Hi Tom and Taran Plenty of food for thought for me, here. Tom, you've completely lost me on bayesian probability and fuzzy logic and truth values - this is way over my head, sorry :) Will pass on to techo-hubby for comment...
I like your comments about the need for dialogue and mutal respect in a learning environment, along with some form of control as you suggest - although exactly what what we are needing to control and why still requires further examination. Taran, I've also been thinking about the issue of certification, as I've been reading Bourdieu's Forms of Capital (see a previous posting). According to Bourdieu, educational qualifications constitute cultural capital that is easily transformed into economic capital because of the value placed on them by society (or at least by those in power interested in maintaining it). I was thinking about how we say that education is the way out of poverty and opression...what kind of education are we talking about, though? Notice that we don't say "lifelong learning" but "education". This implies that it's not the learning per se that serves to emancipate but particular types/forms of knowledge and skill that can translate into cultural capital through certification that can in turn be used for economic purposes...I guess I'd better read Friere and find out what he says on the matter. I do agree that the internet - by virtue of its ubiquitous nature - is serving to breach the walls of the ivory tower...but I still worry about where this is leading us. Will all our efforts to bridge the digital divide really serve those it is intended to serve? Thanks for your responses. CATHERINE ----- Original Message ----- From: "tom abeles" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group" <digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:39 AM Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC > > Hi Taran > > what educational institutions preK-gray have to offer is certification. > Some of the skills to obtain that certification can be provided through > the certifying institutions and people choose to acquire both that > information/knowledge and the certification as a package. But given the > rise of the Internet, the package can/has/is being deconstructed as > political, physical and social boundaries are becoming transparent and the > walls of the ivory tower have been breached. > > We know full well that some institutions provide better information (which > includes many tangible and intangible assets) and others provide more > credible certification. One just weighs the balance like choosing a shirt > or where one buys a house or which clubs to join or who is in your social > network > > thoughts? > > tom > > tom abeles > >> Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:05:46 -0400 >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net >> Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC >> >> Sorry for the late reply. My ISP lost control of it's bodily functions - >> and it was about as disgusting as that sounds... Responding inline. >> >> Catherine Arden wrote: >> > Hi Tom >> > >> > I agree that the "sage on the stage in the brick space structure" is an >> > outdated model of education that perhaps has more to do with >> > maintaining >> > power and control than teaching and learning....However, there are >> > nonetheless real challenges working within our new paradigm. For >> > instance, >> > how do we value knowledge? >> Value. Knowledge. Loaded words, these. Present administration does more >> to equate value to costs and potential revenue than anything else, it >> seems, which seems fair considering that metrics of value are not clear >> and, perhaps, never will be. Maybe they could be if one were to consider >> value as a form of potential energy (Physics). Consider that a book >> could be seen as having a high amount of 'potential energy', and that >> tapping that energy is really the key. >> >> And the same applies to knowledge itself, really... But then, I believe >> that I am thinking well outside of established boxes... >> > How do we teach 'instrumental' skills such as >> > literacy and numeracy effectively and how do we know they are learned? >> Well, we never truly know... I favor fuzzy logic (the concept) in this - >> if something is learned, it is learned to a degree of truth. Fuzzy Logic >> incorporates truth values to establish how true something is. >> Unfortunately, bayesian probability is more liked in the United States >> and other parts of the world due to it's simplicity in being integrated >> in software - but I really believe that Fuzzy Logic excels in questions >> like this. It isn't a true/false question - it is a matter of how true >> we believe something is based on information available. >> > How >> > do we recognise scholarly achievement? >> I think that the large mass of people on the planet rarely recognize >> scholarly achievement other than little pieces of paper that are hung on >> walls - and sometimes to their own detriment (they pose a risk when they >> fall, and are typically not OSHA compliant). >> > How do we 'transmit' cultural >> > values? >> And how do we 'receive' cultural values? ;-) >> > Are these questions really still about hegemony and fear of losing >> > control or do we need to have some way of controlling education if we >> > are to >> > further our human development and not find ourselves wallowing in a sea >> > of >> > pseudo? >> > >> There has to be some control in a learning environment, but control does >> not have to wear latex and wield a bullwhip. While videos along those >> lines are inexplicably popular on the internet, I do not believe that >> there is a need for dominance/submission in education. Frankly, most of >> the things that I have learned that I am most happy I have learned have >> not come from a curriculum or a reading list provided by educational >> professionals - no offense to anyone. >> >> I believe in discussion, and discussion requires mutual respect. Where >> mutual respect lacks, discussion is impossible (which probably explains >> 93.6% of the Internet. I love making up statistics.). Where does mutual >> respect come from? Can we teach that? >> >> And can we get educational institutions to evaluate discussions, are >> have they become too much of businesses to use metrics that are less >> than tangible? I do not know. Some people require structure in their >> educations, others do not need the structure. >> >> Therefore comparing results boils down to comparing people's learning >> styles against educational institution knowledge transfer methodologies. >> And since no two humans are alike... >> >> -- >> Taran Rampersad >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> http://www.knowprose.com >> http://www.your2ndplace.com >> http://www.opendepth.com >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ >> >> "Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo >> "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is >> mine." - Nikola Tesla >> >> _______________________________________________ >> DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list >> DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net >> http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide >> To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > _________________________________________________________________ > Want to read Hotmail messages in Outlook? The Wordsmiths show you how. > http://windowslive.com/connect/post/wedowindowslive.spaces.live.com-Blog-cns!20EE04FBC541789!167.entry?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_092008 > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > > __________ NOD32 3598 (20081110) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com > > _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
