> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Alfred Bork > Sent: 02 February 2005 19:58 > To: 'The Digital Divide Network discussion group' > Subject: RE: [DDN] FW: [NIFL-HEALTH:4627] Adult Literacy > education Wiki > > Scientists eliminate some possibilities before beginning an > experiment.
Yes, but only in order to narrow the field of their own research. Just because one scientist rejects a potential solution without experimentation does not mean that all scientists must do so. In fact it would be a mistake to do so without well reasoned argument. > Finally, if you have empirical evidence that supports your > position please > > provide it and save us all some time. > > [Alfred Bork] > > > > My papers and books describe such an experiment, but we do > not yet have funding for such an experiment. Convincing > experiments in education are costly and difficult, because of > the great differences between individuals. If I read this correctly, you, as a scientist, have chosen to reject Wiki's as a solution. This rejection is based on your, so far unproven, scientific reasoning. Fair enough (see above), however this is no reason for the rest of us to reject it just yet. Perhaps an illustrative example would help: Illiteracy is perceived as a problem for subsistence farmers in Guyana (and no-doubt other parts of the Caribbean). A colleague at the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute has a proposal for attacking this problem, but not by increasing the level of literacy directly. He believes the immediate problem is not the level of illiteracy but the lack of understanding of efficient farming techniques. This is important as poor yields result in malnutrition, which, elsewhere in the world, has been linked to a higher incidence of death through HIV/Aids in the young. Without the young there will be no people to become literate (Guyana has a very high incidence of HIV/Aids. He therefore proposes developing content materials that would be understandable to illiterate farmers. A potentially useful "side effect" of this project is that it provides an "opening" to develop this training into adult literacy education. A wiki such as this one would enable my colleagues at CARDI to share this somewhat specialist view with those specialising in adult literacy, i.e. those with the skills to help create the training materials. Eventually a Wiki might turn out to be just the tool for developing the content, since the people who know best how to farm in Guyana are the more successful Guyanese subsistence farmers, and some of them are literate. So, do I think there can be a *direct* effect on adult literacy - quite possibly, but I am not experienced enough to say for sure, I'd love to see the experiment carried out though (I've pointed the relevant folk at the Wiki, the rest is up to them). > Are you saying that the Wiki will have no direct application > to solving the problem of adult literacy, but will only > suggest through its articles some possible directions? No, I am not a part of the group operating this adult literacy Wiki, nor am I experienced in adult literacy education I am simply applauding this effort, whilst at the same time hoping to learn a little from other peoples experiences. Ross -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.8.2 - Release Date: 28/01/2005 _______________________________________________ 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.
