Wed 13 June 4pm Net Smart - an online session with Howard Rheingold

HOW TO ACCESS THE LIVE SESSION
It's a good idea to test this out beforehand.
Check that your sound is turned on.
Click here to download a Java application onto your desktop, then wait while it loads.
Enter the name you want to use for the session.
Howard will talk for 45-50 minutes followed by a Q&A
NB: Online participants are limited to 50 so if you want to be sure of  hearing the talk, come to the TDC where we will log on together. Please arrive by 3.50 if possible.

Come to the TDC to meet Howard Rheingold live online from California. 

There will also be an option to join in remotely. Check back here to find out how.
This session is followed by an RSA Networking Meeting at 6pm - All Welcome

Howard Rheingold, Honorary Doctor of Technology, DMU

Teatime session in the Transdisciplinary Common Room (TDC), Fletcher Quad. Join us at 4pm. There's always a pot of tea on the go.
Two ways to attend:
1. Join us in the TDC or...
2. ...log on from your own computer, wherever you are, and make sure your sound is turned on. The day before the talk, Howard will set up a virtual space using Blackboard Collaborate and send me the link. I will publish it here. The first 50 people to log in will be able to join the conversation online.

Net Smart
Mindful use of digital media means thinking about what we are doing, cultivating an ongoing inner inquiry into how we want to spend our time. Howard Rheingold outlines five fundamental digital literacies, online skills that will help us do this: attention, participation, collaboration, critical consumption of information (or ""crap detection""), and network smarts. He explains how attention works, and how we can use our attention to focus on the tiny relevant portion of the incoming tsunami of information. He describes the quality of participation that empowers the best of the bloggers, netizens, tweeters, and other online community participants; and examines how successful online collaborative enterprises contribute new knowledge to the world in new ways. He also presents a lesson on networks and network building.

There is a bigger social issue at work in digital literacy, one that goes beyond personal empowerment. If we combine our efforts wisely, it could produce a more thoughtful society: countless small acts like publishing a Web page or sharing a link could add up to a public good that enriches everybody.

Howard Rheingold, an influential writer and thinker on social media, is the author of Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (both published by the MIT Press), and Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. A former Visiting Professor at the IOCT, he received an honorary degree from DMU in 2010. Net Smart is his latest book, published April 2012

Wed 13 Jun 6pm RSA Networking Meeting - all welcome

After Howard Rheingold's session on Wed 13 June there will be an RSA Networking Meeting.  If you are a Fellow of the RSA, or just interested in finding out what they do, come along to this informal meetup in the TDC.

Wed 23 May 4pm Teatime at the TDC: AHRC call 'Care for the Future: Thinking Forward through the Past'

Teatime session in the Transdisciplinary Common Room (TDC), Fletcher Quad. Join us at 4pm. There's always a pot of tea on the go.

Brainstorming meeting to discuss a possible bid to the AHRC for this call. Sign up to be kept informed.

‘Care for the Future: Thinking Forward through the Past' affords an opportunity for researchers in the arts and humanities to generate new novel understandings of the relationship between the past and the future, and the challenges and opportunities of the present through a temporally inflected lens. Importantly, it offers academic researchers in these fields the opportunity to facilitate and activate collaborations with partners including those outside HEIs in the cultural and creative sectors both in the UK and internationally.

Do come along if you're interested in being involved. Please bring a copy of the supporting PDF.

Convened by Prof Sue Thomas

Wed 27 June 4pm Muddy boots welcome: Wellbeing of outdoor walking groups

Teatime session in the Transdisciplinary Common Room (TDC), Fletcher Quad. Join us at 4pm. There's always a pot of tea on the go.

© 2012 Natural England / Walking for Health / Paul Glendell

Group walks in green spaces are a cultural tradition in the UK. But is there any psychological benefit to putting on those hiking boots? This talk will explore an answer. Wellbeing is increasingly considered fundamental to quality of life. An expanding catalogue of research suggests that interaction with the natural environment contributes to mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing. This presentation will discuss the mental and emotional well-being of individuals who do and do not take part in a national outdoor walking programme – Walking for Health.

Melissa Marselle is a second year PhD student at the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development. She is an Environmental Psychologist.

This is the last session for this term. See you in October!

Wed 16 May 4pm: Drop in

No committee member is available to host the session this week so it's up to you! Drop in between 4.00-5.30 and see who else wants to share tea and conversation.