d**2 := p2p?

I read an article today where the word disintermediation was used several times. That’s one of those words that grates on me for some reason. Real people don’t use the word in conversation, do they?

If you break the word into the component parts dis + intermediate, it’s easy enough to understand. Disintermediation means the negation of intermediates. Wikipedia says the word originated in the late 1960s to describe the behavior of individuals who invested directly in securities without going through common institutional intermediates like banks. In economics the term means removing the traditional distribution channels that separate producer and consumer. The colloquial equivalent of disintermediation is cutting out the middle man. I like that version much better.

You bump into the word frequently now because it describes what’s happening in industries disrupted by the Internet. The author of the article I read today was talking about the publishing business. That is a common example.

Disintermediation also applies to education. Institutional delivery of education has been normative for so long it’s difficult to imagine things otherwise. But schools, colleges, and universities are the intermediaries being disrupted by digital educational resources and open content.

However, the analogy to economic supply chains breaks down for learning (thank goodness). In the past we might have equated teachers with producers and students with consumers. But today the words teacher and student are blurring. We are all just learners with multiple roles that are fluid. Sometimes we’re teachers; other times we’re students.

I then wondered if there is a word comparable to disintermediation that refers to the disruption of the “non-intermediate” extremes (ie, producer and consumer; or teacher and student). I’m not aware of any such word, although maybe someone will help provide candidates.

Anyway, I decided to create a word. I chose distermination, partly because it sounds similar and equally awful to disintermediation. The idea is that the ends in a chain are points of termination. So disruption of terminal points might just as well be called distermination.

In learning today, we’re seeing disintermediation of institutions like universities and distermination in roles like teacher and student.

Disintermediated distermination is a mouthful. So why not use a nice shorthand like d**2 (ie, d squared)?

We cut out the middleman in disintermediation. And with distermination we change the meaning and the power relationships of teachers and learners. Sounds a lot like peer-to-peer (p2p) learning, doesn’t it?

That, then, is the (very long) explanation for the title of this blog. Time to put this week to rest and get some sleep.