[Air-l] Technology Transforming Education--EE-Learning

Fri May 25 06:10:04 PDT 2007

William:

The use of IPTV and avatars may be quite effective for motivated students and for training in the work environment. As a matter of fact several federal US government agencies have used interactive television with response sensors for approximately 10 years. The avatars are something new that I believe will work for individual learners better than groups in e-learning situations. However, I am in favor of the human professors and students creating, producing and directing the entire enterprise with support with things like interactive television, avatars, blogs, rss, wikis, podcasts, games and simulations. If professors,political leaders, businesses and administrators are really serious about educating the masses at an affordable price, these things will be adopted or we will continue to get more of the same results from our system of education and our students in the US. I hear a lot about competition and getting more students to study math and science, but I do not see massive change to transforming the curricula and instructional methods to meet the interests of the students while covering the content. Two New York ad executives recently told me in an interview that formal education is killing creativity, critical thinking and leadership by the way it forces students to conform. Now I am not naïve enough not to recognize that business always tries to do the same thing; however,the difference in business is that if one is creative enough one can be rewarded for being a maverick and entire industries will follow. Apple, Google and Microsoft are examples of this in action. However, the real point these executives made, in two separate interviews, is that education must be taken to the field under real conditions, so that theories can be tested and observations and experiences can be obtained, reported and analyzed. Professors may hate to hear this but they are now in the entertainment business as much as they are in the academic business. Why do I say that? Publish or perish for tenure or promotion? Sounds to me like produce new innovative shows or money makers or you will be retired or cancelled! I want quality television and films, but these shows don't get financial backing, marketing support or much airtime unless its PBS or Discovery or History! Hmmm, sounds like one has to publish in peer-reviewed journals which tend to frown on ideas that may not fit the status quo and hence these articles never get published! It's the same game but with different motives theoretically:  education is for the love of teaching and entertainment is for the love of art and profits. 

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of William Bain
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 2:36 AM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-l] Technology Transforming Education--EE-Learning

Hello All,

  I just wanted to ask something here. Chris Heidelberg wrote:  "Professors are taught to cover and emphasize what to emphasize based on the content; whereas, as a producer/writer who has produced and hosted instructional television for years we are taught to focus on our audience first and to wrap the same content with the same emphasis so that it has emphasis where it needs it through the use of music, effects, voice and visual impact." So the question is this: Isn't there a strong indication that a good repeat good deal more teaching will be done by avatars? Inside or outside traditional classrooms? For what it's worth, I'd point to one link that seems to me interesting in this regard. Just asking, remember, no expert but interested in scripts & differAnt new techs.

  https://www.cs.tcd.ie/Soha.Maad/dossier_smaad/ERCIM_REPORT/HCII2003_maads.pdf

  Cheers, Will

William Bain
PhD Student
Comparative Literature
Department of Spanish Philology
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

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