Education and Technology: Critical Perspectives, Possible Futures

by David W. Kritt, Lucien T. Winegar, Igor Arievitch, Mark H. Bickhard, Sharon Borthwick-Duffy

Overview

There are numerous publications about education and technology. What is missing is a balanced appraisal of the values and cognitive skills technology promotes and those it devalues. This is important for education because the way we teach influences how children think, and it is of more general importance for the evolution of society. If we wait until these issue are definitively resolved and have noticeable societal effects, it will inevitably be too late. Hence the need for informed debate now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739113721
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	02/03/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David W. Kritt is associate professor in the Department of Education at the College of Staten Island-CUNY. Lucien T. Winegar is professor of Psychology and dean in the School of Natural and Social Sciences at Susquehanna University.

Table of Contents

Preface Stanley Aronowitz vii

Part I Defining the Problem

1 Technological Determinism and Human Agency David W. Kritt Lucien T. Winegar 3

2 Plus ca Change, Plus c'est la Meme Chose-Considering the Probable Futures of Education Technology Neil Selwyn 31

Part II Thinking and Learning

3 An Activity Theory Perspective on Educational Technology and Learning Igor M. Arievitch 49

4 Learning is Scaffolded Construction Mark H. Bickhard 73

5 Silent Creativity and Noncreative Talk Fascination with Technologies as a Metapresentational Error Jaan Valsiner 89

Part III Representing the World

6 The Educational Value of Explicit Noncoherence: Software for Helping Aboriginal Children Learn about Place Helen Verran 101

7 Pinboards and Books: Juxtaposing, Learning, and Materiality John Law 125

8 Approaches to Creative New Media Judy Malloy 151

Part IV Engagements-Virtual and Otherwise

9 A Tale of Two Settings: The Historical Arc of Two Computer-Based After-School Programs for Children Mary Gauvain Sharon Borthwick-Duffy 161

10 Making Learning Whole: How Technology Can Enable Holistic Learning Environments David Cavallo 185

11 Some Thoughts on the Economics of Education Delivery Phil Shapiro 207

12 Education that Transforms and Liberates: Media, Artistic Activity, and Pedagogy Kimberly M. Sanborn 221

Part V Reflections

13 Will IT Matter and How? Critical Observations on Strategic Locations for Information Technology in Higher Education Warren Funk 237

14 Critical Perspectives and Possible Futures Lucien T. Winegar David W. Kritt 257

Author Index 269

Subject Index 275

List of Contributors 279

Editorial Reviews

Learning is a set of tensions... My pinboard isn't of general interest, and I mention it only because it illustrates the permissive possibilities of working on a surface, flexibly...--John Law, from his chapter, Pinboards and Books: Juxtaposing, Learning, and Materiality

...taken as a whole they contribute significantly to a conversation that, in the era of hype surrounding IT, is all too often ignored.--Stanley Aronowitz, CUNY Graduate Center, author of From the Ashes of the Old: American Labor and America's Future

Education and Technology... offers a truly learner-centered and learning-centered approach to educational technology. In substantial and interdisciplinary ways it carefully builds a foundation not just for rethinking the potential for technology in light of educational principles but, more importantly, rethinking teaching and learning in light of technology's potential. Now that technology is both so ubiquitous in our culture and has--as the volume points out--"underachieved" educationally, it is more important than ever to keep fundamental questions about its potential in the foreground of discussions about the future of education and learning. This volume makes an important contribution to that ongoing conversation by offering rich contexts for revisiting these key questions, whether through cognitive psychology, philosophy, activity theory and many other perspectives. More importantly, it models an intelligent and stimulating way of approaching these questions. Through essays that build on and speak to one another, this volume critiques the potential of technology not as a foil for one extreme position or the other, but with a careful eye on the capabilities of educational technology to foster the most important and progressive educational values bearing on learning, intellectual development, and creativitiy.--Randall Bass, Georgetown University

From the Publisher

...taken as a whole they contribute significantly to a conversation that, in the era of hype surrounding IT, is all too often ignored.

Stanley Aronowitz

Education and Technology... offers a truly learner-centered and learning-centered approach to educational technology. In substantial and interdisciplinary ways it carefully builds a foundation not just for rethinking the potential for technology inlight of educational principles but, more importantly, rethinking teaching and learning in light of technology's potential. Now that technology is both so ubiquitous in our culture and has—as the volume points out—underachieved educationally, it ismore important than ever to keep fundamental questions about its potential in the foreground of discussions about the future of education and learning. This volume makes an important contribution to that ongoing conversation by offering rich contexts forrevisiting these key questions, whether through cognitive psychology, philosophy, activity theory and many other perspectives. More importantly, it models an intelligent and stimulating way of approaching these questions. Through essays that build on and speak to one another, this volume critiques the potential of technology not as a foil for one extreme position or the other, but with a careful eye on the capabilities of educational technology to foster the most important and progressive educational va

Randall Bass

Learning is a set of tensions... My pinboard isn't of general interest, and I mention it only because it illustrates the permissive possibilities of working on a surface, flexibly...

John Law