[Air-l] manifest(o)

[Matthew Allen]

I think Adrian and Jeremy's  manifest(o) comes at a critical moment in the
development and use of ICTS (or networked technologies of information and
communication - NTICs - as we are starting to say here in Internet Studies).

Two situations have arisen at Curtin University recently that might place
some weight behind this kind of document.

Firstly, driven by an intensely conservative 'risk management' agenda, the
University is implementing classic control strategies on the use of NTICs in
the university (ie nothing can be published on the web without it conforming
to a university standard, nothing can be done with the Internet unless it is
'core business' - narrowly defined, etc). A consequence of legal action
(both current and potential) relating to intellectual property, defamation,
and so on, these policies actually go much further and impose all sorts of
restrictions that, essentially, treat the web as a corporate information
tool (ie the Curtin website is design solely by and for corporate marketing
and communication). As an example, it would be impossible in the current
climate to even begin toa argue for the use of Wikis, blogs, or other such
tools for teaching or research. Everything has to be either (a) locked down
and only altered internally or (b) run within WebCT/blackboard (where noone
can look at it except students who have signed a document saying they won't
do bad things). Just in case staff might utilise the Internet to get around
this restriction, a policy places staff in breach of their conditions of
employment should curricular materials appear on anything but a Curtin
server!

Secondly, driven by economic crises in university funding here in Australia,
local servers are being turned off or limited in some areas because, it is
said, 'this department / faculty / etc cannot afford to maintain a server'.
Ideas for the innovative use of NTICs therefore must be directed centrally
where they usually run foul of corporate thinking  such as 'we have decided
that the university standard approach is to use ColdFusion, therefore we
don't permit and won't allow PHP websites'.

It should further be pointed out that almost all decisions relating to
information services at Curtin are made, largely, by technocrats without
consultating academic staff. The very idea that NTICs are not just a 'tool'
to manage things better but are, in fact, the object of creative and
critical learning, research and production and an environment in which we
create, learn, think, explore is being lost.

Does anyone else have examples of corporatist university restrictions and
(more usefully) how people might evade them?

Cheers
Matt


-----Original Message-----
From: Adrian Miles
To: AOIR list
Sent: 8/04/04 12:34
Subject: [Air-l] manifest(o)

hi all

below is a manifesto written by myself and Jeremy Yuille for how we 
wish and intend to use university facilities in our teaching. it is a 
manifesto for ourselves, for our students, and the IT staff that we 
work with. comments, additions, amendments welcome.

Adrian Miles and Jeremy Yuille.



MANIFESTO FOR RESPONSIBLE CREATIVE COMPUTING v.0.3
[april 7 2004]

*context*
We teach students who work in the creative industries. In creative 
computing contexts the products and processes of these industries are 
soft artifacts. They may be ideas, interfaces, or media. All remain 
malleable , before, during and after completion.

Their graduate computing context consists of small enterprises where IT 
skills are distributed amongst the work group. These skills are 
informal and self developed. There is no IT department and IT systems 
are self managed. It is common for graduates in these industries to be 
self employed.

This manifesto defines how we use computers in teaching and learning 
for creative industries in these contexts.

*manifesto*
Creative computing is being creative with a computer/network, not being 
creative on a computer/network.

Creative computing requires computer and network literacy. This 
literacy is analogous to, and as significant as print literacy.

Computer literacy is not the same as knowing how to use professional 
software.

Network literacy is not the same as knowing how to Google.

Network literacy is the ability to engage with and represent yourself 
within the network.

Computer literacy is synonymous with network literacy.

This literacy is demonstrated in the responsible use of computers which 
understands that the network includes social, ideological, legal, 
political, ethical and ecological contexts.

Computer literacy requires basic understanding of the principles of 
human-computer interaction.

This literacy is demonstrated in the ability to transfer knowledge 
between computing environments.

These literacies are learnt by doing.

Breaking, gleaning and assembling is a theory of praxis for these 
literacies.

Learning happens when things work, different learning occurs when 
things don’t work.

These literacies are an essential requirement for responsible creative 
computing in pervasive digital networks.


cheers
Adrian Miles
.................................................................
hypertext.rmit || hypertext.rmit.edu.au/adrian
interactive networked video || hypertext.rmit.edu.au/vog
research blog || hypertext.rmit.edu.au/vog/vlog/


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