Reclaiming Digital Infrastructures is a research collaboration with KASK School of Arts in Gent taking serious the question how to understand digital networks and communication tools as an integral part of the art education.

During this session, we will explore minimal viable forms of learning with Etherpad. Etherpad is a collaborative text editor that is often used within the practices of Varia members and their peer networks. During this day, we will focus on exploring and rediscovering principles of calm technology and minimal computing, while stretching both the software and our understandings of what online pedagogical places could be.

Minimalism is for us a departure point to make space for other possible forms of technologically mediated learning. In the last months, learning, with all its communal and convivial aspects, turned into an online-only endeavor. This sudden transition didn’t leave much room to make a judicious choice of modes of interaction, communication tools, utilised services and platforms. Within educational organisations, we witness a double movement: on the one hand, a centralisation of all activities by means of the software suite (e.g. Microsoft Teams); on the other hand, the standardisation of a maximalist mode of communication meant to replicate class interactions (e.g. videocalls).

How can minimal technologies maximise a learning experience?

What could ’minimum’ ’viable’ ’learning’ be?

Expect: |__MAGICWORDS__|, padtiquettes and collective reading of texts speaking about /minimal computing/ and /viable learning/.

About Varia
Varia is a collective-space in Rotterdam working with/through/around everyday technology. The group of Varia members includes artists, designers, programmers, educators and cultural workers, involved in techo-social practices in the cultural field. Within Varia, we try to make space for conceiving technology in its social context. The latter has been an important ground for us to work with forms of collective infrastructures, free software tools and technofeminist practices.

https://vvvvvvaria.org/

The first half of the session will be happening in written text on the following collaborative notepad called ’Etherpad’: https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/rdi-ft-minimal-viable-learning

In the second part, we will move to Constant’s BBB to work in smaller groups on particular questions: hhttps://bbb.constantvzw.org/b/man-ndi-qnv-uzt