Home

Symposium on the Impact of Digital Media

Posted October 10th, 2006 by NMC
in

October 10-21, 2006
Howard Rheingold to keynote
This month the NMC will host a 12-day symposium on the NMC Campus in Second Life focusing on the impact of digital media on all aspects of our daily lives. At the intersection of virtual 3-D space and the "flat-web" of the browser, virtual worlds like Second Life are active settings for collaboration and socialization. The Symposium on the Impact of Digital Media will explore the ways we encounter and understand digital media -- inside such a setting.
This virtual symposium is informed by the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning, a two-year project in which the NMC is helping to explore the impact of digital media on our lives in a variety of ways, and encouraging dialog among experts, visionaries, and thought leaders from around the globe. This unique event brings that dialog to the current residents of Second Life. The symposium is also a precursor to the upcoming a live presentation on the NMC Campus by Howard Rheingold, author of SmartMobs, on October 21 at 11 am Pacific time.
The singular focus of the 12-day symposium is to consider how the applications of digital media are changing our lives, and how they have impacted the ways we work, learn, collaborate, and even socialize. Recurring themes will be:

  • Identity and self-image
  • Credibility and the reliability of information
  • Civic and social involvement
  • The arts, creativity, and design
  • Social networking
  • Pedagogical potentials and implications

Digital media, for this event, is interpreted broadly as anything from the traditional uses of the medium for creating and sharing rich content to the explosion of blogs for self expression, and increasingly, real time interpretation of news and breaking events. Also included is the notion of shared content via sites like Flickr, YouTube, and blip.tv, social sites like FaceBook and MySpace, and more powerful content and media search tools.
A range of events and activities will take place over the twelve-day symposium, including a photo contest, panels and discussions, a running poster exhibit, and a visit from Henry VIII, just to name a few.
A complete schedule and archive can be found at http://www.nmc.org/campus/Impact_of_Digital_Media_Symposium_Schedule
Check the NMC Campus Observer (http://www.nmc.org/sl) for additional details.
Please join us and add your voice (and avatars) to the conversation!

Your rating: None