Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning With New Media by: Mizuko Ito, et al. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2009) 419. pp http://ISBN.nu/9780262013369 (The complete PDF can be downloaded from http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/full_pdfs/Hanging_Out.pdf ). I can’t remember the number of the chapter I’m reading but it’s about what they call “genres of participation”. They describe how many social interactions are involved in the role of “techne-mentor” — which is a kind of technology stewardship in a network. An example is when a teen figures out how to remove a virus from a computer and then show others how to do it. They learn to get help from others and provide it to those who need it. All of this is happening independently of schools (in the settings they studied). So to me it’s very valuable to re-think the context within which schools and universities exist and make their contribution.

But what is most striking to me is that a great deal of social structure evolves as technology spreads. The spread is not effortless and a sense of intention develops along with it. I recommend the book to you!

The cost of technology (either hard or soft) has dropped immensely in the last years and it allowed a massification. The moment you have a democratization of these media the users will take over its potential. Having access to Internet changes everything.

Some detractors will state that Internet information is garbage, but I disagree, it’s up to each one of us (adults) to choose and select the best. It’s the same with other media (TV – many programmes are garbage; newspapers – tabloids are garbage; movies – many of them are garbage…).

However, I think that some focus on education for the media is required in schools, to raise awareness for some risks and improve critical analysis.

The possibilities that opensource/freeware opens to most of us grows every week. The added-value that brings to our activities and products/results is amazing.

In a 5 minute screencast I can explain the advantages of using a certain resource and deliver it to a community. It’s no longer a big issue, in contrast to what happened a few years ago, to be dependent on some computer expert, to start a website, a blog, a LMS, etc.

The autonomy to do things in an efficient, fast and practical way, allowing to share it in an instant is a big conquest for the common citizen or professional like me.

The groundswell is there! Power is shifting!