De Onderwijsdagen: innovatie of verdieping?

Afgelopen dinsdag heb ik De Onderwijsdagen bezocht. Tijdens deze dagen wordt inzicht gegeven in de trends en ontwikkelingen van ICT in het onderwijs. Helaas, zoals de laatste keynote nogal pijnlijk aanstipte, staat de innovatie eigenlijk al een paar jaar stil in het onderwijs. Dezelfde thema’s komen ieder jaar terug. Er zijn enorm veel nieuwe mogelijkheden dankzij de ontwikkelingen in ICT en digitalisering, maar hoe we die precies moeten inzetten weet eigenlijk niemand. Geen schokkende nieuwe inzichten dus, maar de sprekers hebben me wel geholpen om een paar dingen voor mezelf te structureren en op een rijtje te zetten.

Tijdens mijn bedoel aan de Onderwijsdagen heb ik vooral gekeken naar ontwikkelingen op het gebied van cloudservices en in digitale leer- en werkomgevingen (DLWO’s). Wat hier volgt is geen verslag, maar een aantal inzichten die ik graag met jullie wil delen. 

Personalization & semantic search: current and future implications

There are two distinct developments in the current search engine technology: personalization in the ranking of search results, and the implementation of semantic search elements in the presentation of the results. Both of these developments have implications that can and will influence web search greatly, with huge benefits but also dangerous pitfalls. Especially scholars should be aware of these, since they both influence the way we consume information and the value of our search results. Also, we should consider the bigger implications to the value of information, accountability and authority.

Data visualization: just do it!

A picture says more than a thousand words. In data visualization, this is both true and false. While indeed a good visualization can tell a great story at the blink of an eye, it often requires a great deal of explanation as well. However, it’s these judicial explanations, about all the hidden snags, that are usually forgotten. Not only because explanations are boring, and graphs are cool, but also because big data & visualization specialists can hide behind a veil of technical lingo and complex programming skills of which data dummies know little about. Many people forget that while ‘data visualization’ sounds rather new, people have been doing it for decades with their Excel pie-charts.

SEO for Scholars

As a part-time freelance graphic (and web-)designer, I have learned a thing or two about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Since the great search engines (read: Google) took over the web, commercial organisations quickly got wind of the fact that hardly any consumer looks past the first page of their search results. Most people even limit themselves to the first few hits on the results list. Consequently, the battle for the highest google ranking has been a constant effort, and the key to outsmarting the google ranking algorithm the holy grail. The academic world, however, has always had other ways to rank its scholarly contributions.

The nature of museums and libraries

Ever visited a museum from your lazy old chair? I have today, when I visited The Big Internet Museum. Everything you didn’t know about the internet, its origins and big events is displayed, described and visualized. If you ask them sweetly, they might even open a museum shop. It looks great, but my first response: isn’t Internet itself not sort of one huge museum? A place where you can get lost in information, descriptions, reviews, images, sound and film? It really makes you think…. what is the nature of a museum?

Google, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways. Well actually, when I say Google, I mean the geeky, idealist, non commercial side of Google. The part that wants to digitize all the information in the world, and make it available to everyone interested. The part that thought: “Hey, these Dead Sea Scrolls are amazing, let’s digitize them and show the world!”. So, in this blog, you’ll probably see me praise Google features, products and services quite regularly.

About this blog

I am a librarian without a librarian’s background, and a researcher without a cause. While I have my Master’s degree in conflict studies and international relations, I also have a background in graphic- and interaction design. Due to my job as a university librarian, I have a special interest in information sciences, services and tools.