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"The emerging field of behaviour change theory suggests new ways in which networked technologies might be used as a form of pedagogical persuasion to influence and shape learners’ behavior, even at the unconscious or irrational level."

Comment: A very interesting and thought-provoking reflection on current changes in pedagogical climate, which are very much exemplified by the move towards networked learning. Williamson first notes the prevalence of terms such as softness and openness. This, he contends, amounts to softening up education: "As opposed to the hard education of canonical core content, the softened school of the future does not impose rigid academic barricades against informal learning outside school". This new open education paradigm is characterised by open educational resources, an emphasis on soft skills, and most of all soft (libertarian) paternalism: "policies and practices which are designed in such a way that they are intended to subtly shape and change behavior". This is the nudging referred to in the title. So, in networks for learning, we do not coerce people into doing what we think they should. In stead, we monitor them and try to subtly persuade them to move into the 'right' direction: "The learner enmeshed in digitally mediated networks is forever being nudged from afar rather than instructed; subtly tutored instead of lectured". The problem with this, Williamson says, is that it comes dangerously close to being manipulative: "... as the language of 21st century learning becomes increasingly saturated with new “open” and networked formats and new “soft” behavioral competencies it may become hard to distinguish from the soft control techniques of behavioral optimization programs, soft performance, and other political strategies of subtle psychological persuasion"
Indeed, if you can't get things your way by bullying people, you 'sweet talk' them into it. And whereas bullying is at least obvious (even if you have no way to to escape it), with nudging the victim herself may start to belief this is in her best interest. It is a real danger, but I still prefer arguments, even if they are 'sweetened', as opposed to intimidation. Ultimately, it is a matter of ethics. As much as resarchers should tell their subjects what the experiment is intended for, so should learners be told what they are getting themselves involved in. (peter sloep, @pbsloep)

C.W Anderson "The structure of newsrooms reflects how journalists think about their work. As those conceptions change, it makes sense that the structures would change with them".

This ties in with my emerging idea of socialreporter explorations http://socialreporters.net/?page_id=552

Robin Good: Participatory culture writer and book author Henry Jenkins interviews cyberculture pioneer Howard Rheingold (Net Smart, 2012) by asking him to explain some of the concepts that have helped him become a paladin of the  and "new literacies" so essential for survival in the always-on information-world we live in today.

This is part three of a long and in-depth interview (Part 2, Part 1) covering key concepts and ideas as the value of "community" and "networks", the architecture of participation, affinity working spaces, and curation.

Here is a short excerpt of Howard response to a question about curation and its value as both a “fundamental building block” of networked communities and as an important form of participation:

Howard Rheingold: "...at the fundamental level, curation depends on individuals making mindful and informed decisions in a publicly detectable way.

Certainly just clicking on a link, “liking” or “plussing” an item online, adding a tag to a photograph is a lightweight element that can be aggregated in valuable ways (ask Facebook).

But the kind of curation that is already mining the mountains of Internet ore for useful and trustworthy nuggets of knowledge, and the kind that will come in the future, has a strong literacy element.

Curators don’t just add good-looking resources to lists, or add their vote through a link or like, they summarize and contextualize in their own words, explicitly explain why the resource is worthy of attention, choose relevant excerpts, tag thoughtfully, group resources and clearly describe the grouping criteria."

In other words, "curators" are the ones creating the metadata needed to empower our emerging collective intelligence.

Curation Is The Social Choice About What Is Worth Paying Attention To.

Good stuff. In-depth. Insightful. 8/10

Full interview: http://henryjenkins.org/2012/08/how-did-howard-rheingold-get-so-net-smart-an-interview-part-three.html