Oriol Miralbell's_research

After the appearence of a new tablet these last days, experts and users have explained largely encountered opinions on the ecellences or inconviniences of this and other similar gadgets. Many of these statements seem to forget that what makes ITC useful is not ITC but the users.
Thus, when new solutions appear expecting to subvert traditional usage it seems logic that it arises strong criticism. Disruptive innovation is important to evolve and to progress, though I also see that it has much more risk to fail.
I’m not saying that new IT tools like this new tablet will not succeed. The new gadgets have plenty of attractive interfaces, take advantage of fast communication networks and provide solutions that strengthen communication and networking. The problem I see in here, is that attractivenes relies more in esthetic and leisure arguments rathen than in supporting knowledge generation, as it has been for long timwe in ITC research.
I had this feeling when I used the iPhone. It was cute and amazing, but it lacked any ergonomic design, which I believe shows a strong concentration in appearence and aesthetics rather than in usability. If you want to hold the iPhone in your hand, it is unstable. Than, you could not open it to change anything. No flexible accessory can be used except from the SIM card. No memory card, no battery removal.
Users can only buy applications over the iTunes store. Obviously you could jailbreak the iPhone, but the risk is high. Apple believes that only they have the right to improve their gadgtes, and even at a very high price, they still keep having priopietary rights on their tools.
I’m not sure that this is a good way to understand communication tools nore communication services.
Some of these thoughts are in the post on “Diveintomark” titles “Tinker’s sunset“. Tinkering is something that children do when learning, that craftsmen do to learn their job.  This is explained in Richard Sennet’s bokk “The Craftsman“. But even Sherry Turkle, wrote 15 years ago about the importance of tinkering in using ITC and in learning (Life on the Screen:  Identity in the Age of the Internet).

I don’t mean Apple is wrong, nor that they should change their strategy. I’m just wondering if the users will change the way they learn using ITC.

A friend of mine Prof. Jordi Sanchez Navarro told me today that the question about “wether the iPhone will break the hackers?” can be placed in the opposite sense. “will the hackers break the iPhone?”.

I’m convinced that many hackers are excited about the challenge.

After more than two years working on the theoretical framework for my PhD research on “Evaluating Online Social Networks in generating knowledge among tourism professionals”, together with my two directors Dr. Francesc González Reverté and Dr. Jaume Guia, i’ve reached the point to launch the survey which is the first visible part of the epirical study.

I’m happy to be at the point where the first outcomes are visible, after this long period of readings and discussions, of questioning and asking to experts and friends about online social networks as learning environments.
I’m really excited on the possible results of the analysis I will do once I receive the information from you, the experts. At the same time, I fear I won’t ger enough responses from all of you.
This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the web 2.0 tools and to have a better picture from this new and still unknown Network Society. I have found in this study one of the most exciting intellectual activities I’ve ever had. It has stressed from me all the rational and intellectual abilities I had, if I ever had one. It has kept me connected to the issue all time I was awakened and sometime in my dreams too.
Thus I want this project to finish with a set of conclusions that can help us all, users, academics, experts and, in general, followers of the web 2.0 and the social media and of e-learning to get more from it.
I’d like to invite you to participate in this survey that is directed to all those professionals, business people, academics, consultants, experts and lovers of tourism, that use online social networks to communicate and learn.

Here’s the link for the survey in SPANISH and here’s it ENGLISH.

I want to thank you in advance for your help by answering to this survey, that will take you only 15 minutes of your time.
I WISH YOU A PEACEFUL XMAS TIME AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Approaching te last session of the PDF_EU forum (Personal Democracy Forum Europe, 09) celebrated at the Torre Agbar in Barcelona, I start to feel that things get repeated, though the final outcome is incredibly reach.
During two days, this forum that started in New York some years ago in its US version,the European one has taken advantage of the knowledge and excperience of US professionals and organizations in making e-democracy and e-activism something useful for society, but also has shown the most emerging and succesful examples of e-activism inicitaitives in Europe, giving their promoters and managers he opportunity to explain their insights and to speak abou their experience.
In the debates, many issues came into foreground, but especially the specific reality of Europe’s politics compared to the ones in the US. The Obama campaign that has been the star for months among the e-democracy campaigns (and still is) has shed lots of doubts and disapointments to Europeans when looking at our e-political reality, right when the new and first EU President has been elected in such a dark and undemocratic way.
The deficit of democracy in European Institutions and the problems to separe citizens’ democratic avtivism and institutional policy, brought us also to more empirical discussions like the communication problem that cause 23 different official languages inside the EU. There’s a discouraged view of most experts in regards on making Europe’s e-democracy strategies coherently active at a global European level, however there exist several good projects at a national level.

I want to go through the positngs of most participants in PDF_EU and then make a broader and deeper report on what has been discussed in this forum, though I’d like to advance that many new things have been said in PDF_EU that will, probably change the attitudes and hopes of many of the activists that make e-democracy posible in Europe. Or at least, I hope so!