Weblearning

Blog post to accompany my submission

26-29 /04/ 1994 marked a key date in our country’s temporal knowledge graph (TKG). Nelson Mandela {{Q|8023}} chose to cast his vote at Ohlange High School {{Q|7081074}} located in Natal {{Q|917867}} This rural educational institution was founded in 1901 by John Langalibele Dube {{Q|1700787}} with his wife, Nokutela Dube {{Q|17308980}} when this part of the country was still a colony, known as {{Q|1301901}}

The Wikipedia markup in one paragraph reads (this might change)

[[File:Mandela voting in 1994.jpg|thumb|[[Nelson Mandela]] casting his first free vote at Ohlange]] On 27 April 1994, [[Nelson Mandela]] cast his vote in his country's first all-race elections at a polling booth in the school.
<ref name="confid">[http://www.africa-confidential.com/index.aspx?pageid=8&reviewid=2 Mandela:The Authorised Biography – by Anthony Sampson], ''Africa Confidential''. Retrieved 31 July 2013.</ref> 
Mandela chose the area because he wanted to give the native black population the confidence to vote. He chose Ohlange School in particular because this is where John Dube, the first president of what was to become the ANC, was buried,
<ref name="mandela">{{cite book|last=Mandela|first=Nelson|title=Long Walk to Freedom|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57gyw36xwk8C&dq=ohlange+high+school&pg=PA267|publisher=cited here|isbn=9780796920614|access-date=31 July 2013}} </ref>
and he wanted to lay a wreath. Mandela stood by the grave and said: "Mr President, I have come to report to you that South Africa is free today."
<ref>[https://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=19&with_photo_id=42318633&order=date_desc&user=327748 Photo of display in Inanda] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715092150/http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer |date=15 July 2013 }}. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
</ref>

You will see that I have highlighted a few parts of the code.

The image and the ticket

File:Mandela voting in 1994.jpg is a photo taken by Paul Weinburg {{Q|83287233}}. The caption from his books reads “Nelson Mandela votes for the first time in his life, Ohlange High School, Inanda, 1994.” Paul attended the same school as me (he was 10 years ahead) and Pessa (his mom ) helped Chris Sexon to produce school plays. I performed in lots of them.

Isla uploaded a few of Paul’s photos to Wikimedia Commons. She must have got permission since the VRT team have been rather strict (I often get zapped).
The Volunteer Response Team manage permissions with {{PermissionTicket}} system. Paul’s permissions number is 2013062010004691 and a login is required to see what other pictures have permissions. The following SPARQL query will allow you to find other photographs that Paul took. https://w.wiki/FyXE .

How to write references on Wikipedia

There are three cited references in the paragraph.

1. <ref name=”confid”>[http://www.africa-confidential.com/index.aspx?pageid=8&reviewid=2 Mandela:The Authorised Biography – by Anthony Sampson], ”Africa Confidential”. Retrieved 31 July 2013.. </ref>
2. {{cite book|last=Mandela|first=Nelson|title=Long Walk to Freedom|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57gyw36xwk8C&dq=ohlange+high+school&pg=PA267|publisher=cited here|isbn=9780796920614|access-date=31 July 2013}}
3. [https://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=19&with_photo_id=42318633&order=date_desc&user=327748 Photo of display in Inanda] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715092150/http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer |date=15 July 2013 }}

Wikipedian editors seem to prefer articles that use {Template:Citation}, as used in the second example. References can also be made using <ref> </ref> or you could use use one of these these tool. It’s also a good idea to archive references, as this helps address link rot {{Q|1193907}}. Even so, reference three cannot be seen. This information in this paragraph, on commons and Wikidata is both human and machine-readable.

Unpacking a TKG

Let’s explore this paragraph further. Anthony Sampson {{Q|573976}} became a friend of Mandela {{Q|8023}} in the 1950s. He was asked to edit Drum Magazine {{Q|1135670}} by James R. A. Bailey (aka Jim Bailey) {{Q|13522443}}. They both were British citizens {{Q|131192319}} had attended the University of Oxford {{Q|34433}} and {{Q|573976} rescued the paper, acted as editor from 1951 to 1955, and then went on to work for The Observer {{Q|336197}}. In 1964, Anthony covered the Treason Trial {{Q|1119564}}and reputedly advised Madiba on his moving defence speech from the dock:

“It is an ideal which I hope to live for. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.

Knowledge graphs use “tripples” to establish facts. You will see that there are three components of this small portion of the TKG

• Entitees (nodes): Drum Magazine, Oxford University, Treason Trial and the tangible, real-world objects, places and people
• Relationships (edges): Jim, Anthony and Nelson were connected entities
• Timestamps: A time range where the relationship or event remains valid

Put another way

Look, this is very rough and I’m not quite (yet) an ontology engineer but my ratonale seems to be making some sense. When go to Chat GPT {{Q|115564437}} and ask it this question…its obliges!

Now why don’t you try to prompt your TKG? Here are some suggestions.
– Create a timeline for Anthony Sampson

Who graduated from Ohlange High School and when?

Final thoughts

The quote attributed to Mandela in the above excerpt

“Mr President, I have come to report to you that South Africa is free today.”

might be about respect and going back roots. But Dube’s legacy as the founder of the SANNC is complicated. He was ousted in 1917, he has been claimed by different factions of the liberation party, and the relationship between the ANC and Inkatha was fraught at that time. This seems like hagiography to me. I would insert this preceding phrase, “Mandela was reputed to have said….”

References

Dogan, C. (2024) Temporal Knowledge Graphs. Medium https://medium.com/self-study-notes/temporal-knowledge-graphs

Omar, A. (2024) Mandela was not alone when he made his first vote. Mail and Guardian
https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/opinion/2024-03-06-mandela-was-not-alone-when-he-made-his-first-vote/

Pinnock, D. (2019) Remembering the extraordinary life of SA’s original media maverick. Daily Maverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-12-04-remembering-the-extraordinary-life-of-sas-original-media-maverick/

Thompson, J. (2004) Obituary: Anthony Sampson. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/dec/21/pressandpublishing.booksobituaries

Weinberg P. (2025) Between the Cracks, p133

Zhu, J., Fu, Y., Zhou, J. et al. A Temporal Knowledge Graph Generation Dataset Supervised Distantly by Large Language Models. Sci Data 12, 734 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05062-0

? (2017) Drum : The Making of a Magazine by Anthony Sampson https://www.uj.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/drum-the-making-of-a-magazine-by-anthony-sampson.pdf

Blog post to accompany my submission

Organizing and classifying information appeals to me. I appreciate a good set of WordPress tags. But I’ve never managed to get a system that works.

Wikipedia’s “Categories” are used to group or cluster pages on similar subjects together. Categories help the reader to find more information about a topic area. Categories organize and make connections between information.

Wikimedia’s user-box is one way in which contributors group or cluster themselves. It’s a familiar and common practice. Some geeks choose to decorate the apparatus that they work with or on with stickers. We are encouraged to personalise our desktop screens with photos, our social media with avatars. Or out on the road, we put slogans on our car back window or bumpers. These “decorations” are how people attempt to display their own identities or affinities. It’s another way for others to see who they are, by the marks or footprints they have placed on their tech.

Whether it be art work, emoji’s, photographs, or other sort of images, we can use images to quickly show ourselves to others without words. A user-boxes (see below) is another way that a Wikipedian tells a simple data story for other Wikipedians, to gather around, cluster and collaborate.

Affinity groups

A user-box can lead to an affinity group. I’ve included a few of them eon my User box cheatsheet  (User:Derek J Moore/Templates). The list includes {{My sandbox}}, which directs the logged-in Wikipedian to their own Sandbox or {{Example}} which shows you how to create a template. I’m hoping that you will start becoming comfortable with templates.
My favourite affinity group I’ve chosen to associate with involves getting whacked with a wet trout!

Adding images to an userbox (to start your affinity group).

If you want to create an affinity group, you can make your own userbox with images found on Wikimedia Commons (that’s where the trout picture came from). You can also upload your own images and license them openly. If you are going to refer to a book cover or logo in a userbox, then a non free rational is necessary for the image to remain there and not be speedily deleted.

The elements of this affinity group.

A wikipedian indicates their willingness to receive constructive criticism on their talk page by adding {{User_trout}} to their sandbox. These four curly braces {{}} create a template. When this {{User_trout}} template is placed on a sandbox, a small cut-out icon of this trout appears on the top right of the page (1).

By going to that persons talk page and adding {{trout}}, a “trout me” message will appear in the text (2).

This {{User_trout}}, {{trout}} or {{Overdone trout}} curly braces / templates are used by editors who don’t take themselves too seriously. They remind me of Monty Python {{Q|Q16402}} sketches that I find clever and funny. A better way to communicate criticism to peers or people who are in your affinity group. This template might also be an example of “British Humour” as there are only English explanations under the category . Category:Wikipedians_open_to_trout_slapping {{Q|Q8945251}}

Code used in the template called User trout

{{User_trout}} or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:User_trout appears in the URL bar. It begins with the en language code and then the word Template: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template🙂

Template:User trout could also be seen as a page name. This page is intended for inclusion on another target page. The technical term for this action is transclusion. A userbox from a source page (B) is transcluded into the target page (A).

Transclusions happen behind the scenes in Wikipedia

Transclusions are useful because they mean that when you update the source page (B), all the other target pages (A) are also updated. Transclusions are also fun. I use them often in my sandbox or when sending messages or announcements.

If you look at the code above, you will see several named parameters. For example, “id” refers to the trout image image. “Info” refers to the message that goes along with the trout. When using small templates, there is sometimes the possibility of unnamed parameters. These parameters are numbered rather than named, using {{{1}}}, {{{2}}}, {{{3}}}.

You can also do transclusions with Wikidata and call and pass parameters. WARNING:This can gets even more complicated.

Transclusions also happen behind the scenes with Wikidata.

To transclude information acceoss from Wikidata into a Wikipedia page, you need to use another function. I placed Cyril Ramaphosa’s date of birth (listed on Wikidata) into his Xitsonga Wikipedia article (highlighted in blue). Notice it is NOT in English.

I did the following.

• Logged in and hit Lulamisa. I then switched from visual editing to source editing and viewed the code (see the “Split View” above).
• Called the Wikidata property number of “date of birth”, which is P569. Place the curly brackets and the page to be trancluded {{#statements:P569}} on the President’s article (see left side, highlighted in blue).
• If I did this on en Wikipedia it returns “17 November 1952”. If I do the same in Xisonga, then I will get “17 Hukuri 1952”. (I hope that is correct).
  
• Perhaps you could try this in another language?

Code used in the template called Bio

{{Bio}} is another transclusion. Like {{User_trout}} this template has code that creates a layout. The Bio template also pulls in paraters from Wikidata. I discovered {{Bio}} on Teamplaid:Bogsa eachdraidh-bheatha. It’s still experimental.

When looking at the code view of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s page on https://ts.wikipedia.org/ (Xitsonga Wikipedia) look out for {{Bio}}, top left on code view. Remember how curly braces were used in User Trout. In this case the {{Bio}} creates an “infobox” on a Wikipedia profile page.

Infoboxes are like userboxes, just a bit more wordy. They usually contain key information about the subject. I’ve copied the first 20 lines of the above mentioned infobox

{{Infobox
| abovestyle = background-color: lightsteelblue
| aboveclass = hd
| headerstyle = background-color: lightsteelblue
| above = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = {{#if:{{{image|}}}|[[File:{{{image}}}|260px]]|{{#if:{{#Property:P10}}|{{#invoke:Wikidata | claim | property=P10|formatting=[[File:$1|260px]]|list=false}}|{{#invoke:Wikidata | claim | property=P18|formatting=[[File:$1|260px]]|list=false}}}}}}{{#invoke:Wikidata | claim | property=P2096|formatting=<br/> $1|list=false}}
| caption = {{{caption|}}}
| image2 = {{#invoke:Wikidata | claim | property=P990|formatting=[[File:$1|260px]]|list=false}}
|
}

The template needs to be standardised as a name by WMZA. I’ve called it {{Bio}}, {{Umuntfu}}, and {{Bo}} on vernacular Wikipedia.

Calling and passing parameters in a sandbox.

This bio function (shown above) also contains another function. It’s called {{Databox}}. Databox uses a single Lua module to call Wikidata properties and request different types of information associated with those properties. I suggest that you experiment in your sandbox.

The examples below are in three languages.

• Media Files: Do you have a video on commons {{Wikidata property | P10 }} or do you have an image {{Wikidata property | P18 }} on commons or maybe an audio recording of your voice {{Wikidata property | P990}} ?

• Positions Held: What position do you hold {{Wikidata property | P39 }} , when did you start in that role {{Wikidata property | P580 }} and when did it end {{Wikidata property | P582 }} ?

• Personal Details: What was your birth name, {{Wikidata property | P1477 }}, where was you place of birth {{Wikidata property | P19 }} , what was you date of birth {{Wikidata property | P569 }}?

As you can see, English and Afrikaans are well served. Xitonga (and the other SA official languages do not have this Wikidata template running (yet).

You can look at the Template:Infobox Biography2  {{Q|20829728}} number and can see a template page which allows you to create info boxes in bibliographic articles. Then squiz through different examples. You might need to look at the code version.

Code’s Purpose both transclusion and translation.

The code automatically fills in information about the subject using Wikidata properties. I am describing this code in English, but I’m hoping non-dominant language Wikipedians can use this for their context. I used it for Bobby Shabangu’s Wikipedia pages on four vernacular pages (the Afrikaans version got deleted).

More about Wikidata powered Info boxes

Want to know more. Sadik Shandu has a handy video. Want to make an {{infobox for bibliographic entries}} on your language version (Sorry, only catering for South African’s here). Then your task is to check out the examples below.

{{Umuntfu}} (SS), {{Bio}} (Ts), {{Bo}} Zu

I still need to do the other seven languages. All of these require a help page in a matching vernacular language. Good Luck as you wrap your head around this.

Maybe we should be looking at “Structured Narratives” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Mbabel is a tool that is also used with Wikidata to create a structured narrative.

Of course, this is all CC BY SA

References

Murray, B. (2018) The 46-year-long Wits LLB that never was https://www.wits.ac.za/curiosity/stories/the-46-year-long-wits-llb-that-never-was.html

Clive van den Berg’s (Q106259021) “eland” welcomed me to Braamfontein when I came up from Pietermaritzburg for a job interview in 2009 with SAIDE (took me a while before I created their Wikipedia page). In the wild, this buck is the second biggest antelope in the world. The Kudu (I’m told is the third largest). This sculpture stands very tall alongside the entrance to the Tin Temple, Pretoria Road. (oops, these name changes always get me). In concrete, this representation of a common eland weighs 50 tons and is 7.5 metres high. Yet another security guard (or armoured car), separating the inner city from the northern suburbs? As of today (9 August 2025), “Tragelaphus oryx” does not have a Wikipedia entry. The Kudu clan does have a couple of entries in English and Afrikaans, but their isiZulu and Sesotho Wikipedia Pages are not yet touched by Phase 1. (I’m sure that SWiP can help, but maybe the Kudu bots could do it better. I digress.)

Public artworks – statues, memorials, murals, plaques, like Elkie, (Eland comes from the Dutch work elk) are notable enough to have their own Wikidata item. Our giant but common eland watch person should be no exception. He deserves some public recognition. He’s still standing up straight, unlike many of the city’s place lighting lamp posts and pace-setting traffic lights. Want to add a Wikidata item for this eland? Perhaps another place making piece of public art? Five steps and you too can insert him into the relational databases of the world’s culture vultures.

Step 1 – Find a WikiProject data model.

Wikidata can seem daunting and constructing tripple statements are bit confusing. We are all used to frameworks and not relational data. The public art data model with exemplars could act as a guide. Another place to look for inspiration is international public art examples?

Step 2 – Avoid duplication

Go to Wikipedia itself and search whether the item (the eland) has an entry. Do the same thing on Wikidata. If there is no Q label – you are ready to go.

Step 3 – Names and descriptions

Give the eleand its Wikidata name and add a short description (no capitals) and then click create. You now have an empty Wikidata item, but no statements or an image on Wikimedia Commons.

Step 4 – Statements will follow

Unsure about adding statements? Remember to follow the data model in the WikiProject.
Search for the location on Google maps. Right click on the red pointer. That’s the geolocation at the top of the menu.

Remember to verify the statement you added with a “reference URL.” The Wikidata entry is far more useful when it can be verified. The eland has plenty of more informative websites to explain the significance of this work.

Step 5 – Add an image

All that is left is to take an image and upload it to Commons. Instructions below are taken directly from Uploading Files CC BY SA

1. Go to the Upload Wizard on Wikimedia Commons.
   On the first page of the wizard, read the illustration to understand whether Wikimedia Commons can accept your upload.
2. When you’re ready to upload, click Next near the end of the page.
   Click Select media files to share and find the image or images you want to upload from your computer.
3. Licensing your file
   Click Continue and select the options that apply to your upload, as prompted. When you are done, click Next.
4. Organizing and describing your upload
   Enter a title for the image. Use plain, descriptive language. Then enter a description of the image and the date it was created.
5. Add a category
   Help organize Wikimedia Commons by assigning categories to your file. When you are done, click Next.

Copy and paste the URL into the image label. Finished. Hit submit.

This is how you build an item, contribute to Wikidata and show the city’s culture.

P.S. I do not pretend to understand “Freedom of Panorama” (maybe Denise can help). It seems there may be problems with uploading certain pics to Commons. If you are uploading photo’s that you have been given permission to upload, then this release generator is super useful.

References

Minty, Z. (2011) Public Art Project in post-apartheid South Africa:Visual culture, creative spaces and postcolonial geographies.

I put on my learning technologist cycle helmet and went to work for ALT. For three month, I re-entered the minority world’s Information Superhighway (Thanks, Al) / the Networked Society (hey Manny) / the Fourth Industrial Revolution (ja, Klaus) . Whatever metaphor we choose to adopt today, I occupied the role of professional development for three months (two days a week). Thanks to Maren and Kerry for the opportunity. I’m very sorry, I could not stay in the saddle or ride properly.

But…I had to leave the UK bike lane. Feet out the pedals and back on the ground….South African red earth, local communities. Interruptions, flaky Wifi, changing systems, rolling black-outs, water throttling. That is my situatedness, and my relationship with the UK and South Africa is framed both by my subjectivities and a daily reality.

I was very disappointed not to be riding for team ALT. Felt that I was letting down a great group doing good things. And (I confess) a bit relieved. The bikes in that UK lane were speeding along, and I felt I was slowing things down. Not up to speed? Unused to the terrain. Or caught up in different infrastructures, architectures, and alternate ideologies.

I didn’t know enough about the failing ground I was travelling through. Felt wobbly. Unable to navigate the traffic circles or keep up with the pack. Honestly, I’m still trying to work it out. Despite hard peddling on my part, I wasn’t able to steer my LD bike through all the other vehicles. Not ALT’s fault. Maybe not mine either?

A typology is a system of classification or the division of things according to type. It’s used for organising things according to similar or dissimilar characteristics.”

“Ensh….ication” is a concept that Cory introduced and began to find traction (according to Google Trends) in January 2023 and was nominated the 2024 word of the year by the Australian Dictionary Macquarie. The word is used to describe the failing internet. Where platforms decay because platform owners prioritise profits before people. “Ensh….ication” is an abstract and sensorial typology. But it does not explain what is actually happening, namely, the capture of material or immaterial structures and extraction. Which has been standard operating procedure for years.

The outsourcing of knowledge production to algorithms is making the net a bleak place. @karenraycosta once tweeted that “trauma can be defined as “too much, too fast”. And while at ALT, I felt that burn of anxiety in my body every day. Building up speed and keeping your balance (when the terrain seems full of potholes) is difficult. Others, riding along the same UK road, made it look easy. I noticed how the pervasive use of technology in teaching and learning had introduced a certain reflexivity about digital designs. Especially among those in the UK who have chosen to critically confront and question the assumptions, beliefs, and judgment systems that once informed their craft when serving a smaller audience.

Some of us have had a light bulb moment, where we become aware of our own position on the global ed tech cycle track. Here in South Africa, I would say we are both ahead and behind. The enshittification you notice online, has its physical manifestation here in Joburg and accross the country In my connected world with my horribly overstretched presence. It feels like I’m on too many cycle lanes and different routes, being shown to a cyclist who was used to creating rough tracks in an unknown county.

When working at ALT, Xwitter was teetering. As a South African who knew the Pretoria Boys typology I advised (to anyone who listened), that it was time to leave the platform. Path dependency can be a real pain, and many people did not want to change their routes. Since my short shift at ALT, I have been cycling with an other bunch of ed techies. Looking for new, but local, routes to ride on. Got seriously interested in the Wikimedia lane. It’s pretty much volunteer work, but for those scholars who want to boost their profile, (and shift away from Google). I can’t think of a better way of creating learning student centred learning experiences, for us to make our own pathways. Can assist if you like.

My goal on Wikimedia is to design comprehensively in multiple languages. I’m looking to meet the individual needs and abilities of the target group or individual. My Wikipedia learning design’s are supported by both good pedagogy and daily lived experiences. I don’t try and separate education from contextual realities. But see interruptions, flaky Wifi, changing systems, rolling black-outs, water throttling …. integral part of the terrain and the modernity track.

I am a bilingual South African. My languages are limited to English and Afrikaans. But much like John Amos Comenius, who saw a need to do things differently in education. I still think that we can build something better. I call it spectacular vernacular. I still am happpy to cycle with others. But we need to be aware of all conditions.

References

Thanks to Johannesburg Contemporary Art Foundation and their “World Making” series. My thoughts about situatedness, infrastructures and typologies were stimulated by their recent exhibition and accompanying guide published in 2025.

I’m ambivalent about working from home. It’s precarious not having a regular salary and unpredictable, especially with no long-term contracts. We are not a trust fund couple. The choices we have made have been possible because of textbook royalties. Unlike many fathers, I’ve also had the privilege of watching my children grow up and being a greater part of their life journey—a privilege that many fathers don’t share. But you do get to work in a garage or a freezing outside shed.

After Jean and I returned from teaching in Slough and Eton CE School in 2002, we knew that a family was the next step. Weblearning was still getting started in Pietermaritzburg, but we decided that we wanted to focus on children. In June 2005, along came Anna (two weeks late). I got to spend 5 precious years (June 2005 to June 2010) co-parenting with Jean, watching this little girl grow up. They were precious times and Flickr is probably the best place to see a few of these lovely moments. Below are birthday photos from ages 2-5

Economic realities also took their toll. The 2008 financial crisis, higher education “transformation”, MOOCs and Twitter offered both challenges and opportunities. When Anna turned 5, I took the plunge and landed up at Wits, in the elearning support and innovationo (eLSI) unit trying to make a go of ed technology in higher education.

June 2010 to Nov 2015 were salaried. The decision to return back to consulting wasn’t much of a choice. If you want to see what’s really important to me. It’s not the ed tech profession (although it does consume much of my time). It’s these three immediate people and my trusted family and friends. Here’s Anna and her 11th Birthday.

Yesterday Anna turned 20, and economics is again taking its toll. It’s probably time to re-enter the marketplace. If you do know of anyone looking for a mentor / capacity builder. Whether on Wikipedia / e/learning or scholarly communication. Please shout. I’d love to chat further.

Edtech Strategy Development

Technologists have made modernity possible, and technology is a creation of modernity (Bray 2003). Education technology may be situated in modernity, but its purposes can differ, since participants are informed by a social context and spatial structures. Some assume that technology shapes and transforms education. To them, progress is linear and keeping up with technology is the key to future success. Others hold that technology has made society resilient and durable. They see good well-resourced public schools and universities, practising good pedagogy that is enabled by people who embrace a calling. A scholarly discourse informs their technology discussions. Others see a knotted co-construction of technology and education. A mat, carpet (or interoperable platform) with forces that are deeply inter-woven and open to negotiation, criticism or opportunities. (see C Hodkinson Williams Keynote: The Warp and Weft of Open Education and Social Justice). I’m in group 3, but also appreciate the other two perspectives.

A self-study work readiness package on Blackboard will differ from a Multilingual Human Rights Hackathon about Sharpville on Wikipedia. A flipped learning proponent using mobile phones with librarians will make very different use of an education technology than a traditional university lecturer, tasked with working through a body of knowledge, within a certain time period in a lecture hall. The varied social imaginaries about technology in education have consequences for modernity. Especially when technologies are introduced into a social context without a clear articulation of fitness for purpose. For example, social media’s use for professional development has been good for social media users (like me). It brought me up to Johannesburg from the back of my garage in PMB. But a privately owned “Town Hall” has also had unintended political effects. Currently, in the global north, techno corporations (big tech) are leading educational futures, extracting revenue and attention, replacing educators with an algorithm and reducing educator agency. I too am complicit; I’m using Google translate to create a multi-lingual Wikipedia onboarding tool.

References

Brey, P. A. E. (2003). Theorizing modernity and technology. In T. J. Misa, P. A. E. Brey, & A. Feenberg (Eds.), Modernity and technology (pp. 33-71). MIT Press.