Toward a relational concept of uncertainty: about knowing too little, knowing too differently, and accepting not to know

Uncertainty of late has become an increasingly important and controversial topic in water resource management, and natural resources management in general. Diverse managing goals, changing environmental conditions, conflicting interests, and lack of predictability are some of the characteristics that decision makers have to face. This has resulted in the application and development of strategies such as adaptive management, which proposes flexibility and capability to adapt to unknown conditions as a way of dealing with uncertainties. However, this shift in ideas about managing has not always been accompanied by a general shift in the way uncertainties are understood and handled. To improve this situation, we believe it is necessary to recontextualize uncertainty in a broader way¿relative to its role, meaning, and relationship with participants in decision making¿because it is from this understanding that problems and solutions emerge. Under this view, solutions do not exclusively consist of eliminating or reducing uncertainty, but of reframing the problems as such so that they convey a different meaning. To this end, we propose a relational approach to uncertainty analysis. Here, we elaborate on this new conceptualization of uncertainty, and indicate some implications of this view for strategies for dealing with uncertainty in water management. We present an example as an illustration of these concepts. Key words: adaptive management; ambiguity; frames; framing; knowledge relationship; multiple knowledge frames; natural resource management; negotiation; participation; social learning; uncertainty; water managemen

Transforming pedagogy using mobile Web 2.0

Blogs, wikis, podcasting, and a host of free, easy to use Web 2.0 social software provide opportunities for creating social constructivist learning environments focusing on student-centred learning and end-user content creation and sharing. Building on this foundation, mobile Web 2.0 has emerged as a viable teaching and learning tool, facilitating engaging learning environments that bridge multiple contexts. Today’s dual 3G and wifi-enabled smartphones provide a ubiquitous connection to mobile Web 2.0 social software and the ability to view, create, edit, upload, and share user generated Web 2.0 content. This article outlines how a Product Design course has moved from a traditional face-to-face, studio-based learning environment to one using mobile Web 2.0 technologies to enhance and engage students in a social constructivist learning paradigm. Keywords: m-learning; Web 2.0; pedagogy 2.0; social constructivism; product desig

e-teaching craft and practice

Staff at the University of Lincoln, UK, are repositioned as students on the virtual learning environment (VLE) for the teacher education programme ‘Teaching and Learning in a Digital Age’ (TELEDA). Modules explore the social relations of virtual learning through a community approach to sharing practice, and using tools like wikis, journals and forums to demonstrate the challenges of digital scholarship enables ‘insider’ knowledge of the craft of e-teaching to be gained through experiential learning. As sector-wide shifts to flexible design and delivery increase, greater attention to the digital confidence and capabilities of staff who teach and support learning is required. Investigating the uncertain spaces between the rhetoric and the reality of teaching online has shaped the author’s doctoral research into digital education. This paper offers emerging research findings which include how experiential approaches like TELEDA are worthy investments of time and resources and reinforce the value of embedding the craft elements of e-teaching into CPD and teacher education programmes

Hard, soft or lean? Planning on medium size construction projects

In a paper presented to the 11th Annual ARCOM Conference, Johansen examined the way that managers and planners in medium sized construction projects plan in a flexible manner. This was termed "soft planning" and contrasted with the textbook approach which was termed "hard" planning. The fundamental components of hard planning are firm dates and critical activities. The reality was found to be quite different from the textbook approach. (Johansen, 1996a) The conclusion then, was that methods of soft planning methodologies should be developed to support what was actually happening. Here this conclusion is revised in the light of lean production concepts. After defining these concepts, the authors consider how they can affect the development of planning theories in construction; in particular, how concepts such as “shielding”, “lookahead planning” and “last planner” can allow managers to overcome the barriers to hard planning