Subject: toward a complete learning environment
From: Muhammad Betz (Betz@netcommander.com)
Date: Sat 01 Apr 2000 - 05:13:18 MEST
From: "Muhammad Betz" <Betz@netcommander.com> Subject: toward a complete learning environment Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 21:13:18 -0600
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Hello IFETS,
Please consider the following two quotations prior to my discourse.
Either
"To allow for a learning which demands creativity and a sense of openness on
the part of learners and teachers would not be to support anarchy. Rather it
would be to make room for a kind of informed subversion that brings a
positive change to our lives." Ania Lian
OR
Yes, the virtual designers too are caught in the same battle that Ania has
defined. Technology is not value neutral. " tom abeles
?
These two statements by Ania and tom are important to this discussion, but I
think that tom has one notion backwards. It is because technology is value
neutral, that it (i.e., technology) offers a sense of openness that is both
absent in non-technological, educational settings.
The power I see in technology for learning derives from its use to create
projects based upon personal interests and motivations. The curriculum
pertaining to this type of learning and these types of projects is not
predetermined by the limits of technology based information. No. This
curriculum is based upon the motivations of a learner who demotes
technology-based information to a subordinate role: that of serving the
creative synthesis of motivation and knowledge into works of art. It is
ultimately, Art, so it seems to me, that Ania is holding as the highest form
of learning.
Technology consolidates the necessary ingredients of artistic expression and
production to the level of the desktop computer. While at the computer,
learners of any age are liberated to use word processors; presentation
programs; video, audio, and photographic editors; web browsers; authoring
systems; web site production tools; and so on.
An example: I have recently offered an instructional module to undergradute
students in a teacher education program related to the use of building web
sites with FrontPage 2000. These students are now building web sites with
information from all over the WWW, pictures of people and nature, and
resources from friends and family--all in pursuit of their own creative
inclination. Some are Bible-belt, fundamental Christians, others are
football players, while others are fledgling actors and musicians. The
technology is blind to their various persuasions and a force for their
liberation.
Regards,
Muhammad B.
Muhammad Betz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Educational Technology
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
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