It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were venturing into our exhibition space for the first time, yet here we are at Week 8 and entering into the third and final thematic block, ‘Algorithmic culture’.
Across the next three weeks we are going to think about some of the ways that algorithms affect contemporary educational practices, and might continue to do so in the future. Taking the image above, for instance, what happens to knowledge construction when a student’s research and thinking is influenced by the aggregation of content shaped by complex algorithms (and their underlying biases and assumptions).
We recommend first starting by reading as thoroughly as the possible the Algorithmic Culture pages beginning here. Follow that with the four core readings for this block as they will help you orient yourselves to the work we will be doing over the next three weeks. Note some of the concepts you will find in the readings: hidden curriculum, future visions of algorithmic education, techno-vernacular creativity, and more. Lots to ponder.
Once you have familiarised yourself with the core readings you can begin to work on your gallery space. We have invited you all to the new gallery space for Algorithmic Culture but let us know if you are having any difficulty accessing it. Also, it might be worthwhile to make a copy of the Community Culture board to back up your work (we have done the same).
And then at any point in this block we would like you to complete the ‘algorithmic play’ activity where we will put some of our key ideas into practice. The algorithmic play exercise might be seen as an example of speculative research, a new form of inquiry that is particularly suited to asking how the future of education will be shaped by digital technologies. Speculative research is the third and final research method we will use during the course.
While you are doing all of these things James and I are going to enjoy wandering through the Community culture exhibition, reading your catalogue entries and learning about the online communities that you chose to study.
Have a great week 8, everyone.
Michael and James