Thursday evening Brian Frank, one of our EduPunk panelists, held a discussion at the London Central Library entitled Digital Media: The New Democracy.

As a blogger, essayist, social critic, and digital media advocate, Frank opened his talk with a preface: "This is going to be a very blog-like presentation, meaning it's not going to be polished." He explained to his audience of varied ages that blogs are always in the process of being made, they are not finished products, as was his presentation, which he admitted to finishing only hours before it began.

Beginning in ancient Athens, Frank spoke about the spread of information being an oral tradition with stories being memorized as poems before people came around to the idea of writing things down.

Relying on history and early philosophers, Frank walked his listeners through the movement away from the oral tradition. He told the group that in two generations people went from viewing literacy as unimportant to building schools and libraries and valuing the written word. To relate this to today, Frank suggested just like in ancient Athens we today are changing how we remember and learn things through new digital tools. The difference though is that with the internet, the changes are happening a lot more rapidly because we are finally starting to take advantage of its capabilities.

Beginning with the invention of the hyperlink in 1990, Frank moved his way through what he viewed as some of the most important moments in internet history, including the invention of Google, Wikipedia, and Facebook, and the advent of blogging. He said these were significant moments because they changed the direction of information, making knowledge a process rather than a product.

The discussion was wrapped up with Frank's belief that digital media is becoming a culture and a mindset rather than a technology. It is open, social, and participatory creating conversation and community.

In all, Frank's talk was enlightening and created a great discussion from the audience. In that way, for Jim, Steve, and I it was a great example of open source learning. The evening was an opportunity for people from the London community to gather together in a free learning environment to not only hear from someone with interesting views on digital media, but also to participate in discussion.

Also in the spirit of open source learning, Frank posted his Prezi mind-map online for all to see and use, further facilitating the spirit of sharing that is found in all aspects of Maker Culture.