Hi, all

I just read Linda's posting (thanks, Linda!) on the anybody anyplace anytime myth: yes, there definitely is a kind of promotional discourse in e-learning that fits with your characterization.

One of the points of assigning this article was to provide a kind of skeptical warning regarding this kind of writing and thinking --which tends to crop up in different situations. For example, here's an document by an important authority in the "open courseware movement" (of which I am definitely supportive) that unfortunately illustrates this discourse:

1. It starts off with a reference to a recent book in the popular technologist, futurist and/or business literature (Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat). This is only the most recent example in a long line of texts (e.g. Negroponte's Being Digital, Kurzweil's Spiritual Machines, Toffler's the Third Wave) making breathless predictions about the future that simplify complex and contradictory trends and (conservative) ideologies, and present them as inevitabilities or imperatives. It is the language of "inevitability" here and elsewhere that should tip you off that something is afoot.

2. It makes reference to a fourth "e-learning myth" that I didn't include in the chapter you read, but is the myth of the "net-generation." I wrote about this myth (or more accurately, this distortion) in an earlier incarnation of this blog (see also this article on generational differences from Thomas Reeves). This distortion arises from a complex interrelationship between age and technology use that we'll explore in a few weeks.

3. It presents an unequivocal identification of technology (and its particular technological vision) with politicized ideals such as openness, connectedness, personalization, and participation. While opening up course contents is a great idea, there are many things that need to be added to the mix before it results in greater connectedness and personalization in an unqualified sense.

4. The piece talks about education as falling behind business and other institutions and practices. Again, I think the issues have to be seen as more complex. See my post from yesterday for more on this.

so be on the lookout for some of these signs of promotional discourse in writing on e-learning, and don't mistake it for academic writing or the results of research. It has a role to play, of course, but this role should not be confused with more explicitly academic activity.

Cheers,

Norm

E-Learning Myths

One point made in the discussion of technological progress and educational change (on p. 184) that I often think about is this: One can argue that technology and science has radically changed the operation of businesses, the manufacturing of goods, and other areas (e.g. medicine, transportation) have changed. So if someone from the 18th century was being given a tour of institutions and practices in the 21st century, he or she would see real substantial changes in the way that businesses are run, goods are made and transported, and that other activities like communication and leisure activities are undertaken. People on cell phones, watching TV and staring at computer screens would surely be baffling. Arguably, though, if he or she were taken to a school or a university, there would be no surprising changes: with only a few exceptions, the activities would be instantly recognizable. Maybe the only other places that this would be the case would be the church and the courtroom.

I would still maintain that technology has not single-handedly determined the changes that have occurred in these other settings: evolution in the use of computer and other technologies in business, medicine and other areas has been complex, involving many different causes and factors. But that still doesn't explain why there has been so little change in education.

This issue has been a matter of consternation for educational technologists for decades --although I think it should be seen as an opportunity for productive investigation and reflection.

Maybe that is because the school has more in common with the church and the courtroom than it does with the place of business or the hospital? I'm not sure myself, but I welcome thoughts and comments.

I've been reading your posts on blogging and other issues with interest.

Hillary's reflections on her actual and planned use of blogs in the classroom highlights some of the concerns that were also highlighted in the article on Educational Blogging: The fact that blogging often takes place in a kind of uncontrolled environment whereas schools and teachers are expected to provide students with a controlled environment in which they are protected. Also, she raises the question of the "authenticity" of assigning students to write blog posts, and to focus on particular assignments. At the same time, I think that it is a great idea to use blogs as a part of a literature circle: as you say, Hilary, it may provide at least a few students with the chance to be "inspired and to start a 'real blog.'"

Also, the point made in the article that not everyone is a blogger is an important one, and one that Hilary also mentioned. In the article on Educational Blogging, we read:

In particular, if you feel no empathy, no twinge of recognition, on reading Pilgrim's words [on writing compusively], then writing a weblog is probably not for you. This does not mean that you are not a part of the weblog world. It merely means that you participate in a different way.

What happens if that is the case? What happens if, as one blogger quoted in the article puts it, I commit "the ultimate blogging sin of losing interest in myself" (at least as far as blogging about myself goes)?

I look forward to reading your own individual thoughts on blogging on your own blogs!

Hi, all.

I'm reviving this blog for a course I'm currently teaching at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC: EDUC 506, Elearning Research and Practice.

The course focuses on:

• The pragmatics of creating OERs in a Wiki(educator) context
  
• Approaches to E-Learning Research as described in Re-Thinking E-Learning Research
  
• Other topics relevant to Web 2.0 and education
  

To find out more about me, see the profile and CV on my other blog.