A six minute reflection of the recent education.au seminar (http://www.educationau.edu.au/jahia/Jahia/whatschanged); Audio in full at http://feeds.feedburner.com/eduauweb2

So what's changed? Technology, expectations, connections and collaboration...

Philip Adams:
Long time media commentator in Australia on politics, media, divinity and spirituality, etc! Compere of ABC’s Late Night Live

After beginning with a ritual shot at George Bush, “the silliest man to lead a country since Caligula”) Philip Adams urged us to teach in the new technology and use it to teach students how to protect themslelves from this self-same technology.
Data ≠ info ≠ knowledge ≠ wisdom
The new technology is both exhilarating and daunting, but beware technological determinism.
James: technology does matter!
Does the new publishing phemonenon give the ignorant undue influence?
James: ‘Citizen journalism’ about as much value as ‘citizen dentistry’
Traditional media reps (like Adams) are ‘gate-keepers’; he is a gatekeeper in a mediated world; in the unmediated world the content is more biased, but full of infinite promise.
“Every new technology breaks its promise.”
Self-censorhip is the most insidious of all censorships (eg when there is fear of losing job)
Censorship does not work – intelligence and a value/belief system works.
Students need to be taught the difference between “fact and foolishness”.
“We don’t send kids down the coalmines anymore; we send them into shopping malls as consumers.” – corporate paedophilia.
Media bombardment is not healthy or therapautic. Cause of ADD?
We must use the new technology to ‘vaccinate students’against the ‘toxic sludge’; it displays the best and worst (technology is amoral); we must build up their immune systems.

James Farmer: Online Community Editor editor of the Age (Melbourne), and founder of edublogs.org - http://edublogs.org/

Prefers to engage people not software.
Tech + education ≠ engagement + empowerment; principally because of the use of forum software (disengaging)
Edublogs: 16,000 blogs in the first year
Many roads lead to Rome