Studio Visits

Alec Couros (Feb 26 @6:30pm EDT)

This Studio Visit will be a conversation with Alec Couros, Professor of Educational Technology & Media, Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Canada.

This fits in well with the current topic this week of self representation and online identity, as Alec has dealt with for years the use of his public shared photos to create fake accounts for a thing known as catfishing scams (learn more about it from his information page).

But as an expert in online learning, open education, and internet media, Alec has more to share.

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

You don’t need to sign up to watch; the stream will be available here (which will also be the archive after the visit). We encourage, hope, appreciate live tweeting as well via the #netnarr hashtag.

About Alec Couros

website: http://couros.ca/
twitter: @courosa

I am a professor of educational technology & media at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Canada. I help adults and youth take up the incredible affordances of the digital age while providing them with strategies to avoid the numerous pitfalls.

I have given hundreds of keynote presentations and workshops to K-12, higher education, & corporate audiences across the globe. Popular topics include connected learning, digital citizenship, digital literacy, digital identity, social media in organizations, digital ethics, internet scams, digital privacy, and cyber-security.

I am an accomplished educator and researcher and have been recognized with numerous awards for teaching and leadership. I have worked with education, government, and corporate clients to develop policies and procedures related to technology integration and implementation initiatives.

Most importantly, I’m a father of four wonderful children and I am privileged to learn from them daily as they grow up in this amazing but complex era.

How would you characterize the internet in 2019?

Broken. Exploited. Divisive. Toxic. The algorithms have gamed our humanity.

What kinds of changes have you made last few years to be more in control of your online activities?

Deleted accounts, Reduced activity across the board. I use social media sites differently than I have in the past. Reduced posting of kids in certain spaces.

What are you most recommended tools/resources for being informed in 2019?

Trustworthy people.

What, if anything, represents light in the internet darkness?

DMs/PMs – kind, unsolicited, and not asking for anything – when you don’t expect them but need them.

More Links

Tweets Heard

Featured Image: Composite image of Alec Couros from CBC Spark Radio story “Your photos can be used in ‘catfishing’ romance scams” over image tweeted of many fake twitter accounts bearing his photo