Archive for November, 2008

Syncretism or Fragmentation

November 22nd, 2008
Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

“Those who don’t know where they’re going are sure to get there.”
— Anonymous

The American Revolution was a fight for individual rights over group interests, caste systems, and perceived social rank hierarchies. Barely two centuries ago, our American democracy was born in bar-room arguments in Philadelphia and Boston with people challenging each other’s views, priorities and philosophies. What emerged was a critical society where intellectual integrity was a social value and well tempered minds were cultivated across all domains and disciplines. Clearly times have changed. Today we have relegated our intellectual heavy lifting to others, thereby depriving ourselves of the sharp mental muscle from which our society emerged. Flabby bodies are one thing. Flabby minds are another. Have we outsourced our brains to the media, politicians, and so-called educators? » More: Syncretism or Fragmentation

  • Share/Bookmark

Comments

Posted in Education, Government, Internet, Media

Tags:

Cyborg Learning Theory and the blurring of boundaries…

November 9th, 2008
Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

This research was published in Tech & Learning’s eZine on 12/01/08 here: http://techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=196605562

“The Internet is composed of a ‘cloud’ of computers, constantly shifting, never stable and that will therefore have a direct effect on our notions of time and space, and the traditional boundaries associated with those concepts when they are fixed rather than fluid.” (Lawson & Comber, 2000, pg. 420)

What impact is technology having on education in the 21st century and how should we view it? This question has been the subject of much study during the past three decades, both in the United States and Europe. The focus of these studies falls mainly in one of two schools of thought. The first school of thought will be labeled the Technofascists who view technology a wonderful tool to use in the education process and therefore promote its spread by way of legislative control. The second school of thought will be labeled the Technophobes who fear the rapid spread of the use of technology in education and therefore try to slow its spread by way of legislative control. Notice that both sides wish to control technology but for different reasons. And both sides view technology as other, alien, and something to be governed or controlled.  But a third view has emerged among the new generation of technology natives that does not view technology as other. This new generation sees technology as an extension of human identity; hence, the label “Cyborg” is applied indicating a kind of hybrid of human and technology (Cybernetic Organism). Rather than technology being applied to human identity, technology actually becomes part of the human expression itself. Thus the clear boundary between man and machine is being blurred by the technological revolution and to legislate such a revolution becomes irrelevant in the view of Cyborg culture.
» More: Cyborg Learning Theory and the blurring of boundaries…

  • Share/Bookmark

Comments

Posted in Education, Technology

Tags:

Journal #5 Everything I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten…and it’s no longer relevant!

November 2nd, 2008
Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

Journal #5 Everything I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten… and it’s no longer relevant!

* Share everything (Needles are a no-no)
* Play fair (Like our Sports Heros always do)
* Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you (Not!)
* Live a balanced life (Impossible)
* Take a nap every afternoon (Time is the currency of the 21st Century)
* Be aware of wonder (It helps in a global financial crisis)
* Goldfish and hamsters die. So do we. (What doesn’t kill you, only delays the inevitable)
* Remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word, the biggest word of all – LOOK (On the other hand, ignorance is bliss)

So far I’m learning that what we thought we knew doesn’t seem to work and what we try to teach may not actually be relevant. Therefore, our methods may be good but if the content doesn’t matter, what’s the use?

Consider the global financial crisis. Perhaps you adhere to communist principles of economics. Perhaps your a capitalist. What does it matter now? Communism proved to be a poor system of economics and today, Capital markets are in a frenzy to stabilize a sinking Titanic.

The common reaction is to point the finger, to blame, to take sides. What if the sides themselves ARE the problem? Perhaps we need a new side, a third side that nullifies and eliminates the opposing sides to which we are accustomed. Something is emerging that is so-far, undefinable. We don’t know it and we try to label it yet it is bigger than all of us. And it is the destiny of our culture of uncertainty. We are on a collision course with an unknown future and we can’t let go of our security blanket called ‘ignorance.’

Ignorance is thinking we already know. The airwaves are filled with experts giving opinions, the value of which, if added together, would equal our clarity concerning why we are here in the first place. Ludicrous. Preposterous. Balderdash. Rubbish. It’s a senseless contradiction at the pinnacle of failure. How silly.

  • Share/Bookmark

Comments

Posted in Education, Technology

Tags:

Historicizing Cultural Struggles Around Education…

November 2nd, 2008
Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

Historicizing cultural struggles around education focuses on the deculturalizing effect a dominant culture’s education process can have on minority cultures. I find the arguments to be repetitive and often with an editorial flavor hinting at an underlying agenda. Because of my skeptical nature, I hesitate to accept such arguments at face value and look for other possible explanations. I’m not one to follow the crowd unless I am convinced the crowd has a firm basis on which to act. I also look at history with a critical eye, realizing that opposing interpretations generally are designed to serve the motives of the respective proponents rather than offer objective facts for learning. Therefore, this topical study did not change my thinking but did afford new opportunities to evaluate the ‘why’ behind the arguments on both sides.

I am bothered by the simple regurgitation of arguments from my classmates, based on the text. I would prefer to read some critical thought offering more insight to both sides of the issues as well as raising other possible explanations that, if true, make the two historical sides of the arguments irrelevant. For example, the arguments surrounding White European dominant culture disenfranchising minority cultures is a reactionary response. Its appearance is fairly recent in the past century but it is not new to human relations throughout history. Two thousand years ago, Socrates expressed concern over the generation gap in clear terms. Yet modern Psychologists trace it to the industrialization of America and explain its fruition in the ‘40s with the advent of the teeny boppers. Another example is seen in the field of vocational guidance whose roots can be traced back to 5th century B.C. China. Follow the trends and changes throughout the centuries and even with all the new theories presented in the 20th century, you will eventually come full circle to arrive at the 5th century origins. My point is, there’s nothing new under the Sun. Forget the box. We need to think outside of it.

  • Share/Bookmark

Comments

Posted in Education

Tags: