Michael McVey: The Windy Side of the Internet at TEDxEMU
The speaker argues that technological shifts—from pocket computers to web data collection and digital credentials—are fundamentally changing education, urging the academic community to focus on stable human elements like pedagogy and humanity rather than being panicked by rapid technological flux. This is illustrated through historical examples like the Commodore 64 and contemporary tools like Mozilla's open badge infrastructure.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker, addressing an academic audience concerned with technological changes in education.
- The speaker acknowledges administrative anxiety surrounding technological shifts in higher education.
## Theses & Positions
- Technology is continuously changing the way data is gathered, disseminated, and taught in higher education.
- The ability to gather data is expanding beyond hard sciences (e.g., web scraping) to simple, easily implemented web pages.
- The process of publishing data is shifting from restrictive academic journals to open platforms like Digital Commons.
- Modern education is undergoing a "MOO Res Revolution," characterized by Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
- The crucial element in education remains stable: the underlying humanity and pedagogy between teacher and student, regardless of fleeting technologies.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **MOO Res Revolution:** Refers to the shift towards Massive Open Online Courses.
- **Online Persona:** The curated digital self presented on social platforms, which can supersede the "Flesh and Blood person" behind it.
- **Badges (Digital Credentialing):** A new method for displaying discernable skills, moving beyond traditional grades (A/B) or degrees.
- **Digital Commons (emu):** A database where academic papers can be uploaded, allowing instant tracking of views and comments.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Data Collection (Pre-Internet):** Limited to calling people around the country (e.g., finding "pop versus soda" lines).
- **Data Collection (Modern):** Using simple web pages to gather comparative information across geographic boundaries.
- **Data Dissemination (Traditional):** Writing a paper, gathering data, and submitting to a publisher/reviewer pool (often 2-3 reviewers).
- **Data Dissemination (Modern):** Uploading to digital repositories, potentially receiving review from 20-40 people instantly, likened to "tweeting."
- **Skill Validation (Old):** Military buttons/badges, or years of accumulated school achievements.
- **Skill Validation (New):** Mozilla's open badge infrastructure, featuring three pillars: details on the individual, details on the institution, and details on the skill created.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Childhood/Early Experience:** First encounter with technology when receiving glasses (fifth grade); first significant tech event in **1981** when a colleague described a future pocket computer.
- **Early Tech Era:** Use of the Commodore 64, limited by large power adapters and cables.
- **Data Gathering:** Transition from physical correspondence to web-based comparisons (e.g., pop vs. soda).
- **Academic Publishing:** Shift from journal submissions to open repositories.
- **Education Scale:** Progression from classes of 2-3 students $\rightarrow$ 20-30 students $\rightarrow$ whole school $\rightarrow$ MOOCs (potentially 40,000 people).
- **Example Incident:** Attempting to join a MOOC with Fatima Wonder at Georgia Tech, leading to course crashes and platform instability.
- **Historical Reference:** Wood engraving of a **Leonid meteor shower** from **1833**, illustrating past natural events.
## Named Entities
- **Commodore 64** — early personal computer.
- **Mozilla Corp** — developer of the open badge infrastructure.
- **Fatima Wonder** — professor at Georgia Tech who ran a MOOC.
- **Illinois** — state where Abraham Lincoln was in **1833**.
- **Abraham Lincoln** — lawyer present during the **1833** meteor shower.
- **Georgia Tech** — institution associated with Fatima Wonder.
## Numbers & Data
- Year of Commodore 64 introduction mention: **1981**.
- Age of data gathering limitation: Pre-internet.
- Potential scope of MOOC participation: **40,000** people.
- Period of badge development infrastructure: **450** institutions are currently using it.
- Total badges issued via the infrastructure: More than **145,000**.
- Reviewer estimate difference: From 2-3 reviewers to potentially **20-30-40** people.
## Examples & Cases
- **The Fizz:** Comparing *Pop* (Canada) vs. *Soda* (Arizona) to determine country lines using web research (popversusoda.com).
- **Teaching Medium:** Successfully teaching a paper's content as a one-act play, which earned an A+.
- **Failed MOOC:** A class where video sizes were extremely large and users were deleting data from a shared Google spreadsheet.
- **Social Media Misunderstanding:** The speaker's realization that a young lady saying, *"this is not private,"* meant her online persona was not her true self.
- **Badge Display:** The ability to put a badge on a personal electronic badge for a TED Talk.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Electronic buoy:** Sits on the ocean to gather data on currents, wind, temperatures, and wave heights.
- **Web pages:** Used as simple tools to gather comparative data (e.g., Pop vs. Soda).
- **Digital Commons (emu):** A database for publishing papers.
- **MOOC platforms:** Such as the one run by Fatima Wonder.
- **Open badge infrastructure:** Developed by Mozilla Corp.
- **Google search:** Used to locate images of large crowds (e.g., Obama rally).
- **Computer Lab:** Located at the University of Arizona in the education building.
## References Cited
- *"The protists you heard earlier today"* (implied reference to previous speakers).
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Traditional Publishing:** Slow, restrictive, subject to reviewer feedback on format/length.
- **Digital Publishing:** Fast, open, allows for instant, public feedback/review.
- **Skill Display:** Switching from formal degrees/grades to portable, verifiable digital skill badges.
- **Online Presence:** The trade-off between developing a controlled "Online Persona" versus being authentically seen ("Flesh and Blood person").
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- MOOCs and digital publishing are not flawless; platforms can crash (MOOC example).
- The speaker notes that "fancy flashes" will come and go, suggesting an inherent instability to purely technological shifts.
## Methodology
- **Anecdotal Evidence:** Using personal stories (glasses, Commodore 64, moving to Arizona) to frame technological progress.
- **Comparative Demonstration:** Comparing old data methods (phone calls) to new ones (web scraping).
- **Historical Parallelism:** Using the 1833 meteor shower and Abraham Lincoln's advice to frame enduring truths against transient events.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Educators must focus on the enduring "humanity of what we do as teachers" and the core understanding passed between teacher and student.
- To prevent technological panic, one must remember that some elements of education are fundamentally stable.
- The stable focus should be on *understanding*, not the grade or the platform.
## Implications & Consequences
- The rise of digital badges implies a shift where demonstrable, verifiable skills become more valuable than institutional labels alone.
- Educational infrastructure must adapt to facilitate open, accessible, and decentralized skill validation.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"it's a computer that fits inside your briefcase"* (referencing the future tech seen in 1981).
- *"the greatest peripheral the thing that changed my world and the way I was going to do teaching from here on in was the printer"*
- *"I could take the words edit edit edit print print print create booklet create all sorts of wonderful things"*
- *"I could call restaurants or look"* (pre-internet research method).
- *"I can instantly see the downloads you can see who's looked at your work"* (referencing Digital Commons).
- *"this is not private it's not my words are private that you're not allowed to see what I'm not allowed to see was what was behind her online Persona"*
- *"don't worry about the shooting stars don't worry about the flashes focus on what's behind on the stars that are stable focus"*
- *"the humanity of what it is we do as teachers and who we are as students"*
- *"Mooks will come mooks will go they'll grow"*