NMC Symposium on Mashups

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Questions for Consideration

The creation and use of mashups raise questions about the integrity of the underlying content, how to choose one method of display over another, ownership of data, and the ethics of collecting and using data in different situations. We encourage sessions that include reflections on how mashups are being created and used, as well as thoughtful conjecture about possible future applications.

We invite you to consider these questions—and to pose your own—as you think about mashups:

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• How can mashups help us make connections or draw conclusions that would not be obvious using other methods? What learning purposes might mashups be especially suited to?
• What kinds of data should be freely available? Who should gather and maintain it? What kinds of data should not be available, or should only be available to certain parties, and who should make those decisions?
• Many mashups use maps to plot data in geographical space. What other kinds of visualization tools might be developed? What are other ways to look at data?
• What are some of the essential tools being used to create mashups?
• Our view is that the use and applications for mashups in education, especially creative and data mashups, is clearly increasing. What does this mean for campuses and learning organizations?