http://kmdiat13.utoronto.ca/ en-us ℗ & © 2009 Knowledge Media Design Institute Knowledge Media Design Institute KMDI A lecture series celebrating the 13th year of the Knowledge Media Design Institute A lecture series celebrating the 13th year of the Knowledge Media Design Institute Ronald Baecker rmb@kmdi.toronto.edu feed://feeds2.feedburner.com/KmdiAt13LectureSeries Barry Wellman Part 1 of a 2 part event titled Enabling Enhanced Communications and Commerce Evidence from the Connected Lives studied of East York and Chapleau show how the Internet and mobile phones are transforming relationships. In contrast to the group-centered world of yore, spouses, friends, relatives and coworkers connect together in loosely-bounded, sparsely-knit social networks in which offline and online connectivity are intertwined. Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:10:00 UTC 43:03 internet, mobile phones, sociology, networking Mark Fox Part 2 of a 2 part event titled Enabling Enhanced Communications and Commerce Without a doubt, the web has changed how we conduct commerce. Within the span of a decade, US consumer online retail sales has grown from millions to over $200 billion. Have we experienced a retailing revolution or just the technical evolution of catalog retailing introduced by Richard Sears in 1887? Some believe the advent of social networking will revolutionize our paradigm of retailing. This presentation will explore how social networking is transforming retailing today and the possibilities for the future. Is it a revolution? We'll let your avatar decide. Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:10:00 UTC 44:28 eCommerce Ron Deibert Part 1 of a 2 part event titled Leveling the Playing Field Whereas once the Internet was considered a powerful force for democratization and liberalization against which states were powerless, it is now being quickly carved up, colonized and militarized. States, corporations, and non-state actors alike are engaged in an intense geopolitical contest (The Great CyberGame) the outcome of which will shape the nature of global communications for the 21st century. Drawing on the research and development of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, Professor Deibert provides an overview of the battles over the future of the Net. Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:10:00 UTC 43:19 Alex Jadad Part 2 of a 2 part event titled Leveling the Playing Field We all want a health system that promotes health, rather than just treats disease. We want services that are responsive to our culture and sensitive to our unique individual needs. We want responsible and integrated care, available anywhere, to anyone. We want a health system that is sustainable, and viewed as an essential component for the generation of wealth and wellbeing in society, not one that is viewed as a drain to the economy. This is an elusive goal for every country in the world, one that is particularly urgent now that a global financial crisis is threatening the viability of most economies. Canada is in a particularly vulnerable position. Despite consuming over $160 billion a year (more than 10% of the Gross Domestic Product), the system was ranked recently 23rd when compared with those of 29 European countries. A few years earlier, the World Health Organization had already identified the signs of deterioration of the Canadian health system ranking it 30th in the world, behind countries with much lower levels of wealth and health expenditures such as Colombia. The situation in Canada will likely become worse unless comprehensive, bold, concerted and ambitious efforts are made to improve federal-provincial-territorial communication, and to foster collaboration across traditional boundaries; to eliminate incentives that promote a hospital-centric, physician-driven, disease-oriented and inefficient services; and to engage groups that remain at the margins of the system such as youth, newcomers and people living with multiple chronic diseases. In this session, participants will: * Become aware of initiatives in Canada and abroad designed to accelerate the transformation of the health system through international collaboration, living laboratories and the innovative use of information and communication technologies, * Learn about projects designed to level the playing field for disadvantaged groups in Canada, enabling them to lead in a time of crisis, and * Have the opportunity to share ideas with others about the role that knowledge, media and design could play to promote optimal health for all Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:10:00 UTC 51:32 Jim Slotta Part 1 of a 3 part event titled Supporting Learning and Teaching Prof. Slotta will present a new line of research, funded by CRC and SSHRC, that explores a rich form of learning where students collaborate with peers within and between classrooms to establish a knowledge base that will be used in subsequent scripted inquiry activities. In this way, we can achieve some elements of a knowledge community approach while retaining the strengths of scaffolded inquiry. Secondary science teachers, who are often unable to implement a knowledge community approach because of its open ended nature, can apply this model to target specific curriculum topics. Extensions of this work to the topic of "smart classrooms" with rich new forms of human-computer interaction will also be discussed. Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:10:00 UTC 23:53 Clare Brett Part 2 of a 3 part event titled Supporting Learning and Teaching This talk will focus on key issues in how new technologies are impacting upon how we teach, learn and collaborate, and uses an educational research project called GRAIL (Graduate Researcher Academic Identity on-Line) under development to illustrate some fundamental issues in adopting new technologies. A significant challenge to the effective use of new technologies in education is the evolution of social practices around those technologies and the discrepancies between broader social uses of new technologies and how those same technologies can be used in educational contexts. The talk describes challenges to design along the dimensions of public/private and individual/collaborative and uses data from a series of project research studies to illustrate the nature of these challenges and possible solutions. The taking up of new technologies in new ways requires the evolution of social practices of use-these practices simultaneously reflect and change our culture, and the evolution of such processes takes time. Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:10:00 UTC 26:46 Jim Hewitt Part 3 of a 3 part event titled Supporting Learning and Teaching New information and communication technologies offer exciting new possibilities for higher education. Professor Hewitt will review research conducted on some of these technologies, and discuss problems, barriers and obstacles, both cultural and organizational, that limit the instructional potential of these new tools. Technology on its own is unlikely to bring about sweeping changes in post-secondary education; benefits are most likely to be realized though a deeper understanding of how pedagogy, technology, and content knowledge can synergistically support and reinforce one another in the service of student learning. Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:10:00 UTC 34:53 Ronald Baecker Part 1 of a 2 part event titled Supporting Enhanced Cognition and Stemming Cognitive Decline The goal of our research is to envision, prototype, design, construct, and evaluate powerful and flexible electronic cognitive aids. These should help people, including individuals who are aging or have cognitive impairments, carry out activities of daily living; remember and function capably with names, faces, and appointments; find objects of importance, such as eyeglasses, wallets, and keys; understand and remember procedural instructions, such as taking medications; reminisce about meaningful aspects of their lives; and communicate with distant loved ones. We shall present a seven-dimensional framework for our research and illustrate the framework by presenting projects done in collaboration with researchers and clinicians at Baycrest, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, with financial support gratefully received from NSERC, Bell Canada, and Microsoft Research. We shall stress that the benefits of the interventions often go beyond supporting cognition to generating feelings of efficacy, supporting a sense of identity, and enhancing relationships with caregivers and family members. Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:10:00 UTC 46:32 Ian Spence Part 2 of a 2 part event titled Supporting Enhanced Cognition and Stemming Cognitive Decline After more than three decades of development, video games are increasingly used for purposes other than entertainment. Electronic games play a role in fields as diverse as education, cognitive training, physical exercise, and rehabilitation. Video games turn out to be a surprisingly effective way of training certain perceptual and cognitive functions. However, developing new games for meaningful purposes requires a comprehensive understanding of the critical psychological characteristics that trigger the training benefits. In this presentation, we discuss some of the experimental research that has focused on the cognitive and neuropsychological changes that game playing may induce in the brain. Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:10:00 UTC 46:00 Nadia Caidi Part 1 of a 3 part event titled Digital Media, Publics, and the Politics of Truths and Forgetting Access to public (i.e., government-held) information is one of today's more pressing political issues. In their quest for protecting citizens and enhancing national and global security, governments have increasingly tightened control over the production, management, and diffusion of information. Indeed, the war on terror has been marked by a war on disclosure and dissemination of any information deemed of a "sensitive" nature. In many instances, this trend suggests a shift away from openness and transparency toward secrecy and control. The consequences of such practices are significant for various sectors of society, including the media and publishing sectors, the scientific and academic circles, civil society and ultimately the broader public. Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:10:00 UTC 29:50 Megan Boler Part 2 of a 3 part event titled Digital Media, Publics, and the Politics of Truths and Forgetting This talk explores the motivations of user-generators, or producers of what I term “digital dissent:” political blogs, viral videos, and tactical media. Drawing on interviews and findings from my three-year SSHRC research project, we are tracing how digital user-producers understand, contest, and make their own claims to “truths” within a post 9/11 climate marked by crises of faith in mainstream media and politicians. This talk will address distinctions we have found between the ideals and practices of viral video producers, on the one hand, and bloggers on the other, focusing on tensions between visions of media and democracy, and how web-based media is deployed as digital dissent. Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:10:00 UTC 30:11 Nicholas Burbules Part 3 of a 3 part event titled Digital Media, Publics, and the Politics of Truths and Forgetting The Internet is a giant midden of the lost and forgotten, and can be used in all sorts of ways as a resource for investigating the past. But it is also contested terrain, as we have seen repeated attempts, particularly under the Bush administration, to rewrite or erase history. This has sometimes taken the form of changing or deleting web sites; but in many cases the original can be recaptured. In other cases, among politicians of all stripes, current political positions or postures can be easily juxtaposed with previous claims, often with video evidence. Blogs and other media play a central role in documenting these juxtapositions. What is their effect on contemporary politics? Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:10:00 UTC 21:08 Gerald Penn Part 1 of a 3 part event titled Understanding Language Understanding A tacit assumption made in the heyday of the late 1990s was that everyone wanted speech - we simply must build it, and they will come. It has since become increasingly clear that voice interfaces and speech recognition are not the appropriate means of interacting in every circumstance. Recent research in spoken language processing has had to very carefully contextualize itself with respect to how it will be used. I will discuss some of the shortcomings, challenges and successes of realistically using speech in human-computer interfaces. Tue, 14 Apr 2009 4:00:00 UTC 33:03 speech,computers Graeme Hirst Part 2 of a 3 part event titled Understanding Language Understanding This talk will describe how sophisticated new applications in computational linguistics and natural language processing, such as intelligence gathering and question answering, will lead to changes in how users and natural language systems view the idea of what the meaning of a text is. Writer-based and reader-based views of text-meaning are reflected by the respective questions “What is the author trying to tell me?” and “What does this text mean to me personally?” This talk will discuss different views of text-meaning from the perspective of computational text analysis. Tue, 14 Apr 2009 4:00:00 UTC 29:05 natural language processing Ian Lancashire Part 3 of a 3 part event titled Understanding Language Understanding Among the earliest knowledge media, writing relies on literacy, a cognitive tool in uttering and understanding speech. Yet, as Socrates and David Olson say, and as English literature courses prove, writing problematizes meaning, ignores authorial intention, and hinders effective communication. This talk will (contra Roland Barthes’ useful obiter dictum, that the author is dead) talk about how we can find the human being in his text and take a little step in remediating the dehumanizing side-effects of literacy in knowledge media. Tue, 14 Apr 2009 4:00:00 UTC 31:24 Andrew Clement Part 1 of a 2 part event titled Ensuring Privacy and Security The ID cards that one uses for everyday transactions are currently undergoing a significant transformation. Driven by multiple actors and a heightened pre-occupation with ‘security’ since 9/11, many jurisdictions worldwide are ‘enhancing’ their identity schemes through incorporation of new technologies such as radio-frequency ID (RFID) chips and biometric screening. Such developments are often accompanied by public controversy and unfulfilled expectations. This presentation examines Ontario’s promotion of an enhanced driver’s license (EDL) as an example of this trend, and finds it deeply flawed in terms of claimed benefits, potential risks, and political deliberation. Drawing upon policy oriented and ethnographically informed fieldwork, this talk explores alternative approaches to developing ID schemes that better serve the public interest. The role that various knowledge media, such as videos, comics, photographic art and agit-prop technical demonstrations, can play in engaging citizens in ID policy making are highlighted. Thu, 7 May 2009 16:10:00 UTC 41:32 Kostas Plataniotis Part 2 of a 2 part event titled Ensuring Privacy and Security The objective of this presentation is to review the state-of-the-art in surveillance and biometrics-based security with particular emphasis on solutions for proactive surveillance and behavioural monitoring. The presentation will highlight key technical challenges, open research questions and outline recent technical advances. A robust framework that allows for proactive authentication and monitoring of individual behavior will be briefly discussed. Finally, the presentation will briefly discuss the development of a visual surveillance system which allows users to control access to their private visual data using cryptographic keys. Thu, 7 May 2009 16:10:00 UTC 32:57 Elsa Marziali Part 1 of a 3 part event titled Enabling Collaboration to Improve Health This presentation will focus on the design and use of technology to provide e-health services to persons in their homes. We will report the results of several studies of online, video conferencing educational support group programs for caregivers of persons with chronic disease and intervention programs for patients with chronic disease. Web pages, video-audio interactivity, and information access were designed according to usability criteria sensitive to the physical and attention limitations of older adult caregivers and patients. Unique to our approach is the use of web-based video conferencing in group format with the aim of replicating face-to-face health care educational/support programs typically provided by clinic-based health care professionals. Our approach addresses the health care needs of older adults with chronic disease and their caregivers by delivering to their homes educational, psychosocial support interventions that help with the management of chronic disease and improve quality of life. The overall aims of our web based e-health programs include; a) helping chronically ill older adults and their caregivers manage prescribed medical regimes more effectively, achieve improved health outcomes, and maintain a satisfactory quality of life; and b) reducing utilization of health services and lowering overall health care costs. Tue, 26 May 2009 16:10:00 UTC 39:33 caregivers, seniors, long-term care, healthcare reform Peter Pennefather Part 2 of a 3 part event titled Enabling Collaboration to Improve Health We describe an approach to the “one person, one health record” problem based on creating suitably annotated duplicates of electronic medial record data routinely collected in a person’s name and stored in the custody of the health system. These duplicates are then encased in a single network accessible file called the BioTIFF with access overseen by their subjects. This approach creates records that are functionally equivalent to health care system records. It liberates that data by enabling convenient tracking and consenting procedures for multiple secondary uses while maintaining true privacy (e.g. personal control over personal information access). The LCD has also developed a new type of interface that we call the Intercase for interacting with very large, very sensitive data clouds linking many unique clinical cases. The Intercase is created using highly customizable open-source software and launched from an external USB drive on an impersonal but customizable and inexpensive commodity processor box running a mid range CPU. The Intercase is adapted to the bridging needs of the transaction at hand and can recreate a customized and personalized internet access desktop wherever a processor box is available. Nothing personal is left behind on this data communication switch when powered down, simplifying the task of regulating access to sensitive data. This arrangement sets the stage for Collaborative Diagnostics. Tue, 26 May 2009 16:10:00 UTC 54:08 intercase, TIFF, healthcare reform, information management, personal information West Suhanic Part 3 of a 3 part event titled Enabling Collaboration to Improve Health Presented with Peter Pennefather Tue, 26 May 2009 16:10:00 UTC 0:10 Jutta Treviranus Part 1 of a 2 part event titled Inclusive Design The qualities of digital tools, content and environments have made it possible to radically rethink and reform notions of disability and accessibility in a digitally mediated world. This has led to more sustainable, integrated and personally optimized design strategies. This shift in accessible or inclusive design has significant ramifications not only for accessibility legislation, guidelines and policy but the design and development of information systems, practices and processes in general. There are compelling reasons to make this corresponding shift that go well beyond a wish to "accommodate people with disabilities." Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Steve Hockema Part 2 of a 2 part event titled Inclusive Design Academic and popular understandings of Information are typically interrelated with a concept of "Content" (as distinct from presentation, media and even structure). This talk will begin by critiquing this framing and exploring the ramifications this has had on Web design and development, relating this to similar distinctions between interface and "core" processing common to software design/development that are revealed in common architectural patterns, such as Model-View-Controller, and divisions of labor. The main thesis will be that this "Information-based model", based on dualist metaphors (e.g., of container and containment, content provider and designer or CMS), has been overextended. It will be argued that these metaphors have led to evaluative norms, such as accessibility and usability, that must now be modified and/or extended to include so-called social media -- for example with respect to issues of credibility and authority -- and broader conceptions of inclusive design. This will be explored through consideration of two popular online communities. The talk will conclude with suggestions for moving forward drawn from both academic work on participatory culture as well an active, large-scale software project that is attempting to manifest true inclusive design, and present the open research questions that I am currently investigating along these lines. Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Gale Moore Part 1 of a 3 part event titled Enabling Open Scholarship A host of initiatives predicated on the notion of openness has flourished in recent years. From Open Source to Open Access, Open Educational Resources, Open Data or Open Innovation, the phenomenon of openness is transforming the nature of scholarly communication and practices. Increasingly, and to varying degrees in different disciplines, the impact of these activities is observable, yes awareness of these changing practices and the opportunities and consequences for the individual and the institution continue to be unevenly distributed across the institutional landscape. This talk will review recent developments and the opportunities and challenges ahead. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Leslie Chan Part 2 of a 3 part event titled Enabling Open Scholarship Digital and networking technologies are rapidly transforming the ways in which knowledge is created, consumed, and shared. While innovative pedagogy and new forms of scholarship are made possible by open access to scholarly publications, there remains serious institutional, socioeconomic, and legal barriers to participation by members of the academic community. In addition, career pathways for scholarly advancement and evaluation are shifting as the digital landscape creates unfamiliar challenges for graduating students, academics and policy makers. So what are the real opportunities presented by Open Access? The goal of the presentation is to prompt debates and dialogues on how we could participate in the design of an open access knowledge environment and to identify elements of the system that need institutional and policy support. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Gunther Eysenbach Part 3 of a 3 part event titled Enabling Open Scholarship Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 David Wolfe Part 1 of a 3 part event titled A panel on ICT policy, innovation, commercialization and careers This presentation reports on the results of a five year study of eight information and communication technology (ICT) clusters across Canada. It summarizes the key findings from the individual cases and poses several questions: what are the critical factors that contributed to the emergence and development of the individual clusters in their specific locations? What is the relative importance of local versus non-local factors in supporting the overall dynamism of the clusters? And what are the most important factors that contribute to the ongoing competitiveness of the clusters? In conclusion, it summarizes the import of these findings for our understanding of clusters and sets out the main policy implications. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Eugene Fiume Part 2 of a 3 part event titled A panel on ICT policy, innovation, commercialization and careers Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 David Ticoll Part 3 of a 3 part event titled A panel on ICT policy, innovation, commercialization and careers Digital media and technologies are crucial to the innovation and productivity of every industry, be it energy, life science, media and culture, publishing, advertising, natural resources, financial services, construction, retail or education. But employers across Canada cannot find the ICT professionals that they need – even in the midst of the recession. This is partly due to dramatically declining enrolments in post-secondary ICT-related programs and low female participation in the field (25%!). It is also because of a growing mismatch between the specific skills of ICT professionals in the workforce and the new kinds of capabilities that employers need. This is a problem with many moving parts. This presentation is a case study on how such problems can be tackled, and maybe even solved. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Nick Woolridge Part 1 of a 3 part event titled Supporting Visual Thinking and Creativity Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Mark Chignell Part 1 of a 2 part event titled Mobility and Wireless Recent developments in sensor technology, wireless networking, and handheld devices open up a range of exciting new healthcare innovations. Relevant applications include inventory management, patient monitoring, and clinical decision support. However, the acceptance of new technology innovations is constrained by clinical workflows, professional rules, and a range of socio-technical issues. In this talk, challenges and opportunities associated with the application of sensors in healthcare are discussed and illustrated with scenarios involving the use of sensors and data fusion in emergency medicine. Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1 Khai Truong Part 2 of a 2 part event titled Mobility and Wireless The user is often required to look at the screen to interact with their mobile devices. However, it is sometimes difficult for the user to devote a visual attention to the devices, particularly in a mobile setting or if the user has a visual impairment. I will talk about techniques that will allow a person to use her mobile device without relying on visual feedback. Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC 1