Mark Surman – Mozilla Webmaker: Digital Literacy Through Making and Sharing

A chat about the ongoing process of making Webmaker, and how the project is learning from (and collaborating with) educational practitioners and tech instructors to build a more web literate planet.

Mozilla Webmaker is a new program aimed at helping millions of people–especially youth–move from using the web to making the web. Webmaker provides tools, starter projects and a growing global community of mentors and instructors to help people make, learn and share together–acquiring digital literacy skills, webmaking basics like HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and using the open building blocks of the web for their own creativity, innovation and self-expression.

Key Questions and Comments:

• (18:20) I’d like to know how one would implement [Makerspaces/hackerspaces] in an academic library environment and if, perhaps, how you would justify it or get funding for things of this nature?
• (22:25) Do you have any ideas for incorporating Webmaker tools within a strictly online environment?
• (26:26) Beyond making these Webmaking tools available, are there programs that train and support teachers in K-12 schools with using these tools?
• (33:32) How can we use Webmaker tools to improves scores on state-administered testing?
• (37:20) Are you contemplating doing any MOOCs around Webmaking, Mark?
• (40:13) When these badges appear in different locations on the web and they are the same badges in different areas, or when a badge can be recognized out of its original context–how does that really serve connected learning, connecting the different learning environments? I’m wondering if you guys see the potential for badges to really connect various disciplines with a sort of validation process?
• (43:17) Shouldn’t badges be connected to products that reflect the value of the badge?
• (46:09) Has Mozilla done any partnership with museums or contemplating any partnerships with museums?
• (51:15) Do you have any new [Webmaker] tools on tap?
• (54:08) How can librarians possibly mentor people into communities of practice that value hacking and making?

View the Conversation
During the broadcast, the conversation also took place on Twitter using the hashtag #connectedlearning.

Guests for this webinar included:

• Mark Surman: A community activist and technology executive of 20+ years, Mark currently serves as the Executive Director at Mozilla, makers of Firefox and one of the largest social enterprises in the world. At Mozilla, he is focused on using the open technology and ethos of the web to transform fields such as education, journalism and filmmaking. You can Follow him on Twitter at @msurman.
• Howard Rheingold
• Jon Worona
• Elizabeth Dill
• Carla Casilli
• Doug Belshaw

Resources for this webinar:

• The 7 Pillars of Information Literacy
• Hackasaurus: Tools for Teaching Webmaking
• Connected Learning Webinar with Erin Knight on Open Badges
• Play-based learning for K-12 children is gaining increased importance in Canada [PDF report]
• “Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Unpacking the MOOC as Buzzword” by Inside Higher Ed
• Open, online course DS106: Digital Storytelling
• Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
• CodeAcademy.org: learn how to build web applications
• Udacity.com: online university centered around problem-based learning
• Dave Cormier, George Siemens and Stephen Downes’ MOOC
• The Hive Learning Network (Chicago, New York City)