, we
>>>> also encourage you to present on the Conference YouTube Channel. Please
>>>> select the Online Sessions link on the Conference website for further
>>>> details.
>>>>
>>>> The deadline for the next round in the call for papers (a title and
>>>> short abstract) is 14 May 2009.  Future deadlines will be announced on the
>>>> Forum website after this date.  Proposals are reviewed within two weeks of
>>>> submission. Full details of the Forum, including an online proposal
>>>> submission form, may be found at the Forum website -
>>>> http://UniversitiesForum.com <http://universitiesforum.com/> <
>>>> https://outlook.ntu.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://UniversitiesForum.com>
>>>> .
>>>>
>>>> We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you will be able to
>>>> join us in Davos in January 2010.
>>>>
>>>> Yours Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Professor Fazal Rizvi
>>>> Department of Educational Policy Studies University of Illinois Urbana,
>>>> Illinois, USA
>>>> For the International Advisory Board of the World Universities Forum and
>>>> the Journal of the World Universities Forum
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Paola Di Maio,
>>> ****************************************
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Paola Di Maio,
> ****************************************
>
>
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