Comments on: Blending, learning, googling http://praxislanguage.com/2007/05/28/blending-learning-googling/ Learning on Your terms Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:31:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Ken Carroll http://praxislanguage.com/2007/05/28/blending-learning-googling/comment-page-1/#comment-9735 Ken Carroll Mon, 28 May 2007 23:58:09 +0000 http://blog.praxislanguage.com/2007/05/28/blending-learning-googling/#comment-9735 Joahcim, I see the politics as a separate issue. Just becasue we cannot ensure that everyone gets access doesn't mean we shouldn't develop it. (In the same way, I would argue, that we shouldn't stop developing medicines even though we know we can't give them to everyone on the planet who needs them.) How we get the new technology into the hands of the world's poor is a trickier issue. I am convinced, however, that most change comes about, not as a result of giovernmental or UN decisions, but through individuals taking action for themselves. This week, lots of Afriacan heads of state are in Shanghai to talk about developing their economies as China has managed to do. Apparently the message they are hearing is: "Reform agriculture first. Just get out of the way and let people grow and sell the produce. The economy wil grow from there." I guess I have faith in people. People have been incredibly resourceful learners in the past. I'm not worried that we will all be so zombified by technology that we cannot read more than a page of text. Ken Carroll Joahcim,

I see the politics as a separate issue. Just becasue we cannot ensure that everyone gets access doesn’t mean we shouldn’t develop it. (In the same way, I would argue, that we shouldn’t stop developing medicines even though we know we can’t give them to everyone on the planet who needs them.)

How we get the new technology into the hands of the world’s poor is a trickier issue. I am convinced, however, that most change comes about, not as a result of giovernmental or UN decisions, but through individuals taking action for themselves. This week, lots of Afriacan heads of state are in Shanghai to talk about developing their economies as China has managed to do. Apparently the message they are hearing is: “Reform agriculture first. Just get out of the way and let people grow and sell the produce. The economy wil grow from there.”

I guess I have faith in people. People have been incredibly resourceful learners in the past. I’m not worried that we will all be so zombified by technology that we cannot read more than a page of text.

Ken Carroll

]]> By: Joachim http://praxislanguage.com/2007/05/28/blending-learning-googling/comment-page-1/#comment-9734 Joachim Mon, 28 May 2007 15:55:55 +0000 http://blog.praxislanguage.com/2007/05/28/blending-learning-googling/#comment-9734 I certainly am quite excited about innovations in communication technologies, knowledge distribution, availability of information, new ways of learning etc. On the other hand, I suspect that this will help to increase the (digital) divide between people with access to the latest tools AND infrastructure. (There is a saying in German: The devil always tends to shat on the biggest heap.) You need a certain income to afford the machines, the access to e.g. the internet - and sometimes you just have to live in the right place with such things not being geographically distributed in an equal fashion. (I won't bring up the number of people worldwide without access to a phone line, let alone an internet connection. Even in some places in China, your mobile connection fails between big cities.) In addition to that, I fear the increase of the number of people unable to process more than one page of text in the future. I fear the decline of a culture where people read and ENJOY it. I certainly love books. I have tried ebooks on my palm and was somewhat disappointed. I still don't read longer texts on a computer screen. MAYBE, projects like One Laptop per Child (http://www.laptop.org/) will help to address the issues I mentioned first. As for the latter issues, I am not certain. I certainly am quite excited about innovations in communication technologies, knowledge distribution, availability of information, new ways of learning etc.

On the other hand, I suspect that this will help to increase the (digital) divide between people with access to the latest tools AND infrastructure. (There is a saying in German: The devil always tends to shat on the biggest heap.) You need a certain income to afford the machines, the access to e.g. the internet - and sometimes you just have to live in the right place with such things not being geographically distributed in an equal fashion. (I won’t bring up the number of people worldwide without access to a phone line, let alone an internet connection. Even in some places in China, your mobile connection fails between big cities.)

In addition to that, I fear the increase of the number of people unable to process more than one page of text in the future. I fear the decline of a culture where people read and ENJOY it.
I certainly love books. I have tried ebooks on my palm and was somewhat disappointed. I still don’t read longer texts on a computer screen.

MAYBE, projects like One Laptop per Child (http://www.laptop.org/) will help to address the issues I mentioned first.

As for the latter issues, I am not certain.

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