making a difference for god: understanding information in churches

Dr Magnus Ramage, The Open University@magnusramage, magnus.ramage@open.ac.ukpresentonearth.blogspot.co.uk

Making a Difference for God

• Accidentally ambiguous!• Definition of information as

‘the difference that makes a difference’• But also… making a difference in the world

(Lk 4, Mt 25, Mt 28)• ‘Informational mission’

Double meaning of title

• Foundational to today’s society– money, music and friendship recast in terms of information

• Online communication is all about information– words, words, words– but also images, video, symbols, positioning…

• So we have to understand information better

Why information matters

• DTMD: 10 year project studying information– Five workshops, most international– Academics from all disciplines, looking for ‘family

resemblances’ in treatment of information– Narrative is crucial

• URC Blended Learning Task Group: how do we combine online & offline learning in effective ways?

Influences

• (Telephone) communication = transmission of message from source to destination

• Encoding information into bits (0,1)– efficiency, noise, channel capacity

• “the semantic aspects of communication are irrelevant to the engineering problem”

Defining information: Claude Shannon

• Anthropologist, cybernetician, psychologist• Many differences from one thing to another

in the world (“things that get on a map”)• Some differences matter, some don’t• Information is “a difference which makes a

difference” (to some person in some setting)

Defining information: Gregory Bateson

• Two stage process• Looking for differences between one thing and another– selecting those difference (which do you notice & which not?)

• Which of these differences actually make a difference?– how do they affect your understanding, or perception,

or ability to make sense of something?

Making use of DTMD

• In Vienna for a conference, attended worshipon the evening of a strangely quiet day…

• Four differences that made a difference for me:– Understanding why the city was quiet– Working in an unfamiliar language (German)– Catholic theology of eucharist (as a Protestant)– Rich symbolism: the tale of the monstrance

Application 1: Corpus Christi in Vienna

• Course on being welcome as a church• Differences: – what’s on your website/noticeboard/service sheet– how you treat your visitors: friendly? cold? left in dark?– premises: easy to get into & around?

• Which of these make a difference to being welcoming?

Application 2: Everybody Welcome

• What information is actually on them?– We welcome all people… but not those people…– We’re only for insiders!– We’ve forgotten how to update our website

• Is it easy to find things? For whom?• Which of these differences make a difference?

Application 3: Examining church websites

• Growing in importance for many denominations• Key part of blended learning strategy• But need to be clear that the learning is one or more of:– relevant / enticing / instrumental– fit for a specific role / validity requirements / life changing

• Learners as part of the Body of Christ – in community

Application 4: Online learning spaces

• All communication is based on information• Which of that information makes a difference?– it may not be the bits you intended!

• When creating any communication, think:– what kind of message am I trying to convey?– what information is really communicated here?

What really makes a difference?