Chris O'Hagan (C.M.Ohagan@derby.ac.uk)
Fri, 20 Nov 1998 15:13:21 +0000
From: "Chris O'Hagan" <C.M.Ohagan@derby.ac.uk> Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 15:13:21 +0000 Subject: Re: [ifets] old vs. new technology
Hi
I am looking forward to the official launch of this conference on
Monday, which seems to have aquired the title 'old v new
technologies'. I am not unhappy with that, though the original
question does not conceive of it as a *competition*, but rather as a
question of expectation over deliverables (hype) and what is needed
to make ubiquitous use of educational technologies, old or new, and
is there a learning curve for teachers from old to new. But I am glad
it has generated so much interest so far. On Monday I hope to pose
some specific questions to enable a broad range of views to come
forward.
For now, I would like to enter the 'theoretical debate' that has
emerged. The problem here is that there are so many perspectives -
from the hard technological determinist (like the right wing French
thinker of the 60s, Jaques Ellul) who proposes that man is but a
catalyst to the social unfolding of the inner logic that is embedded
in technology - control is simply not an option - choice is a
'rational actor' illusion! To the soft determinist postion that
acknowledges the existence of a 'technological imperative' but argues
that some (albeit limited) control is possible but only through
exercising our belief in choice (real or imagined) and positive
action. To the freewill position that argues technology can be
controlled through political action (eg Marxist - it is odd that both
Marx and Manheim excused science from social determination, and thus
from a sociology of knowledge - technocrats at heart!). Within all
these perspectives there are technological optimists and pessimists.
Which are you, and why?
The ethnographic study of meanings in science and technology has
already been mentioned (Bruno Latour), and this relates back to the
earlier work of Merton and others on the way science and technology
are presented by scientists, and whether how they present it is how
they actually do it! The so-called 'story-book image' of science and
scientists. I like this one, and you can see it reincarnated in
computing science today. How are you presenting technology in your
institution compared with what you expect and fear?
Then if we look at the economics of technology, again there is a wide
range of thought. The economists hate the idea of technology as an
*economic* force because they dislike any proposed force that is not
monetary. So they downplay things like Kondratiev long waves caused
by technological innovations - is educational technology going to
help drive the next wave, with biotechnology etc? And then there are
analytical tools like the production function and the product
development curve from invention to mass production - and we get
decidedly interesting results if we apply this 'capitalist' analysis
with education as a 'product' to technological innovation in
education. Will we see a skill polarisation in higher education -
which will you be, upskilled or downskilled?
But in the context of all this, let us remember that scholars have
always poo-pooed the development of mass education (how can they
*possibly* benefit?), that technology has been applied to that
development - printing. And that hundreds of thousands of students
have become graduates through distance learning with very little
face-to-face contact, using paper, telephone, postal services,
television, radio, and have richly benefitted from the experience -
my aunt being one of them. Have we woken up to that fact in our
campus institutions? Can we go on demanding an ever increasing share
of resources to support mass higher education in universities and
colleges without any attempt to make what we offer more efficient?
Sometimes I see as much or more elitism on the left as I do on the
right!
Chris O'Hagan
forum moderator
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