Making sense of complexity in open information environments
George Siemens October 26, 2011
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Openness is a control tradeoff And it means we have to do
different things
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Where are our control points?
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Our curriculum?
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Our teaching?
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Fragmentary experience Conversations, content, context not
(only) shaped by the school/educator Learners are in control
Fragmentation is a new reality. Our learning models need to embrace
(reflect) it.
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Coherence is an orientation about the meaning and value of
information elements based on how they are connected, structured,
and related Antonovsky 1993
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Existing coherence forming systems Books Newspapers TV news
programs Magazines (anything that is structured and that the end
user cant speak into and alter)
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Openness messes up coherence (and control)
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Fragmentation of information requires that we weave together
elements into some type of coherent framework Youtube Blogs Twitter
Facebook TEDtalks Kahn Academy Online news/information sites
Traditional coherence frameworks
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Networked information doesnt have a centre
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Information fragmentationloss of narratives of coherence
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the rise of millions of fragmented discussions across the world
tend instead to lead to fragmentation of audiences into isolated
publics Habermas 2006
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Argument: we socialize to make sense of information i.e. it is
our ability to work with information (abstraction, representation,
point to) that defines humanity
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As information quantity and complexity increase We adopt two
approaches: 1.Better technical systems 2.Better connected social
systems
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setnet group collective Social forms Jon Dron & Terry
Anderson
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... information foraging refers to activities associated with
assessing, seeking, and handling information sources Piroli and
Card, 1995
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What is sensemaking?
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Sensemaking is about labelling and categorizing to stabilize
the streaming of experience Weick et al. 2005
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a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections... in
order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively Klein et
al. 2006
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Cynefin Framework Dave Snowden
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Domains of Sensemaking
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Complicated is not complex.
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When an answer and path is known, but requires time and effort,
it is complicated.
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When an answer is not known, or when agents interact in
unpredictable ways, it is complex.
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Education system is treating a complex problem as a complicated
one. Lessons #1 in Paths to Failure:
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Complex unknown problems require: 1.Mind of a scientist 2.Mind
of an artist
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What is wayfinding?
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the process that takes place when people orient themselves and
navigate through space Raubal and Winter 2002
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is the cognitive element of navigation it does not involve
movement of any kind but only the tactical and strategic parts that
guide movement. Darken and Peterson 2002
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The Landing
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2008, 2009, 2011 Finding complex information environments:
research spaces
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The data set Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2008
(CCK08)
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Tools used by learners
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/643/1402 Fini,
2009 Roughly anything.
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The methods 1. Social network and participation analysis 2.
Corbin & Strauss (1990) version of grounded theory
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SNA & Participation Habits
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CCK08 Weekly Forum Posts
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CCK08: Introduction forum Limited interaction. Most are
isolated
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Introduction forum posts: CCK08 Dialogue limited: Group too
large?
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Week 12 forum posts: CCK08 More equitable distribution? Due to
smaller #s of participants?
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Open coding using Cohere http://cohere.open.ac.uk
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Axial Coding
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Self-organization and sub-networks Sensegiving through artefact
creation and sharing Sensemaking/giving through language games
Knowledge domain expansion Wayfinding cues, symbols Social
organization through creating sharing
Participatory sensemaking: the coordination of intentional
activity in interaction, whereby individual sense-making processes
are affected and new domains of social sense-making can be
generated that were not available to each individual on her own De
Jaegher and Di Paolo 2007
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Artefacts re-centre the learning conversation
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Artifacts of sensemaking
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Organizing course content Dolors Capdet
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http://x28newblog.blog.uni-heidelberg.de/2008/09/06/cck08-first-impressions/
Image of course structure created by course participant
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Language/externalization reduces the occult character of mental
images. Wittgenstein Language gives birth to thought Vygotsky
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Language games Storytelling Debate, dialogue Descriptions
Clarification Metaphors Analogies Examples Resonance Narratives of
sensemaking
