Knowledge management and the development of a personal learning environment

This week's Digital History class almost seemed like a Philosophy lecture, as it focused on our personal learning environment and personal learning management. The lecture examined the traditional ways students are taught, and the informal methods of learning not usually found in the classroom, before asking us to consider what contributed to the way we learn, and how we access and filter information, to be used in our research.

Most learning seen in education continues to be the old method of formal lectures, with a learned individual speaking to a number of passive people, who take notes or listen, but do not actively engage in the process. The information passed to the class is then regurgitated in essays or exams, because little worth is attributed to finding additional, or contradictory, readings on the topics covered. This problem is especially prevalent in second-level education, where memorisation is emphasised, rather than active participation in learning. This means that a good memory is confused with intelligence, and the ability to understand or interpret information is dismissed as secondary to learning off by heart.

My own learning experience largely followed this trend before starting my first postgraduate degree last year. In school, given the focus the Leaving Certificate has on memory, no system was in place to either expand or criticise the material which pupils are expected to learn wholesale. Since virtually all grading was conducted through examinations, there was no desire on the part of my school to encourage questioning of the material, and no attempt was made to evaluate how any knowledge learned by pupils was applied in our education or in real life.

To a large degree, undergraduate study is quite similar. With the huge numbers of students taking undergrad courses, lecturers have no time to engage in small group sessions, or to see if students are engaging with the material. Exams are, again, used more to evaluate a student's memory, rather than whether they bothered to actively engage with the information.

At postgraduate level, one is forced to engage with material, and must find it themselves. Having being forced to do this, I was able to gain a better understanding of what I read, because I had to rationally think about what was being presented, and question aspects of what I read that I didn't agree with. This gave me a better understanding of what I was studying, because I had to actively engage with the subject material, rather than simply passively read it and store it in my memory for exams, after which I could promptly forget the information that I had learned simply for the process of regurgitation on an exam paper.

Of course, what I learn in college isn't the only way I learn about the world, in fact, it's probably smaller than I had ever realised. Every day, I access the news through one or more types of media, though the convenience and zero cost that the Internet provides makes it my main source. I frequently use Facebook and Gmail chat to engage with other people, their thoughts and the links they post, often through debate. YouTube provides video footage which might never be seen on television, because of either timing constraints, or editorial policy. I probably became more aware of the unfolding national chaos of last week via social networking groups than I would have anywhere else. Social networking sites, like Facebook, are mainly for entertainment purposes but, as Juche observes, they can also encourage "accidental" or serendipitous learning, where the user receives an education without realising it, an grown-up example of "edutainment" programming aimed at children, if you will.

The spread of the Internet has enabled an expansion of a dual learning process outside of the formal setting of a classroom. The first aspect, independent learning, allows me, or anyone, to access information at any time, from any location, quickly and inexpensively. Through search engines or news organisations, one can acquire information which compliments, or contradicts, information the user already holds, challenging them to think about what they have learned before. The second aspect, shared or collaborative learning, encourages people to interact by commenting on posts, sharing links to interesting web pages or by instant messaging. This allows for the development of a shared learning experience, where knowledge is gained equally, and at the same time, by the participants in the discussion. Both aspects force the user to engage actively with what they are reading or discussing, allowing them to react positively or negatively, and to draw their own conclusions about the topic they are learning about.

The key to successful learning, I find, is through making sense of the material. We are able to access copious amounts of information, physically and online, and we must decipher valuable information from the nonsensical, in a process called knowledge management. As Juche observes, once you find the information you need on a certain topic, you must then study it, observing what is being covered. Then, one must challenge the material, to see what flaws exist in the arguments given, before evaluating the overall worth of the document. After this process is complete, one can use the information to construct their own arguments and beliefs.

Knowledge management is a skill which I have learned rather recently, in the main because it is not a skill required when one is in second level or undergraduate studies. Advancing beyond these levels, however, a student must find material themselves, without the comfort of being spoonfed information by a lecturer or tutor. Without the recommendations of lecturers, I had to find books and articles myself, learning to differentiate between useful and unhelpful sources, and pick up the ability to filter arguments and quotes, customising them to suit my approach, in order to assist me in constructing a discussion in topics I found interesting.

In a world where any slant can exist on any topic, it is important to be able to engage with material and see what parts you find believable, in the first instance, then adapting it to suit one's own arguments. Knowledge management, therefore, is important in creating a stronger, more independent, personal learning environment.

And they say a WEEK is a long time in politics...

The funeral bell for the thirtieth Dáil began to pall this morning, with a statement from John Gormley saying that his Green Party were eager to publish the four year-plan for economic recovery, pass the upcoming budget and come to agreement with the IMF and the ECB, but that the party wanted a general election to be held in the second half of January. It was the first major event of what was a tumultuous day for Irish politics and society, one which will probably force the night staff working overtime to get tomorrow morning's headlines up to date.

Last night's conference featuring Mr. Cowen and Mr. Lenihan seeking assistance from the IMF and its EU partners sought to restore some confidence in both the Irish economy and the euro, which was met with enthusiasm as markets opened, with shares across Europe up on Friday's trading, while the euro climbed against the dollar and Ireland's borrowing rate decreased. Following the statement, these trends were reversed, the markets closing down, while Ireland's interest rate returned to over eight per cent. Any hopes that pressure on the single currency would ease, and that the spooked global markets would regain faith in the Irish economy, were lost after little more than twelve hours.

As the day continued, while the Greens were committing to remain in government until after the budget was signed into law, the two of the three government-supporting independent TDs stated that they could not guarantee their support even as long as that, while two Fianna Fáil TDs called on Mr. Cowen to resign as Taoiseach and as leader of the party. From the opposition ranks, Labour's Eamon Gilmore and, later, Fine Gael's Enda Kenny issued statements calling for an immediate dissolution of the Dáil and a general election to be held before Christmas.

With the opposition parties, understandably, refusing to support a budget before seeing what the government proposes on December 7, and strong views by Fine Gael's deputy leader and Health spokesman, Dr. James Reilly, and Labour's Justice spokesman and former leader, Pat Rabbitte, on tonight's RTÉ's Six-One News that the government couldn't be trusted to provide a budget they could agree with anyway, the government majority might be wiped out completely, should the two independent TDs on the government benches refuse to support the budget.

This evening, Mr. Cowen gave a press conference on the steps of Government Buildings shortly after 19:00 and, flanked by Fianna Fáil ministers, he promised to go to Áras an Úachtaráin "once the budgetary process was complete" to ask for a dissolution of the Dáil. Given that the budgetary process usually takes several weeks (last year's wasn't finished until March), and that the Christmas recess runs until January 19, it has been estimated that an election wouldn't be held before February, at the earliest.

Mr. Cowen gave a brave performance on the Government Buildings steps, but he surely knows the jig is up. Fianna Fáil ministers are believed to be incensed that the Greens have pulled the carpet from under the government, though the declining majority was probably going to disappear completely by spring anyway. Pulling out of government, now or after the budget, isn't going to do the Greens any favours; they will be severely punished by the electorate, whenever the election is held. What the move has done, though, is add further uncertainty into the mix, with foreign governments and international markets unsure what's about to happen. If today is any example, no-one could predict what the political outlook will be in 24 hours, let alone by budget day.

Quick scanning tools for text analysis

This week's Digital History class asked us to look at text analysis tools, and see how prominent certain words are in various texts. I chose to look at the inaugural speech of John F. Kennedy nearly fifty years ago, to see what are the most common words, and the themes covered, by Kennedy.

The first tool I used is TAPoR (Text Analysis Portal for Research), which allows you to examine documents and see how often certain words are used within the text. This can be done either by inserting a website address into a toolbar, or by uploading a text file from your hard drive. The immediate benefit of the tool is that you can quickly analyse how frequently certain words appear in speeches. The downside of this is that, without filtering, the tool lists the frequency of all words, including those that you might not want. Kennedy's inaugural address, for example, mentioned "the" 85 times, "of" 66 times, and "of" 37 times, which isn't much use for anyone wanting to show the emphasis he gave to international affairs. I ran the document through the program a second time, this time excluding words which were used for constructing sentences, rather than for constructing Kennedy's political beliefs. "We", "our" and "us" dominated, showing Kennedy's desire to portray America and his government as united, an important factor given that the 1960 election was the closest run campaign ever, until the 2000 Bush-Gore battle. These words are also common English words, so I ran the speech through the program again, this time checking the "apply inflectional stemmer" option, which removes commonly used words from the results. The frequency of all (non-common) words mentioned at least three times in the inaugural address can be found here.

The second tool I used was Wordle, a program which places text into a "word cloud", an image illustrating the frequency of words used in the text, with words used more frequently shown in larger sizes than words used less frequently. Entering the text of Kennedy's inaugural address into the program, an image is created, which can be custom formatted to suit one's taste. The program automatically discounts commonly used words, so the image created appears like this:

This is useful, because when commonly used words are included, the image is radically altered, as the common words dominate the picture, as can be seen below.

In all, these are useful programs, allowing people to sort through documents to see what words, ideas and themes may appear within the text. Wordle is probably the more user-friendly tool, being easier to navigate as well as looking prettier. That the creator allows, in fact encourages, the use of the program to create T-shirt designs is a nice added bonus!

The ECB and the IMF come to town

This is a post I got published this evening on the new Irish politics blog, Tea and Toast.

So, despite the assurances of the government which dominated news headlines last weekend, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund are now in Dublin to discuss the provision of a loan. The governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, gave an interview with RTÉ’s “Morning Ireland” saying that he expected “a substantial loan” of tens of billions to be provided to the Irish government, with a five per cent interest rate. The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, stated to the Dáil on Thursday that a contingency loan would be a “very desirable outcome”.

There has been a long-held fear about the intervention of these bodies, the IMF in particular, because of the historic ability to dictate draconian terms and conditions on governments looking for funding. Argentina’s economic collapse in 2001 saw demands placed on the Argentinean government to drastically reduce its budget deficit. Unfortunately, tax income plummeted as the crisis worsened, which meant that the government was forced to slash public spending, with cuts of 18% in public expenditure placed in the 2002 budget.

More worryingly, given that reducing budget deficits were aimed to reduce fears among international markets and investors, the Argentinean government announced austerity measures to cut public spending in advance of a sale of government bonds in July 2001; these measures failed to assuage market worries. These bonds could only be sold following a sharp rise in the interest rate the government had to pay, reaching 14% while bond sales the previous month were sold at an interest rate of 9%, a rate which Irish government bond rates are currently hovering around.

The European Commission and the ECB have long been eager to press the point that they do not want to force Ireland to take a loan, but rather it is for the government to ask for assistance. This opinion has not been shared by all, though, with weaker Eurozone economies hoping a loan is given to Dublin, especially Portugal and Spain. With Ireland reluctant to seek assistance, market worries about the ability of weaker European economies to fund their economies have added further pressure on governments looking for funding from the markets. The opinions of Lisbon and Madrid are understandable; the securing of the Irish economy by loans from the IMF and the ECB eases market fears, reducing the interest demands on other Eurozone economies borrowing from the international markets.

The overriding question coming from this situation is: did the government delay in looking for assistance from the ECB and the IMF to maintain a level of independence and dignity, and what happens now following the apparent failure of this course of action? Mr. Lenihan stated in the Dáil that any delay was caused to protect the Irish taxpayer, but from what? If it was to protect from speculation, it failed, because taxpayers and the media here and abroad have spent the last week speculating about if, and when, the IMF would be called. If it was to protect from the grim reality that such a loan would lead to a draconian drive for deficit reduction, it failed, since it merely delayed the inevitable, leading to market uncertainty, an unwise move when the government needs to borrow money with the budget now less than three weeks away.

The Taoiseach has insisted that Irish sovereignty would not be threatened, but this cannot be the case once the IMF and the ECB become involved in supporting the economy. The IMF has a long history of interfering with national governments decisions once it has provided loans to countries, Argentina being one of the most recent examples, while the ECB’s (and the euro’s) very existence is credited to an agreed loss of sovereignty by EU member states. These organisations will not allow the government to do as it wishes with their money, lest the government misspends it and comes back, cap in hand, looking for seconds.

The “Irish Times” editorial on Thursday morning summed up the feeling many have towards the oncoming loss of national sovereignty by asking if the struggles of the last few centuries which secured Ireland’s political freedom from Britain, the fight for self-determination, was worth the effort if our own government helped lead us to this point. The nation was founded to emphasise our difference from the United Kingdom, and that the Irish people would decide the fate of their country. The presence of the IMF and ECB radically changes this dynamic, as they will have the final say in how this country’s economy will be run as long as our debts are outstanding.

The most damning point of this mess is that it was not the IMF, nor the ECB or the single currency, nor the European Union or any other country which caused our once-wonderful economy, formerly the envy of the world, to collapse. It was our government, elected by the people of Ireland, which encouraged the risky practises of banks, the bubble boom of the property market, the “buy now, pay later” culture which allowed personal debt to spiral out of control. These economic moves were strongly supported by the general public, main opposition parties included, during the good times. These economic policies have now come back to haunt us.

For me, the single most upsetting aspect to this sorry state of affairs is not that our economy is nearly bust, or that government bond prices are so high. It’s not that we need help from our neighbours, or from the dreaded IMF. It’s not even about playing the blame game with regard to how we got into this mess in the first place. Rather, it’s that the government hid the facts from us. Last weekend, the cabinet was adamant that Ireland was not about to go looking for assistance but, less than a week later, we have two major organisations in Dublin looking at Ireland’s plans to reduce its budget deficit and how much the government needs to loan.

It’s popular to despise Fianna Fáil, and understandably so, but my complaint to the government is not about their economic policies, or their methods of restoring confidence in “Ireland Inc”. My complaint is about the evident belief held by the government is that we need to be hidden from the harsh realities of the coming weeks and months. It’s a question of trust: if the government cannot trust us, the people responsible enough to put them in office, to be mature enough to handle the pain of the next few years, how can it expect us to trust it to lead us through it?

Photo editing: What's good for celebrity models is vaguely acceptable for Cork's old gaol

Following on from our assignment to take photos of various places of historical interest in Cork city a few weeks back, this week's task was to edit some of the photos taken and post the before and after shots online. Adobe Photoshop is the most well-known photo editor, building a dominant position in the market in the twenty years it has been available. Indeed, much like referring to a vacuum cleaner by calling it a "hoover", or a cola product by calling it a "coke", we speak of "photoshopping" when we discuss an edited photograph, regardless of the editing suite that was actually used.

Editing software has been extensively used in the last two decades, from hiding blemishes and pasty faces, enhancing the attractiveness of models to adding hair to bald men and beards to those who are clean-shaven. But aside from making people look better, photo editing can be used to enhance buildings or landscapes, especially handy when trying to entice tourists to visit your country.

The program I chose to use is "Picnik", an online editor which doesn't require registration or downloading to work. With an easy interface, and a number of uncomplicated enhancing features, Picnik is ideal for someone without the time or the need to invest in more advanced suite. Its simple method of uploading pictures from your hard drive, editing to your taste and effortless saving allows even the most technologically-challenged computer user to make their photos come to life. I've edited a few of the photos I took on my visit to the old city gaol to show the differences created by using this editing package.

Old city gaol entrance, before editing

I was fortunate enough to have been able to take my pictures on a dry, sunny day, so there was no worries about having to delete any clouds or rain that might otherwise spoil the photograph. It was a dry, sunny day in late October, though, so while there is plenty of light, the pictures look quite cool, reflecting the low temperatures on the day, and possibly putting off anyone who might like to visit Ireland, but doesn't fancy cold weather.

Old city gaol entrance, after editing

Simply by messing around with the brightness, contrast and exposure settings, this is the result I came up with. The added warmth of the edited image hides the fact that the shot was taken on a cold autumn afternoon in southern Ireland. Instead, one might think this was taken on a hot summer's day, with blazing sunshine trying its best to split rocks. The warmth and brightness might well trick an unsuspecting viewer into thinking that this couldn't possibly be an old Irish gaol, but a building one might find in a more tropical location, like the Mediterranean.

Gaol wall, after editing

Gaol wall, before editing

The picture on the left is of an internal prison wall, with three of the barred windows, you can just make out three Romanesque windows on the far right of the photo, which would have allowed light into adjoining cells. Again, it's evident that there was plenty of light on what was a fine day, but the cool temperature is clearly visible as well. On the right, the edited shot again displays warmer temperature, with contrast altered to emphasise the shadows on the wall, caused by neighbouring trees.

The final shot I've chosen to post is of the stocks placed outside the entrance of the main building. Again, there is plenty of light, but it's obvious that this shot was not taken in the height of summer. The picture looks cool, with the grass looking limp and lifeless. If anything, a viewer might think this was a wintry day that was sunny by fluke. Also, the stocks itself looks worn, unused for decades, with faded and unvarnished wood. The "after" shot livens up a tired image, with the grass looking healthier thanks to the temperature adjustment, and the stocks looking rejuvenated after altering the contrast setting.




It's clear to see why Discover Ireland and Tourism Ireland would make use of photo editing software. In what is a highly competitive market for a limited number of tourists, Irish tourism agencies need to emphasise Ireland's natural beauty to entice visitors. Just like celebrities appearing in tabloid magazines, the odd enhancement here and there, courtesy of editing software, might exaggerate, but can be wonderfully effective.

The 1911 census: Looking at an Irish townload in the early twentieth century

This week's task in Digital History is to make a spreadsheet using information given by the residents of a townland in Ballymodan, Co. Cork during the 1911 census, which is available from the National Archives of Ireland website. The townland I chose to work on was Clogheenavodig (which appears to be the correct spelling of the name, having endured an apparent temporary name change from the 1901 census, when it was known as Clagheenavodeg, although the townland must be called something else now, as it doesn't appear on Google Maps).

Inputting the information was simple enough, and while calculating the averages, medians and standard deviations were more challenging, these were achievable after a little practice, using the template of the 1901 census given to us. The layout of the National Archive's website is easy enough to navigate, making the overall task of looking for information much easier. In addition, that the National Archive has already gone through the original census returns and published the information in a clear script makes the exercise of going through the census returns a less strenuous task for historians and genealogists.

The really interesting aspect of using both the 1901 and 1911 census returns are to look at the people of the area over a ten-year period to see how families changed in the course of that decade. For a start, there's two fewer houses in the townland in 1911 than there were in 1901 (fourteen instead of sixteen), and one house is unoccupied in both returns, suggesting that two houses have either been demolished or rendered in states of such disrepair that there are unfit for habitation, and a house had been abandoned in 1901 and 1911 (though not necessarily the same house).

There are five new families in Clogheenavodig in 1911 that were not in the area ten years previously: the Noonans, the Joyces, the Mehigans (with their guests on census evening, the Barnetts), the Collins', and the Lordens. Though not in the area ten years previously, the members of the first four families were all born in county Cork, suggesting that they have moved here from other parts of the county. The fifth family, the Lordens, returned to Ireland from the United States some time after the birth of their first child there in 1906 or 1907.

The families who remained in Clogheenavodig between the two census returns haven't moved anywhere, but have experienced changes, including a large number of bizarre cases involving unusual ageing among the local population. The 1901 census was taken on March 31, and the 1911 census was taken on April 2, therefore you would expect people in both censuses to have aged ten years (or a maximum of eleven, allowing for a birthday on April 1 or 2). This is something which is easier to explain for older people, as registration of birth were made mandatory in the United Kingdom in 1837. However, even teenagers are listed as having a different age to what it should be, either in the 1901 return or the 1911 one. In the Singleton family, two of the children, Hannah and Cornelius (written as Con in the 1901 census) only aged nine years, while their mother, Catherine, managed to age fourteen years in ten years, presumably using those four bonus years to learn how to read and write, as she is listed in the 1911 return as being literate but could neither read nor write when the census was taken a decade previously. In addition, the missing husband of 1901 has returned, his occupation of "general labourer" suggesting that he had left Clogheenavodig to find work.

A number of deaths have almost certainly occurred: the patriarch of the Foley family, John was seventy in 1901 and does not appear in the 1911 census. His wife, Catherine, managed to age twelve years, possibly in an attempt to ensure access to the newly-provided old-age pension introduced by the Old Age Pensions Act of 1908 for people aged seventy or older. Interestingly, while Catherine may have exaggerated her age, her two children only aged seven years over the course of the decade!

Perhaps the saddest death would have been that of Julia Barry, who was 22 in 1901, while living with her husband, Daniel. Ten years later, she is not mentioned, while Daniel is left with three children and listed as a widower; it would be highly plausible to assume she died in childbirth five years previously, meaning she had died before her 28th birthday. In contrast, John O'Leary enjoyed a very long life for the era, being eighty-four in 1901, though dead by 1911.

Perhaps the most interesting puzzle of the census returns from Clogheenavodig surrounds the Donovan family, which has seen two children leave the family home, Cornelius and Margaret. In their stead are two grandchildren of James and Hannah Donovan, a nine year-old named Alphonsus and a seven year-old named Francis. The two children have a different surname to their grandparents, which could imply that they are Margaret's children and that both she and her husband have either died or migrated in search of work, leaving the children in the care of her parents. This is more likely than the other possibility, which is one which would have been nearly unthinkable in a Catholic family in early twentieth century Ireland, that the two boys are the children of one of the Donovans sons, conceived and birthed out of wedlock.

In all, the research carried out by these two censuses paint an interesting picture into the life of a small rural townland, one which is replicated across the country. It perhaps leaves many more questions than answers. Where did the families present in 1901, but absent in 1911, go to and, conversely, where did the families present in 1911, but elsewhere in 1901, come from? What happened to the Burns' family servant of 1901, Mary Hayes, who had been replaced by Honora Meade by 1911? And what happened to three people who were teenagers in 1901, but not mentioned in the 1911 return: Elizabeth Burns, and Cornelius and Margaret Donovan? Had they moved elsewhere for work, or had they died in the interim? The job of a census at the time is to numerate people and determine certain facts about their lives, but census-taking benefits historians too, establishing a social element to the past, providing an insight into the lives of ordinary people, who would otherwise only be registered by the state at birth, marriage and death.