malcolm field (marukomu@yahoo.com)
Mon, 12 Oct 1998 04:15:13 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 04:15:13 -0700 (PDT) From: malcolm field <marukomu@yahoo.com> Subject: [ifets] Re: Personal welcome from IFETS forum moderator
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Dear Dr Kinshuk
My name is Malcolm Field and I have just entered the University of
Cambridge in the doctoral program. I am an Australian who has been
living in Japan teaching English for the past five years. My Masters
addressed the social and cultural factors that Japanese encounter when
they learn English. This led into my interest in IT and its affect on
the individual and/or the culture. For example, do the Japanese need
to change, or do they change, and if so, what are the effects on the
culture and on the individual when the individual or the culture uses
IT? Similar issues were addressed when TV was introduced into the
society as a whole. However, TV information was very much controlled
by TV magnates, governments etc - as is happening in China for
example. This may change with the widespread intoduction of cellular
and satellite phones. For the Japanese, however, there is currently no
restriction on use and accessible information on the Internet and
through e-mail. This may begin to change the balance of 'global'
information within Japan, and may lead to a greater empowerment of the
individual.
Furthermore, what are the social and psychological changes within the
individual when they use IT? Are they the same person or is a latent
personality, more willing to express and communicate information and
opinions, that which is traditionally not promoted within the Japanese
society, being expressed? If so, what could be the implications for
the wider social structure and culture?
So, in a nutshell, that is the kind of thing I am interested in and
hope to pursue with my PhD.
Regards
malcolm Field
---IFETS <ifets-info@gmd.de> wrote:
>
> Forum website: http://ifets.gmd.de/
> List address to send mail to all members: ifets@gmd.de
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear new forum member
>
> Thank you for your interest in the forum. I welcome you on the
behalf of
> all the initiators and well wishers of the forum.
>
> I would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce myself and
> explain the intended working of the forum. My name is Kinshuk and I
will
> work as the central point of contact for the forum. I am currently
involved
> in developing interactive learning systems enhanced with intelligent
> assistance while my research pursuits also focus on the contexts of
their
> practical implementation.
>
> The purpose of the forum is to initiate discussions and try to find
some
> conclusive answers to the problems we are facing as educators and
> educational technology developers. If the forum can effectively
present the
> different perspectives of and bridge the gap between these two
communities
> a little, its aim will be fulfilled.
>
> There are two types of discussions in the forum:
>
> The 'Formal discussions' are theme based and they take place for a
> pre-defined time period of one to two weeks. They are moderated to
keep
> the discussion on line to reach to some conclusion which includes an
> overall sense of the forum with clearly identified dissent. The
discussions
> will be summarised identifying principal contributors as joint
authors, in
> consultation with the moderator and appear in forum's electronic
periodical
> 'Educational technology & Society' (ISSN 1436-4522). It goes without
saying
> that the summaries themselves can be commented on subsequently and
form a
> basis for further discussion. The forum will also seek to convey
some of
> these articles in special issues of paper based journals.
>
> The details of the formal discussion topics and schedule are
available at:
> http://ifets.gmd.de/discuss.html
>
> The 'Informal discussions' can take place any time without any
warning and
> any member can initiate them by sending their ideas to the forum.
These informal
> discussions will feed in to identifying themes for formal
discussion. Attempts
> will be made to summarise the informal discussions over somewhat
longer
> period of time, if some conclusive trends are observed.
>
> I invite you to give a little introduction about yourself, as a
reply to this
> email. Please also include some practical or theoretical problems
you would
> like to discuss with regards to the implementation of educational
technology
> in real life, questioning the purpose and contexts of both education
and
> educational technology.
>
> Forum also welcomes various announcements regarding call for papers in
> journals, conferences, job postings and so on if they are related to
the
> forum's activities and of interest to the forum's participants.
>
> Finally, the forum depends on its members and their expression of
frank and
> honest opinion towards discussions. Please do not hesitate to post
if you feel
> it is relevant to forum. Looking at the diversity of forum's
membership, I am
> sure we would have a very rich and fulfilling discussion on a
variety of issues.
>
> Let us have a ferment in the forum!
>
> Kinshuk.
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Kinshuk kinshuk@ieee.org kinshuk@gmd.de
> Human Computer Interactions Institute
> German National Research Center for Information Technology
> GMD-FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, D-53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany
> Tel: (49) 2241 14 2144 Fax: (49) 2241 14 2065
> URL: http://zeus.gmd.de/hci/pages/kinshuk.html
>
>
>
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