The Decentring of the Traditional University : The Future of (Self) Education in Virtually Figured Worlds

The Decentring Of The Traditional University Provides A Unique Perspective On The Implications Of Media Change For Learning And Literacy That Allows Us To Peer Into The Future Of (self) Education. Each Chapter Draws On Socio-cultural And Activity Theory To Investigate How Resourceful Students Are Breaking Away From Traditional Modes Of Instruction And Educating Themselves Through Engagement With A Globally Interconnected Web-based Participatory Culture. The Argument Is Developed With Reference To The Findings Of An Ethnographic Study That Focused On University Students' Informal Uses Of Social And Participatory Media. Each Chapter Draws Attention To The Shifting Locus Of Agency For Regulating And Managing Learning And Describes An Emergent Genre Of Learning Activity. For Example, Francis Explores How Students Are Cultivating And Nurturing Globally Distributed Funds Of Living Knowledge That Transcend Institutional Boundaries And Describes Students Learning Through Serious Play In Virtually Figured Worlds That Support Radically Personalised Lifelong Learning Agendas. These Stories Also Highlight The Challenges And Choices Learners Confront As They Struggle To Negotiate The Faultlines Of Media Convergence And Master The New Media Literacies Required To Exploit The Full Potential Of Web 2.0 As A Learning Resource. Overall, This Compelling Argument Proposes That We Are Witnessing A Period Of Historic Systemic Change In The Culture Of University Learning As An Emergent Web-based Participatory Culture Starts To Disrupt And Displace A Top-down Culture Industry Model Of Education That Has Evolved Around The Medium Of The Book. As A Result, Francis Argues That We Need To Re-conceive Higher Education As An Identity-project In Which Students Work On Their Projective Identities (or Imagined Future Selves) Through Engagement With Both Formal And Informal Learning Activities. Front Cover -- The Decentring Of The Traditional University -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List Of Illustrations -- Preface By Anne Edwards -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. From The Culture Industry To Participatory Culture -- Understanding Media Change: From The Culture Industry To Participatory Culture -- Media Change And Learning -- Peering Into The Future Of (self ) Education -- Research Site, Informants And Data Collection -- 2. Cognitive Anthropology On The Cyberian Frontier -- Introduction -- Sociocultural And Activity Theory: An Overview -- Cognitive Anthropology And Studies Of Cognition In The Wild -- Expansive Learning: Double Binds, Breaking Away And Horizontal Developments -- Projective Identities And Virtually Figured Worlds -- Digitally Mediated Practice As New Media Literacy -- Summary -- 3. The Learner As Designer -- Introduction -- Understanding The Learner As Designer -- The Scope Of Design Work In The New Media Age -- The Challenges And Choices Confronting The Learner As Designer -- Towards A Theory Of Mindful Design -- Summary -- 4. Creative Appropriation, New Media And Self-education -- Introduction -- The Concept Of Creative Appropriation Expanded -- Breaking Away From The Traditional University -- Creative Appropriation And Authentic Need -- Creative Appropriation: Driving Cultural Change From The Bottom Up -- Identity As A Mediator And Motivator Of Learning Activity -- Challenges, Choices And New Media Literacies -- Summary -- 5. Globally Distributed Funds Of Living Knowledge -- Introduction -- Conceptual Building Blocks For Understanding Collaborative Learning Beyond The Networked University -- The Formation Of A Fund Of Living Knowledge -- Cultivating And Nurturing Globally Distributed Funds Of Living Knowledge -- Mobilizing A Globally Distributed Fund Of Living Knowledge. Nurturing A Globally Distributed Fund Of Living Knowledge -- Challenges, Choices And New Media Literacies -- Summary -- 6. Learning Through Serious Play In Virtually Figured Worlds -- Bruner And The Narrative Construction Of Self -- Learning By Being In Immersive Game Worlds -- Worldmaking As Self-making -- Serious Play, History In Laptop And Committed Learning -- Virtually Figured Worlds As Expanded Spaces Of Self-authoring -- Lifelong Learning Beyond Institutional Boundaries -- Summary -- 7. The Decentring Of The Traditional University -- Introduction -- Two Approaches To Understanding The Implications Of Media Change -- Conceptualizing Higher Education With The Aid Of Engeström's Extended Mediational Triangle -- Are We Witnessing The Decentring Of The Traditional University? -- Implications For Educational Policy And Practice -- Directions For Further Research -- Towards A Developmental Research Agenda -- Appendix: Data Collection Strategy And Methods -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.