Reading 03

Adrian Miles

Another vanity moment for Adrian Miles:

  1. Miles, Adrian. “Network Literacy: The New Path to Knowledge.” Screen Education Autumn.45 (2007): 24–30. (pdf)
  2. “Chris Argyris: Theories of Action, Double-Loop Learning and Organizational Learning.” http://infed.org/mobi/chris-argyris-theories-of-action-double-loop-learning-and-organizational-learning/. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2013. (pdf)
  3. Graham, Paul. “The Age of the Essay.” Paul Graham. http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html N.p., Sept. 2004. Web. 11 Aug. 2013.(pdf)

A Take Away Idea

Adrian Miles

Let’s introduce the concept of the ‘take away idea’. Each of the readings, even where they seem to cover a lot of ideas, theories, arguments, and so on, are written around a basic idea, concept, or problem (that is three ways of describing the same sort of thing). They are writing directly to something that the author feels the need to think about and think through.

(Think of the readings not as explanations of something, but as people using writing to think about an idea. This is a much more productive way of approaching essays and chapters and other material than thinking their role as writing is to explain something to, or for, you. Their role, in the first instance, is to let the author think out something. Approach them in the same way, and they become invitations to think along with them, rather than road maps detailing what is already known.)

So, the ‘take away idea’. Each of the readings can be thought to revolve around and respond to some kernel that matters. The take away idea is, to begin with, not you figuring out what this might be (but by all means go for it), but is your take away idea. What is the one key thing that matters to you from what you read, or hear? Why?

Lumpy

Adrian Miles

A rather hit and miss start to network media 2014 with me trying to repurpose a conference presentation into service. Some parts stuck. Some parts missed, terribly. Key points:

  • industrial versus post industrial media (perhaps make a list of what we think the industrial is, and then what would the counter terms for post industral become?)
  • the decline or scarcity as what defines the media (in relation to making, distribution, access)
  • that scarcity was a consequence of cost of equipment (video and audio equipment was extremely expensive – it still is at the high end)
  • that scarcity was a consequence of industrial/heritage media having very narrow channels (one newspaper published once per day, a TV channel only being able to broadcast one thing at a time)
  • scarcity also applied to university, so we went to university to get access to media making tools (because they were expensive so only in universities…), libraries, films, and experts
  • but this scarcity is now also gone
  • so what is the role of a media degree?
  • it lies in the difference between ‘know what’ and ‘know how’, which is also the difference between explicit and tacit knowledge
  • so learning now needs to be less about knowing what and more about knowing how
  • and so the problem is how to do this, when most of our experience of education concentrates on knowing what (we’re more interested in what your essay says, than in how you went about writing it)

01 Reading

Adrian Miles

Miles, Adrian. “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning.” Australian Screen Ed 41 (2006): 66–9. Print.

This is available as a pdf.

It is to be read by the second lecture. While reading it make a note of any questions (and I mean any) that you have as the second lecture will be based on our answers to your questions. To help frame questions you might use a simple prompt such as “I don’t understand ……” or, “could you please explain ……..”.