Chalk v. Pixel, Human Development and Technology in the Information Age

2004 Series
Archives

Chalk v. Pixel
Human Development and Technology
in the Information Age

Series Overview

Chalk V, Pixel The adoption of all things Internet has raised America's love affair with technology to a fevered pitch. No area of our daily lives is untouched by the rapid changes in technologies, but few are as important to our long term financial and developmental health as education. In this 10-month series, CHIFOO invites psychologists, educators, researchers and technologists to provide insight into the rapidly changing landscape of technology and learning. This wide-ranging series examines technology in the classroom, in brain development, and in adult and community education.

Each talk showcases a technology in the context of the learning objectives for a defined audience. Speakers also present the methods they used to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology.

This series is a must for students, educators and professionals interested in specific technologies, and the role technology can play in creating effective and appropriate learning experiences.

Leo Frishberg, CHIFOO Program Chair

Location:

Most programs will occur at Portland Community College (PCC) Capital Center, room 1508. MAP-->

Next-Day Events:

Some speakers will be available for a next-day coffee, workshop, or tutorial. Visit the website for details as each event approaches.

Download a printable brochure PDF [here]. Feel free to print, distribute and post.

40-year-old Alphabet Soup:
Curriculum Reform Projects of the 1960s

January 22, 2004

Dick Miller

A large number of projects attempted to "reform" the educational curriculum between the late 1950's and the early 1970's. Currently a writer, Dick Miller was a teacher during that time. He reviews the history and philosophy of the reform movement and presents his personal experience teaching a course from the Engineering Concepts Curriculum Project (ECCP) and consulting with the project office. In addition, he describes several examples of student activities taken from "The Man-Made World," one of the ECCP courses.

10 Myths About Learning and Using Technology

February 4, 2004

Katherine Stevens & David Drake, Ph.D.

Stevens, an instructional designer, and Drake, a specialist in change initiatives, strategic conversations, and coaching, uncover myths and assumptions about learning and using technology. When examined closely, these stories lead to a deeper discussion that can help us think more critically about technology and learning.

Connecting or Disconnecting -
The Growing Brain and Digital Technologies

March 10, 2004

Jane M. Healy, PhD

Computers and TV influence the developing brain,with learning learning-disabled students particularly vulnerable to their positive or negative effects. Moreover, many so-called "disabilities" turn out to be assets in a fast-changing electronic world demanding new kinds of thinking and reasoning skills.

VizAbility: Establishing Visual Language Capability for the Digital Age

April 7, 2004

Kristina Woolsey, Ph.D.

Emerging visual technologies provide the opportunity to develop pervasive visual languages. Seeing, drawing, diagramming and imagining can be established as basic literacies to be developed in schools and to be used widely in the society. Kristina Woolsey, former director of the Apple Multimedia Lab and current board member of the New Media Center, explores these issues in the context of Brooks Cole's VizAbility product.

Blocks of Wood: Leveraging Low Technology to Enrich the Growing Mind

May 5, 2004

Ginni Sackett & Cathy Newman

Can a simple block of wood promote a learning experience? Montessori lecturer, trainer, and Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) examiner Sackett joins Montessori lecturer and administrator Newman to show how this block...

Using the Web as a Tool for Understanding Politicoscientific Controversies

June 2, 2004

Michael Flower, Ph.D.

New web mapping techniques may contribute to and facilitate significant participation in public debates of topics like global warming, the crafting of genetically-modified organisms, and the use of human embryos for research leading to stem cell production.

Communities of Practice Online: A case study, a perspective on learning, and design implications

July 7, 2004

John Smith

Learning in community can be powerful because it entails the acquisition of "the whole practice" rather than bits and pieces of disconnected information. Learning communities can also be the most effective way of generating new knowledge.

For the People, By the People: The role of computer-human interaction in facilitating environmental awareness and activism

August 4, 2004

Anne de Ridder

De Ridder, an environmental steward and technical communications specialist, considers computer-based technology a suitable medium for facilitating discussion of community-scale issues.

September 1, 2004

Jeremy Roschelle, SRI International

The mathematics that people need to thrive in the 21st century keeps advancing in complexity, yet our schools keep falling farther behind. As a society, we need to make significant changes in this area. The SimCalc Project...

October 6, 2004

Steve Portigal

Customer researcher Portigal looks at two not-usually-combined-or-even-discussed-together approaches to direct experience: the theatrical activity of "improv" and participant-observer user research. As the "learner", he shares some of his process and technologies for "learning."

Improv is not "stand up comedy" (although people assume them to be the same thing). It's a series of games with rules that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. In these games we bring out a lot of basic, quickly understood and communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit. We see people's relationships to products, to each other, and to current events. Improv is also a process for exploring collaboration at its most fundamental level, the co-creation of ideas, rather than "shared document editing."

Participant observation has interesting similarities with improv. Both are in-the-moment processes. You learn upon reflection. There's enormous unspoken collaboration. Both involve a great deal of advanced "listening." Within a brief exchange, what our respondents say contrasts with how they say it and what they are doing, and what we see in the environment. This kind of listening is an advanced skill that takes some developing. Improv can be a useful training activity to play out some of these research scenarios indirectly, to enhance and hone our listening skills, and to develop a core technology of participation-observation research. The improv approach draws from literature in anthropology as well as communication studies.

Finally, with improv, there is often an "aha" moment. As performers without a script, we learn to "look for the ending" and know when to conclude. We do participant-observation research to create and achieve new insights and see new patterns ñ a different kind of "aha."

In this talk, you will learn more about improv, participant observation, listening, context, and, of course, how these things all fit together and can be used and experienced.

BIO

Steve Portigal is a customer research consultant based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He started out as a computer scientist but was soon drawn to the interactions between people and technology. Eventually, he widened his focus to the relationships between people and "stuff", the products, companies, consumers, media, and advertising that flow through our culture. It is Portigalís belief that companies must understand these relationships in order to succeed. Portigal carries an impressive portfolio of clients including Hewlett-Packard, Palm, Sony, Nestle, and Rubbermaid, to name just a few.

5:30 PM -- CHIFOOd: No-host dinner & informal networking
Old Chicago Pizza (Tanasbourne)
17960 NW Evergreen Pkwy, Beaverton

7:00 PM -- PreFOO: Networking and social time

7:30 PM -- CHIFOO Program
PCC Capital Center Auditorium, Room 1508
18524 NW Walker Rd at 185th Ave, Beaverton

ADMISSION: Free to CHIFOO Members
General Admission $5; 2004 membership $20

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Download a printable fllyer PDF.
Feel free to print, distribute and post