The November e.learning age includes an article by Donald Hunter suggesting that education is struggling to keep pace with student expectations about technology and presentation. Mobiles are assumed and Google is familiar. "Simply put, today's students learn differently to previous generations. They have come to expect information to be presented in timely, dynamic and entertaining forms."....."deep down we expect students to learn the way we did"..."what this adds up to is a paradigm gulf that separates students from the learning experience."

This is confirming the idea that I should just take a look at what is happening, rather than worry too much about the theory behind a design. I have so far more or less ignored the conferencing features in Acrobat 8. I still think the JDF for print is worth continuing with but I have written in the IPEX 2002 blog about imagining some time travel to move the world of print on towards 2008. More on this later. it may make sense eventually.

So I hope to spend the next few months observing what happens with forms of collaboration such as Breeze or now Acrobat Connect. It is not yet available outside the US. It seems to me to combine featurea available elsewhere. The whiteboard idea, videoconferencing and internet chat or phone are all available and have been for a while. I still prefer text but this is probably dated so is due for reconsideration.

There are some reports coming out about the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. I am struck by this photo of Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, by JD Lasica from Ourmedia. He looks the part for a solid business event. Last year Tim O'Reilley in a suit was not quite as convincing.

I am not sure how Google will be seen during the Online Information event in London. A couple of years back there was some resistance to Google winning an award. There is still some opposition from publishers to the idea of scanning books. But it is clear that Google is viable so there is a base of people working with them even if that is not an overlap with the entire Online Information world.

Recent posts in other blogs connect with learning.

In IPEX 2002 I have noted that the availability of Acrobat 8 is a defining moment for me in that I realise what I like about all the previous versions. The addition of Flash through Breeze or Connect is not really what I am expecting and I don't yet see it as engaging. Making the server support for collaboration in PDF avaiable at a price more people could consider would to my mind be more of a welcome change. The effect though is that I realise I am now ok with online documents as PDF replacing print. The PDF design on screen is familiar froma paper experience. Breeze and Flash are moving us into video and animation. I am slowly getting used to this and am not at all convinced that it helps collaboration.

Also on wifi Exeter I have come to think that wi-fi is not contributing to festivals in real space and time so mucgh as extending the normal web outside of space and time. Not sure how this works as learning but the effect of video on YouTube and Google appears to work as souvenir and promotion of future events. More on this later, maybe linked back here as learning.

I have now started another Google custom search engine on JDF. This is still a major concern. I may be going back in time but hard copy is still a lot of what is going on. The main group still stays as PDF-IS9000-quality-learning. JDF is not as widely known as PDF so could put this out of balance if added.

Google are linking to an article by Eric Enge on how to do this customising a search engine.seems somewhere between quality and learning so I will keep coming back to this.

The search engine approach is making more sense but I still don't understand the theory of it. The 'Network Management Learning' discussion has questioned 'communities of practice' as an explanantion of the web given the weakness of the links. Search engines are about as weak as links can get.

There is a lso a lot of theory about language and contested words. The ones that are interesting for me at the moment are

Antiperformativity

Co-op

Learning

Engagement

Communication

These will come up more in the swickis than in the Google customised search engines (GCSE may not take off as a term in the UK)

Google co-op? Surely it is a quoted corporate? It may not have done any evil as yet but there could be more pressure on it if the sales growth ever hits a bump. We just don't know. Meanwhile the ICA has a claim to the co-op word. Whether the ICA has taken web technology as far as it might is another question that can be returned to.

Chris Grey has written 'Against Learning(PDF)' in a way that prioritises education as in established structures and disciplines. A search engine about 'learning' is connected to online even without an e as in "e-learning" or some other new set of words. It may include informal learning or just adult experience. "Anti-performativity"

"Engagement" is a word Adobe use to describe a new platform including Flash as well as html, pdf and xml. My problem is that I don't usually find Flash engaging. Not just the annoying banner and popup ads. Flash paper is likley to be followed by a reader that moves PDF into Flash. Maybe some people will like this but there is no way to copy text out for your own comments or to combine with something else and construct new meaning.

Video is ok as such and I realise Quicktime files are usually larger but it is possible to edit them. Streamed Flash content has gone. Maybe this is good for content owners but it is not engaging.

I have yet to meet anyone from the London College of Communication who would not prefer to back to the College being known to be about Printing. Maybe the word 'communication' has yet to be explained and promoted. Maybe other words would help explore this. The 'Knowledge Based Economy' may have started with printing. Maybe earlier but print technology gave it a boost. I will try to check out the KBE again. It may just be mostly words but there may be some basis as well.

I have started some search engines with the new Google approach to customisation. I still think Eurekster and Swickis will survive as they are more like a network. The design tolerates muddle and ambiguity, at least the way I use it. The Google approach seems to be looking for where to concentrate for maximum traffic. This is not always the best way to make new connections or allow for changes.

On the learn9 site there is a diagram 'hello spiders' where the swickis more or less fit together.

The Google ones are just about four things -PDF, ISO 9000, quality and learning. There is an overlap but you would have to do the same search in more than one of them. this assumes I manage to build some influence into them eventually. So far they seem to largely follow the main Google system.

'Learning' seems to me to be a good term, the fact this is an online search engine is enough of a clue without using e-learning, or ICT, or technology enhanced learning or networked management learning or information systems or whatever is claimed to exist at the moment. Last week at the LCC Futures Conference there was a fairly convincing case made that most e-learning projects have failed in their stated intentions as designed. However in the discussion on web design and Web 2.0 there was frequent use of the word 'learning', just to describe something that happens in normal life. Normal life includes the web so the technical term may be 'blended learning' though 'learning' has a meaning for most people.

There is one about ISO9000 as I realise this is still important. The learn9 swicki gets more searches on this than I expected. The 'quality' one will have a much wider scope, including critique of ISO9000 and alternatives.

There is another one about PDF, a scope that includes print and web. As an Adobe fan, i try to keep an open mind about Flash but I think PDF will be a focus for a while yet.

Links to the new search engines-
PDF
Learning
ISO9000
Quality

Trying out how to embed video. The link works ok in the previous post but I am inspired by an example on Buzzmachine from Jeff Jarvis.

So here is a copy of some YouTube code-

Email may not be junk. I recently got a newsletter from Epic that makes more sense than most of what I come across about e-learning. Steve Barden's article is headed "Latest Leadership Thinking – Let 'Me' Be Your Leader". It looks at how informal learning is taking advantage of technology.

"To a great extent I think the learning culture in many organisations has moved faster than the culture of training. Learners have taken to doing it for themselves through Google and a whole range of new online collaborative resources and tools. Informal learning has eaten into training territory on the back of this online expansion and significantly affected the learning culture."

It seems to me that YouTube could be included here. There is some mindbending rubbish but also some detailed instruction. Until recently, searching on "Bert Jansch" found almost nothing by Bert Jansch but several home videos of private performances. There is an extensive discussion including requests for detailed views of how a tune is played. See for example . The comments include some criticism that is then accepted, so don't take this as the best example for the little finger.

The discussion also covers the correct spelling of "Anji" or "Angie" quoting use over fourty years of history. "Angie" may be a different tune, only based on work by
Davey Graham. Since October 5th there has also been an extract from a BBC4 tv session. This may reflect the new acceptance of YouTube or it may not last very long. Suggest Bert Jansch fans check it soon.

If this is the "new thinking on leadership", we seem to be going back to some of the ideas around the "learning organisation". Energy from people directly involved in the process, that sort of thing. Maybe the Epic thinking is for practitioners and academics are finding "leadership" more interesting as a focus. YouTube could offer some stories for more than one approach.

I have added a poll at the Squidoo lens on W.E. Deming.

It asks if the Deming approach ever been tried in the USA?

It is known that Deming was listened to in Japan in the 1950s. Apparently he was listened to by Ford and others in the USA in the 1980s. Did they actually understand what he was saying?

Keep scrolling down, the poll is at the bottom of the page.

I am beginning to get stats on my Adwords program. Five actualk clickthoughs so far but lots of info on words that are used.

"search constructed knowledge" has had no interest at all so I have taken it out of the copy. Replaced by "learning with search". "Learning" has a following so this may work better.

Following Google University I have been thinking more about words and numbers and how to link in to advertising. Looking again at Eurekster it turns out they have started to include advertising so I have added this to each Swicki. I am about to get some actual stats on a global basis, well not global exactly but from the web as a whole. Previously trying to reach a UK audience has been confusing, all the stats show a 15% UK audience or close to this.

Information World Review is now covering 'Office 2.0' as well as 'Enterprise 2.0'. As the Wikipedia prefers 'enterprise social software' I have decided to add all the options to the learn9 wordcloud. They are each very small at the moment. For 'enterprise 2.0' there were 130,962 sites earlier today. The 'Enterprise Social Software' in Wikipedia showed up ahead of the ZD Net blog. 'Office 2.0' finds 215,755 but I think some are just about Office in general. 'Enterprise Social Software' finds only 45,012 but they ae mostly interesting, extended blog writing for example. 'Information 2.0' finds 461,301 but I can't see any pattern in this. It is a term for the Online Information show. i may add it if something else happens. I may take them off again, but it seems a good way to track some of the discussion through the conference phase.

This photo from Google University at AdTech. I plan to compare this with the Online Information event later this year. In the UK normally you need the Privy Council to agree to the use of the name "University". Somehow the US approach is gaining strength that companies can set up a university as well.

More on the content later. A lot of it was round the idea of a 'quality score', mostly based on how relevant your advert would be to a particular search query. I am thinking about how this fits with other quality theory.

Meanwhile Google Video seems to have given up the struggle with YouTube and opted for the high ground and more academic content. UC Berkeley have deposited a mass of course records. I liked one about search quality but it took them a while to get the slides working. The video just rolls on, this approach is not very mysterious.

The Online Information event is around the theme of "Information 2.0". Not sure what this implies but I am trying to mix it around "Web 2.0" just to check out what the official information scene has to offer. Open Access Journals for example do not yet carry the same weight as the expensive ones but some form of knowledge exists just through search and the web in general.

I have put a comment on the official blog, following on from David Weinberger last year. The IWR blog seems to be questioning the "Web 2.0" term as suffering a loss of meaning over time. The conference in San Francisco will surely come up with something though.

Off to Adtech tomorrow, including the Google University. Almost entirely about advertising and stats analysis, I think. The use of 'university' as a word is a US approach, when applied to companies. Personally I think a Google University should exist all year round not just on special occasions. There is an online version so this is a case of 'blended learning'.

Meanwhile Cambridge University has come up with a new approach to A Levels. See 'Fast Forward to the Past' in the Guardian. There is a very short list of suitable subjects for a new 'pre-U' qualification for the really bright people for the top unis. 'Media Studies' is not on the list, or design technology or IT. Economics ok but not sociology. Too close to media studies probably.

Back in Exeter. seem to have been in Lancaster a while.

Written for OhmyNews about buildings and open space in Morecambe.

I didn't mention the buildings on the campus as they were not part of the schedule. 76 Church Street is currently in use for a mobile computer operation. Lots of personal computers on a network. Seems to work ok even in a Jacobean / Georgian context. So why is trhe university showing off InfoLab? For 40 years or so most of the buildings were hidden from the motorway. In the discussion on the KBE there was not much discussion on technology as such. What sort of equipment is inside the building? an IBM mainframe? Some sort of cooling device for a hot chip? Maybe they could have used an old building instead. Is the shape just rhetoric in another form?



viewed from Galgate



official photo

Yesterday wrong about the statement there are few people here from SE England. Allan Willimas is here from London Met. Paper on mobility but I missed it.

Day one of the Knowledge Based Economy conference. I am in the library where the web works ok but there is no coffee. Otherwise fine.

Conference has started well. the idea of knowledge is not limited to academic sources. Michael Hulme emphasised personal knowledge and collaborative knowledge creation through blogs and wikis. "The onus of critical judgement is thrown back to the individual."

John Urry commented that the role of the individual is balanced by a dependence on computers and electronic systems with 'a dark and dystopic side of systemic dependencies' liable to catastrophic failure. Not sure if systems will be seen with any encouraging potential but this is only day one.

Some discussion on whether the KBE is centred on London and the south east in the UK. One thing I notice is that the people attending are not from Oxford, Cambridge or London academic sites other than DEMOS. Not sure why this may be.

From the first workshop I discover that 'excellence' and quality are among the top issues in editorial coverage of higher education in the USA. Based on looking at 252 articles in the New York Times, LA Times and Washington Post. So quality could be a topic of interest for academics. The discussion suggested that most of the articles responding to journalists came from individual academics rather than any organised presentation by universities as a group.

I have started a topic on the Prolearn discussion space

http://www.prolearn-online.com

forums and polls , then "Engaging SMEs in e-learning"

My paper is a bit off topic for e-learning but a lot could follow. I have put some questions about 'network management learning' at the end. I still don't understand most of what is written but it could be worked through later.

I have printed out copies of the paper for the IAS conference on the Knowledge Based Economy, so that is the final version this week.

PDF version now on the Learn9 site.
Also an open document. Open Office required but I am gradually getting used to it and I think most people should have access to a copy.

The slides PDF just as previously. About 2 meg.

Meanwhile I am trying to update an article on quality for OhmyNews. Previously i did one based on Quality Circles and mentioning ISO 9000 towards the end. I am trying to do another one leading on the latest ISO survey. This continues to show growth in China and slight decline in the UK. It has been suggested I should explain more about the background so this needs working on. Maybe I will get some ideas during the conference.

One problem I can't avoid is that I do not know anything about how ISO 9000 is used in China or an Asian take on quality. The journalism takes the form of asking a question. Maybe later others will send in reports to OhmyNews and the editors will shape something together.

Current version-

Continued growth in China use of ISO 9000
Mixed sector pattern in USA and UK

The ISO survey for 2005 shows continued growth in the use of ISO 9000, a standard for quality assurance and in the environmental standard ISO 14000. The two standards are connected by a common approach to auditing, systems thinking and learning through corrective action and system review. Growth continues strongly in China, where there is now the largest number of ISO 9000 certificates. Growth in the UK has stopped but there is interest in the specialised standard for medical equipment.

China now has 143,823 certificates, up by 10,000 from 2004. The ISO comments that "the strong performance of China, which is again in the top 10 countries for growth in both ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certification, and of India, which is again in the top 10 for ISO 9001:2000 growth and enters the top 10 for ISO 14001 growth, is no doubt partly linked to their increasing participation in global supply chains, in export trade and in business process outsourcing."

The standard may be seen as essential for getting onto the list of suppliers for companies that also use ISO 9000. There has not been much research on how the standards are used but given the current scale there are probably sites where the standard is being used creatively.

In the UK the number of certificates is now below 50,000 rather than above as in 2004. There had been a previous dip while companies adjusted to the revised version of the standard in 2000. The standard originally started as a UK standard (BS 5750) so some observers have suggested that the UK decline in use shows there are problems in maintaining the paperwork and that long term benefits may not occur. The 2000 revision calls for involvement by senior management in system review. It is possible that there has been some reluctance around this.

The ISO comments on the rising importance of services in the global economy. "nearly 33 % of ISO 9001:2000 certificates and 31 % of ISO 14001 certificates in 2005 went to organizations in the service sectors. The latter statistic also illustrates that good environmental management is not just for smoke stack industry and that service providers are accepting their social responsibilities in this area."

Japan is way ahead of China on the environmental standard - 23,466 compared to 12,683. The USA has just over 5,000. Japan has other approaches to quality but the support for ISO 14000 suggests that it is possible to use the methods as part of a management approach.

Figures are also published for two specialised standards based on ISO 9000. ISO 16949 covers automative products in the car industry. This replaces previous industry and company standards. In this sector the USA leads with 3,693 compared to 2,151 for China and 2,115 for Germany. The USA also leads on ISO 13485 for medical equipment with 1310 certificates, followed by the UK with 973 and Germany with 824. There has been a view that the USA has had no need to adopt ISO 9000 as quality policies already exist. This may change with the example of automative and medical. At least there will be some sectors with relevant experience.

I am unable to explain the mixed pattern across countries and sectors. There is very little information available on how the standards are used. Other reports for OhmyNews might help to give some background on particular countries or regions. The recent conference on citizen journalism considered 'best practices' so some quality theory could be relevant without getting too lost in ISO language.

There is some evidence on the web that ISO 9000 systems can work alongside quality circles and moves for improvement. Joseph Nebus has reported on a trip to Thailand where he had his first trip in an ISO 9000 certified taxi. He found much publicity for ISO 9000 also in Singapore as well as support for quality circles with 12% of the workforce participating.

By contrast, quality circles have almost disappeared in the UK. David Hutchins recently updated an article on his website originally from 1982, with this explanation-

"In the year 1998 there were reported to be more than 20 million Circles in China and in every country in the Far East. Both Toyota and Honda announced in 2004 that they are going for 100% involvement in Quality Circles in all of their plants worldwide.

Toyota and Honda are both making huge profits in their manufacturing plants in the USA, China is about to enter that market. At the same time, General Motors are reported to have lost $1.5Bn in the first six months of 2004, MG Rover was liquidated and the plant is now owned by the Chinese.
Ford also lost money and Chrysler are currently in deep trouble. Of course it is not all down to Quality Circles, it would be stupid to suggest that it was but they are part of the reason and that is good enough! Why do Toyota and Honda clearly regard the concept to be so important whilst the West completely ignores it? Who is right? ."

My previous report "Quality Control Goes Round in Circles" covered some background to this. One possibility is that the approach to quality circles has a consequence for the suitability of ISO 9000.

I have started up a home on US Cyworld. It takes a while to get used to this. Mostly for swapping music files etc. i guess but I am also interested in how quality ideas fit in. I found out about Cyworld through OhmyNews. The US launch is a new phase. I have started a 'quality club'. Unfortunately I can't load a text or graphic. Text ok but graphic falls over and then you can't save anything. I think the launch is official, not a beta site but still an issue there I think. Maybe I should be scrolling down to some other button.

I have written for OhmyNews a report on the latest ISO survey on 9000 and 14000. The growth in Asia contrasts with UK stasis. Hard to explain and I can't claim to know what is happening. OhmyNews and Cyworld may contribute a space for a discussion. They are based in Korea but gradually involving wider communities.

Meanwhile the OhmyNews Forum has been totally solid as far as I can tell. I have been back to sleep so am more or less on UK time now. The webcast worked ok for sound, then mostly stills a bit jerky. The slides were missing sometimes. Still, a lot will turn up later.

I think the move to start something in Japan will probably work ok. There may be more podcasts and video as things turn out.

The Korean base seems really strong in social terms as well as technology. My impression is they did less visits than last year to technology sites. But there was mention of wireless speeds as a government concern.

The 'knowledge-based economy' is a reality in Incheon.

Next week there is a space for my paper during the workshop on organisations as part of the Lancaster IAS project on the Knowledge Based Economy. It seems awfully soon.

the paper is intended for the conference at the end od August. I have redone the website more or less as a sequence so I will work some more on that.

I get the impression there is more readiness to look at quality and organisation, even as part of a critique of some rhetoric. There will be a look at cultural industries involving the local RDA as part of the conference so there must be some reality to it.

I notice Peter Checkland has a new book coming out - Learning for Action - that seems to be an introduction to other works, including information systems. I think I will add this in. I have always thougt that SSM was about learning but somehow the Department of Management Learning has rarely made much of a connection. And contrarywise. I can't remember anyone from Management Science being at the conferences organised by Management Learning.

The Institute for Advanced Studies is not based in a particular discipline so this could be a good chance to look at this again.

The OhmyNews Forum is about to start. They are eight hours ahead of UK so tomorrow is a bit sooner.

There is a story already with a welcome and comments from Oh Yeon-ho, founder and CEO of OhmyNews

------------------------
"Two of the most prominent buzzwords in recent years have been Web 2.0 and UCC (user-created content). Underlying both concepts is the belief that collective participation will lead to an optimum solution or conclusion. In other words, decisions will best be made when there is truly mass participation through the Internet.

While giant corporations rush to find a way of commercializing these concepts, citizen journalism, I believe, represents the most developed model for Web 2.0 and UCC. It depends not only on the participation of the masses but on the participation of those who think critically and creatively.

Writing a news story requires a good deal of time and consideration. It is much more difficult, for example, than leaving a comment or posting a blog entry. Though we are an open platform accessible to everyone, not everyone can write a news story. Only those citizen reporters who are passionately committed to social change and reporting make our project possible. The main reason that citizen journalism has not grown and spread more rapidly is the difficult task of finding and organizing these passionate citizen reporters in waiting."
----------------------

I think these issues are very relevant for my attempts to link ideas about quality and learning. Oh Yeon-ho speaks of the difficulties of "organizing" so there is an organisation aspect to what OhmyNews is developing. I think there is a quality aspect when he says that underlying both the concepts of Web 2.0 and User Created Content "is the belief that collective participation will lead to an optimum solution or conclusion."

To say that citizen journalism is "the most advanced model" for both Web 2.0 and UCC is a significant claim and is making sense so far.

The webcast could be about 2 or 3 pm UK time. Not sure if there is a repeat.

I have added a page about stats for the paper draft. The recent Deming SIG meeting on SPC reminded me that this an aspect of websites I often forget. The problem with the UK Acrobat Services site is that most of the audience is not from the UK. Nothing seems to change this. I started the US focus site with a ".com" and the first page of the co.uk suggests people go there if they are not in the UK. Not much difference, the process is not in control.

But the Swickis seem to be working ok in terms of getting searches more or less as expected.

'soft systems' is doing well on the learn9 swicki. I may try to look at this again. There may not be enough time for this at the conference but it could come up as part of looking at Deming on systems thinking.

I have started to look at Prolearn again. They are an EU project on professional e-learning. My impression is they have no problem in admitting 'quality' as an element in their thinking. They want to end up with methods that can be shared with people working in companies. That is not to stop them coming up with new research ideas of course. Just because they accept quality they are not restricted to a 'positive' methodology. Recent conference on social software. Links to blog. Links to blog conference. Maybe it is just another example of rhetoric to disguise a neo-liberal project. But I think there will be more to find on Prolearn that is interesting for the KBE discussion.

Later today there should be a guide to other blogs that I work on or at least a diagram as part of my learn9 website. This is about learning so one current idea is to make the blogs at least appear more coherent. I have tended to just start another one and then not continue.

Just had another look at M@n@gement. The site design has been updated. Much better, in my opinion. More space around things. Previously it looked to me that the list of articles was the only focus. Now it is easier to navigate the site. Also there is a search option, using Google. The only problem I find is the page with a form for submitting an article. At least this has a date - autumn 2006 - when nthe form will be available. This is consistent with a corrective action procedure.

Also the description of what they will accept mentions video, sound anything that fits. So far I can't find examples where this is used.

My paper proposal has been accepted for the Lancaster conference. Update needed for the website, maybe tomorrow.

The Swickis seem to be working. Somebody has pushed a relevant result for CMS up the list in the Anti-Performativity one.

Should be this one. Not sure if it will still be top of the list. This is about how to engage through CMS but I still don't know how people have followed this up.

It turns out my comments on the blog were not that relevant as the blog is only meant for an audience that already understands some Buddhist ideas.

The Coaching Buddhists website as more.

Phone conversation with Viramitra convinces me that things are more complex than I like to assume. Terms like 'Asian values' are not obvious in meaning as Buddhism can be western. I still think there is something about the approach to quality in Asia that is different to what I usually come across in the UK.

One theme that will probably come up in Lancaster is that on the web there are many 'weak links', so many that ideas around a 'community of practice' stop making much sense.

Recently a friend in Exeter has started to blog so I can experiment a bit in exchanging some words online and then check out what he makes of it in real time and space. The blog is here.

My first comment is that this is not yet much of a blog as such. It is a copy of an article. Also as it was originally written for a Buddhist audience it needs more explanation for the open world of blogging. What are the "Brahma Viharas" ? I have found a website through Google but need some confirmation this is along the same lines as the blog.

Western Buddhism is definitely a useful reference point, relevant currently for discussing OhmyNews and ideas about quality. Fortunately if I try to write about 'Asian values' and management theory the editors at OhmyNews can rewrite it to appear resonable. Making sense of this in a way that can work in the UK is going to be more complicated. There are a lot of Christians in Korea by the way. Generalising is problematic but that probably won't stop me.

OhmyNews have published my report on the Knowledge Based Economy conference coming up in Lancaster.

They have changed the headlines and rearranged the text so it appears a lot more sensible. I managed to slip in some of the argument I hope to include in a paper proposed for the conference. You do get a 'voice' with citizen journalism, that is a major point.

I am trying to think of the next few months as one event, maybe up to the Online Information show. Even if the 'paper' is not accepted, I will get some feedback and the words can take some other form.

Manchester as a Knowledge Resource

Conference to close with a return to reality

(this is text as submitted for OhmyNews)


An academic conference on the 'knowledge economy' will close with a keynote from Dr Cathy Garner, currently Managing Director of Manchester Knowledge Capital. It can be assumed that this will relate at least some of the discussion during the conference to a description of actual Manchester as it exists.

Themes include "Discourses and Narratives of the Knowledge-Based Economy" so there could be analysis of some claims as if they were rhetoric, intended to disguise something else. The conference description states that "The Knowledge-Based Economy (KBE) conjures a world of smart people, in smart jobs, doing smart things, in smart ways, for smart money, increasingly open to all rather than a few. It has become the dominant economic strategy for many countries, regions, and cities and is endorsed by many economic, political, and social forces. It has also been criticized for creating a digital divide, new forms of social exclusion, and restricting access to the intellectual commons."

There is a "critique" strand in academic thinking that tends to see any set of words as part of a neo-liberal project to assist globalising capitalism. KBE could be interpreted as just the latest version of this.

Some of these topics relate to the OhmyNews conference on best practices for citizen journalism, both about technology changes and associated developments in culture and social organisation. The 'ubiquitous dream hall' is clearly a showcase for the Korean IT industry but the main topic will be the practice of citizen journalism and wider access to 'the intellectual commons'. My own impression is that citizen reporters are just a part of citizen journalism and that the editors, software and organisation are significant elements. Studies of formal organisation are not always seen as interesting, but I think they remain relevant.

This will be the first major conference organised by the Institute for Advanced Studies, a new initiative for interdisciplinary and postdisciplinary research in Management, Social Sciences and the Arts & Humanities. The Knowledge Based Economy is the focus for the inaugural annual programme, a series of workshops leading up to the conference.

Previous conferences at Lancaster have included two about 'Management Theory at Work'. The idea that 'citizens' or 'practitioners' can contribute to such conferences is officially welcomed. See the recent article by Claire George. However this cannot always be easily reconciled with other views expressed. One closing keynote by Chris Grey argued that Business Schools could not and should not claim to offer any managerial knowledge, but should continue the university role of critique in society. Similar ideas are expressed in a PDF working paper 'Against Learning', available for free download from the Judge Business School in Cambridge.

One of the research clusters at the Lancaster Institute for Advanced Studies is around 'Performativity'. As described on the website,- "Organizations, institutions, nation states even global regions are often portrayed in terms of their performance. Performance itself can be viewed as institutionalised, ritualised, commodified even deified if the discourse pervading managing the public sector is anything to go by."

It is also the case that "Anti-Performativity" can be seen as having so strong a base in universities that it is a problem for practitioners to grasp where theory can be related to any form of activity. My own interest is mainly in quality systems. Since the book 'Making Quality Critical' by Wilkinson and Wilmott was published in 1995 it seems to have been difficult in the UK to relate quality assurance ideas with the study of 'learning organisations'.

The discussion around citizen journalism includes an aspect of 'critique' based on American pragmatism. At last year's OhmyNews Forum, Jeremy Iggers spoke about how he started an experiment in civic journalism in the U.S.

"At the time, I was finishing up a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Minnesota, and writing a dissertation about the ethics of journalism. One of the philosophers who influenced me most was the American pragmatist, John Dewey, who wrote about the importance of having a knowledgeable engaged public that played an active role in democratic life. My thought was that it would be a good idea to see what the newspaper could do to foster public participation, and to encourage better public understanding of important public issues."

There is a connection between Dewey's ideas on education and Deming's ideas on knowledge as part of his approach to quality. This may come up in the discussion about best practices for citizen journalism.

Whatever the reservations about 'performativity', there will also be pragmatic conclusions from the conference on the KBE, at least relating to Manchester.

On 7th January 2005 UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown opened the new North Campus Incubator Unit, part of the University of Manchester.

"What a pleasure it is to be in Manchester to see the huge changes taking place in this great city that led the Industrial Revolution and is now leading the knowledge revolution of the 21st Century," he said.

The Chancellor added that the university would be a future world leader and the city and region would become one of the most prosperous in Europe.

This could be seen as just more "spin" but there is some basis in reality.

The good news is that comments are now working ok on the Auricle blog. Not sure why this never worked for me before. I started a Talk topic at the Guardian instead. I will try to keep the Guardian one going enough not to be deleted. It should be a useful place for comments around learn9.net . For the next few months I will be working around a paper for the conference on the 'knowledge economy' organised by the Institute for Advanced Studies at Lancaster. I don't think the paper will be accepted but it is a useful chance to sort out some ideas.

Meanwhile I am getting some response on the new swickis for learn9 and 'anti-performativity'. A swicki is a form of managed search engine that builds on feedback. I get stats on existing terms and new ones. At the moment 'anti-performativity' gets most interest. 'learn9' is not known, I guess. I think the 'critique' view is definitely part of the discussion, evn though i see it mostly as a block to linking ideas on learning and quality. Maybe during the conference someone will explain how a form of action would follow from 'anti-performativity' in the context of the knowledge economy.

I have also done a guide to several swickis as a hello for spiders.

David Weinberger is still working on 'Everything is Miscellaneous', a book version of his talks from last year.

Apparently there will be about a year between delivering the manuscript in July and the actual publication. So "the book" is still in there. Cobbling together bits of blog will also serve some purpose, especially if something new crops up while the editors are still working on the text as delivered.

Still concentrating on IPEX, but this has carried over into learning.

"Web 2.0" keeps turning up as an explanation of what is happening. Print has to operate in this context.

However "Web 2.0" is still so loosely defined that it could involve anything. There could be a quality aspect, a learning aspect, and an aspect for communications or whatever print is part of.

I think this IPEX could clarify a few things so this blog could be sorted out soon as well.

"e-learning" has even been mentioned in the Bookseller part of the Saturday Review. So the Guardian is moving the bookish discussion online, even if slowly.

I am concentrating on IPEX at the moment. It could be an occasion when the print industry is definitely seen as part of a communications industry based on the web. My blog is still called IPEX 2002 but there is not much point in changing this.

I may seem to be going backwards. The new Acrobatusers website has more or less ignored print and pre-press in favour of 'knowledge work', more or less Acrobat for the desktop. I still think hard copy is part of the discussion. For one thing going back to publishing assumptions is useful even to think about online.

Also I am beginning to see PDF as only one option. It is possible to move in and out anyway. The PDF project has been to move documents from paper to web. this now can take many forms.

I have continued to move studies around quality and learning into journalism. There is a story at OhmyNews around 'comment is free', the new website from the Guardian. I think "citizen journalism" is going somewhere, and there is a related discussion about knowledge authority that will reach academic journals at some point.

This is an example of how the print context is relevant for a web discussion. I have tried to follow a story in Acrobat Services UK site about the ABC circulation certificates that could include 'digital editions'. So far no UK newspapers have 'opted in'. My current guess is that sites like 'comment is free' will allow print journalists to get more used to the web and some writing about news oprganisations in print and online will follow. Circulation figures and a business model will follow that.

Today the Guardian reports that the BBC is about to take on "web 2.0". This is confusing. Recently someone at Life Bytes said that "web 2.0" could mean anything. this turns out to be true. The BBC seems to think that "web 2.0" means working with Microsoft and Sony. Surely they are not into open source at all? Sony keep coming up with strange formats for storage.

So I think "web 2.0" could be a suitable topic for the conference on the 'Knowledge Economy' coming up in Lancaster. One debate seems to be about realism and linguistics. As in there really is a 'knowledge economy' or the words are used for some other reason ( a neo-liberal plot to restrict academic freedom for example ). When OhmyNews refers to Web 2.0 as part of their press release on working with Softbank on a site for Japan and expanding into TV, I regard this as realistic. They mean to do more or less what they announce. But "web 2.0" could also be rhetoric, and there seems to be some variety in how this used.

I have put about learning through games in the animX blog. Games are now well thought of. The Careers Day established that almost all work in animation studios is on short term contracts. No shame apparent from the panel in suggesting that about the only way in is to offer to work for free. By contrast there are still employment contracts in the games industry, even though most companies go bust.

Anyway, back to learning theory. The games as learning link came from Donald Clark's blog based on his talk about 'informal learning'. I guess I can cut and paste about three paragraphs-

"
I don't want to pit formal learning against informal learning. It's simply a matter of balance. We have far too much time, money and effort spent on the formal side, while the informal side receives little or no attention. It's not that there's a lack of ideas and opportunitiess at relatively low cost.

Level 1 - Word of mouth
1. Open office structure
2. Proximity and line of sight seating
3. Non-departmental seating
4. Staff area with relevant magazines
5. Budget for staff get-togethers
6. Brown bag lunches
7. Book club/Budget for books on Amazon

Level 2 - Word of mouse
1. Skills database or profiles
2. Intranet with workflow structure and linked learning
3. Online quality system linked to workflow
4. EPSS software
5. Email
6. Instant messenger
7. Discussion boards
8. Blogs
9. Wikis
10. Podcasting
11. Syndication
12. MMORPGs

MMORPG is short for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game, see Wikipedia

This is another chance to mention the very welcome return of actual space connected to the web. Life Bytes has a site opposite the Odeon on Sidwell Street, Exeter. 01392 214214. Any budget for upgading the kit will probably depend on the games aspect. There will also be a training policy.

The 'word of mouse' list includes an online quality system linked to workflow. This is what the learn9 site is about. It has become a bit of a mess, but will be sorted soon.

I'm still thinking about the workshop on eduacation and the "knowledge economy". More later.

It is in quote marks as this is how the academics seem to think about it. I am trying to find out more about a "linguistic turn" and a "realistic turn". Can't make it out at the moment.

----------------
Mr Gillmor said that the rise of participation from ordinary people means that traditional media must stop lecturing and begin a real dialogue with its readership.

"There is the absolute democratisation of the media with the [ability of] anyone who has access to increasingly professional and cheap tools of production to publish to a global audience," he said.

"It has a big meaning for traditional journalists ... who have to shift from lecture mode into something more like a conversation. The 'former audience' know more than we do and once we embrace that, we can get in to some powerful journalism."
------------------

Extract from Guardian report on discussion at Al Jazeera forum

The same sort of change is happening with teaching and learning, so this will relate to actual lecturers as well.

The Guardian is soon to feature an online opinion discussion called 'comment is free'. Not sure when it will launch.

They recently hosted a discussion about 'citizen journalism'. I'm not sure they understand how far it could go. They mention the NUJ guidelines on "witness reporting" as if occasional photos are all this is about.

I have been posting to Guardain Talk about OhmyNews and also stories on AL-Jazeera. I think soon there will be a bit more clarity on how different forms of media can work together.

Meanwhile I will probably do more blogging and less on Talk.

I hope to contribute something to the meeting about 'education in the knowledge economy' in Lancaster later this week.

http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/ias/annualprogramme/kbe/education.htm

There is another event later on organisations and a conference in August. I might try to get a paper together, the deadline is in May.

I am interested in educational organisations. It seems a good focus for ideas about management, leadership etc.

The 'learning organisation' is one suggested topic for the conference. Could be linked to quality assurance.

One theme seems to be a critique of the idea of the knowledge economy as if it were rhetoric, some form of oppression through language etc etc. In some academic contexts it could be challenging to suggest that many descriptions of the knowledge economy are simply stating facts.

I have put a link on the Prolearn Forum site to let them know about the article on OhmyNews.

Not sure if they will follow it up but the Approach to knowledge push and pull is useful. There is a part of the Prolearn project to add metadata to learning objects so they can be sequenced. Maybe this won't matter if people work out a sequence for themselves.

I think learning theory is just one aspect of something that happens on the web anyway. Everything is miscellaneous, as in most assumed subjects.

I have updated the webpage for Animex, a digital fringe for Animated Exeter

http://www.acrobat-services.co.uk/animation/

There is a page on 'learning' to cover training and education. There is a careers day and also workshops on Photoshop and Flash. This year the Careers Day will be at the Phoenix where there is also now some web access. So a lot could happen around this. I got some CDs off both Adobe and Macromedia in previous years so people goy trial versions. Still not sure what will happen with Adobe / Macromedia but this can be discussed during the festival.

I think I may be going backwards towards hard copy. While Flash in PDF is sorted out we may as well knock page layout on the head. the software is pretty much there surely.

This 'learning' blog may end up much like the other blog on IPEX 2002 , a print show. If 'everything is miscellaneous' as David Weinberger has stated, then these blogs could be better linked.

OhmyNews have now published the HighWire story. they also put links to some of my previous writing, going back to the original one on the Guardian. I think the Highwire story marks a new stage. The web based knowledge has some plausibility, or at least a theory. I will continue writing up reports as journalism. Maybe later come back to academic forms of writing but I don't think the UK scene on 'management learning' welcomes stuff that is too practical.

Quality World has an article about ISO 9000 and the recent ISO survey.

The UK is dropping way behind, as I see it. This article has very little prominence compared to previous years when the whole December issue could be about ISO 9000.

I don't think it is sensibe to hide the numbers away. My guess is that in Asia some companies are able to run ISO 9000 and do stuff with quality. the numbers show that momentum has moved there.

The article mentions anxiety and apathy. Maybe this is just in the UK.

More later. The article is not yet on the IQA website.

I have posted a story for OhmyNews on HighWire Press offering free journal articles. the occasion was the Online Information show. David Weinberger's keynote on 'Everything is Miscellaneous' is a defining moment, the way I see it.

He challenges accepted ideas about how knowledge is organised, not just in libraries but in subject areas for study. My previous efforts to work with modes 1 and 2 just slot into a much larger picture. He has been putting out similar ideas for a while though, but this is a major venue even if it is a trade show.

Web search reveals similar presentations to the Library of Congress and the Oxford Internet Institute. Suggest search on "everything is miscellaneous".

This kind of approach must be relevant for e-learning. It is coming out of the environment people are using anyway.

My concern is to open up a space where ideas about quality can be included as part of e-learning. I don't think all academics realise the implications for universities as organisations. Maybe they do and just don't like it.

The Online Information event is taking the opposite direction to their keynote speaker. Most of the stands are for content, but there are is maybe a fifth of the space at the back divided up into various labels for technology. Content management, knowledge management, documents and records, search engines and also e-publishing. My claim is that knowledge management implies e-learning. Tim O'Reilley suggests that publishing becomes collaboration in web 2. Blogs and wikis were hot topics this year so maybe Web 2 will be a label sometime soon. Let's assume that Tim O'Reilley will be the keynote speaker for 2006. This is a heuristic device to speed things up.

This could be a relevant link from a previous conference.

Not much has turned up from Online Information by way of comment on the keynote. Maybe there needs to be some time for reflection.

On the official blog David Tebbutt reported that "Nervous laughter echoed around the room. But, in between the laughter, you could almost hear some deep thinking taking place. Engage with the New World or seek early retirement."

By the official blog I mean the Online Information blog. This itself records that the only person with an official blogger badge was Nancy Garman from Information Today.

Trying to find out more about blogging

Apparently I should post this code to turn up on Technorate

oi05


This from the Info Today blog



They have a report on David Weinberger's keynote, around Tuesday

oi05

This is a straight copy and paste from the excellent blog hosted by Information Today

According to Weinberger, who is a philosopher as well as digerati, weare building a hugely messy web of linked metadata, and knowledge isnow constituted by what's interesting to us, not to an unknown expertor rigid Aristotelian hierarchy of information. Now, user-generatedmetadata completely flips the role of an expert. It flips the basicsfrom limits and experts and filters to a way of ordering that isinclusive and can handle an formerly overwhelming abundance ofinformation. No longer is there a limit on how much information we canhave, and no need to filter it on the way into a system, but only onthe way out, and then by a random group of users whose tracking andtagging converge to form knowledge.Weinberger said knowledge now is defined by:What: What's interesting (to us)How: By talkingWho: EveryoneWhere: In global conversationsWhy: Because we care"Knowledge IS the conversation," Weinberger said, turning upside downthe established frame of reference of most of the knowledge workers inthe audience.

Nancy GarmanInformation Today, Inc.ngarman@infotoday.comTechnorati Tag: oi05

http://www.infotodayblog.com/

see my draft article

http://www.acrobat-services.co.uk/drafts/highwire.html

so there is some new copy to work into this later

Meanwhile there are no easy quotes to use from visiting stands

Highwire Press definitely back the ide of proper academic structures and peer review for journal articles.

Google staff in person have nothing to add to what you can find on or through Google.

However, the idea of knowledge push and knowledge pull makes some kind of sense.

Earl's Court still has some web access. Side street opposite the station at the moment.

Blog found at Info Today

http://www.infotodayblog.com/

Rely on this if nothing turns up here.

The official blog is at

http://blog.online-information.co.uk/

I am hoping to get two articles accepted by OhmyNews around Online Information next week.

First one is submitted, waiting on editing. You can find the version as posted.

The next one will be about Highwire from Stanford and the implications for thinking about forms of knowledge. There is some form of learning going on with web searches. This could be a chance for a discussion with academics on what it might be.

Draft at http://www.acrobat-services.co.uk/drafts/highwire.html

pdf open doc

Getting ready for Online Information next week.

I am experimenting with a 'Content Management System' , hosted by Open Mute

My site is a test, not sure how it will develop. The RSS feeds should be there.

I have added another RSS feed found on the official Online Information blog

link for this source

Also I have put in a question about the Open Document format into the blog.

I think there could be more interest in the Open Document during the event. Open source ideas are getting stronger. there is a lot of interest in wikis and blogs. Open Documents could go a stage further. The format is not just a clone of commercial formats such as Word .doc or Acrobat .pdf . It has advantages on both as far as I have discovered so far. XML is arguably a better archiving format than PDF. So far only Open Office 2 is widely available as a way to edit Open Documents. In theory any form of document based collaboration could be possible through open source software.

Hope to find out more over the next week or so.

Now found Latino's bar, 6 Thurnham Street. Opens 11.30. Web is one pound for twenty minutes.

another link http://prolearn.dit.upm.es/madrid/workshop.htm

Prolearn have some links to web 2 on the site

http://knowgate.nada.kth.se:8080/portfolio/main?cmd=open&manifest=amb&uri=urn%3Ax-knowgate.nada.kth.se%3Aamb%3A967

follow links for Ambjörn Naeve,

by the way, library out of order today as it happens.

Checking out the Adult College in Lancaster. The free web access was fully used but a cup of coffee later and there are three screens available.

In the Guardian Jack Schofield is writing about Web 2.0. It seems that Microsoft has convinced him there is something going on. Still not clear what Web 2.0 is.

"Where Web 1.0 was mainly a publishing medium, Web 2.0 offers more flexibility and interactivity." That is a quote from Jack Schofield, proper print journalist copied from actual hard copy. Not a blog or conference pitch from San Francisco.

As memory serves Tim O'Reilley compares publishing and collaboration as features of 1 and 2. Not time enough to check this at the moment. Only twenty minutes a session allowed, but the web access is free and the coffee is cheap.

Victor Keegan on the Opinion page suggests that Open Office 2.0 is "much improved" but not yet "friendly enough for most users". It may be no less friendly than Microsoft if you get used to it. I am trying to learn more about the few features I can't yet get to work. At the social Source meeting last week I found out a bit about the Open Document format. This is XML based. They claimed it was better for storing documents than PDF, even if PDF was used for publishing. So far as I know Open Office is the main software currently available for Open Documents.

In time, this format could be used for online collaboration in as many software contexts as are imagined.

Meanwhile Adobe server software is still expensive, I think. So PDF is unlikely to be seen as a collaboration format by many people.

No time to add links, except
The Adult College

The Auricle weblog has started to include stuff about quality

Recently there have been posts about Deming on Radio 4 and also a survey on benchmarking.

This is a really helpful development for me. I have found previously that UK academics are often opposed to quality ideas of any kind.

I still can't comment on the Auricle blog. the method has changed but it still seems not to work.

Still, i have added more to the Guardian Talk topic. Hope the Auricle readers find it sometimes.

http://educationtalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@auricle@.7747911d

Adtech was really interesting, in particular the Google University.

An article for OhmyNews was accepted and has had more response than most of my other articles.I think this is a good way forward. Journalism seems to work better than academic writing.

I got over some ideas about quality and how learning could fit in with this. Since writing the article I have found some more about a theory of learning Google might connect with. They are supporting the project for cheap computers promoted by the Media Lab at MIT.

"
Negroponte explained “This is not teaching as we know it; only part of our learning comes from teaching. Much of it comes from curiosity. These are tools that can help cultivate that learning process.”
"

Other links to explore later

http://www.connectedfamily.com/main_alt.html

Seymour Papert has a lead role on education ideas

http://laptop.media.mit.edu/
base for the laptop

Second cut and paste from the Equel site. My probings have been there some time with no reply .

-----------------http://equel.net/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=74

Not sure if this links without you logging in. You need to find the 'hints and tips' then the social forum. Not too easy to navigate, like much of the site.

Is anything still happening?by Will Pollard - Friday, 2 September 2005, 04:03 PM Hello again
Is this still a live project?
I am wondering why nothing seems to be happening. The previous web site was fairly flat for messages also.
Is it because actual use of the web is not really a prority? Sorry if I'm being rude but I have been thinking since a recent conference on Leadership and FE about how theory might be implemented, rendered useful for people in practice.
I'm not sure this is actually the aim of the Equel project. Papers exist as outputs. So that's ok. This site remains more or less moribund though.
Have you had a look at Prolearn? http://www.prolearn-project.org/
It seems to me that the scope here includes quality and organisation. I think this is positive.
I will write more at the website http://www.learn9.net
also on the Guardian talk / education
Any comment welcome
Will Pollard
will.pollard@gmail.com



Re: is anything still happening?by Will Pollard - Wednesday, 7 September 2005, 12:07 PM Copy message from Guardian Talk
Polly Toynbee is still wrong about Iraq in my opinion but she makes some interesting points about UK universities- http://mediatalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?12@pollyt@.774809ad/5
"No government relishes the academic backlash that would follow any suggestion that perhaps some of what is taught at university is not useful, enjoyable or intellectually elevating for most students. The interesting is often made deliberately obscure and the simple embellished with academic obfuscation, while students are taught to write in dense academic style. It is not philistine to suggest that most humanities students might have their minds stimulated by a more general curriculum across a range of disciplines, opening wider windows instead of treating them all like trainee academics. As for the value of some research, no politician dare touch that domain."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1564212,00.html
One benefit of publishing academic research on the web could be a crossover of styles. Maybe this could assist understanding.



http://mediatalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@pollyetc@.774809ad

to continue talk at Guardian

I am getting a bit desperate with academics. Their ideas on 'learning' seem a bit restricted, maybe to protect the idea of learning as in universities. The next couple of posts show some attempts to get more discussion going.

This one from Open Congress website. At Tate Modern sometime soon, invitation only but the website is open enough. I have added a request for more on learning to the intro for texts. This seems the closest to a statement of intent available for the people involved.

My impression is that there is a theory of learning, but it is not explicit.

http://opencongress.omweb.org/modules/wakka/Introduction

OhmyNews has now published my article on print as used by themselves and WikiNews as a spin-off from their web sites. News organisations will use a combination of web and hard copy. Both OhmyNess and WikiNews have a free PDF for download.

I have expanded in my blog on IPEX 2002 the last paragraph on Jonathan Levy's editorial in Print Media Management. 'Vision in print media' clearly means something more than the print industry has been offering. What it is though is not yet all that clear. Maybe there is a form of 'morphosis' involved. 'Mediamorphosis' has some history as a term. I will try to come back to this later.

If 'quality morphosis' had a bit more meaning it could be an entry on the Wikipedia.

There seems to be a readiness to share and create knowledge.

It has to go a bit further first though, I think.

'Quality Morphosis' now has a page on the learn9 site.
http://www.learn9.net/morphosis.html

Earlier this week I decided to switch to blog mode but I soon wanted to switch back to a web page. Things may change again. 'Quality Morphosis' seems ok as an idea. Using the same terms all the time seems not to work after a while. They are into something in Korea. At OhmyNews there is some method of working emerging that also involves English language citizen reporters. There is an implicit quality system so I can observe how this develops.

On the 'In Business' program on Radio 4 about Deming it stated that many companies see quality as something that has been 'done'. Actually I don't think it has started.

Now back from OhmyNews Forum and also the 'Rethinking Leadership' conference. I am still taking stock of the impression from Korea. I think they really have got the web integrated with other things they do. The UK academic conference seemed a bit out of it by comparison. Of course there are other issues than the web but I am now fairly certain that 'e-learning' is central to education debates, especially anything 'vocationa'' or relating to community or what people do anyway.

My outlook is influenced by the rejection of my workshop proposal. I now think that it is almost impossible for the 'management learning' academics to consider a positive view of quality. The 'critique' set of arguments is very well established. There is a paper by Chris Grey (PDF, requires Adobe Reader) for the current conference on critial management studies (CMS). This dates CMS to around 1992 so the collection 'Making Quality Critical' (1995) was quite early.

One of the speakers at the conference, Wendy Briner from Ashridge Management College, suggested that in appreciative enquiry people organise towards the positive image of themselves. Maybe something similar happens with 'deficit' thinking, if that is the right term. The aim of 'Making Quality Critical' seems to me to be to write off quality theory entirely so it is not surprising there seems to be no engagement with quality practice on this scene.

Some of the speakers were actually quite flexible. Professor Dennis Gleason spoke of 'dominant and intrusuve inspection' and stated that currently 'accountability in FE works more in favour of audit and funding regimes than for the community. He was not against accountability as such but there was not much of a description of what a suitable quality approach would be like.

Michael Hammond from Dudley College argued that current quality systems such as ISO 9000 were constraning FE leadership to a 'transactional' role while the 'transformational' style of leadership was called for in other contexts. This was one of the few occasions a set of categories on leadership made some sense for me. He was prepared to discuss the changes in ISO 9000 around 2000 but believed they had not been used at all in FE. He could well be right, my argument is just that this possibility should be considered.

e-learning was fairly marginal to the discussion. Network Learning is still seen as about dialogue but there is now an awareness of possible conflicts around difference as well as communities of practice. I couldn't see how anyone in FE would find much in this discussion that would be useful for them in making a case for e-learning.

In Korea we were given a book - 'Media Big Bang' by Tackwhan Kim and Sangbok Lee, translated by Youngeum Lee. This is based on newspaper articles from Joongang Ilbo in January 2005. I have started to read this and realise it is a thorough and wideranging book. There are many references to research and websites I have yet to follow up. The scope includes print media and academic journals. It is fairly clear that the speed of change is faster than most people in the UK are expecting.

One term in the book is 'morphosis' - 'the readiness to boldly abandon practices that are no longer useful and actively accept new changes'. More on this in the next post.

I have been invited to a forum for Citizen Reporters organised by OhmyNews in Seoul.

This blog may be updated over the next few days but more likely will be a short report at Guardian talk

http://mediatalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@ohmynews@.7747ecc2

My hope is that the Guardian reports this event and makes some connections.

Later this month I will be at a conference on Leadership for Further Education at Lancaster. This relates to the Department for Management Learning. Previously there have been conferences on Management Theory at Work where I contributed papers on quality. There won't be another of these so the FE context is an opportunity to look at a 'practitioner'point of view. I did have a draft proposal for a paper for this conference but it was not accepted. See version on website.

I started looking at quality from a print company situation. Now working with websites and internet access I think there are comparisons with educational organisations. Not sure how this will fit. At the first Management Theory at Work conference there was a keynote from John Burgoyne on "The Virtual, Knowledge-managing, Learning Organisation?" . I don't think there were any conclusions on this. The discussion got lost in 'critique' as fas as I could make it out. However I think the ssues relate to education and companies.

The sessions of interest include-

Quality Management or Quality Confusion? Are Quality Management Techniques in FE Actually Preventing the Development of Transactional Leadership? - Michael Hammond, Dudley College, UK

Will there be any positive approach to quality?

Networking For Learning and Leading - Debra Ferreday, Vivien Hodgson & Chris Jones Centre for Excellence in Leadership, UK

Reading Management Learning I have come across 'anti-performativity' which seems to explain some of the approach. I'm not sure what interest there is in forms of e-learning that can be applied.

Action Learning – Learners’ Perceptions of a Networked Management Learning Activity - Karen Kerr & Lesley Whelan, Scottish Further Education Unit, UK

Developing Leadership Skills: The Appropriateness of Online and Face-to-Face Methods for Different Groups of Learner - David Silbergh & Kate Lennon, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK

My guess is that these will be presented as if there was an intention to offer learners something close to what they were looking for.

I'm at HESFES - home education at the seaside festival

It is at Charmouth, not too far from Exeter. The internet marquee is organised by Bristol Wireless and Psand (links from //psand.net

So far I have studied Psand from a distance. They are sometimes in the West Country, Glastonbury and the Big Green but I have failed to get a ticket. The Big Green sells out so book early if you are interested this year.

Hyperactive loaned a couple of dated pcs for Glastonbury a couple of years ago. Now Bristol Wireless have a large number of Toshiba Satellite portables. There may be 50 of them apparently. At least 20 are here and in working order. There is a large server somewhere in the van. They are all cabled up and there is mains electricity from the toilet block. There is wi-fi as well for people who turn up.

The web access is from satellite so this bit is as before. From what I remember about the Big Green, electricity came from sunpower or a bicycle and all networking was wireless. Still, once you know wireless works it can be just an option.

It will be interesting to see what use people make of this. There are talks and meetings throughout the week and a lot of learning activity. There is no library but this could be a campus. There is a priority for web access and no doubt about the web. So this is different ot a lot of places where there are still reasons apparently not to move in this direction.

I realise that I have done nothing on this or other blogs since CeBIT. Time to try to work things through. I did find it inspiring as a space where things appeared real that previously I had only heard about through the web. Hannover is not that far from the UK so I can project into normal life in the near future.

Since then I have been working on a meeting in Exeter about what to do about public web access. Not sure what to make of this either but some things may fit together soon.

The BBC have announced some detail about their creative archive. Not much stuff, but the idea is interesting. I have done some PDF www.acrobat-services.co.uk/creative

I'm on the way to CeBIT

looking forward to Prolearn presentations

PROLEARN will present first results at the CeBIT fair 2005, the largest computer fair in the world. Presentations include hands-on experiments as well as guidelines and surveys. ProLearn will be represented by five core partner (INT, IAO, HEC, JSI, CSI) in the eWorld stand (Hall 6, stand 29) and will present several topics during the fair:
IQ - Innovation durch Qualifikation - Thursday 14.00 (Dr.-Ing. Bullinger, Fraunhofer Institute)
A Community of practice in the area of professional training - Friday 11.30 and Wednesday 11.00 (Alexander Karapidis, Fraunhofer Institute)
Corporate training, briding the gap between universities & companies - Friday 14.00 (HEC)
Fostering cross border e-business cooperative environment through usage of web based education - Friday 14.30 and Wednesday 11.30 (Jozef Stefan Institute)
Wenn Lern-und Arbeitswelt verschmelzen. Arbeitesplatznahes Lernen - lernnahes Arbeiten - Friday 14.00 (Dr.-Ing. Spath, Fraunhofer Institute)
Multimedia courses: implementation methods - Wednesday 10.30 (Melanie Blanchard, INT)

test 

I'm at the BETT show, a really good start to the year. Olympia is full, something that only happened with computers a very long time ago. Adobe have turned up for example. They didn't bother with Online Information. Maybe the schools are seen as a better longterm investment.

Apparently Acrobat Standard will be packaged with sample lesson plans etc. around February.

Meanwhile Scansoft are showing some PDF products that seem to work. Limited functionality but they create PDF ok and get the content back into Word. Very useful in most situations.

I am thinking about how commenting helps learning. Later there will be a demo on Contribute.

More tomorrow.

For some reason I can't update learn9.net at the moment.

There may be recent stuff at Internet Express. This was an internet cafe in Exeter, now just a website. I think of it as a place for discussion and learning . Look on the training page.

Meanwhile changes will be on this blog. Also I am updating the personal homepage headed 'Hello Spiders'. http://www.willpollard.eurobell.co.uk/
Still needs more work but the structure is there.

Not sure how this happened. Must have pressed a strange key 

I have updated the website at www.learn9.net

On the first page there are now links to my two articles on ISO 9000 at OhmyNews. The stats from ISO show that ISO 9000 still has growth, but not in the UK. Why this is is open to discussion. Maybe the UK has moved on and Asian firms have been coerced into it. Alternatively, the revised standard has some benefits and Asian companies can make this work. For the IQA to publish an article by John Seddon, there must be some debate going on. My guess is that there must be some Asian companies able to work with ISO9000 and quality as well. I expect some case studies or new books soon. My second article is looking for information from others.

Discussions with the Deming SIG at the IQA have not got far with the idea that Deming in Japan had something to do with local values. I think this will come up again. Not that I understand any depth on this, but clearly quality is a global issue ands Asian values are part of this. John Seddon has not shown any evidence that UK management moved to some other form of quality policy, just that they gave up on ISO 9000.

I have also included a link to the Lancaster Leadership conference next year. Having looked at the material on leadership and excellence I don't think the 'critique' aspect will block too much discussion. So I might work out something for a workshop contribution. I think IT and web issues will be disruptive for institutions working on learning and skills so there is a fit somewhere.

I have had a look at some sites about 'Success for All' and also the leadership centre in Exeter. Quality seems better accepted as a topic than I remember from previous events.

More links and detail follows later.

What I hope to do is support some dialogue. The IQA people I know are interested in dialogue as a method so this may link up with 'learning and leadership'.

There is to be a conference on Learning at Lancaster next June. Details below.

I think this means there will not be another conference on 'Management Theory at Work'. The last one was mostly about leadership so the new idea follows this.

I might try to contribute something. A workshop would be most useful as I could put some content on the web previously. My main problem is with the way the first 'Management Theory at Work' lost track of some issues to conclude with 'critique'. I'm still not sure where 'critique' is going. Stuff about organisations as a context for learning and leadership seemed to get lost.

I am still interested in 'learning organisations' and connections with quality and I think this could still link with 'management learning'. I will try some ideas out online and see if anything fits together.

------------------

http://www.mgttheoryatwork.co.uk/

--------------------

Research Conference
Centre for Excellence in Leadership

Re-thinking Leadership:
New Directions in the Learning and Skills Sector?

Monday, 27th – Wednesday, 29th June 2005
Lancaster University, George Fox Complex

Call for papers/presentations/other contributions

Leadership in the learning and skills sector has moved up the agenda following the publication of Success for All. What effect is this new emphasis on leadership having on relationships between stakeholders in the learning and skills sector, such as learning and skills provider organizations, leaders, managers, lecturers and teachers, students, and other relevant organizations?
There is a need for a broad-based and critical revisiting, review, and re-thinking of leadership, leadership research, leadership development, the themes apparent within the policy framework and the practices these aim to constrain and promote. This conference is intended for those directly engaged with or otherwise interested in leadership related research and practice. The objective is to provide an open, convivial, responsive and respectful forum where practitioners / researchers / those engaged in both, can pool insights drawn from their analyses of concepts and practices associated with leadership in the sector.
In addition, to the presentation of papers we would welcome contributions that will be delivered in ways that promote interaction and dialogue between delegates, for example that promote discussion, debate, group work, or that take a workshop, or other format. We also welcome contributions that deal reflexively or self-critically with our roles as researchers, practitioner researchers, teachers, leaders and leadership developers.
The following questions give a non-exhaustive indication of the types of issues we would like contributors to address:
What does/should ‘leadership’ mean?
What tools, technologies, practices are available for supporting leadership and how are they being used?
In what ways do the dynamics of and between organizations, organizational development and evaluation, support or constrain the development of leadership practices?
What assumptions do we have about leadership? How do they affect the learning and skills sector?
Is the emphasis on ‘leadership’ a help or hindrance within the learning and skills sector?
How do practitioners ‘manage’ leadership? Where have all the managers gone?
Is the promotion of leadership, as we currently understand it, compatible with that of ‘difference’ or ‘inclusivity’?
How are competing values / ethics / interests catered for through the promotion of leadership, within policy and the dominant expectations of practice?
We envisage that contributions will fall within one of several streams:
Current Leadership Research – this might include contributions drawn from research into leadership related issues in other educational sectors, or other public or private sector contexts, but certainly will include contributions from a range of researchers and research groups concerned with education and skills, as well as updates on CEL based projects.
Practitioner Research – we also welcome contributions from practitioners engaged in leadership related research within the sector as well as updates from projects funded by CEL.
The Policy Framework and Dominant Expectations of Practice: Influences on the Role of Leadership in the Learning and Skills Sector - we invite contributions that illuminate the problems and possibilities of meeting the objectives these themes mark out, and / or that take a ‘longer’ or ‘broader’ view of the role of the learning and skills sector and leadership within it, both in the UK and elsewhere.
Other Relevant Perspectives - we are aware of the long and respected traditions associated with forms of access to learning and skills acquisition other than those provided, funded or otherwise supported through the state. We are also aware that the very concept of ‘leadership’ is not unproblematic in a number of respects and that alternative less hierarchical modes of learning provision do exist. We want to set aside some time and space for ideas and research centered on these and related issues, and to encourage a reflexive approach to our understanding of each of our own works and positions within ‘the learning and skills sector’. For all these reasons and more, we also welcome contributions that problematise each of our endeavors in constructive ways that present alternative views, or that deal with the conflicts of interest apparent to most research, not least our own.
Submission of Proposals - Send an e-mail attachment with filename [RC1–Surname, First Name] to the research co-ordinator, Teresa Wisniewska ( t.wisniewska@lancaster.ac.uk ) by Thursday, 6th January 2005. Max length, 500 words. Please indicate which theme you would like to contribute to and whether you are submitting a proposal for a paper, workshop or contribution of another format. Acceptance decisions will be communicated by Monday 14th February 2005; and completed papers will be required by Tuesday, 31st May 2005.
Conference Committee:- Neil Clarke, Steve Fox, Marian Iszatt White, Ron Kerr, Tara Leach, Kim McGuire, Anjoom Mukadam, Annette Smith, Phil Watland.
Conference Administration:- Teresa Wisniewska and Ann Marie Mount Any other queries can be directed to Teresa Wisniewska by email or telephone 01524 594211. <>
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Teresa B Wisniewska Research Co-ordinator Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) Gillow Avenue LANCASTER LA1 4YX
Email - t.wisniewska@lancaster.ac.uk Telephone - +44 (0)1524 594211 Fax - +44 (0)1524 592764 http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk http://www.centreforexcellence.org.uk

Next week is Alt-C in Exeter. I am planning to update the website at learn9.net. This week during the Science Festival there is an effort ot check out 'wi-fi Exeter'. So far I think this is showing some basis in reality. PC World has a BT openzone that works ok. The Southgate Hotel has a Freespot but is not really promoting it. During Alt-C there will be a Freespot at the Peter Chalk centre. It will be interesting to see if people use it. Maybe some will visit Life Bytes and use a desktop near to coffee.

I will also load various bits that may not hang together. Since Networked Learning I have tried to look at 'modes 1 and 2 knowledge' and 'knowledge creating company'. I am fairly sure that e-learning is not a mode 1 subject. Also quality fits in there somewhere. I have tried to get some discussion going on the Guardian talkboard. The recent ISO survey on ISO 9000 certificates shows growth in China but decline in UK. I think there is some connection with attitudes to quality in the UK, partly caused by attitudes in education. Also the business talk topics tend to get deleted. So i am relying on the education page to keep something about Deming and quality.

http://educationtalk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@deming@.685ecf36

Next week I will try to clarify some things on the site. Alt-C will be a good background.