http://www.catboant.com Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:08:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 How Does the Educational System Becomes Decentralized? http://www.catboant.com/2010/03/07/how-does-the-educational-system-becomes-decentralized/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/03/07/how-does-the-educational-system-becomes-decentralized/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:53:35 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=561 Along TEDxNYED I had the chance to interview George Siemens, an influential thinker on how future educational systems might look like. Together with Stephen Downes he started more than 2 years ago the experiment “Connectivism and Connected Knowledge“.

The following list is helping you to guide through the 40 minutes conversation.

01_George_Siemens
George Siemens tagging himself

02_George_Siemens
His life in less than 3 minutes

03_George_Siemens
How can WE handle education as one of our most important FutureChallenges

04_George_Siemens
A structured model is incapable of adjusting to the individual needs of a student. learner

05_George_Siemens
Is there an urgency for change?

06_George_Siemens
Impact of social mediatool on kid’s behaviour

07_George_Siemens
Can you make friends with people you don’t know or you only “virtual”

08_George_Siemens
What social skills can kids learn with social media?

09_George_Siemens
The role of theory – technology is embedded in philosophy
Networks and connections

10_George_Siemens
Connetivism and Connective Knowledge (CCK) – An experiment

11_George_Siemens
Any surprises within this experiment?

12_George_Siemens
Is CCK a future model of learning?

13_George_Siemens
Will school buildings become obsolete?

14_George_Siemens
How do we get the educational system into this decentralized environment?

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/03/07/how-does-the-educational-system-becomes-decentralized/feed/ 1 Cybernetics and New Forms of Governance http://www.catboant.com/2010/02/12/cybernetics-and-new-forms-of-governance/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/02/12/cybernetics-and-new-forms-of-governance/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:31:33 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=559 Yesterday I had a brief SKYPE chat with Javier Livas, lawyer and cybernetics theorist in Mexico. Very interesting thoughts on how to run a country …

He says that the science of law is pretty much a cybernetic system which can or should be used to set up governance.

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/02/12/cybernetics-and-new-forms-of-governance/feed/ 1 Re-Thinking Science http://www.catboant.com/2010/02/07/re-thinking-science/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/02/07/re-thinking-science/#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:52:58 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=554 At transmediale 10 I had the chance to talk to Alan N. Shapiro. It happened surprisingly, wasn’t scheduled but it ended up to become a long conversation on where science needs to go. It perfectly fits in our matrix …

Shapiro’s thoughts include to broaden science, to bring together humaniteis with biology, physics … and very clearly to leave reductionism behind!

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/02/07/re-thinking-science/feed/ 3 Two Stars for Peace – Invitation for a Grass Roots Movement http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/14/two-stars-for-peace-invitation-for-a-grass-roots-movement/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/14/two-stars-for-peace-invitation-for-a-grass-roots-movement/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:50:49 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=549 There will be no peace and terror won’t end unless the Palestine-Israel will be solved. There have been many attempts to find solutions, millions of papers have been written and the one-state and the two-state-solution have been discussed over and over again. No results! The questions occurs: Why? Maybe the politicians, those who are in charge aren’t interested in a solution?

I believe that most of the people in Israel and Palestine want nothing but peace. And to achieve this goal finally, new unusual – outside the box – approaches should be discussed seriously. Martine Rothblatt, US based lawyer and entrepreneur, offers a new approach and invites YOU all to participate. She
calls her solution “Two Stars for Peace” which is a proposed agreement for Israelis and Palestinians to secure their mutual futures by petitioning the United States Congress to become the 51st and 52nd U.S. states.

Please discuss!
You find a Hebrew and Arabic translation on the website of the book.

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/14/two-stars-for-peace-invitation-for-a-grass-roots-movement/feed/ 1 The Power of Networks http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/11/the-power-of-networks/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/11/the-power-of-networks/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:23:56 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=544 Peter Kruse is – at least in Germany – one of the leading figures when it comes to the questions: How are networks functioning? Why can they be so powerful? What rules are they following?
What impact do they have on society, politics, economy?

He started his career as as a hard core scientist, working as an experimental psychologist at the border of neurophysiologie. His big question was: How does the brain makes chaos in order to make order?

Later in his business career Kruse became successful in transferring the concept of how the brain is functioning into (business and social) networks. His latest work is strongly related to the Internet …

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/11/the-power-of-networks/feed/ 1 Global Power Will Shift from West To East http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/02/will-the-next-decade-become-the-chinese-decade/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/02/will-the-next-decade-become-the-chinese-decade/#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:03:54 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=537 In today’s Welt online edition (it is in German) Niall Ferguson shares his thoughts on why the “Western World” will loose its world dominance – which it had held for 500 years – and the East, mainly China will surpass.

The major reasons for this shift are (from China’s point of view):

- China’s enormous financial resources (especially in comparison to the US),
- its ceaseless economic growth
- its human capital, its manpower

Or from the US-point of view as Ferguson points it: “A manpower deficit (not enough boots on the ground in Iraq), an attention deficit (not enough public enthusiasm for long-term occupations of conquered countries) and above all a financial deficit (not enough savings relative to investment and not enough taxation relative to public expenditure).”

Together with Moritz Schularick Ferguson coined the term “Chimerica” (China and America) in 2006 describing one of the key issues that caused the financial crises in the Western world: the fact that the US current account deficit was mostly financed by Chinese banks!

Niall Ferguson is also aware of the problems China is facing, e.g. democracy and political issues, but he concludes without any doubts that China will dominate the next decade.

Reading and thinking about the article amplifies many phrases I’ve heard in my last conversations regarding China.

P.S. Just found an english version of the article! Thanks to twitter:-)

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/02/will-the-next-decade-become-the-chinese-decade/feed/ 0 Tool To Fight Terrorists Or A Harbinger Of Big Brother http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/02/tool-to-fight-terrorists-or-a-harbinger-of-big-brother/ http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/02/tool-to-fight-terrorists-or-a-harbinger-of-big-brother/#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:04:06 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=530 In our 10 Big Question category “Flesh & Machines” were are addressing the topic of “moral machines” as Wendell Wallach has written in his so-called book (see also the interview here).

I personally do think that there is a need for ethical rules to guide the behavior of robots. Since Isaac Asimov – 50 years ago in science fiction – has written the “Three Laws of Robotics” there as been an ongoing discussion to revamp these laws – especially when a military robot kills people after a malfunction.

But there is not only the ethical question, there is also the point: for what reason will “they” mobilize these tools? Will these machines be used to watch US?

If you look for example at videos like the following – produced by the US military – I think this is frightening. And I do think we need a global discussion on that … and I do ask you to address your question right here.

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2010/01/02/tool-to-fight-terrorists-or-a-harbinger-of-big-brother/feed/ 1 Europe Could Play A Key Role On Our Way To Become A Global Village http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/31/europe-could-play-a-key-role-on-our-way-to-become-a-global-village/ http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/31/europe-could-play-a-key-role-on-our-way-to-become-a-global-village/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:21:56 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=527 Dave Snowden, Welsh entrepreneur, was trained as a physicist and philosopher. This is why he loves Shakespeare and Einstein! His incredible background in complexity theory gives us some great insights on how to deal – and maybe solve – future challenges.

Dave’s prediction for the next decade: Europe could play a key role on our way to become a global village!

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/31/europe-could-play-a-key-role-on-our-way-to-become-a-global-village/feed/ 2 “China is going through its teenage phase …” http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/30/china-is-going-through-its-teenage-phase/ http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/30/china-is-going-through-its-teenage-phase/#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:41:45 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=524 … says Qiao Li, australian-chinese filmmaker. Qiao was born in China, left with his parents when he was four years old and returned after film school 3 years ago. Since then he is living in Beijing and trying to gain ground in the chinese film market.

He gives some great insights on the young generation in China!

]]> http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/30/china-is-going-through-its-teenage-phase/feed/ 0 China/”The West”: Embrace Cultural Differences … http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/27/chinathe-west-embrace-cultural-differences/ http://www.catboant.com/2009/12/27/chinathe-west-embrace-cultural-differences/#comments Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:11:34 +0000 ulrike http://www.catboant.com/?p=491 … respect them and learn to live with them – says Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber. She describes herself as a freelance translator. freelance project manager, organizer, someone who likes to build bridges. Ingrid first went to China 1980, shortly after China opened its doors to the West. Since then she is travelling back and forth. Speaking the language fluently and diving deep into Chinese philosophy and culture – Ingrid has gained great respect on both sides. She is truely a bridge builder.

In our conversation she gives us a very emotional and personal view on China. Our topics are:

- media/censorship in China
- Internet access
- current discourses in politics and society
- what makes the Chinese culture so unique
- why we should learn more about China
- why we should embrace and accept cultural differences

Apologies for the less-than-ideal audio and video – we did the conversation via SKYPE! Ingrid is right now in Beijing, China.

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