THE INTERNET AS PLAYGROUND AND FACTORY

Hochschule der Kunste, Zurich, Switzerlan

Tracing back Communities. An Analysis of Ars Electronica's Digital Communities archive from an ANT perspective

Since long before the popularization of the Web, community-making has been a significant driving force for the development of the Internet. As a consequence, in mid 1990s online communities became a key object of study at the intersection of social sciences, organizational studies and computer sciences. Today, about fifteen years after these early studies, the concept \u2018online community\u2019 seems to be at stake. As a matter of fact, while communitarian ties enabled by digital media are more and more invocated, in late 2000s the Internet is revealing itself as a much more bureaucratic and profit-oriented domain than ever, to the point that it is not clear whether there exist online ties that are specific enough to be called \u2018communitarian\u2019. In order to analyse such an opaque and unstable object of study as current techno-social assemblages, innovative methods specifically developed to study fuzzy objects have to be devised and some epistemological questions have to be addressed. This research starts indeed from the impasse that the digital communitarian culture is experiencing at the end of the 2000s and borrows some epistemological insights from the Actor-Network Theory. By analyzing the entry forms submitted to the world\u2019s leading competition for digital communities, Prix Ars Electronica, this research thus calls into question some \u2018black-boxed\u2019 concepts like \u2018cyberculture\u2019, \u2018digital revolution\u2019, \u2018empowerment\u2019 and \u2018online community\u2019 itself. On one hand, the results bring into question both leading sociological positions and hype-generated commonplaces. On the other hand, the results offer evidence to those arguments according to which current ICT developments represent the beginning of a new phase of technological enclosure

Progettazione di un percorso di formazione professionale basato su Open Badge

Nell’era digitale, le istituzioni di istruzione e formazione professionale (IFP) sono emerse come ambienti di sviluppo trasformativi e flessibili; di conseguenza, è importante sviluppare opportunità di apprendimento professionale digitale che devono soddisfare i requisiti del mercato del lavoro europeo. Sono state condotte ricerche in merito a tali opportunità al fine di trovare nuovi strumenti per pianificare e condurre studi sul continuo sviluppo professionale e per raggiungere e mantenere le competenze versatili richieste nelle carriere di questi tempi. Questo studio mira a colmare un vuoto di ricerca riguardante lo sviluppo professionale avanzato basato sulle competenze, indagando il processo di apprendimento digitale aperto basato su badge nel contesto della formazione professionale. La domanda di ricerca considera come i badge digitali aperti strutturano il processo di apprendimento nel continuo sviluppo professionale delle nuove professioni pre e in servizio. La ricerca si è posta con l’obiettivo di esplorare le diverse idee, opinioni ed esperienze circa l’utilizzo di un sistema di badging all’interno di percorsi formativi professionali. Attraverso questo percorso si è sviluppata una comprensione profonda dei concetti e delle opportunità per il design di nuove pratiche educative. La domanda di ricerca ha esplorato il design di un percorso digitale di formazione professionale basato sull’applicazione delle logiche del gioco e di un sistema di micro-credentials. Ciò che è stato portato in evidenza è l’introduzione di cambiamenti necessari sia ai sistemi di erogazione, le piattaforme di e-learning, sia a quelli di gestione e pianificazione delle attività formative on line (gli LMS, Learning Management System) sia, infine al modo con cui vengono progettati e realizzati i corsi. La semplice sovrapposizione, come plug in, dei badge nelle piattaforme di e-learning, senza un adeguato progetto di cambiamento radicale del modo di fare formazione digitale, non produrrà i risultati sperati. La domanda generale di ricerca dello studio è la seguente: quali sono le best practice per il design di un percorso di formazione professionale basato open badge? L’entità dell’apprendimento digitale aperto basato su badge comprende materiali di apprendimento, criteri di badge, badge didattici, impalcature e supporto a tutti i corsisti. Questo studio offre approfondimenti sulla struttura del processo e la progettazione a più livelli per l’applicazione dell’approccio basato sulla Design based Research e badge digitali aperti e nello sviluppo professionale.In the digital age, vocational education and training (VET) institutions emerged as transformative and flexible development environments; consequently, it is important to develop digital professional learning opportunities which must meet the requirements of the European labor market. The research has been conducted into these opportunities, in order to find new tools for planning and conducting continuing professional development studies and for achieving and maintaining the versatile skills required in careers these days. This study aims to fill a research gap regarding advanced skills-based professional development by investigating the open badge-based digital learning process in the context of vocational training. The research question considers how open digital badges structure the learning process in the continuous professional development of new pre and in-service professions. The research was aimed to explore different ideas, opinions and experiences regarding the use of a badging system within professional training courses. Through this route we have developed an understanding wave of concepts and opportunities for the design of new educational practices. The research question explored the design of a digital vocational training course based on the application of the logic of the game and a system of micro-credentials. What has been highlighted is the introduction of necessary changes both to the delivery systems, the e-learning platforms, and to those for the management and planning of online training activities (the LMS, Learning Management System) and, finally, to the way in which the courses are designed and implemented. The simple overlapping, as a plug-in, of badges in e-learning platforms, without an adequate project of radical change in the way of doing digital training, will not produce the desired results. The firm's general research question is: “What are the best practices for designing an open badge- based career path” ? The entity of digital learning based on open badge includes learning materials, badge criteria, educational badge, scaffolding and support to all the participants . This study provides insights into the structure of the process and planning at various levels for the 'application of ' approach based on Design Research based and digital badge open and professional development

Cultural Heritage on line

The 2nd International Conference "Cultural Heritage online – Empowering users: an active role for user communities" was held in Florence on 15-16 December 2009. It was organised by the Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale, the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Library of Congress, through the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program - NDIIP partners. The conference topics were related to digital libraries, digital preservation and the changing paradigms, focussing on user needs and expectations, analysing how to involve users and the cultural heritage community in creating and sharing digital resources. The sessions investigated also new organisational issues and roles, and cultural and economic limits from an international perspective