Long article in First Monday by Lorcan Dempsey about the impact on libraries of "always on / always connected" devices. Excerpt:
Specifically, what policies should govern learner's access to the Internet when in college using their own devices, and how should these differ (if at all) from the policies that apply when they are using college-provided devices? (Answer, content filtering other than by connectivity suppliers is increasingly irrelevant.)
And, if learners are using a wide range of devices to access college and other learning-related services, who is best placed to host and configure these for distribution to such devices? (Answer, surely, third parties with the expertise and above all large scale to do it well.)
"As networking spreads, we have multiple connection points which offer
different grades of experience (the desktop, cell phone, xBox or Wii,
GPS system, smartphone, ultra–portable notebook, and so on). While
these converge in various ways, they are also optimized for different
purposes. A natural accompaniment of this mesh of connection points is
a move of many services to the cloud, available on the network across
these multiple devices and environments. This means that an exclusive
focus on the institutional Web site as the primary delivery mechanism
and the browser as the primary consumption environment is increasingly
partial."
The general point made applies equally to students and to employees in their on-line relationships with their school/college/university/employer, and squares with some thinking we've been doing in a mobile learning initiative at The Sheffield College, where I am a Governor. Specifically, what policies should govern learner's access to the Internet when in college using their own devices, and how should these differ (if at all) from the policies that apply when they are using college-provided devices? (Answer, content filtering other than by connectivity suppliers is increasingly irrelevant.)
And, if learners are using a wide range of devices to access college and other learning-related services, who is best placed to host and configure these for distribution to such devices? (Answer, surely, third parties with the expertise and above all large scale to do it well.)
You said "Answer, content filtering other than by connectivity suppliers is increasingly irrelevant."
I'd be interested to hear of how the College decides to react to that increasing irrelevance. I detect concern about 'duty of care' to younger students in my particular setting, i.e. basically legal requirements for filtering.
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Hello Keith. When and if a policy has been arrived at, and assuming it is public, I will be glad to share it. Seb
Posted by: Keith Burnett | 25/01/2009 at 16:19