[Ian] BTW nice to see Khan Academy cited there too, I'm seeing traction in other on-line communities potentially using it. Do you have any opinion on its wider value than this specific reference ?
[Arlo] Well, its certainly at the epicenter of a lot of talk regarding educational reform. I think in many ways what they are doing is necessary, and they are part of an initiative that (at least ideally and theoretically) hoping to extend educational opportunities to populations (socio-cultural and geographic) that may otherwise not have access (although of course they won't serve populations tht don't have easy/comprehensive internet/broadband access). And, I think they will serve the more-autonomous, returning/lifelong learner populations well. But, I think learning environments are ecosystems, and the instructor is a keystone species therein, so I am cautious about programs that remove the role of the human expert (I think immediate, emotional, aesthetic sensibility, grounded in an understanding of the activity's cultural-historical context, is an important component to teaching). I am also worried that (IMHO) reform must begin with a reform to pedagogy, not just delivery (I've used Pirsig's metaphor of the factory in some conversations, if the pedagogy itself is flawed (as I believe it is), the building a new factory will simply replicate those flaws). I think we also need to be very cautious about hegemony, and pushing a (more or less) Western, capital, market, mono-tone voice centered on conformity in thought (and obedience to Western market ideology) and drowning out other voices (a la Freire). So, in short, I think it will serve some populations very well (and probably some disciplines better than others) and has some interesting potential that is worth keeping an eye on, but I am watching more for pedagogical reform than economical/technological/expansive reform. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
