Fortnightly Mailing

The wisdom of crowds a.k.a. Distributed Problem Solving Networks - open forum in Oxford on 31/1/2008

There will be an open forum on the performance of Distributed Problem Solving Networks organised the Oxford Internet Institute on 31/1/2008 between 16.30 and 18.00 at the Said Business School.

"The forum is motivated by the growing 'buzz' in the business press about exploiting 'the wisdom of crowds' and related forms of Distributed Problem Solving. At the same time executives in the public and private sectors are beginning to seriously consider the future potential of these developments: the forum is designed to inform the debate about the potentialities and limitations of these new organizational forms."   

Confirmed speakers include:   

• Professor Scott Page (University of Michigan)   
• Professor Karim Lakhani (Harvard Business School)   
• John Wilbanks (Science Commons)   
• Professor Paul David (OII) (Chair)   

To book a place email your name and affiliation, if any, to:  events@oii.ox.ac.uk.

The University of Google

There has been plenty of coverage stemming from Tara Brabazon's "The University of Google", and Brabazon's recent inaugural lecture at Brighton University, where she is Professor of Media. Here is a selection:

• White bread for young minds, says professor - The Times, 14 January 2008;
• Reference books: give me Wikipedia - The Times, 16 January 2008;
• Lecturer bans students from using Google and Wikipedia - Brighton (?) Argus;
• Plagiarism - blame academia, not students - Donald Clark 19 January 2008.

Brabazon seems to be being lumped in with Andrew "cult of the amateur"  Keen as a "snobby traditionalist". I'm not so sure. Though I found her book a bit of a curate's egg, there is nothing wrong with her underlying argument that as the world's information becomes available

i) through the single entry-point of web-search, and

ii) decreasingly pre-filtered by experts

people, including students, need different and better ways of judging the quality and relevance of what they find.

I liked the extensive use of footnotes to sources, the book's generally sharp attitude to top-down managerialism in Higher Education, and its concrete and credible examples of assignments designed to develop students' information literacy. And Brabazon is clear about the power and value of, for example, Google Scholar, and Google Book Search.

But I did have reservations. The carefully crafted chapter-titles (e.g. "Digital Eloi and analogue Morlocks") began to niggle, and the book could have been 40% shorter. Though I imagine that Brabazon is an inspirational and committed teacher who makes a big and beneficial difference to her students (it is interesting to read the student comment on the Brighton Argus article above), she seems almost to need to show us how much her students think of her, even if this happens, in passing, whilst discussing, justifiably, real exchanges between her and her students. (I do not share her apparent stance that teachers have to be central to learning.) Brabazon is completely silent on the work of people like Lawrence Lessig and David Weinberger, and she steers clear of any significant discussion of "Open Source and  Open Content", with Wikipedia warranting only a couple of pages.  [I do not know when the copy for the book was finalised, but if this was after early 2007, then I think Wikia's efforts to involve users in improving the quality of search results (see also SearchWikia), should have got a mention.]

Finally, Brabazon's argument hinged in part on the incorrect premise that Google's page rank system (see also this 1998 paper by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page [124 kB PDF]) takes account of how many actual hits the page being ranked gets, rather than how many inward links it has, and from where  (note also the swerve in the final couple of sentences to sound-bite from inaccurate premise):

"Google ranks their (sic) search results via the popularity and number of links and hits to that site. For example, when 'Tara Brabazon' is entered into Google, the number one returned search is my Home Page, the site developed (by me) to promote my career. The links with less hits, but perhaps more critical information, are far lower on the  ranking. My personal web page has so many hits because a link is presented to it at the bottom of each email I send from my work computer. Not surprisingly, hundreds of curious undergraduates with a bouncy index finger click to their teacher's profile....... Ponder the more serious consequences when students click onto highly ideological sites that are assessed by popularity, not qualitative importance or significance...... The assumption of Google is that popularity of sites is validation of quality. Google is the internet equivalent of reality television: derivative, fast, and shallow."

As soon as I find that kind of error in a book, especially early on, I begin to lose confidence in the whole thing, worrying that there are others lurking there, which I do not have the domain knowledge to spot.

[With minor edits, 22/1/2008]

Informal adult learning - Government consultation

Today the (English) Department for Innovation, Universities, and Skills has launched consultation Informal Adult Learning - Shaping the Way Ahead. Here is a link to the full consultation document [1700 kB PDF]. The tone of the consultation document, which has a strong focus on the role of technology in supporting informal learning, also seems to signal a policy-shift, back to the more inclusive and less wholly employment-focused approach of the 1997 Labour Government under the then Secretary of State David Blunkett (does anyone remember the 1998 Green Paper The Learning Age: a renaissance for a new Britain? [100 kB PDF]):

"The mass movement described in this paper has come about through the independent actions of millions of people - and few, if any, of them would even recognise that they are part of such a movement. They are all following a common human impulse to satisfy their curiosity and thirst for knowledge. What implications does this have for the type of public policy we should be developing for informal adult learning for the period 2009 - 2020? Does the laissez-faire nature of these recent developments mean Government should leave well alone? Or, as we believe, does Government have a key role in helping to maximise and sustain the benefits of the arrangements as they are working today? The launch of this consultation marks the start of a wide-ranging debate that will lead to a policy paper later this year on informal adult learning for the 21st century. The consultation needs to provide the information and evidence that will help develop a sound strategic vision that can support and inform the public, private, voluntary and self-directed learning sectors."

The $75 laptop

Pixel Qi, led by ex One Laptop Per Child CTO Mary Lou Jepson, is a "spin-out" from OLPC:

"What computing can be, the XO laptop was just the first step.  Pixel Qi is currently pursuing the $75 laptop, while also aiming to bring sunlight readable, low-cost and low-power screens into mainstream laptops, cellphones and digital cameras."

What is becoming clearer by the day is that the toughest "digital divide" nut to crack concerns connectivity rather than devices. Currently there is a commendable push in England to ensure that school pupils can be online from home irrespective of parental income. The price of devices is falling very fast, driven by the market and by the arrival of next generation devices like OLPC and the Asus EEE, which cost about as little as a middling mobile phone. Connectivity is a much bigger challenge, for at least reasons:

1. firstly, remote areas are still out of reach of broadband, and wireless coverage is concentrated on where there is money to be made;
2. the monthly cost of a connection remains stubbornly high;
3. poorer households often have no fixed line, nor the credit rating to obtain one, even if they could afford to pay;
4. municipal WiFi networks (which might provide free access to a basic service) have been less successful than anticipated in the places they've been tried.

Ultimately Internet access in a developed economy like the UK's must be seen simply as a citizen's entitlement, like getting a drink of mains water. The challenge for Governments and public authorities is to bring this about. (Maybe some kind of public/private partnership based on FON  - in which broad-band customers with local WiFi make this available to people nearby - or an equivalent of it, will provide one of the solutions).

Microsoft Vista and Office 2007: Becta says "review the findings of the report before considering any large-scale investment or deployment"

On 9/1/2008 Becta published its review of Microsoft's Vista and Office 2007 products. This "draws conclusions on whether to upgrade, how to upgrade and document interoperability between home and school, recommending that schools and colleges review the findings of the report before considering any large-scale investment or deployment". Full report [291 kB PDF]. ZDnet coverage of the issue. The key recommendations from Becta's report are in the continuation post below.

Technophobe teachers wasting millions?

Blunt 7 January 2008 article in The Times by Nicola Woolcock asserting that "teacher technophobia" is behind the extensive failure of schools to make effective use of ICT, despite the billions of earmarked funding spent on ICT in schools by the UK government. The article coincides with the annual BETT exhibition and brochure-fest. Extract:

"State schools spent £1 billion on cutting-edge information technology last year but 80 per cent of them are failing to make full use of it, according to experts.

Pupils now handle equipment worth thousands of pounds, with some using laptops, interactive whiteboards or hand-held smartphones. The Government claims that Britain is a European leader in installing IT in the classroom.

However, Becta, the Government’s adviser on IT in schools, says that many teachers are intimidated by the equipment and struggle to cope, and that children have a better understanding of how it works.

Britain is one of the biggest spenders per head on technology in schools worldwide, according to Becta — formerly the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency — and the amount is growing each year. Yet Andrew Pinder, its chairman, said: 'We are achieving nothing like the impact that we should from this technology. We spend more than other countries but not enough schools are using technology effectively.'"

Pinder's views do not seem to have changed much since his appointment as the chair of Becta (see this discussion on a keynote he gave at the Oxford Internet Institute in November 2006). I agree with him on the need to do things on a large scale to get the costs down and the quality up, and to avoid parallel reinventions or purchasing of the same wheel in countless small units, be these colleges and schools, or LEAs.

But the "teacher technophobia" angle seems to reveal a bit of a blind spot, and, possibly, a reluctance to take account of research such as Becta's own eSIR study. In the developed world, ICT permeates middle class citizens' lives (including teachers') generally. So perhaps the real problem is the way that "technology for my work" is often so different from "technology for my life". The reason that you use Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, The Trainline, etc etc is because these services help you with the "stuff" of your life. The key to getting ICT used in schools is to have it designed, supported, and run in a way which helps learners, schools, and teachers with the "stuff" of education. That this is not the case in many schools is a complex issue, which should not be reduced to "teacher technophobia".

Last year's (and some of this year's) predictions

Stephen Downes has a sharp and useful look-back at last year's annual round up of predictions in eLearn Magazine. Scary, when 10 minutes ago I rather tentatively supplied eLearn with 100 words worth of predictions "for innovations and new directions in e-learning" for 2008. Stephen concludes "that there are two major types of predictions: one, which identifies a current trend, and says it will continue; and the other, that identifies something novel or unexpected. It seems clear that the former predictions are easy and safe and not especially useful. The latter, while not as safe, were much more useful to people". My predictions are squarely in that former "less useful" category:

1. Effective use of RSS by learners, teachers, and learning providers will become more normal. Meanwhile the off-line capabilities of browser-based applications like Google Reader will grow, making a big difference for users with only intermittent Internet access.
2. The hype surrounding social networking will abate, with a greater understanding developing about when social networking supports learning, and when it is a distraction.
3. Many more people will break free from Windows or OSX based systems, and begin to rely instead on cheaper, lighter, disk-free devices, with their "stuff" stored somewhere on the Internet rather than locally.

In the US, young adults are the heaviest users of libraries

Apart from teaching me that being in my mid-50s I am a "leading boomer", Information searches that solve problems - How people use the internet, libraries, and government agencies when they need help [187 kB PDF], published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project on 30/12/2007, counters the view that Internet access is driving out library use - in the US at least:

"Libraries meet special needs. Young adults in Generation Y (age 18-29) are the heaviest users of libraries when face (sic) these problems. They are also the most likely library visitors for any purpose. Most of those who visit libraries to seek problem solving information are very satisfied with what they find and they appreciate the resources available there, especially access to computers and the internet."

"Who uses libraries, not just for problem solving, but for all purposes? Major finding: 53% of American adults report going to a local public library in the past 12 months. The profile of library users shows an economically upscale, information hungry clientele who use the library to enhance their already-rich information world. Gen Y again leads the pack again. Public library patrons are generally younger adults, those with higher income and education levels, and those who are internet users. Parents with minor children living at home are very likely to be patrons. There are no significant differences in library usage by race and ethnicity."

Meanwhile, the Independent reports on library closures in England.

May 2006 dialogue on Fortnightly Mailing about libraries.

With thanks to Lorcan Dempsey and George Siemens for flagging this Pew report.

OLPC laptops arrive in Arahuay, Peru

Optimistic coverage by Frank Bajak in the 30/12/2007 Washington Post about the impact in Peru of an initial delivery of OLPC XO laptops in the village of Arahuay. (The Peruvian government has ordered 270,000.)

Wikia Search is reportedly live, and is due for public launch on 7 January 2008

Source: http://search.wikia.com/

I wrote about Wikia Search in January 2007. This 23/12/2007 message from Jimmy Wales on the Wikia Search mailing list states that a public version of Wikia Search will launch early next month:

"Private pre-alpha invites available
Ping me if you want one.... we're launched. :-)
I'm going to be letting people in slowly over the next few days and we are aiming for a January 7th public launch.  We want to run over the system with help from people to complain about what is broken...
Best way to ask is by email, but please don't be offended if I don't answer right away.  I am expecting a bit of a flood here."

A week earlier, community contributions were requested to define a "whitelist" of sites for the first crawl. More from Wales:

"As many of you likely know, we are now doing some preliminary crawls in anticipation of the upcoming launch.  Information is going to change quickly in the next 2-3 weeks, but I'm getting excited. One of the things we want to do is launch with a basic first crawl.
http://search.wikia.com/wiki/Whitelist
Please add sites there, including comments, and also let's have a healthy on-wiki debate at:
http://search.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Whitelist."

Keep an eye on the story and its ripples: news; blogs.