Man versus Machine (or: Tummeling 101)

I'll Tummel 4 Ya w/Jerry Michalski TummelVision Ep. 1 from heather gold on Vimeo.

The end of my research in educational technology has led to an issue that has been around as long as The Machine. In a face-off bordering on the science fictional, my high-tech study of a high-tech topic using high-tech media pointed unanimously in the same direction. And it was not silicon and wire.

It was flesh and blood.

Retrospectively, it should come as no surprise. Yet the brutal truth is that a people-focused study on what people need for better, more people-centred education (incidentally through technology) lost sight of – yes – the people in question. The results of the study suggest that, firstly, people’s different levels of computer and internet literacy required more attention than my materials had provided. Secondly, they implied that a more effective, enticing element of human interaction would be required to provoke the kind of interactive learning that had been the core aim of the materials.

At a time when computer-led automation is reshaping every other facet of society (not least the labour market) it is encouraging to find that this underestimated element of my research may prove that human endeavour is far from obsolete. What is important in the education system, workplace and society of the future, is that we of the flesh and blood recognise where we are indispensible – and explore the full potential of what sets us apart.

This human X factor is already being explored by Web Standards Guru Kevin Marks, as seen in his Web 2.0 Expo 2009 Keynote (done with the brilliant Prezi presentation software! Visual yumminess!). Minority poster girl Heather Gold has also been working with the concept in geek/corporate standup routines and workshops. In fact, Gold (and, increasingly also Marks) names this “art of social engagement” after the Yiddish word “tummel”, since no English equivalent has emerged. Gold’s Tummelvision video show launched in January under the TWiT banner, aiming to discuss tummeling in tech, media and society on a weekly basis. Episode 1 is included at the top of this post as an introduction.

Since no other word seems to sum it up so well, and people like Gold and Marks make such a good case for it, I am glad to take the tummeling concept and terminology on board. In fact, I am mentioning and referencing it as the missing factor in the research. Speaking of which, the full text will be online upon completion – which should be within two weeks. Cross you fingers for me.