Subject: Re: [IFETS-Discuss] The Richard Clark premise
jnmoore@mailandnews.com
Date: Mon 19 Jun 2000 - 10:47:26 MEST
From: jnmoore@mailandnews.com Subject: Re: [IFETS-Discuss] The Richard Clark premise Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 01:47:26 -0700
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(Hello from Abbotsford near Vancouver B.C.)
Please forgive me if I'm off the general discussion--I've just recently
began reading the submissions.
I've developed instructional materials for many years. I am not an academic
in the sense that I have done much research, however, I see the issue (with
apologies to Richard Clark who may not agree with this) very simply: just as
there are bad and good movies there are bad a good instructional materials
whether in print or on the web.
Furthermore, it is the whole instructional design process that has the
biggest effect on the quality of the final course/program---it is not the
technology itself. It is how the content is prepared, how person-to-person
interactions are arranged and how the whole "learning environment" matches
student needs. Yes -- technology will always be important but it has more to
do with cost, learner accessibility and how it is integrated into the
"delivery style" rather than having any intrinsic learning power within
itself. Some kind of technology will always be with us and I don't know that
today's version is any more potent, considering the local context, than it
was 10 years ago? Technology has something to do with competition and
"keeping up" in the business world and this naturally affects education as
well. It still takes as much work, money (probably more) and talent to
produce a good self-instructional or distance course as it did before the
Internet. Hopefully we are reaching more people with courses that they want
and need.
Of course, concepts like "learning objects" have great promise and it is
interesting that this technology is simply (sort of) a written standard that
will ideally enable the more efficient development and sharing of course
materials.
Best regards,
John Moore
jnmoore@mailandnews.com
on 6/18/00 6:38 PM, Muhammad Betz at mbetz@sosu.edu wrote:
> List address to send message to everyone: ifets-discuss@topica.com
> Details of current discussion: http://ifets.ieee.org/discussions/discuss.html
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "We know from Richard Clark and others that using a different (e.g., more
> technologically complex)medium doesn't necessarily affect the learning
> outcome, or it affects it in the opposite direction we expect." Dr. Flescher
>
> Let us not forget the important discussion on this list about 6 months ago
> when Dr. Gary Morrison wrote in support of Dr. Clark's premise and was
> rebuffed vehemently by Dr. Michael Scriven. Scriven voiced the opinion that
> technology has progessed to the point that it certainly DOES make a
> difference in the impact of instruction on learners. In considering that
> Clark's original comments on this topic emantated in the 1980's, I must
> concur with Scriven. (By the way, I mentioned Clark a few times in my
> dissertation, too, ;-)
>
> We educational technologists no longer need to be deferential about the
> merits of technology. If we take a timid stance, then the "nay-sayers" (and
> I know of several, most of whom still can't use computers very well)have a
> disingenuous impact.
>
> A colleague of mine, who was recently the technology coordinator for a large
> metropolitan school district in the Dallas metroplex, constantly affirms the
> value of technology to increase achievement test scores. The NAY folks call
> these programs drill and kill, not because technology is killing learning,
> but because technology has a learning curve that does not fit their quaint
> lifestyles: they have learned the sound bite game.
>
>
> Muhammad Betz, Ph.D.
> Graduate Coordinator & Associate Professor
> Educational Instruction & Leadership
> Southeastern Oklahoma State University
>
>
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