No Class 12.5: April 1, 2010

The VPN Culture?

The article by Manuel Castells (year 2000) that I referenced in the last entry, Toward a Sociology of the Network Society, and some of Denis’s works have been in my sights during the last few days, along with last week’s TEDs.

Let me begin here by again quoting the Castells paper: “I [Castells] understand technology... as material culture – that is, as a socially embedded process, not as an exogenous factor affecting society.” Sounds familiar. Technology as a process? Our tools shaping us? This is getting old already. Yet, if it is a central idea recognized universally by leading thinkers of our time, then it must be proverbial in nature. “We shape our tools, then our tools shape us” (Marshall McLuhan). Castells defined in the paper a new type of society that depends on information technology and electronic hypertext, is global in scope, but sheds independent sovereignties – the nation state dissolved. He called it the network society. No longer, he suggests, will relationships (personal or professional) be built upon physical spaces (places). Instead, they will emerge in “the space of flows.” “The global city, in the strict analytical sense, is not any particular city. ... [it] is a network of noncontiguous territories, reunited around the task of managing globalism by networks that transcend locality” (Castells). One more Castells quote to underscore the new reality: “Interactive networks are the components of [the new] social structure, as well as the agencies of social change.”

What’s the meaning of all of this? Stating the obvious, our world has changed. We live on-line more and more. The VPN or social networking sites like Facebook are the new spaces of gathering, not necessarily the office or the coffee shop, though they will likely be around indefinitely. Castells’s vision is realistic, especially in light of enterprise efficiency. We need to remember that it was the efficiency equation that made computers a fixture in the business world. Also, the socially pervasive get-the-latest-gadget craze has followed the business efficiency equation of keep up or die. In business, to have the edge on the competition, one needs faster and better tools. The technology and thinking that has shaped business efficiency, or maybe military superiority, has spilled into households and has transformed almost everyone's thinking and behaviour.

What has happened in education to reflect the network society? There has been a lot of talk and attempts have been made to incorporate on-line collaborative and other current electronic tools into the learning space. Successes and failures have been realized, and in those is evidence of an attempt to shift pedagogical thinking, to make “educational technology ... a way of thinking,” as Denis said in his article Educational Technology: A Definition for the 21st Century.

I guess a question that might be asked with regard to educational technology is, “Why really do we afford it?” Is the shift in pedagogy about better learning, or is it about mirroring the business community? Is it about creating virtual learning communities, or is it about adhering to standards? I very much like another quote that comes from the 21st century definition article by Denis. Denis quotes James McKernan (2008) as saying, “a curriculum to be truly educational will lead the student to unanticipated rather than predicted outcomes.” What a powerful statement. Does the technology we are making available in schools afford creative and unanticipated outcomes? I think so. The presence of technology in schools, while mirroring the world of work, does yield unpredictable results (some good, and as we all too well know, some not so). It also helps to create a learning culture alive with many possibilities. Over time, with the help of teachers, students will learn how to build robust VPNs to take full charge of their learning. Young Mike’s scrapbook is already in the form of e-portfolios, and meeting places like Second Life or Facebook transcend space like the holograph of Jessica Yellin. The culture is emerging – it’s already here – but it will take more time to fully transform education. We need to keep working at it, planting good seeds and weeding the garden, so to speak. Commitment and leadership are required. Speaking of which, if you have not read Denis's article Educational Technology and Wikipedia, I recommend it. There needs to be someone authoritative around to be able to distinguish a good plant from a weed. Here's a tool to help us with that.

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April 2

Need to add this. Denis concluded his article Writing History with Lightning by saying:

Pedagogy does not exist in a void, but within a cultural context: What should we teach? How do we teach it? Where do we teach it? When do we teach it? Who should do the teaching? The answers to the pedagogic questions clearly lie within the broader conceptualization of the age in which we live.

I was going through my stuff and had noticed a note to blog that quote. I knew I had forgotten something. I think that quote basically sums up this entire post.