New Social Media Group

Following the popularity of the social media workshop two weeks ago, myself and Thom Corah are pleased to accept the role of facilitators for a new social media group to help members explore the practicalities and possibilities of using social media for teaching and learning and more widely.

We of course do not know all there is to know about social media, but we both have good experience of various aspects of social media use and will be able to use this to help people along the various paths that they wish to travel. We also hope that group members can help each other by sharing best practice and ideas.

We propose to hold the first meeting on Thursday January 24th from 1-3pm We’ve set a side two hours for the initial meeting which ideally we’d like you to attend for at least the first 90 mins. We have arranged subsequent follow up meetings on Thursday, February 7th at 1pm and Thursday, February 21st at 1pm, where the intention is to work as a group for an hour, with some spill over time for those that have things that they have time to explore a bit further. All Meetings to be held in the usual TDU Building (near Fletcher building).

We look forward to taking things forward in the new year. Please let us know if you are coming it will help with the planning. If you have a mobile device such as laptop or tablet please bring it with you. Not everyone will need one, but we will need a few for some group work that we will do.

Look forward to seeing you soon.

Steve and Thom

1pm Wed 9 Jan 2013: An Introduction to Future Foresight, Prof Sue Thomas

"The future is like a corridor into which we can see only by the light coming from behind." Edward Weyer Jr., anthropologist

All academics are experts in the past and present of their subject. But can you hazard a prediction for what you might be teaching and researching in 2025? This session kicks off a series about 2025 with an overview of the skills we need to acquire in order to think like a futurist. Sue Thomas draws on her experience of working with the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California to share some ideas about what it means to develop and apply future foresight.

1pm Wed 6 Feb 2013: ABCs of Forecasting, Prof James Woudhuysen

ABCs of Forecasting
Prof James Woudhuysen, ADH
1pm Wed 6 Feb 2013

It is right to be sceptical about forecasting – but it's wrong to be too sceptical. Among the ABCs:

1 Make a folder of Issues around which to exert thought leadership. Include Asia
2 Collect and suspect more forecasts. Distinguish between real and perceived risk
3 Beware government's fondness for policy-based forecasts
4 What appears new isn't always new; what appears old isn't always old
5 The algebra of numerical forecasts is more important than the arithmetic
6 Identify tendencies and counter-tendencies, and try to synthesise them
7 Some of today's forecasts are complacent; most are full of doom
8 'The best way of predicting the future is to invent it'
9 Write an industry bible (even if it's just for internal use)

1pm Wed 23 Jan 2013: Researching future technologies and their ethical consequences, Prof Bernd Stahl

Researching future technologies and their ethical consequences
Prof Bernd Stahl, CCSR
1pm Wed 23 Jan 2013

The ETICA project (Ethical Issues of Emerging ICT Applications) ran from 2009 to 2011. This talk will detail the principles of the project, methodological problems and the eventual approach. The talk will reflect on the value and downsides of futures research. Project website: www.etica-project.eu

2025: Forecasting the Future - TDC Spring Lunchtimes

Important change of date

To accommodate those who could not make it on Tuesdays in the Autumn Term, Spring Term TDC Lunchtime Sessions will take place on Wednesdays 1pm-2pm

"The future is like a corridor into which we can see only by the light coming from behind.” Edward Weyer Jr., anthropologist

All academics are experts in the past and present of their subject. But can you hazard a prediction for what you might be teaching and researching in 2025? This series looks at the skills of future foresight and invites your own predictions.

In Spring 2013 the TDC asks colleagues to peer ahead a dozen years and think about the year 2025. What will your discipline look like in twelve years’ time? Whether your subject area is Law, Computer Science, Healthcare, English, Design, Social Work or anything else we teach or research at DMU, each will undoubtedly be different in 2025. What will be the problems, issues and opportunities facing it in 2025? What will the campus itself look like? We invite your predictions.

We will audio-record each session and create a website where your predictions will be saved for posterity.