Taran Rampersad wrote: > "the era preceding Wikis lacked said influence"
... all 2 million years of them, Taran? I'm picking on this point not just to be a smart arse but to highlight what I believe Alfref meant by, "Every new idea is seen by some as a solution." Oli ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alfred Bork" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'The Digital Divide Network discussion group'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 11:54 PM Subject: RE: [DDN] FW: [NIFL-HEALTH:4627] Adult Literacy education Wiki > I could not care less about the status quo or influence. > > My goal is to improve learning in the world, including literacy, by an order > of magnitude. It can be done, but not if intelligent people jump on ANY new > bandwagon that appears. We need to focus our energies and insist on > empirical information, not vague mostly emotional personal experiences and > arguments. Only one in ten people in the world has internet access, and it > is often marginal at best, No software on the current Internet will solve > the massive problem of adult literacy > > I will be happy to send the outline of my new book, and other information, > to interested people. Please write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . It proposes to solve > the 'education for all' problem with adaptive learning. > > > > Alfred Bork > University of California, Irvine > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Taran Rampersad > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 10:15 AM > To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group > Subject: Re: [DDN] FW: [NIFL-HEALTH:4627] Adult Literacy education Wiki > > Alfred Bork wrote: > > >I see no evidence that this will help adult literacy in any large amount. > At > >best it is an unfounded hope. > > > > > I could have fun with this and say that some hope is based on faith, but > that's not really what this is about. Wikis have had a tangible > influence throughout the world; the era preceding Wikis lacked said > influence. > > >Every new idea is seen by some as a solution. > > > > > And every new idea is seen by everyone as a challenge to the status quo. > Whether people are against change or for change is really the issue. > > Take podcasting, as an example. It challenges the status quo. There are > problems with it for the developing world; one is a matter of usability > through access to bandwidth. That's a tangible problem. But is it > worthwhile to address? Certainly. There are problems that need to be > addressed, and even as I have played the part of devil's advocate about > podcasting and mobcasting, it doesn't mean that it isn't a worthwhile > thing to explore. In fact, it has to be explored to gain the evidence to > substantiate either position - optimist or pessimist. And there are ways > around the issue of bandwidth that have nothing to do with bandwidth. By > identifying problems, they can be solved. > > So far, I have yet to see anything but spurious rejection about Wikis. > Truth be told, I did not originally like Wikis. But the core of the Wiki > is something that I do believe in - participation - so I played with it > anyway. And I liked it - while there are things that I do not believe a > Wiki should be used for, I will stand up for what they are good for. And > they certainly are good for education - perhaps the role is limited in > traditional institutions that are unwilling to adapt, but in time the > gatekeepers will retire or die. Wikis have a place in the future, I have > no doubt. As an autodidact, my interest in the present education system > is fleeting - my interest in the future education system will affect the > young people who I have grown to love, and who do not exist yet. My > nieces, my nephews, and perhaps someday my children. When I discuss > education, though I have taught at a few different levels, I do not > discuss it by staring at my feet. I look to the horizon, and the news > here is that the Wiki is no longer at the horizon. It's at our feet. > Deal with it. > > Oddly enough, it was Ross Gardler's response to this that got me > tracking the conversation back. I know Ross from the time he spent in > Trinidad and Tobago, where he tried to institute such things at the > University of the West Indies - and met with success. Where he and I did > not see Wikis the same way a few years ago - slight differences between > strong personalities - I hope that my criticisms were constructive, > because if they contained phrases like 'unfounded hope' I would > certainly be ashamed of myself. > > You live and you learn. At any rate, you live... When we talk about > adult literacy, I wonder how many professors strive to better themselves > at the same rate that they hope that their students learn. Maybe that's > my personal problem with a lot of professors, perhaps that's a > stereotype that I have with traditional education... Perhaps I suffered > under professors who did not believe in trying new things. Ahh, but the > ones who did... they failed here and there, but in sharing their > failures with we lowly students, they taught us more than a canned > curriculum can. I can name every instructor who did this. I cannot > remember those that did not. Clinging to an education system which has > grown larger buildings, more administration and consistently failed to > keep pace with curriculum is a problem. > > Today we talk of the Wiki. Some criticize the Wiki as a tool, and yet > they do so without basis - claiming a lack of basis as the evidence that > they themselves lack. So all I ask is that they help gather the > evidence. I'd love to see where the Wiki in education has failed. And so > would people who use them. > > Heck, even my favorite CMS has a Wiki module I can install. And you know > what? It's cool, and I have no use for it yet. But maybe someday I will. > It's a tool in a toolbox that evolves in the dark while I'm not looking. > I guess that's why I read random pages of the Wikipedia everyday. It's > not the technology, it's the concept of it's use that really makes it > worthwhile. > > If there is unfounded hope... that unfounded hope is in expecting the > present system and only the tools of the last few centuries to get us to > the future without trying anything new. That's unfounded hope, but it's > backed by the same statistics that told NASA that a space shuttle > wouldn't explode... because one had never exploded before. > > -- > Taran Rampersad > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://www.linuxgazette.com > http://www.a42.com > http://www.worldchanging.com > http://www.knowprose.com > http://www.easylum.net > > "Criticize by creating." - Michelangelo > > > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > -- This message has been scanned for content and viruses by the DIT Information Services MailScanner Service, and is believed to be clean. http://www.dit.ie _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
