NMC Symposium on the Evolution of Communication

Symposium on the Evolution of Communication

December 4-5, 2007
NMC Conference Center in Second Life

NMC Conference Center

The NMC Symposium on the Evolution of Communication will explore the premise that technology has not only mediated communication in countless ways, but that the very ways we communicate—and even the ways we talk and think about communication—are changing as a result. A white paper on the topic has been released to help inform the topic and to generate discussion.

The event will be conducted entirely online in the virtual world of Second Life. Sessions, which will be conducted live, can incorporate a variety of visuals and rich media, and are generally about 45 minutes in length, with about one-third to one-half that time devoted to dialog with participants using the audio tools of the environment.

We are also excited to announce that this year's symposium will feature a keynote in world by Howard Rheingold.

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Symposium on the Evolution of Communication

The NMC Symposium on the Evolution of Communication explored the premise that technology has not only mediated communication in countless ways, but that the very ways we communicate—and even the ways we talk and think about communication—are changing as a result. A white paper on the topic has been released to help inform the topic and to generate discussion

NMC Conference Center

Part of this premise is backward looking, in the sense that if we set literature and the creative side of communication aside for a moment, the formal communication strategies we have been taught in schools were often focused on how to convey lots of ideas or information (at relatively infrequent intervals) and generally in the form of written papers, books, or compilations.

Added to and fueling the premise is an admittedly unscientific assessment of how we have added to those forms in recent years. A look in almost any direction will reveal patterns of communication very different than the traditional writing in which we were trained. Small bursts of information, technology-mediated for the most part, permeate our experiences, and increasingly we have people with whom we are in contact almost constantly—and more so every day, these people are scattered across the globe.

Mediated by new tools and new technologies that have made the marginal cost of long distance communication essentially free, both work and social activities are commonly shared by groups of people who need not be geographically near each other to be close. Our premise, simply put, is that these and similar trends represent a significant shift in the way we interact with others and in the way we understand the nature of those interactions.

The Symposium is designed to encourage an examination of the ways communication is changing and to further explore both the positive and negative effects on learning, social interaction, creative self-expression, and more.

The event will be conducted entirely online in the virtual world of Second Life. Sessions, which will be conducted live, can incorporate a variety of visuals and rich media, and are generally about 45 minutes in length, with about one-third to one-half that time devoted to dialog with participants using the audio tools of the environment.

Registration and Fees

The registration period opened on November 8, 2007 and the process was completed entirely online. Registrations received on or before Monday, November 26 qualify for the Early Registration rate. After November 26, attendees were required to pay the late fee.

All attendees, including presenters, must register for the conference and pay the registration fee.

Note: Access to the Symposium will require an account in Second Life. If you do not have an account, you will be able to obtain one as part of the registration process.

Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals

The NMC Symposium on the Evolution of Communication
December 4-5, 2007

The Call for Proposals for the Symposium on the Evolution of Communication is now closed. Proposals for presentations for this special 2-day, live online event, was held December 4-5, 2007 in the virtual world of Second Life, were solicited from October 18 through November 5. The NMC's recent release of Social Networking, the “Third Place,” and the Evolution of Communication is intended to help inform and illuminate both the call for proposals and the Symposium itself.

About the Symposium

The Symposium on the Evolution of Communication explored the premise that technology has not only mediated communication in countless ways, but that the very ways we communicate—and even the ways we talk and think about communication—are changing as a result.

Part of this premise is backward looking, in the sense that if we set literature and the creative side of communication aside for a moment, the formal communication strategies we have been taught in schools were often focused on how to convey lots of ideas or information (at relatively infrequent intervals) and generally in the form of written papers, books, or compilations.

Added to and fueling the premise is an admittedly unscientific assessment of how we have added to those forms in recent years. A look in almost any direction will reveal patterns of communication very different than the traditional writing in which we were trained. Small bursts of information, technology-mediated for the most part, permeate our experiences, and increasingly we have people with whom we are in contact almost constantly—and more so every day, these people are scattered across the globe.

Mediated by new tools and new technologies that have made the marginal cost of long distance communication essentially free, both work and social activities are commonly shared by groups of people who need not be geographically near each other to be close. Our premise, simply put, is that these and similar trends represent a significant shift in the way we interact with others and in the way we understand the nature of those interactions.

Symposium Format and Topics

The symposium was conducted entirely online in the virtual world of Second Life. Sessions, which were conducted live, incorporated a variety of visuals and rich media, and were generally about 45 minutes in length, with about one-third to one-half that time devoted to dialog with participants using in-world voice chat.

Proposals were encouraged on the topic in any of the following areas, but this list is not exhaustive and selections were not limited to these categories:

This event is the tenth in the ongoing series of specially focused online gatherings that explore new ideas and issues related to technology and learning. The NMC Series of Virtual Symposia is itself an exploration of emerging forms of collaboration and tools.

Each accepted proposal will receive one complimentary registration code which can be used by anyone. All presenters must register; for sessions with multiple presenters, the comp registration can be used by any one of the presenters in the session (the others must register and pay the registration fee), or used to reduce the cost for all.

 

Registration

Registration

 

Please use our online form to submit your conference registration. To access the registration form, you must have or will need to create an account on the NMC web site. If you have an NMC web site account and not already done so, log in now. Otherwise, you can create your own NMC account now that will allow you to submit your registration.

Be sure when logged in to edit your profile (via the My Account link on the left) so we have your correct mailing address, phone number, and contact information.

All conference activities take place in Second Life. You will need a broadband internet connection and a relatively new computer to have an optimal experience (see system requirements). To register and to participant in the conference, you will need a Second Life account, which you can now create at NMC and start in our new education focused NMC orientation experience.

Once you are logged into your NMC web account...

Register Now for 2007 Symposium on the Evolution of Communication

Newcomer Orientation

Be sure to sign up for one of the Newcomer Orientations scheduled for Monday. This orientation is strongly recommended for those who are new to Second Life. NMC staff will be on hand to answer questions and assist you in getting started, learning to move through the world, communicating through text and voice chat, and generally becoming more comfortable in the online environment. The orientation is offered twice—please choose the time that is more convenient for you. There is no set agenda; drop-ins are welcome, and you may spend as much or as little time as you need getting oriented.

Monday, December 3
Newcomer Orientation I - 9:00 - 11:00 am Pacific time
Newcomer Orientation II - 3:00 - 5:00 pm Pacific time

To receive discounted registration rates, please register no later than Monday, November 26. Payments may be made by VISA, MasterCard, check or purchase order.

 

Regular

Late

NMC Member $125 $149
Non-Member $149 $195
Student $75 $100

Please send payments to:

New Media Consortium
6101 West Courtyard Dr.
Building One, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78730

*** please note this is a new address!

If you have any questions regarding registration, please send an email to Nancy Reeves at nancy@nmc.org or via phone at 512 445-4200.

Schedule of Events

-- Download the Symposium Program --

Howard Rheingold thumbnail

Keynote Presentation
"Co-Evolution of Technology, Media and Collective Action"

Howard Rheingold, Stanford University
Coevolution of Technology, Media and Collective Action
Wednesday, December 5, 10:15 – 11:00 am Pacific Time
check local time

Monday, December 3 (all times Pacific Time)

9:00 - 11:00 am
check local time		   Newcomer Orientation I
3:00 - 5:00 pm
check local time		   Newcomer Orientation II
5:30 - 7:30 pm
check local time		   Opening Reception & Conference Exposition

Tuesday, December 4 (all times Pacific Time)

9:00 - 9:45 am
check local time		   R U 1337? Exploring Changes in Internet and Virtual World Discourse
Cynthia Calongne, Colorado Technical University

10:15 - 11:00 am
check local time

   Evolutionary Theory Applied to Communication Goals
Nick White (aka Alphawave Ansome), Capella University; Joe Tojek (aka Johnny99 Gumshoe), Capella University
11:30 - 12:15 pm
check local time		   Virtual Spaces, Authentic Relationships: The Nature of Friendship Online
Kieran Cannistra and Doug McDavid, IBM Almaden Research Center
2:00 - 2:45 pm
check local time		   Digital Tattoos, Digital Hoarding, and Social Networking: Turning Gold into Lead
Jared Bendis, Case Western Reserve University
3:15 - 4:00 pm
check local time		   Critical Analysis of Literary Works Using Virtual Worlds
Heidi Trotta, Mary Zedeck, and Mary Balken, Seton Hall University
4:30 - 5:15 pm
check local time		   Evolution | Revolution: Architectures for Participation
Kim Flintoff, Edith Cowan University and Alexander Hayes, Australian Flexible Learning Network

Wednesday, December 5 (all times Pacific Time)

9:00 - 9:45 am
check local time		  

Bridging the Lifelong Learning Gap
Jason Mellen and Brian King, Bowling Green State University
11:30 - 12:15 pm
check local time		   What the Origin of the Alphabet Teaches Us about the Future of Virtual Reality
David Porush, State University of New York
2:00 - 2:45 pm
check local time		   Virtual Citations: Defining and Creating Ethical Content in Virtual Worlds
Beth Ritter-Guth, Lehigh Carbon Community College
3:15 - 4:00 pm
check local time		  

Move Me! Interactions on Movement and Emotion in SL Course Designs
Cynthia Calongne, Colorado Tech University

4:30 - 5:15 pm
check local time		   SL Conversations: Recreating Romance In-World
Phylis Johnson, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

Project Exposition

Data Visualization Using Chisel
Lawrence Miller (aka Lorenzo Stork)and Andy Duncan, The Quarry Project (a collaboration of Erlanger Health System, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, University of Tennessee College of Medicine and Chattanooga State Technical Community College)

Mass Communication: One Virtual World Covering Another
Anthony Curtis, University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Meeting and Collaborate: Making Friends Online and Then Creating Informal Learning Exhibits Together
Rob Rothfarb (aka Pepto Majestic), Paul Doherty (aka Patio Plasma) and David Barker, Exploratorium Center for Learning and Teaching

The Other Great Virtual World – Drama!
Kim Flintoff (aka Kim Pasternak)

Conference Session Resources

New! Photo slide show with music from Johnny99 Gumshoe's music from the Symposium opening reception.

Keynote Presentation

Co-Evolution of Technology, Media and Collective Action
Howard Rheingold, Stanford University

Tuesday, December 4

R U 1337? Exploring Changes in Internet and Virtual World Discourse
Cynthia Calongne, Colorado Technical University

 

Evolutionary Theory Applied to Communication Goals
Nick White, Capella University; Joe Tojek , Capella University

 

Virtual Spaces, Authentic Relationships: The Nature of Friendship Online
Kieran Cannistra and Doug McDavid, IBM Almaden Research Center

 

Digital Tattoos, Digital Hoarding, and Social Networking: Turning Gold into Lead
Jared Bendis, Case Western Reserve University

 

Critical Analysis of Literary Works Using Virtual Worlds
Heidi Trotta, Mary Zedeck, and Mary Balken, Seton Hall University

 


Evolution | Revolution: Architectures for Participation
Kim Flintoff, Edith Cowan University and Alexander Hayes, Australian Flexible Learning Network

Wednesday, December 5

Bridging the Lifelong Learning Gap
Jason Mellen and Brian King, Bowling Green State University

What the Origin of the Alphabet Teaches Us about the Future of Virtual Reality
David Porush, State University of New York

Virtual Citations: Defining and Creating Ethical Content in Virtual Worlds
Beth Ritter-Guth, Lehigh Carbon Community College

 


Move Me! Interactions on Movement and Emotion in SL Course Designs
Cynthia Calongne, Colorado Tech University

 


SL Conversations: Recreating Romance In-World
Phylis Johnson, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

 

Closing Remarks
Larry Johnson, the New Media Consortium

Tag This Symposium!

When you post photos taken at the Symposium to Flickr be sure to add the official conference tag: nmcsymposium07.To see what has been tagged so far see below or visit the tag page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/nmcsymposium07/

Conference Photos Tagged nmcsymposium07 in Flickr RSS feed

all tagged photos...