People Under Stress
Trauma-Induced Dissociative Amnesia in World War I Veterans
Victims of Bullying at Work
Compensation - Close Relatives
Firms Fear War Stress
Aftershocks of War
War and the Mind: Psychopathology or Suffering?
Mississippi Scale for PTSD in Combat Veterans
Perpetration-Induced Combat Stress
PTSD definition
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD and Perceived Self-Efficacy
Family Therapy after Terroristic Trauma
Secondary Trauma of Caregivers of PTSD and Post-Concussion Casualties
Understanding and Treatment
Efficacies of Three Relaxation Regimes
Gender and Ethnicity: Changing Perceptions, Changing Realities
How Do Members of Diverse Groups Conceptualize Each Other?
Conflict Resolution for Contrasting Cultures
Why Differences Make a Difference
Managing Diversity and Second-Order Conflict
Preventing Culture Clashes
Team-Building Under Duress
http://beyondutopia.tripod.com/difficult/teams/diagnostic.pdf
http://beyondutopia.tripod.com/difficult/teams/diagnostic2.pdf
http://beyondutopia.tripod.com/difficult/teams/myersbriggs.pdf
http://beyondutopia.tripod.com/difficult/teams/revolutions.pdf
Self-Managed Teams
Team Leadership
Team-Building Toolkit
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
A.I. and Computer-Scored Essays
Computerized scoring of student essays that goes beyond grammar, spelling, and syntax to assess argumentation, structure, logical sequencing, and mechanics has been the stuff of fantasy and phobia for years. Employing robust artificial intelligence systems, programs such as Vantage Learning’s MY Access! provide immediate diagnostic assessments, with suggestions, guidance, and feedback. It is a prompt-driven, web-based writing environment which encourages students to submit a finished essay or a draft, obtain instant feedback, and to rewrite it. Because improving writing skills requires not only practice, but also honing critical thinking skills, automated approaches can result in measurable improvements, particularly when the instructional strategy is carefully developed and implemented.
For writing courses that rely on standardized prompts, MY Access! can provide useful feedback and free the instructor’s time to focus on critical thinking skills, student interactions, and creative problem-solving.
"MY Access! consistently scores essays equally or better than humans," said John Healy, of Vantage Learning. “The scoring is based on 200-300 essays previously scored, and the computer programs look at millions of patterns.”
According to company literature, the system analyzes more than 300 semantic, syntactic and discourse characteristics within five major domains: 1) Focus and Meaning; 2) Organization; 3) Content and Development; 4) Language Use and Style; 5) Mechanics and Conventions.
Needless to say, what such a system is teaching the student is how to conform to standards. Learning to “pass” and conform to such strictures has benefits to individuals wishing to pass standardized tests and to be able to generate culturally normative discourse. This is a rather cynical view of testing, I’ll admit. It is probably more useful to simply look at the utility of such services, and how they can help students succeed in very competitive environments where they must pass performative, diagnostic, normative, and criterion-referenced tests. For a better understanding of tests and testing, Anthony Bynum’s article, “Testing: Basic Concepts: Basic Terminology” http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/testing.htm is quite useful.
Vantage Learning cites one very impressive study: only 40% of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District achieved proficiency when tested on their writing skills. After engaging in a 12-week conventional remediation course which involved tutors, 43% achieved proficiency. Other students, who participated in a 12-week remediation course with MY Access! exhibited greater improvement, with 87% achieving competency.
On the face of it, MY Access! provides a very valuable tool, which gives individuals the skills they need to negotiate an increasingly competitive environment, and to obtain the mentoring (albeit by machine) not available in cash-strapped schools. Granted, students must respond to certain prompts, which can be demotivatingly dull. At this point, MY Access! has approximately 25 prompts at the first-year college composition (or higher) level. Topics include typical topics used in composition courses: Violence in Television; A Favorite Hobby, A Special Day, etc. Students may be bored by the prompts. The lack of prompts tacitly encourages plagiarism, and keeps individuals from engaging in an exploration of the topic.
Yet, there is definitely a need for a product of this type. Community colleges implementing MY Access! have found that it is helpful for students, particularly those needing remediation or special tutoring to help them write at the level they need to for college success. Students for whom English is a Second Language also find it helpful. The instrument has been programmed so that it detects patterns corresponding to the most common errors made by students for whom Spanish is their first language.
I’ve used it with online students based for whom English is a second language. They found it to be quite helpful, particularly in the construction of verb-preposition pairs, grammar, syntax, and word choice. It can also be invaluable for students preparing for the GED by taking practice exams, (http://www.acenet.edu/clll/ged/sampQ-writing2.cfm) or who are planning to CLEP out of courses.
The budding John Updike, Jack Kerouac, or Toni Morrison would have their hands resoundingly slapped, though. In order to keep creative, talented writers engaged, the instructor will have to encourage students to look at it as a kind of dull, obligatory game – they kind one plays in team-building retreats and in long, tedious car trips.
Currently, MY Access! is marketed to individual students, both home-school students and others through resellers such as sonlight.com. They are a secondary vendor and can accommodate individual licenses, where as the company works directly with larger clients, such as universities and colleges.
Computerized scoring of student essays that goes beyond grammar, spelling, and syntax to assess argumentation, structure, logical sequencing, and mechanics has been the stuff of fantasy and phobia for years. Employing robust artificial intelligence systems, programs such as Vantage Learning’s MY Access! provide immediate diagnostic assessments, with suggestions, guidance, and feedback. It is a prompt-driven, web-based writing environment which encourages students to submit a finished essay or a draft, obtain instant feedback, and to rewrite it. Because improving writing skills requires not only practice, but also honing critical thinking skills, automated approaches can result in measurable improvements, particularly when the instructional strategy is carefully developed and implemented.
For writing courses that rely on standardized prompts, MY Access! can provide useful feedback and free the instructor’s time to focus on critical thinking skills, student interactions, and creative problem-solving.
"MY Access! consistently scores essays equally or better than humans," said John Healy, of Vantage Learning. “The scoring is based on 200-300 essays previously scored, and the computer programs look at millions of patterns.”
According to company literature, the system analyzes more than 300 semantic, syntactic and discourse characteristics within five major domains: 1) Focus and Meaning; 2) Organization; 3) Content and Development; 4) Language Use and Style; 5) Mechanics and Conventions.
Needless to say, what such a system is teaching the student is how to conform to standards. Learning to “pass” and conform to such strictures has benefits to individuals wishing to pass standardized tests and to be able to generate culturally normative discourse. This is a rather cynical view of testing, I’ll admit. It is probably more useful to simply look at the utility of such services, and how they can help students succeed in very competitive environments where they must pass performative, diagnostic, normative, and criterion-referenced tests. For a better understanding of tests and testing, Anthony Bynum’s article, “Testing: Basic Concepts: Basic Terminology” http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/testing.htm is quite useful.
Vantage Learning cites one very impressive study: only 40% of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District achieved proficiency when tested on their writing skills. After engaging in a 12-week conventional remediation course which involved tutors, 43% achieved proficiency. Other students, who participated in a 12-week remediation course with MY Access! exhibited greater improvement, with 87% achieving competency.
On the face of it, MY Access! provides a very valuable tool, which gives individuals the skills they need to negotiate an increasingly competitive environment, and to obtain the mentoring (albeit by machine) not available in cash-strapped schools. Granted, students must respond to certain prompts, which can be demotivatingly dull. At this point, MY Access! has approximately 25 prompts at the first-year college composition (or higher) level. Topics include typical topics used in composition courses: Violence in Television; A Favorite Hobby, A Special Day, etc. Students may be bored by the prompts. The lack of prompts tacitly encourages plagiarism, and keeps individuals from engaging in an exploration of the topic.
Yet, there is definitely a need for a product of this type. Community colleges implementing MY Access! have found that it is helpful for students, particularly those needing remediation or special tutoring to help them write at the level they need to for college success. Students for whom English is a Second Language also find it helpful. The instrument has been programmed so that it detects patterns corresponding to the most common errors made by students for whom Spanish is their first language.
I’ve used it with online students based for whom English is a second language. They found it to be quite helpful, particularly in the construction of verb-preposition pairs, grammar, syntax, and word choice. It can also be invaluable for students preparing for the GED by taking practice exams, (http://www.acenet.edu/clll/ged/sampQ-writing2.cfm) or who are planning to CLEP out of courses.
The budding John Updike, Jack Kerouac, or Toni Morrison would have their hands resoundingly slapped, though. In order to keep creative, talented writers engaged, the instructor will have to encourage students to look at it as a kind of dull, obligatory game – they kind one plays in team-building retreats and in long, tedious car trips.
Currently, MY Access! is marketed to individual students, both home-school students and others through resellers such as sonlight.com. They are a secondary vendor and can accommodate individual licenses, where as the company works directly with larger clients, such as universities and colleges.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
The Role of Relevancy in Online Courses
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.15.03 10:15pm
Introduction
Relevancy is central to online curriculum design and course content selection. This paper provides an overview and understanding of relevancy and can serve as a starting point for developing questions for use in deciding how a course can be relevant to a student\'s career, personal, or academic goals, and for developing guidelines for use in helping the student make connections between course content and the ultimate career, personal, and academic goals he or she may have.
Establishing Relevancy
Students who do not immediately perceive how and why the course content is relevant to their career, academic, or personal lives will become disinterested, bored, even angry. But, what masks itself as a quite justifiable and self-righteous anger (\"I paid for this! It\'s not getting me anywhere!\" or \"What does this have to do with anything? This is wasting my time!\") is, upon deeper analysis, a consequence of the deliberate disorganization of an individual\'s cognitive processes. When something seems \"irrelevant\" or \"meaningless\" it is precisely so because the learner has no way to integrate the activity or the cognitive content into his or her existing mental scheme. The confusion that ensues is unpleasant, particularly to an adult learner, because he or she is likely to attach negative narratives to the experience of being \"lost.\"
The role of the instructor (as facilitator and mentor) must be to be able to contextualize the course content and required activities, and to relate them to already mastered work or tasks. Needless to say, this may require patience. More to the point, it requires the instructor to be able to ask appropriate questions in order to find a way to guide the student to making the connections needed to perform well and to demonstrate mastery of the learning objectives.
These pedagogical approaches are supported by philosophers and cognitive specialists who point to a \"connectionist\" model of cognition, which suggests that cognitive awareness, and thus meaning, are formed when connections are forged from one region of the brain to another. Symbolic logic has meaning only insofar as there are sets of seemingly unrelated meaning associated with it. In other words, the connectionist model posits that symbols in and of themselves are not enough to explain cognition. There must be other associations, which lead to the ability to posit more complex and real-life applications, such as cause-effect relations, historical sequences, identities, etc. These ideas are used in developing the mathematical models used in artificial intelligence computer programs, as well as in decision trees and probabilities (as applied to human behavior).
Making connections
...to additional material and related readings
The student may understand the material, but the comprehension may be incomplete, or there may be an inability to apply it or demonstrate a working knowledge. If the facilitator can guide the student to additional readings or material (even if it is anecdotal, or in the form of an example from the instructor\'s own experience), the student will have a more comprehensive knowledge.
...to current events
Applying concepts to current events and/or recent discoveries, writings, or activities helps establish the applicability of the course content to the larger, outside world. On a fundamental level, the student is being guided in the practice of \"making sense\" of the world, and is being presented alternative strategies for ordering, or making meaning out of one\'s existence.
...to life experiences
If the facilitator is able to help students make connections so that the student can link life experiences to either the course content or the core concepts under discussion, then learning will take place through what B. F. Skinner termed \"operant conditioning.\" In this case, the student will experience a reinforcement of both previously held knowledge (which includes beliefs and values), and of the knowledge being presented in the course. Once reinforced, the knowledge can be built upon, and the facilitator can help the student in next-level cognitive skills such as differentiation and discrimination. Assessment exercises should replicate operant conditioning so that the taking of practice tests, the writing of essays and journals, and the preparation of final exams or research papers will further reinforce concepts and reasoning skills.
Think About It! Questions for Consideration, Review, or Journal
" When does your course directly address issues that are of immediate interest to your students?
" Name three ways that the content or objectives of your course can make a difference to your students - either in their personal or professional lives, or both.
" Find five websites that can help your students see other perspectives or to make connections between course themes and their lives.
" What are issues that emerge from your course that relate to the world as it is right now, or in the immediate past
Theoretical Underpinnings:
Green, Christopher D. (1998) Are Connectionist Models Theories of Cognition?. http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/documents/disk0/00/00/02/01/ accessed August 1, 2001
Skinner, B. F. (1976) About Behaviorism. NY: Random House.
Skinner, B. F. and C. B. Ferster (1957) Schedules of Reinforcement. Acton, MA: Copley.
Skinner, B. F. (1953) Science and Human Behavior. NY: Free Press.
Thomas, L. and Harri-Augstein, S. (1985). Self-organised learning. London: Routledge.
Wilson, Elizabeth A. (1998) Neural Geographies. London: Routledge.
Applied to Online Instruction:
http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/1999/kgarimetsa_rj/eel880/exaprjct/pedagog.htm
http://portfolios.valdosta.edu/tcdowdy/std7.htm
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.15.03 10:15pm
Introduction
Relevancy is central to online curriculum design and course content selection. This paper provides an overview and understanding of relevancy and can serve as a starting point for developing questions for use in deciding how a course can be relevant to a student\'s career, personal, or academic goals, and for developing guidelines for use in helping the student make connections between course content and the ultimate career, personal, and academic goals he or she may have.
Establishing Relevancy
Students who do not immediately perceive how and why the course content is relevant to their career, academic, or personal lives will become disinterested, bored, even angry. But, what masks itself as a quite justifiable and self-righteous anger (\"I paid for this! It\'s not getting me anywhere!\" or \"What does this have to do with anything? This is wasting my time!\") is, upon deeper analysis, a consequence of the deliberate disorganization of an individual\'s cognitive processes. When something seems \"irrelevant\" or \"meaningless\" it is precisely so because the learner has no way to integrate the activity or the cognitive content into his or her existing mental scheme. The confusion that ensues is unpleasant, particularly to an adult learner, because he or she is likely to attach negative narratives to the experience of being \"lost.\"
The role of the instructor (as facilitator and mentor) must be to be able to contextualize the course content and required activities, and to relate them to already mastered work or tasks. Needless to say, this may require patience. More to the point, it requires the instructor to be able to ask appropriate questions in order to find a way to guide the student to making the connections needed to perform well and to demonstrate mastery of the learning objectives.
These pedagogical approaches are supported by philosophers and cognitive specialists who point to a \"connectionist\" model of cognition, which suggests that cognitive awareness, and thus meaning, are formed when connections are forged from one region of the brain to another. Symbolic logic has meaning only insofar as there are sets of seemingly unrelated meaning associated with it. In other words, the connectionist model posits that symbols in and of themselves are not enough to explain cognition. There must be other associations, which lead to the ability to posit more complex and real-life applications, such as cause-effect relations, historical sequences, identities, etc. These ideas are used in developing the mathematical models used in artificial intelligence computer programs, as well as in decision trees and probabilities (as applied to human behavior).
Making connections
...to additional material and related readings
The student may understand the material, but the comprehension may be incomplete, or there may be an inability to apply it or demonstrate a working knowledge. If the facilitator can guide the student to additional readings or material (even if it is anecdotal, or in the form of an example from the instructor\'s own experience), the student will have a more comprehensive knowledge.
...to current events
Applying concepts to current events and/or recent discoveries, writings, or activities helps establish the applicability of the course content to the larger, outside world. On a fundamental level, the student is being guided in the practice of \"making sense\" of the world, and is being presented alternative strategies for ordering, or making meaning out of one\'s existence.
...to life experiences
If the facilitator is able to help students make connections so that the student can link life experiences to either the course content or the core concepts under discussion, then learning will take place through what B. F. Skinner termed \"operant conditioning.\" In this case, the student will experience a reinforcement of both previously held knowledge (which includes beliefs and values), and of the knowledge being presented in the course. Once reinforced, the knowledge can be built upon, and the facilitator can help the student in next-level cognitive skills such as differentiation and discrimination. Assessment exercises should replicate operant conditioning so that the taking of practice tests, the writing of essays and journals, and the preparation of final exams or research papers will further reinforce concepts and reasoning skills.
Think About It! Questions for Consideration, Review, or Journal
" When does your course directly address issues that are of immediate interest to your students?
" Name three ways that the content or objectives of your course can make a difference to your students - either in their personal or professional lives, or both.
" Find five websites that can help your students see other perspectives or to make connections between course themes and their lives.
" What are issues that emerge from your course that relate to the world as it is right now, or in the immediate past
Theoretical Underpinnings:
Green, Christopher D. (1998) Are Connectionist Models Theories of Cognition?. http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/documents/disk0/00/00/02/01/ accessed August 1, 2001
Skinner, B. F. (1976) About Behaviorism. NY: Random House.
Skinner, B. F. and C. B. Ferster (1957) Schedules of Reinforcement. Acton, MA: Copley.
Skinner, B. F. (1953) Science and Human Behavior. NY: Free Press.
Thomas, L. and Harri-Augstein, S. (1985). Self-organised learning. London: Routledge.
Wilson, Elizabeth A. (1998) Neural Geographies. London: Routledge.
Applied to Online Instruction:
http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/1999/kgarimetsa_rj/eel880/exaprjct/pedagog.htm
http://portfolios.valdosta.edu/tcdowdy/std7.htm
Identity Construction in Online Courses
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.24.03 3:00pm
Introduction
This unit discusses the psychological processes occurring in e-learning, with special emphasis on socialization processes, both positive and negative. This unit discusses processes occurring in an Internet environment, and it suggests underlying reasons. It also asks the designers and administrators of e-learning programs to take a look at the underlying ethical issues, and to view learning in light of the process of development of "the whole person" not simply as the acquisition of knowledge and facts. By the end of this unit, course developers should be ready to manage socialization processes occurring in e-learning, and to develop a protocol for effective mentoring in an e-learning environment.
Psychological Consequences of the Identity Meltdown that Occurs in E-Interactions
In the virtual world, individuals often craft identities in isolation and they project it into cyberspace. They are not constrained by the reality checks of the group, and their socialization process is utterly different than in a regular community or cohort group. This is potentially liberating, but also potentially isolating.
Each person, as he or she learns to interact with people, develops identity-construction techniques as a part of the socialization process. What are these identity-construction techniques? Where are they used? Many times, the identity construction techniques are used to cope in a world that is often critical and absolute in its insistence upon conformity.
For the average person in a group environment where there is social interaction, the identity-construction process occurs via clothing, gestures, vocabulary, activities, humor, narrative and story-telling. In short, it is a living theater, and the participants and successful group members become skillful actors.
For the unfortunate ones who are not necessarily adept at acting or at picking up cues, or who lack the resources (physical, financial, or emotional) to participate in this kind of socialization, there are consequences to pay for social ineptitude. They are often ostracized or marginalized. For others who are chronically "a beat behind" when it comes to assessing the strategies used by others to modify behavior in order to conform to the dominant ethos, the ability to create a virtual identity in cyberspace becomes very appealing.
Needless to say, cyber identity-creation can become an addiction, particularly as the new "cyber-persona" meets with positive reception to others who believe and respond to the alter ego / virtual identity as though it were real. The positive reinforcement found in this activity exerts a strong pull on a naturally introverted person, and when it is coupled with the cognitive/kinaesthetic "rewards" found in the Internet via sensory stimulation, there is no doubt that the individual will be tempted to retreat even further from the "real" world.
For that reason, in ideal conditions, a student in an online course should have group interactions with people where socialization processes are occurring. This can occur either via workplace interactions or in community activities. There should be a requirement to integrate online activities with in-person activities, in order to close the separation between what can become a fantasy persona and one's real self.
It is important to realize that often the person who is "one beat behind" in being able to asses the steps necessary to mold himself or herself into the dominant ethos is usually a person who has "issues" (to use a term in common parlance). In other words, their social rejection has not occurred without some degree of psychic pain. If the individual has been punished or subjected to verbal or physical abuse, there could be a latent desire for avenging oneself. And, if the rejection or social ostracization has occurred due to physical appearances, it is quite likely that the individual will create a cyber-persona that possesses the attributes that he or she wishes to have. As a strategy for personal empowerment, building a cyber-persona can be ultimately futile, and the identity is complex and contradictory when one desires to operate as an all-powerful, all-knowing presence who is simultaneously "cool" and indifferent to "cool," who possesses both an omnipresent in-your-face visual presence and an ability to be absolutely invisible.
The proliferation of individuals displaying these psychological characteristics (to varying degrees) is a natural outgrowth of the availability of the Internet, and the ease by which one creates a persona and is able to act out unacknowledged desires. Needless to say, the identity-construction elements, and the virtual-travel abilities (including invading the spaces of others), are most appealing to those who do not flourish in traditional social settings. Ironically, those who are most talented in the cyber-world are the least likely to be comfortable with a guide or mentor. But, they are the ones who need them most. It is imperative that society find ways to provide them with a trusted personal mentor and guide because the damage that misguided identity construction and cyber-travel (hacking, etc.) can do can be quite extensive, with far-reaching consequences.
The trusted mentor-guide presence is more important than ever given the times and current socio-economic situation of global interconnectedness. On a personal level, individuals are likely to have dysfunctional attitudes toward their identity-creation activities in our current setting of fragmenting family structures, eroding communities, disappearing support systems, and increasing isolation.
The mentor-guide in an Internet-based course is a grounding presence, and any person who decides to assume this role will have to be aware that the safety and seeming anonymity of the Internet may give rise to more trust and dependence than the mentor has been prepared for. The learner may project his/her own problems onto the mentor, become dependent, confess personal issues, and become emotionally cathected. Ironically, this can occur without either having any idea of the real appearance of the other. Usually they have never met each other in person and never will.
However frightening this prospect is, it is necessary to look at it as an indication of the positive effects that Internet-based courses can have, if they establish a strong mentor-learner relationship in a safe, guiding environment. The mentor and learner can come to experience the Internet as critical elements in an increasingly inter-dependent (rather than independent) world, which teaches, models, and reinforces mutual caring, compassion, and respect.
The fostering of a positive environment for identity-creation and guided socialization (via the Internet) is very important for successful navigation in a world increasingly focused on appearances and first impressions, where long-term commitments have been supplanted by short-term relationships based on performance and/or convenience, and where human frailty is made invisible or is consumed / cannibalized so that the strong survive.
The online learner exists in a world that mediates itself between the "real" (where the people he/she interacts with are successful actors in the roles accepted by the community), and the "virtual" (where the identities she interacts with have successfully created identities that represent their deepest desires of who / what they would like to be in the world).
Both worlds require adaptation and socialization.
One can use the virtual world / Internet to provide:
" positive guidance via a mentor
" increased self-awareness on the part of the learner which allows him or her to contemplate
o what he/she would do if empowered
o how she appears in the mirror-space created by the Internet; for the first time she is able to look deeply and see what he or she would like to be, how to be that entity, when the persona is appealing, who the created persona would like to interact with (and how), and what the persona wants to do at various times and places.
Such self-knowledge could be a lamp in a dark existence, and could help deal with deeper issues. Not only can the guide-mentor relationship create better citizens, with equipped with new skills and strategies for living in a rapidly changing world, it can also address the problems and underlying factors that give rise to cyber-criminals. Further, the mentor can guide the student to an awareness that can allow her or him to remove the barriers that have been blocking his or progress. This will give learners a new opportunity to develop a vision of themselves or of where they want to be, and to guide themselves to a new understanding of how, and when to take steps along a path to a better existence.
Think About It! Questions for Consideration, Review, or Journal
" When does the learner have the greatest opportunity to develop a persona? In chat rooms? Bulletin boards?
" Do you have students consider ethical issues before they take online classes? Do you stress that anonymous behavior should be congruent with open behavior? Why? When
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.24.03 3:00pm
Introduction
This unit discusses the psychological processes occurring in e-learning, with special emphasis on socialization processes, both positive and negative. This unit discusses processes occurring in an Internet environment, and it suggests underlying reasons. It also asks the designers and administrators of e-learning programs to take a look at the underlying ethical issues, and to view learning in light of the process of development of "the whole person" not simply as the acquisition of knowledge and facts. By the end of this unit, course developers should be ready to manage socialization processes occurring in e-learning, and to develop a protocol for effective mentoring in an e-learning environment.
Psychological Consequences of the Identity Meltdown that Occurs in E-Interactions
In the virtual world, individuals often craft identities in isolation and they project it into cyberspace. They are not constrained by the reality checks of the group, and their socialization process is utterly different than in a regular community or cohort group. This is potentially liberating, but also potentially isolating.
Each person, as he or she learns to interact with people, develops identity-construction techniques as a part of the socialization process. What are these identity-construction techniques? Where are they used? Many times, the identity construction techniques are used to cope in a world that is often critical and absolute in its insistence upon conformity.
For the average person in a group environment where there is social interaction, the identity-construction process occurs via clothing, gestures, vocabulary, activities, humor, narrative and story-telling. In short, it is a living theater, and the participants and successful group members become skillful actors.
For the unfortunate ones who are not necessarily adept at acting or at picking up cues, or who lack the resources (physical, financial, or emotional) to participate in this kind of socialization, there are consequences to pay for social ineptitude. They are often ostracized or marginalized. For others who are chronically "a beat behind" when it comes to assessing the strategies used by others to modify behavior in order to conform to the dominant ethos, the ability to create a virtual identity in cyberspace becomes very appealing.
Needless to say, cyber identity-creation can become an addiction, particularly as the new "cyber-persona" meets with positive reception to others who believe and respond to the alter ego / virtual identity as though it were real. The positive reinforcement found in this activity exerts a strong pull on a naturally introverted person, and when it is coupled with the cognitive/kinaesthetic "rewards" found in the Internet via sensory stimulation, there is no doubt that the individual will be tempted to retreat even further from the "real" world.
For that reason, in ideal conditions, a student in an online course should have group interactions with people where socialization processes are occurring. This can occur either via workplace interactions or in community activities. There should be a requirement to integrate online activities with in-person activities, in order to close the separation between what can become a fantasy persona and one's real self.
It is important to realize that often the person who is "one beat behind" in being able to asses the steps necessary to mold himself or herself into the dominant ethos is usually a person who has "issues" (to use a term in common parlance). In other words, their social rejection has not occurred without some degree of psychic pain. If the individual has been punished or subjected to verbal or physical abuse, there could be a latent desire for avenging oneself. And, if the rejection or social ostracization has occurred due to physical appearances, it is quite likely that the individual will create a cyber-persona that possesses the attributes that he or she wishes to have. As a strategy for personal empowerment, building a cyber-persona can be ultimately futile, and the identity is complex and contradictory when one desires to operate as an all-powerful, all-knowing presence who is simultaneously "cool" and indifferent to "cool," who possesses both an omnipresent in-your-face visual presence and an ability to be absolutely invisible.
The proliferation of individuals displaying these psychological characteristics (to varying degrees) is a natural outgrowth of the availability of the Internet, and the ease by which one creates a persona and is able to act out unacknowledged desires. Needless to say, the identity-construction elements, and the virtual-travel abilities (including invading the spaces of others), are most appealing to those who do not flourish in traditional social settings. Ironically, those who are most talented in the cyber-world are the least likely to be comfortable with a guide or mentor. But, they are the ones who need them most. It is imperative that society find ways to provide them with a trusted personal mentor and guide because the damage that misguided identity construction and cyber-travel (hacking, etc.) can do can be quite extensive, with far-reaching consequences.
The trusted mentor-guide presence is more important than ever given the times and current socio-economic situation of global interconnectedness. On a personal level, individuals are likely to have dysfunctional attitudes toward their identity-creation activities in our current setting of fragmenting family structures, eroding communities, disappearing support systems, and increasing isolation.
The mentor-guide in an Internet-based course is a grounding presence, and any person who decides to assume this role will have to be aware that the safety and seeming anonymity of the Internet may give rise to more trust and dependence than the mentor has been prepared for. The learner may project his/her own problems onto the mentor, become dependent, confess personal issues, and become emotionally cathected. Ironically, this can occur without either having any idea of the real appearance of the other. Usually they have never met each other in person and never will.
However frightening this prospect is, it is necessary to look at it as an indication of the positive effects that Internet-based courses can have, if they establish a strong mentor-learner relationship in a safe, guiding environment. The mentor and learner can come to experience the Internet as critical elements in an increasingly inter-dependent (rather than independent) world, which teaches, models, and reinforces mutual caring, compassion, and respect.
The fostering of a positive environment for identity-creation and guided socialization (via the Internet) is very important for successful navigation in a world increasingly focused on appearances and first impressions, where long-term commitments have been supplanted by short-term relationships based on performance and/or convenience, and where human frailty is made invisible or is consumed / cannibalized so that the strong survive.
The online learner exists in a world that mediates itself between the "real" (where the people he/she interacts with are successful actors in the roles accepted by the community), and the "virtual" (where the identities she interacts with have successfully created identities that represent their deepest desires of who / what they would like to be in the world).
Both worlds require adaptation and socialization.
One can use the virtual world / Internet to provide:
" positive guidance via a mentor
" increased self-awareness on the part of the learner which allows him or her to contemplate
o what he/she would do if empowered
o how she appears in the mirror-space created by the Internet; for the first time she is able to look deeply and see what he or she would like to be, how to be that entity, when the persona is appealing, who the created persona would like to interact with (and how), and what the persona wants to do at various times and places.
Such self-knowledge could be a lamp in a dark existence, and could help deal with deeper issues. Not only can the guide-mentor relationship create better citizens, with equipped with new skills and strategies for living in a rapidly changing world, it can also address the problems and underlying factors that give rise to cyber-criminals. Further, the mentor can guide the student to an awareness that can allow her or him to remove the barriers that have been blocking his or progress. This will give learners a new opportunity to develop a vision of themselves or of where they want to be, and to guide themselves to a new understanding of how, and when to take steps along a path to a better existence.
Think About It! Questions for Consideration, Review, or Journal
" When does the learner have the greatest opportunity to develop a persona? In chat rooms? Bulletin boards?
" Do you have students consider ethical issues before they take online classes? Do you stress that anonymous behavior should be congruent with open behavior? Why? When
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
How the Mind Makes Meaning in E-Learning, Part II
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.15.03 3:51am
Introduction
Part 1 of this paper addressed the manner in which the human mind evolves by arranging perceptions by means of connections. This section deals with the implications of that "perception" in terms of the reality that is created through user interactions with the Internet, and in terms of the resulting significance of individual perception.
How the Mind Makes Meaning in E-Learning, Part II
The Internet Re-creates and Reinforces Essence: As opposed to those who would suggest that all of reality is a constructed event, and that "essence" does not exist, and that no thing possesses an essential, primordial beingness, the Internet exists as a tacit reminder that all that is perceived via the Internet relies on the perceiver having at least one idea of what the thing is that they are perceiving. If the reader's mind is a perfect tabula rasa, then there is no way at all for the person to be able to classify what he or she is perceiving. Further, if there is no essential idea of what the thing is, and if it has no primordial beingness, then there is no way to measure or ascertain whether or not it is "real."
The essence of something is communicated by means of a referent. This often relies on the semiotic and symbol systems, of which language is one, images and signs are another. In basic terms, this means that you one comes to understand what something is (its essence) by means of something else (a referent).
Let's a use a basic example. What do you think of when you think "rose"? Do you think of a flower? Is it red? Does it have bright petals, a long stalk, thorns, and a delightful, sweet and delicate scent? The referent of "rose" is the word itself. "Rose" indicates the flower, and all that that particular flower symbolizes (love, for example). However, the referent can be an image. It can be a botanical sketch, a photograph, a painting. But what do you think of when you think "rose"? Chances are, the rose that is "essential rose" will be an archetypal rose -- pruned, groomed, dark red, in a bouquet of 12, or presented singly, festooned with a lovely ribbon and a card expressing abstract concepts ("love" and "devotion" and "romance").
The referent refers to a plant, and it also refers to a concept. In the case of a rose, the "essential" rose is one that evokes feelings and abstract concepts as well as the botanical counterpart, the rose flower or rose bush. Since essence is communicated by a referent, the implications are powerful in Internet design. The key is to analyze what emotional impact one wishes to have, and what overarching idea one wishes to communicate. Then, by working back & then extrapolating forward, one can choose the perfect referent to convey the nuanced and multiple meanings that one wishes, as well as a certain desired "essence." Perhaps this is the anatomy of constructivism. At least it's an approach. It's pragmatic, too.
Essence is often reinforced by evoking mental images, especially ones that correspond to powerful emotions. Memories -- either real or induced -- often are used as the arbiters of essence. When you remember, what comes to mind? Is it an image? Is it a series of images? Is it a scent? A touch? A texture? A taste? A remembered sibilance or a softly droning assonance? If one evokes mental images, then the mind naturally moves to associations.
The associations are part of the connectionist structure of the brain. This is interesting, and it helps explain why people "jump" to conclusions, and why the "saltos" and leaps the mind makes are not so random as one might think. There is enormous power in harnessing the "saltos" -- if one can manage the connections, the leaps, then one can persuade (absolutely with subtlety, precision, nuance) another to a foregone conclusion. This is the essence of propaganda. It is also the underpinning structure of persuasive discourse. What makes the procedure even more effective is to combine all of this with emotion-evoking images and discourse.
An experience deliberately designed to coincide with the "essence" of something will immediately be classified in one's mind, and later will be difficult to dislodge. And example of this are the "reality experiences" of Walt Disney World, where individuals role-play and interact with the "essence" of something. And example is a roller-coaster in which participants are guided through a scenario in which they interact with the holographic images of well-known rock stars (in one case, Aerosmith), and then accompany them on a roller-coaster ride to their concert. In the scenario, the drive to the concert is so intense, it is "like a roller-coaster ride" when in fact, it really is a roller-coaster ride (!) So, the holographic images, which are more real than the real members of the band are the "essence" of Aerosmith -- the quintessential Aerosmith. Since viewing the images, and interacting with them was combined with actual physical sensations, it is unlikely that any of the participants will forget the images they saw, and will from that day on, when they think of the group, Aerosmith, they will not think of photographs or even band appearances, but of their "interaction" with the group on the "reality ride" in Walt Disney World.
References:
Brentano, Franz. "The Concept and Purpose of Psychology" and "Psychological Method with Special Reference to its Experiential Basis" Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint, (1874) Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Fodor, J.A. (1987), Psychosemantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Fodor, J.A. (1998), In Critical Condition. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Habermas, Jurgen. Chapter Three: The Idea of the Theory of Knowledge as Social Theory. Knowledge & Human Interest, 1968, publ. Polity Press, 1987
Heidegger, Martin. The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (1954) Indiana University Press, 1975.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The Structure of Behaviour, Beacon Press, 1967.
Polanyi, Michael. On Body and Mind. The New Scholasticism. 43:2 (Spring 1969), pp. 195-204.
Polanyi, Michael. The Structure of Consciousness. Brain. vol. 88 (1965), pp. 799-810.
Polanyi, Michael. Transcendence And Self-Transcendence. Soundings 53: 1 (Spring 1970): 88-94.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, Lev (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Vygotsky, Lev. The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology: A Methodological Investigation (1927) The Collected Works of Vygotsky. Transl. Rene Van Der Veer. Plenum Press, 1987
Wittgenstein Ludwig. Wittgenstein's Lectures, 1932 - 35, Edited by Alice Ambrose, publ. Blackwell, 1979.
Theories // Symbolic approaches (language as symbol)
Dempsey, G. T. (1996) Hayek's Terra Incognita of the Mind. The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 34:13-41.
Dennett, Daniel. Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1981), pp. 150-151.
Derrida, Jacques, Of Grammatology, trans. Gayatri Spivak (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976).
DeVries, Robert P. "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek,Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), p. 317.
Eco, Umberto. Foucault's Pendulum, trans. William Weaver (New York: Harcourt Brace Company, 1992), pp. 9-14.
Eiser, J. Richard. Attitudes, Chaos and the Connectionist Mind (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), pp.225-229.
Galotti, Anna. "Individualism, Social Rules, Tradition: The Case of Friedrich Hayek," Political Theory (May 1987), p. 170.
Gleick, James. Chaos: The Making of a New Science (New York: Penguin, 1987), p. 20.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Philosophical Consequences," The Essence of Hayek ed. Chiaki Nishiyama and Kurt Leube (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984), pp. 229.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Notes on the Evolution of Systems of Rules of Conduct," Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 73.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Pretense of Knowledge," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and the History of Ideas, p. 27.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Primacy of the Abstract," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, p. 43.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Two Types of Mind," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 52-53. Emphasis added.
Hayek, Friedrich. Individualism and Economic Order (London: Henley and Routledge, 1949).
Hayek, Friedrich. Law, Legislation and Liberty: A New Statement of the Liberal Principles of Justice and Political Economy, Vol. I: Rules and Order (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973).
Hayek, Friedrich. The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies in the Abuse of Reason (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1979), p. 46
Hayek, Friedrick. The Sensory Order (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952), pp. 4-5.
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Le Salle, IL: Open Court, 1966).
Husserl, Edmund. Part IIIB: The Way into Phenomenological Transcendental Philosophy from Psychology. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (1954) publ. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1970
James, William. Some Problems of Philosophy (New York, Longmans, 1940), p. 51.
Javanovich, 1989), p. 378. Emphasis in original.
Kant, Immanuel. The Critique of Pure Reason trans. N.K. Smith (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1961).
Lewin, Roger. Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos (New York: Macmillan Publishing
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (New York: Dover Publications, 1959
Mach, Ernst. The Analysis of Sensations (Chicago: Open Court, 1902); quoted in Robert P. deVries, "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek, Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), pp. 316-317.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality, trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), § 117.
Nietzsche, Friedrich.The Will to Power, trans. Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale (New York: Random House, 1967), § 503.
Popper, Karl. The Self and Its Brain, Part I ( New York: Springer-International, 1977), pp. 129-131.
Radnitzky, Gerard. "The Evolution of the Extended Order: Reflections on Hayek's Theory and Its Political Implications," Organization and Change in Complex Systems, ed. Marcelo Alonso (NewYork: Paragon House, 1990).
Strogatz, Stephen and Ian Stewart, "Coupled Oscillators and Biological Synchronization," Scientific American (December 1993), p. 103.
Strong, Tracy. Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of Transfiguration (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), pp. 63-72.
Wakefield, Neville. Postmodernism: The Twilight of the Real (London: Pluto Press, 1990), p. 3.
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.15.03 3:51am
Introduction
Part 1 of this paper addressed the manner in which the human mind evolves by arranging perceptions by means of connections. This section deals with the implications of that "perception" in terms of the reality that is created through user interactions with the Internet, and in terms of the resulting significance of individual perception.
How the Mind Makes Meaning in E-Learning, Part II
The Internet Re-creates and Reinforces Essence: As opposed to those who would suggest that all of reality is a constructed event, and that "essence" does not exist, and that no thing possesses an essential, primordial beingness, the Internet exists as a tacit reminder that all that is perceived via the Internet relies on the perceiver having at least one idea of what the thing is that they are perceiving. If the reader's mind is a perfect tabula rasa, then there is no way at all for the person to be able to classify what he or she is perceiving. Further, if there is no essential idea of what the thing is, and if it has no primordial beingness, then there is no way to measure or ascertain whether or not it is "real."
The essence of something is communicated by means of a referent. This often relies on the semiotic and symbol systems, of which language is one, images and signs are another. In basic terms, this means that you one comes to understand what something is (its essence) by means of something else (a referent).
Let's a use a basic example. What do you think of when you think "rose"? Do you think of a flower? Is it red? Does it have bright petals, a long stalk, thorns, and a delightful, sweet and delicate scent? The referent of "rose" is the word itself. "Rose" indicates the flower, and all that that particular flower symbolizes (love, for example). However, the referent can be an image. It can be a botanical sketch, a photograph, a painting. But what do you think of when you think "rose"? Chances are, the rose that is "essential rose" will be an archetypal rose -- pruned, groomed, dark red, in a bouquet of 12, or presented singly, festooned with a lovely ribbon and a card expressing abstract concepts ("love" and "devotion" and "romance").
The referent refers to a plant, and it also refers to a concept. In the case of a rose, the "essential" rose is one that evokes feelings and abstract concepts as well as the botanical counterpart, the rose flower or rose bush. Since essence is communicated by a referent, the implications are powerful in Internet design. The key is to analyze what emotional impact one wishes to have, and what overarching idea one wishes to communicate. Then, by working back & then extrapolating forward, one can choose the perfect referent to convey the nuanced and multiple meanings that one wishes, as well as a certain desired "essence." Perhaps this is the anatomy of constructivism. At least it's an approach. It's pragmatic, too.
Essence is often reinforced by evoking mental images, especially ones that correspond to powerful emotions. Memories -- either real or induced -- often are used as the arbiters of essence. When you remember, what comes to mind? Is it an image? Is it a series of images? Is it a scent? A touch? A texture? A taste? A remembered sibilance or a softly droning assonance? If one evokes mental images, then the mind naturally moves to associations.
The associations are part of the connectionist structure of the brain. This is interesting, and it helps explain why people "jump" to conclusions, and why the "saltos" and leaps the mind makes are not so random as one might think. There is enormous power in harnessing the "saltos" -- if one can manage the connections, the leaps, then one can persuade (absolutely with subtlety, precision, nuance) another to a foregone conclusion. This is the essence of propaganda. It is also the underpinning structure of persuasive discourse. What makes the procedure even more effective is to combine all of this with emotion-evoking images and discourse.
An experience deliberately designed to coincide with the "essence" of something will immediately be classified in one's mind, and later will be difficult to dislodge. And example of this are the "reality experiences" of Walt Disney World, where individuals role-play and interact with the "essence" of something. And example is a roller-coaster in which participants are guided through a scenario in which they interact with the holographic images of well-known rock stars (in one case, Aerosmith), and then accompany them on a roller-coaster ride to their concert. In the scenario, the drive to the concert is so intense, it is "like a roller-coaster ride" when in fact, it really is a roller-coaster ride (!) So, the holographic images, which are more real than the real members of the band are the "essence" of Aerosmith -- the quintessential Aerosmith. Since viewing the images, and interacting with them was combined with actual physical sensations, it is unlikely that any of the participants will forget the images they saw, and will from that day on, when they think of the group, Aerosmith, they will not think of photographs or even band appearances, but of their "interaction" with the group on the "reality ride" in Walt Disney World.
References:
Brentano, Franz. "The Concept and Purpose of Psychology" and "Psychological Method with Special Reference to its Experiential Basis" Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint, (1874) Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Fodor, J.A. (1987), Psychosemantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Fodor, J.A. (1998), In Critical Condition. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Habermas, Jurgen. Chapter Three: The Idea of the Theory of Knowledge as Social Theory. Knowledge & Human Interest, 1968, publ. Polity Press, 1987
Heidegger, Martin. The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (1954) Indiana University Press, 1975.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The Structure of Behaviour, Beacon Press, 1967.
Polanyi, Michael. On Body and Mind. The New Scholasticism. 43:2 (Spring 1969), pp. 195-204.
Polanyi, Michael. The Structure of Consciousness. Brain. vol. 88 (1965), pp. 799-810.
Polanyi, Michael. Transcendence And Self-Transcendence. Soundings 53: 1 (Spring 1970): 88-94.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, Lev (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Vygotsky, Lev. The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology: A Methodological Investigation (1927) The Collected Works of Vygotsky. Transl. Rene Van Der Veer. Plenum Press, 1987
Wittgenstein Ludwig. Wittgenstein's Lectures, 1932 - 35, Edited by Alice Ambrose, publ. Blackwell, 1979.
Theories // Symbolic approaches (language as symbol)
Dempsey, G. T. (1996) Hayek's Terra Incognita of the Mind. The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 34:13-41.
Dennett, Daniel. Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1981), pp. 150-151.
Derrida, Jacques, Of Grammatology, trans. Gayatri Spivak (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976).
DeVries, Robert P. "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek,Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), p. 317.
Eco, Umberto. Foucault's Pendulum, trans. William Weaver (New York: Harcourt Brace Company, 1992), pp. 9-14.
Eiser, J. Richard. Attitudes, Chaos and the Connectionist Mind (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), pp.225-229.
Galotti, Anna. "Individualism, Social Rules, Tradition: The Case of Friedrich Hayek," Political Theory (May 1987), p. 170.
Gleick, James. Chaos: The Making of a New Science (New York: Penguin, 1987), p. 20.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Philosophical Consequences," The Essence of Hayek ed. Chiaki Nishiyama and Kurt Leube (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984), pp. 229.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Notes on the Evolution of Systems of Rules of Conduct," Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 73.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Pretense of Knowledge," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and the History of Ideas, p. 27.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Primacy of the Abstract," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, p. 43.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Two Types of Mind," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 52-53. Emphasis added.
Hayek, Friedrich. Individualism and Economic Order (London: Henley and Routledge, 1949).
Hayek, Friedrich. Law, Legislation and Liberty: A New Statement of the Liberal Principles of Justice and Political Economy, Vol. I: Rules and Order (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973).
Hayek, Friedrich. The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies in the Abuse of Reason (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1979), p. 46
Hayek, Friedrick. The Sensory Order (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952), pp. 4-5.
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Le Salle, IL: Open Court, 1966).
Husserl, Edmund. Part IIIB: The Way into Phenomenological Transcendental Philosophy from Psychology. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (1954) publ. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1970
James, William. Some Problems of Philosophy (New York, Longmans, 1940), p. 51.
Javanovich, 1989), p. 378. Emphasis in original.
Kant, Immanuel. The Critique of Pure Reason trans. N.K. Smith (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1961).
Lewin, Roger. Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos (New York: Macmillan Publishing
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (New York: Dover Publications, 1959
Mach, Ernst. The Analysis of Sensations (Chicago: Open Court, 1902); quoted in Robert P. deVries, "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek, Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), pp. 316-317.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality, trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), § 117.
Nietzsche, Friedrich.The Will to Power, trans. Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale (New York: Random House, 1967), § 503.
Popper, Karl. The Self and Its Brain, Part I ( New York: Springer-International, 1977), pp. 129-131.
Radnitzky, Gerard. "The Evolution of the Extended Order: Reflections on Hayek's Theory and Its Political Implications," Organization and Change in Complex Systems, ed. Marcelo Alonso (NewYork: Paragon House, 1990).
Strogatz, Stephen and Ian Stewart, "Coupled Oscillators and Biological Synchronization," Scientific American (December 1993), p. 103.
Strong, Tracy. Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of Transfiguration (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), pp. 63-72.
Wakefield, Neville. Postmodernism: The Twilight of the Real (London: Pluto Press, 1990), p. 3.
How the Mind Makes Meaning in E-Learning, Part I
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.15.03 3:20am
Introduction
The human mind evolves by arranging perceptions by means of connections. Applied to learning, this means that it is important to understand how the mind makes connections, at different moments in time, and to develop tasks and learning experiences that complement the connection patterns and preferences. This paper outlines some of the categories around which adults perceive and to develop connections, and offers practical applications for online learning within the framework of those categories.
The Mind Makes Meaning By Means of Connections:
According to connectionist theories of mind, proponents and vociferous opponents of which include such figures as Fodor, Polanyi, Brentano, and Minsky, the human mind arranges perceptions (and develops a capacity to perceive) by means of connections.
According to Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (Thought and Language, and Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes). and other developmental psychologists, the mind makes connections in different ways as the human develops. A young child will make connections when facilitated by peer groups, group interaction, hands-on practice, and by means of "scaffolding," a process by which a new concept is linked to one just mastered, with degrees of difficulty ascending in stair-step fashion.
Although some designers of instructional programs have argued that Vygotsky's ideas should be applied to adult learners, this is not always a good idea. Adult learners make connections in different ways than young children. For an adult, the ability to perceive and to develop connections must be centered around the following categories.
Lived experience: Each person's life and experiences will be different, and each person will have remembered the events in his or her life in a unique way. The individual will process perceptions, which will trigger automatic responses to a previous experience, developing a connection. The lived experience will also shape how a person's mind perceives, and allow the mind to perceive elements that otherwise may be overlooked.
Applied to online learning: Select course content that encourages the learner to make a connection to his/her lived experiences. Reinforce the connections by means of (a) guiding questions; (b) assignments that require the learner to analyze the material and synthesize content with lessons learned from lived experience; (c) ask students to conduct research that brings together individual experience, course content (underlying concepts and principles), and current events.
Media-shaped experience: With virtual experience, and the sensations experienced vicariously through multimedia (video, CD, DVD, Internet, television), it is becoming more likely that people form an opinion of the identity or essence of a thing, person, or entity via the media-generated experience, rather than through real experience. This is perhaps not problematic except when one is confronted with the real thing, and its authenticity is doubted due to having had only experience with the simulacrum. For example, one could visit Walt Disney World or watch a movie (such as Aladdin) and form an idea of quintessential Islamic art and architecture. Then, one could see photographs of the Islamic architectural treasures of Samarqand, Uzbekistan (the former center of the Silk Road) or even visit it and believe that they do not measure up to the standards -- that they are somehow less than authentic. Media is in a position to make things "more real than real" leading to some dissatisfaction with the authentic.
Applied to online learning: Shape course content so that students become aware of the fact that they tend to believe media images, even if they know that they are managed or manipulated. Make certain that the program includes coursework focused on developing students' ability to determine the reliability of information from media (including Internet) sources. Help learners separate credible and reliable information from opinions, propaganda and commercially-motivated sites. Ask the question regularly, and in different contexts: How can one actually determine if information is reliable?
Prior knowledge organized in a socially agreed-upon manner: According to post-structuralist and deconstructionist philosophers such as Michel Foucault and Jurgen Habermas, we learn how to organize knowledge by social interaction. For example, how we make the determination that something is "religion" rather than "government" depends upon how society views the topic at a given time and place. When individuals perceive something, and then are asked to make a classification, they are more likely to success if there is a connection (or a path) to a particular classification process that has been learned in their own socialization process. These can be subjective, and they vary from one society to another. For example, what is considered a crime in one community is not a crime within another. A striking example is female circumcision, which is considered a normal rite of passage in certain African communities, but is considered female genital mutilation in many Western communities.
Applied to online learning: Foreground the knowledge-organization process by asking students to question the assumptions they make as they classify information. Ask students to create categories, then place information in the categories. Then, ask them to question if the categories are/were influenced by certain customs. When students place information in the categories, ask them to provide a one-sentence justification of why and how they made their determination.
Family-determined senses of self and place in society: Connections made to how a person views oneself must take into consideration how the person was raised, and the family (or extended family) environment. If perceptions do not coincide with the image or idea that one has about himself or herself, then it is likely that the perceptions will be disregarded or placed in another category altogether. This is especially the case with gender roles and the notion of how genders should look, appear, behave. If one receives information or perceptions that purport to give information about the self, then it is imperative that there is a clear connection to either what is "inside" or "outside" one's own sense of self and place in society. If not, the perceptions degenerate into a state of meaninglessness.
Applied to online learning: In an early phase of the program, ask students to complete an inventory or survey that gives an idea of socio-demographic backgrounds, as well as key values. For effective learning, place students in groups where individuals have little in common, and then construct a discussion forum or bulletin board, with questions that will encourage active and lively discussions. Design assignments that ask the learner to keep a journal in which they chronicle their reactions, their thoughts, ideas, and responses (including personal opinions). Keep in mind that the goal is to expand a learner's horizons, but not to go so far as to move too far, to the point that it crosses an epistemological boundary region and goes into personal meaninglessness.
Peer group (professional and career-related) determined sense of self and place in society: Categories of socially-acceptable appearances, roles, and behaviors are continuously in flux, and are mediated by a number of factors, including one's profession, the structure and size of one's organization, its geographical location, nationality, gender composition, means of communication (e-mail-dominant, face-to-face meetings), sense of future growth of the profession itself, religious and ethnicity-based factors. It is important to provide as many options as possible, since there are likely to be many images and experiences that will be in an individual's consciousness, based on one's own experience, and that taught to one by one's group, or the media sources deemed credible by the individual.
Applied to online learning: Particularly in social sciences and humanities programs of study, it is important to focus on inclusiveness. Guide the learner into new conceptions of himself or herself so that he/she is able to envision new possibilities. Focus on new trends and/or career opportunities, provide information, ask the student to conduct research, with the goal of asking him/her to engage in the activity of projection so that he/she starts to think of the necessary steps to be able to master the new role.
Fantasy / role-playing notion of self: This is a psychological reality that is often denied (actually, that is one element that makes this group of connections so impossible to obliterate, alter, or erase). Suffice it to say that every person has at least one fantasy-based alter ego. As perceptions come into one's mind, then meaning-making processes involve the fantasy-life of individuals, which have much to do with wishes, dreams, and "the impossible." These change over time -- children often role-play and "play" characters, and then go "underground" as such games change their shape and form. And, yet people attempt to achieve a "protean self" which is to say they would like to be able to reinvent themselves by reshaping themselves, re-costuming, etc. In our society, the most acceptable and applauded form of self-transformation (transmogrification) involves education. In addition, the "dress for success" guides suggest that one's appearance is a determinant of one's destiny.
The joy of adult learning has a great deal to do with re-triggering these early fantasies and the idea that the world has no limits, and shape-changing can continue as long as mental cognition is possible. To trigger real joy and satisfaction, one must validate the fantasies and dreams, help guide individuals so that the realization of such dreams is psychological "healthy" given a person's context (time and place in the world). Otherwise, it would be possible that such "joy" could fall short, and result in delusional disorders. Adults who are liberated from repressing their inner fantasies and encouraged to believe that the world has fewer limits than they've come to believe (after many discouraging forays into the "real" world) find a new energy and enthusiasm for exploring their worlds and lives, and are willing to make more connections between the "new" and their old experiences.
Adult learners often resist learning when they perceive that to make a connection will cause psychological or emotional discomfort.
Applied to online learning: Use image, multimedia, links, and biography to engage the learner in the world of fantasy and endless possibilities. Decriminalize creativity by encouraging the learner to provide imaginative solutions, and giving the response a participation grade. Encourage the learner to break new intellectual and expressive new ground by (a) making new connections by juxtaposing seemingly unrelated material; (b) applying the "wrong" approach or technique to a solve a problem to see where it takes one; (c) find images, colors, and audio files to accompany one's written discourse.
References:
Brentano, Franz. "The Concept and Purpose of Psychology" and"Psychological Method with Special Reference to its Experiential Basis" Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint, (1874) Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Fodor, J.A. (1987), Psychosemantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Fodor, J.A. (1998), In Critical Condition. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Habermas, Jurgen. Chapter Three: The Idea of the Theory of Knowledge as Social Theory. Knowledge & Human Interest, 1968, publ. Polity Press, 1987
Heidegger, Martin. The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (1954) Indiana University Press, 1975.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The Structure of Behaviour, Beacon Press, 1967.
Polanyi, Michael. On Body and Mind. The New Scholasticism. 43:2 (Spring 1969), pp. 195-204.
Polanyi, Michael. The Structure of Consciousness. Brain. vol. 88 (1965), pp. 799-810.
Polanyi, Michael. Transcendence And Self-Transcendence. Soundings 53: 1 (Spring 1970): 88-94.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, Lev (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Vygotsky, Lev. The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology: A Methodological Investigation (1927) The Collected Works of Vygotsky. Transl. Rene
Van Der Veer. Plenum Press, 1987
Wittgenstein Ludwig. Wittgenstein's Lectures, 1932 - 35, Edited by Alice Ambrose, publ. Blackwell, 1979.
Theories // Symbolic approaches (language as symbol)
Dempsey, G. T. (1996) Hayek's Terra Incognita of the Mind. The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 34:13-41.
Dennett, Daniel. Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1981), pp. 150-151.
Derrida, Jacques, Of Grammatology, trans. Gayatri Spivak (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976).
DeVries, Robert P. "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek,Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), p. 317.
Eco, Umberto. Foucault's Pendulum, trans. William Weaver (New York: Harcourt Brace Company, 1992), pp. 9-14.
Eiser, J. Richard. Attitudes, Chaos and the Connectionist Mind (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), pp.225-229.
Galotti, Anna. "Individualism, Social Rules, Tradition: The Case of Friedrich Hayek," Political Theory (May 1987), p. 170.
Gleick, James. Chaos: The Making of a New Science (New York: Penguin, 1987), p. 20.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Philosophical Consequences," The Essence of Hayek ed. Chiaki Nishiyama and Kurt Leube (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984), pp. 229.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Notes on the Evolution of Systems of Rules of Conduct," Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 73.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Pretense of Knowledge," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and the History of Ideas, p. 27.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Primacy of the Abstract," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, p. 43.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Two Types of Mind," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 52-53. Emphasis added.
Hayek, Friedrich. Individualism and Economic Order (London: Henley and Routledge, 1949).
Hayek, Friedrich. Law, Legislation and Liberty: A New Statement of the Liberal Principles of Justice and Political Economy, Vol. I: Rules and Order (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973).
Hayek, Friedrich. The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies in the Abuse of Reason (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1979), p. 46
Hayek, Friedrick. The Sensory Order (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952), pp. 4-5.
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Le Salle, IL: Open Court, 1966).
Husserl, Edmund. Part IIIB: The Way into Phenomenological Transcendental Philosophy from Psychology. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (1954) publ. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1970
James, William. Some Problems of Philosophy (New York, Longmans, 1940), p. 51.
Javanovich, 1989), p. 378. Emphasis in original.
Kant, Immanuel. The Critique of Pure Reason trans. N.K. Smith (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1961).
Lewin, Roger. Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos (New York: Macmillan Publishing
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (New York: Dover Publications, 1959
Mach, Ernst. The Analysis of Sensations (Chicago: Open Court, 1902); quoted in Robert P. deVries, "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek, Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), pp. 316-317.
Minsky, Marvin. Semantic Information Processing. (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1969).
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality, trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), § 117.
Nietzsche, Friedrich.The Will to Power, trans. Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale (New York: Random House, 1967), § 503.
Popper, Karl. The Self and Its Brain, Part I ( New York: Springer-International, 1977), pp. 129-131.
Radnitzky, Gerard. "The Evolution of the Extended Order: Reflections on Hayek's Theory and Its Political Implications," Organization and Change in Complex Systems, ed. Marcelo Alonso (NewYork: Paragon House, 1990).
Strogatz, Stephen and Ian Stewart, "Coupled Oscillators and Biological Synchronization," Scientific American (December 1993), p. 103.
Strong, Tracy. Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of Transfiguration (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), pp. 63-72.
Wakefield, Neville. Postmodernism: The Twilight of the Real (London: Pluto Press, 1990), p. 3.
By: Susan Smith Nash
Category: Online Learning
Date: 04.15.03 3:20am
Introduction
The human mind evolves by arranging perceptions by means of connections. Applied to learning, this means that it is important to understand how the mind makes connections, at different moments in time, and to develop tasks and learning experiences that complement the connection patterns and preferences. This paper outlines some of the categories around which adults perceive and to develop connections, and offers practical applications for online learning within the framework of those categories.
The Mind Makes Meaning By Means of Connections:
According to connectionist theories of mind, proponents and vociferous opponents of which include such figures as Fodor, Polanyi, Brentano, and Minsky, the human mind arranges perceptions (and develops a capacity to perceive) by means of connections.
According to Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (Thought and Language, and Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes). and other developmental psychologists, the mind makes connections in different ways as the human develops. A young child will make connections when facilitated by peer groups, group interaction, hands-on practice, and by means of "scaffolding," a process by which a new concept is linked to one just mastered, with degrees of difficulty ascending in stair-step fashion.
Although some designers of instructional programs have argued that Vygotsky's ideas should be applied to adult learners, this is not always a good idea. Adult learners make connections in different ways than young children. For an adult, the ability to perceive and to develop connections must be centered around the following categories.
Lived experience: Each person's life and experiences will be different, and each person will have remembered the events in his or her life in a unique way. The individual will process perceptions, which will trigger automatic responses to a previous experience, developing a connection. The lived experience will also shape how a person's mind perceives, and allow the mind to perceive elements that otherwise may be overlooked.
Applied to online learning: Select course content that encourages the learner to make a connection to his/her lived experiences. Reinforce the connections by means of (a) guiding questions; (b) assignments that require the learner to analyze the material and synthesize content with lessons learned from lived experience; (c) ask students to conduct research that brings together individual experience, course content (underlying concepts and principles), and current events.
Media-shaped experience: With virtual experience, and the sensations experienced vicariously through multimedia (video, CD, DVD, Internet, television), it is becoming more likely that people form an opinion of the identity or essence of a thing, person, or entity via the media-generated experience, rather than through real experience. This is perhaps not problematic except when one is confronted with the real thing, and its authenticity is doubted due to having had only experience with the simulacrum. For example, one could visit Walt Disney World or watch a movie (such as Aladdin) and form an idea of quintessential Islamic art and architecture. Then, one could see photographs of the Islamic architectural treasures of Samarqand, Uzbekistan (the former center of the Silk Road) or even visit it and believe that they do not measure up to the standards -- that they are somehow less than authentic. Media is in a position to make things "more real than real" leading to some dissatisfaction with the authentic.
Applied to online learning: Shape course content so that students become aware of the fact that they tend to believe media images, even if they know that they are managed or manipulated. Make certain that the program includes coursework focused on developing students' ability to determine the reliability of information from media (including Internet) sources. Help learners separate credible and reliable information from opinions, propaganda and commercially-motivated sites. Ask the question regularly, and in different contexts: How can one actually determine if information is reliable?
Prior knowledge organized in a socially agreed-upon manner: According to post-structuralist and deconstructionist philosophers such as Michel Foucault and Jurgen Habermas, we learn how to organize knowledge by social interaction. For example, how we make the determination that something is "religion" rather than "government" depends upon how society views the topic at a given time and place. When individuals perceive something, and then are asked to make a classification, they are more likely to success if there is a connection (or a path) to a particular classification process that has been learned in their own socialization process. These can be subjective, and they vary from one society to another. For example, what is considered a crime in one community is not a crime within another. A striking example is female circumcision, which is considered a normal rite of passage in certain African communities, but is considered female genital mutilation in many Western communities.
Applied to online learning: Foreground the knowledge-organization process by asking students to question the assumptions they make as they classify information. Ask students to create categories, then place information in the categories. Then, ask them to question if the categories are/were influenced by certain customs. When students place information in the categories, ask them to provide a one-sentence justification of why and how they made their determination.
Family-determined senses of self and place in society: Connections made to how a person views oneself must take into consideration how the person was raised, and the family (or extended family) environment. If perceptions do not coincide with the image or idea that one has about himself or herself, then it is likely that the perceptions will be disregarded or placed in another category altogether. This is especially the case with gender roles and the notion of how genders should look, appear, behave. If one receives information or perceptions that purport to give information about the self, then it is imperative that there is a clear connection to either what is "inside" or "outside" one's own sense of self and place in society. If not, the perceptions degenerate into a state of meaninglessness.
Applied to online learning: In an early phase of the program, ask students to complete an inventory or survey that gives an idea of socio-demographic backgrounds, as well as key values. For effective learning, place students in groups where individuals have little in common, and then construct a discussion forum or bulletin board, with questions that will encourage active and lively discussions. Design assignments that ask the learner to keep a journal in which they chronicle their reactions, their thoughts, ideas, and responses (including personal opinions). Keep in mind that the goal is to expand a learner's horizons, but not to go so far as to move too far, to the point that it crosses an epistemological boundary region and goes into personal meaninglessness.
Peer group (professional and career-related) determined sense of self and place in society: Categories of socially-acceptable appearances, roles, and behaviors are continuously in flux, and are mediated by a number of factors, including one's profession, the structure and size of one's organization, its geographical location, nationality, gender composition, means of communication (e-mail-dominant, face-to-face meetings), sense of future growth of the profession itself, religious and ethnicity-based factors. It is important to provide as many options as possible, since there are likely to be many images and experiences that will be in an individual's consciousness, based on one's own experience, and that taught to one by one's group, or the media sources deemed credible by the individual.
Applied to online learning: Particularly in social sciences and humanities programs of study, it is important to focus on inclusiveness. Guide the learner into new conceptions of himself or herself so that he/she is able to envision new possibilities. Focus on new trends and/or career opportunities, provide information, ask the student to conduct research, with the goal of asking him/her to engage in the activity of projection so that he/she starts to think of the necessary steps to be able to master the new role.
Fantasy / role-playing notion of self: This is a psychological reality that is often denied (actually, that is one element that makes this group of connections so impossible to obliterate, alter, or erase). Suffice it to say that every person has at least one fantasy-based alter ego. As perceptions come into one's mind, then meaning-making processes involve the fantasy-life of individuals, which have much to do with wishes, dreams, and "the impossible." These change over time -- children often role-play and "play" characters, and then go "underground" as such games change their shape and form. And, yet people attempt to achieve a "protean self" which is to say they would like to be able to reinvent themselves by reshaping themselves, re-costuming, etc. In our society, the most acceptable and applauded form of self-transformation (transmogrification) involves education. In addition, the "dress for success" guides suggest that one's appearance is a determinant of one's destiny.
The joy of adult learning has a great deal to do with re-triggering these early fantasies and the idea that the world has no limits, and shape-changing can continue as long as mental cognition is possible. To trigger real joy and satisfaction, one must validate the fantasies and dreams, help guide individuals so that the realization of such dreams is psychological "healthy" given a person's context (time and place in the world). Otherwise, it would be possible that such "joy" could fall short, and result in delusional disorders. Adults who are liberated from repressing their inner fantasies and encouraged to believe that the world has fewer limits than they've come to believe (after many discouraging forays into the "real" world) find a new energy and enthusiasm for exploring their worlds and lives, and are willing to make more connections between the "new" and their old experiences.
Adult learners often resist learning when they perceive that to make a connection will cause psychological or emotional discomfort.
Applied to online learning: Use image, multimedia, links, and biography to engage the learner in the world of fantasy and endless possibilities. Decriminalize creativity by encouraging the learner to provide imaginative solutions, and giving the response a participation grade. Encourage the learner to break new intellectual and expressive new ground by (a) making new connections by juxtaposing seemingly unrelated material; (b) applying the "wrong" approach or technique to a solve a problem to see where it takes one; (c) find images, colors, and audio files to accompany one's written discourse.
References:
Brentano, Franz. "The Concept and Purpose of Psychology" and"Psychological Method with Special Reference to its Experiential Basis" Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint, (1874) Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Fodor, J.A. (1987), Psychosemantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Fodor, J.A. (1998), In Critical Condition. Cambridge, MA: MIT/Bradford
Habermas, Jurgen. Chapter Three: The Idea of the Theory of Knowledge as Social Theory. Knowledge & Human Interest, 1968, publ. Polity Press, 1987
Heidegger, Martin. The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (1954) Indiana University Press, 1975.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The Structure of Behaviour, Beacon Press, 1967.
Polanyi, Michael. On Body and Mind. The New Scholasticism. 43:2 (Spring 1969), pp. 195-204.
Polanyi, Michael. The Structure of Consciousness. Brain. vol. 88 (1965), pp. 799-810.
Polanyi, Michael. Transcendence And Self-Transcendence. Soundings 53: 1 (Spring 1970): 88-94.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, Lev (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Vygotsky, Lev. The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology: A Methodological Investigation (1927) The Collected Works of Vygotsky. Transl. Rene
Van Der Veer. Plenum Press, 1987
Wittgenstein Ludwig. Wittgenstein's Lectures, 1932 - 35, Edited by Alice Ambrose, publ. Blackwell, 1979.
Theories // Symbolic approaches (language as symbol)
Dempsey, G. T. (1996) Hayek's Terra Incognita of the Mind. The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 34:13-41.
Dennett, Daniel. Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1981), pp. 150-151.
Derrida, Jacques, Of Grammatology, trans. Gayatri Spivak (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976).
DeVries, Robert P. "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek,Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), p. 317.
Eco, Umberto. Foucault's Pendulum, trans. William Weaver (New York: Harcourt Brace Company, 1992), pp. 9-14.
Eiser, J. Richard. Attitudes, Chaos and the Connectionist Mind (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), pp.225-229.
Galotti, Anna. "Individualism, Social Rules, Tradition: The Case of Friedrich Hayek," Political Theory (May 1987), p. 170.
Gleick, James. Chaos: The Making of a New Science (New York: Penguin, 1987), p. 20.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Philosophical Consequences," The Essence of Hayek ed. Chiaki Nishiyama and Kurt Leube (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984), pp. 229.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Notes on the Evolution of Systems of Rules of Conduct," Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 73.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Pretense of Knowledge," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and the History of Ideas, p. 27.
Hayek, Friedrich. "The Primacy of the Abstract," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas, p. 43.
Hayek, Friedrich. "Two Types of Mind," New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 52-53. Emphasis added.
Hayek, Friedrich. Individualism and Economic Order (London: Henley and Routledge, 1949).
Hayek, Friedrich. Law, Legislation and Liberty: A New Statement of the Liberal Principles of Justice and Political Economy, Vol. I: Rules and Order (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973).
Hayek, Friedrich. The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies in the Abuse of Reason (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1979), p. 46
Hayek, Friedrick. The Sensory Order (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952), pp. 4-5.
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Le Salle, IL: Open Court, 1966).
Husserl, Edmund. Part IIIB: The Way into Phenomenological Transcendental Philosophy from Psychology. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (1954) publ. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1970
James, William. Some Problems of Philosophy (New York, Longmans, 1940), p. 51.
Javanovich, 1989), p. 378. Emphasis in original.
Kant, Immanuel. The Critique of Pure Reason trans. N.K. Smith (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1961).
Lewin, Roger. Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos (New York: Macmillan Publishing
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (New York: Dover Publications, 1959
Mach, Ernst. The Analysis of Sensations (Chicago: Open Court, 1902); quoted in Robert P. deVries, "The Place of Hayek's Theory of Mind and Perception in the History of Philosophy and Psychology," Hayek, Coordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas ed. Jack Birner and Rudy Van Zijp (London: Routledge, 1994), pp. 316-317.
Minsky, Marvin. Semantic Information Processing. (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1969).
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality, trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), § 117.
Nietzsche, Friedrich.The Will to Power, trans. Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale (New York: Random House, 1967), § 503.
Popper, Karl. The Self and Its Brain, Part I ( New York: Springer-International, 1977), pp. 129-131.
Radnitzky, Gerard. "The Evolution of the Extended Order: Reflections on Hayek's Theory and Its Political Implications," Organization and Change in Complex Systems, ed. Marcelo Alonso (NewYork: Paragon House, 1990).
Strogatz, Stephen and Ian Stewart, "Coupled Oscillators and Biological Synchronization," Scientific American (December 1993), p. 103.
Strong, Tracy. Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of Transfiguration (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), pp. 63-72.
Wakefield, Neville. Postmodernism: The Twilight of the Real (London: Pluto Press, 1990), p. 3.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Online Readiness Assessments: Do They Really Work?
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Are the student online readiness assessments so popular now with colleges and universities really hitting the mark? Are they credible and research-based, or are they constructed from best guesses and "teacher lore"? Some assessments suggest that student success is all about self-discipline, a high-speed Internet connection, and the ability to use a mouse. Others suggest that motivation and the subject matter one intends to study matter most. At any rate, opinions vary. What follows is a review and evaluation of student readiness surveys and instruments, as well as a discussion about the assumptions that underlie the questions that are asked. In addition, the discussion engages in an in-depth probe of the way that motivation (learner and facilitator) affects student performance and learning outcomes.
Perhaps the most inclusive instrument which is both readily available online and does not require registration is the University System of Georgia's SORT (Student Online Readiness Tool) http://www.alt.usg.edu/sort/. According to their website, "seven main topics appear to be closely tied to student success in the online learning environment" and were identified through "research, investigation, and by asking experience online educators and students." The potential online student reads an introduction which explains the rationale behind the instrument(s), and then proceeds to various screens which present interactive, self-scoring forms. Each questionnaire contains ten or fewer questions, and they are unambiguously presented. The following categories are addressed:
--Technology Experience: Addresses the potential student's experience and comfort level with using online technology, computers, and the Internet.
--Learning Preferences: If a student prefers to learn in a face-to-face environment, this survey will help ferret out that information. What it does not address is the fact that sometimes a person's preferred way to learn does not matter when deciding whether or not to take an online course. If the student is compelled to take an online course due to realities of work, deployment, family, or health, then, according to most universities' mission statements, it is incumbent upon the learning provider to make accommodations. "Learning Preferences" is a category that applies only when students truly have choices in the delivery method. Like it or not, that is not always the case.
--Study Habits: Questions revolve around the issue of a student's time management skills, study habits, and approach toward studying in a situation where one is working alone and without the benefit of a study group or tutor. While these skills are undoubtedly useful for online courses, they apply to all courses and educational experiences. This is a very useful tool for all courses.
--Goals and Purposes: Perhaps one of the most innovative elements of this assessment, this section touches on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that underlies an individual's decision to enroll in an online learning program. Will the student receive a promotion at work when they complete their course of study? Will the student be reimbursed for tuition upon successful completion of the course? Or, will the student be penalized at work if they do not complete the course in a timely manner?
The Illinois Online Network's "Self-Evaluation for Potential Online Students" is a basic questionnaire that brings together many of the questions addressed in the SORT evaluation. It is effective for a "quick look" but does not deal with the underlying issues, nor does it separate out the categories of competency, self-concept, motivation, or self-efficacy.
http://www.ion.illinois.edu/IONresources/onlineLearning/selfEval.asp
San Antonio College's "Internet Course Readiness Module" Online provides a readiness assessment along with orientation and grounding. The website is effectively designed, with very engaging graphics.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm
" Orientation http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#orientation#orientation
" Purpose http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#purpose#purpose
" Steps to Successfully Take an Internet Course http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#steps#steps
" Hardware/Software Requirements http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#hardware#hardware
" Steps to access an Internet Course http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#access#access
" Technical Support http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#technical#technical
Learning Technology Series (LTS)'s downloadable tool "Online Readiness Survey and Student Bio Assessment" http://www.ltseries.com/LTS/sitepgs/fees.htm is available for installation on a server with license fees. It is quite basic, but there are a number of potential uses for it. It includes motivation and the student bio can be customized for each class, which provides the professor with student-provided information. There may be a problem in terms of disclosure and privacy, and FERPA experts should review before implementation.
The Pima College Online Readiness assessment is effective for community college students.
http://www.pima.edu/dept/onlineReadiness/
Another community college approach is provided by Monroe Community College's "Online Learning: Is It For Me?" It is quite unique in the sense that it directly addresses myths associated with online courses, and contains a video clip.
Debunking Myths - plus video:
http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/distlearn/minicrs/mod_1classesMe.htm
Laura Gibbs' Online Learning Assessment is thorough, easy-to-use, and elegantly designed, as are all her tools:
http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/index.htm
1. Choosing an Online Course - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/01_online.htm
2. Your Class Preferences - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/02_classprefs.htm
3. Computer Access - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/03_compaccess.htm
4. Computer Skills - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/04_compskills.htm
5. Computer Applications - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/05_compapps.htm
6. Reading & Writing - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/06_readwrite.htm
7. Organizational Skills http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/07_organization.htm
The Foothill College Global Access's E-Learning Orientation site is lively, and despite the use of Microsoft Office graphics (ick - couldn't they design their own??), the idea is effective, and results lively and engaging.
Foothill's Online Learning Orientation is similar to others, but perhaps even more student-oriented. http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/orientation/ What makes it unique is its "Typical Day" site, which helps a student (with a typical life) develop a strategic plan for succeeding with her online course. http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/orientation/typical_day.htm
Unfortunately, fewer and fewer students have "typical days" - many are connecting with wi-fi at a hotel, large Starbucks, or airport hub with hugely interrupted connections. They are synching with their Blackberry or using dial-up in lower-tech hotel rooms. Even more commonly, students are scouring the town they have liberty in to find an Internet café, or waiting in line at field operations for a "morale computer." Colleges and universities must wake up and serve the real needs of real students and forget the "typical day" idea of the "paradigm lost" of 3 or 4 years ago.
Finally, Foothill's Self-Assessment questionnaire
http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/orientation/pre_assessment.htm
demonstrates just how extensive the buy-in is on the idea that students are a) making a free-will choice to take an online course; b) motivated by the same things that motivate a traditional on-campus student, and that the consequences of non-performance are the same as in a traditional setting; c) accepting of the notion that the burden of successful performance rests on them and not with the education provider (the college, faculty member, or course delivery method); d) the course management system and other interfaces do not need to be a part of the orientation; e) contingency delivery methods are not in place in case of aggressive firewalls that disable javascript, java, applets, and other critical elements.
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Are the student online readiness assessments so popular now with colleges and universities really hitting the mark? Are they credible and research-based, or are they constructed from best guesses and "teacher lore"? Some assessments suggest that student success is all about self-discipline, a high-speed Internet connection, and the ability to use a mouse. Others suggest that motivation and the subject matter one intends to study matter most. At any rate, opinions vary. What follows is a review and evaluation of student readiness surveys and instruments, as well as a discussion about the assumptions that underlie the questions that are asked. In addition, the discussion engages in an in-depth probe of the way that motivation (learner and facilitator) affects student performance and learning outcomes.
Perhaps the most inclusive instrument which is both readily available online and does not require registration is the University System of Georgia's SORT (Student Online Readiness Tool) http://www.alt.usg.edu/sort/. According to their website, "seven main topics appear to be closely tied to student success in the online learning environment" and were identified through "research, investigation, and by asking experience online educators and students." The potential online student reads an introduction which explains the rationale behind the instrument(s), and then proceeds to various screens which present interactive, self-scoring forms. Each questionnaire contains ten or fewer questions, and they are unambiguously presented. The following categories are addressed:
--Technology Experience: Addresses the potential student's experience and comfort level with using online technology, computers, and the Internet.
--Learning Preferences: If a student prefers to learn in a face-to-face environment, this survey will help ferret out that information. What it does not address is the fact that sometimes a person's preferred way to learn does not matter when deciding whether or not to take an online course. If the student is compelled to take an online course due to realities of work, deployment, family, or health, then, according to most universities' mission statements, it is incumbent upon the learning provider to make accommodations. "Learning Preferences" is a category that applies only when students truly have choices in the delivery method. Like it or not, that is not always the case.
--Study Habits: Questions revolve around the issue of a student's time management skills, study habits, and approach toward studying in a situation where one is working alone and without the benefit of a study group or tutor. While these skills are undoubtedly useful for online courses, they apply to all courses and educational experiences. This is a very useful tool for all courses.
--Goals and Purposes: Perhaps one of the most innovative elements of this assessment, this section touches on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that underlies an individual's decision to enroll in an online learning program. Will the student receive a promotion at work when they complete their course of study? Will the student be reimbursed for tuition upon successful completion of the course? Or, will the student be penalized at work if they do not complete the course in a timely manner?
The Illinois Online Network's "Self-Evaluation for Potential Online Students" is a basic questionnaire that brings together many of the questions addressed in the SORT evaluation. It is effective for a "quick look" but does not deal with the underlying issues, nor does it separate out the categories of competency, self-concept, motivation, or self-efficacy.
http://www.ion.illinois.edu/IONresources/onlineLearning/selfEval.asp
San Antonio College's "Internet Course Readiness Module" Online provides a readiness assessment along with orientation and grounding. The website is effectively designed, with very engaging graphics.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm
" Orientation http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#orientation#orientation
" Purpose http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#purpose#purpose
" Steps to Successfully Take an Internet Course http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#steps#steps
" Hardware/Software Requirements http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#hardware#hardware
" Steps to access an Internet Course http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#access#access
" Technical Support http://www.accd.edu/sac/online/html/isc/test.htm#technical#technical
Learning Technology Series (LTS)'s downloadable tool "Online Readiness Survey and Student Bio Assessment" http://www.ltseries.com/LTS/sitepgs/fees.htm is available for installation on a server with license fees. It is quite basic, but there are a number of potential uses for it. It includes motivation and the student bio can be customized for each class, which provides the professor with student-provided information. There may be a problem in terms of disclosure and privacy, and FERPA experts should review before implementation.
The Pima College Online Readiness assessment is effective for community college students.
http://www.pima.edu/dept/onlineReadiness/
Another community college approach is provided by Monroe Community College's "Online Learning: Is It For Me?" It is quite unique in the sense that it directly addresses myths associated with online courses, and contains a video clip.
Debunking Myths - plus video:
http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/distlearn/minicrs/mod_1classesMe.htm
Laura Gibbs' Online Learning Assessment is thorough, easy-to-use, and elegantly designed, as are all her tools:
http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/index.htm
1. Choosing an Online Course - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/01_online.htm
2. Your Class Preferences - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/02_classprefs.htm
3. Computer Access - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/03_compaccess.htm
4. Computer Skills - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/04_compskills.htm
5. Computer Applications - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/05_compapps.htm
6. Reading & Writing - http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/06_readwrite.htm
7. Organizational Skills http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/readiness/07_organization.htm
The Foothill College Global Access's E-Learning Orientation site is lively, and despite the use of Microsoft Office graphics (ick - couldn't they design their own??), the idea is effective, and results lively and engaging.
Foothill's Online Learning Orientation is similar to others, but perhaps even more student-oriented. http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/orientation/ What makes it unique is its "Typical Day" site, which helps a student (with a typical life) develop a strategic plan for succeeding with her online course. http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/orientation/typical_day.htm
Unfortunately, fewer and fewer students have "typical days" - many are connecting with wi-fi at a hotel, large Starbucks, or airport hub with hugely interrupted connections. They are synching with their Blackberry or using dial-up in lower-tech hotel rooms. Even more commonly, students are scouring the town they have liberty in to find an Internet café, or waiting in line at field operations for a "morale computer." Colleges and universities must wake up and serve the real needs of real students and forget the "typical day" idea of the "paradigm lost" of 3 or 4 years ago.
Finally, Foothill's Self-Assessment questionnaire
http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/orientation/pre_assessment.htm
demonstrates just how extensive the buy-in is on the idea that students are a) making a free-will choice to take an online course; b) motivated by the same things that motivate a traditional on-campus student, and that the consequences of non-performance are the same as in a traditional setting; c) accepting of the notion that the burden of successful performance rests on them and not with the education provider (the college, faculty member, or course delivery method); d) the course management system and other interfaces do not need to be a part of the orientation; e) contingency delivery methods are not in place in case of aggressive firewalls that disable javascript, java, applets, and other critical elements.
Richard Whately and Internet-Enhanced Composition
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
HISTORICAL SIDEBAR
Richard Whately (1787 - 1863)
Richard Whately's Elements of Rhetoric (1828) contains ideas and insights that are remarkably applicable to a person who desires to write a persuasive essay in which he/she "takes a position." Whately, an ordained Anglican priest who was educated and taught at Oxford University, was the author of numerous books that explored the relationships of persuasive discourse, rhetoric, and religion. A few more details about Whately's life can be found at sacklunch.com's entry for him: http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/W/RichardWhately.html.
Whately's ideas about "testimony" make a lot of sense today. Although we often think of testimony as something that belongs only in a court of law or perhaps in certain churches, the reality is that "testimony" is a much broader concept.
Testimony occurs whenever an expert expresses a viewpoint. It also encompasses most quotes or citations you may use, whether they involve case studies or the verbal picture that someone paints for you in order to define the concept(s).
According to Whately, a factual testimony carries more weight than simple opinion. How do you tell the difference between fact and opinion? A fact can be checked out and verified. Think of "rules of evidence."
Kinds of testimony include the following:
---Spontaneous testimony. Whately argues that unplanned testimony is persuasive because it has the appearance of being genuine and "unscripted." Keep this in mind when you have an argument that could be helped by "man on the street" kinds of interviews. We all know that the way that one asks questions can be pretty coercive, and yet that fact is rarely acknowledged. In the Internet, spontaneous testimony often appears in chat rooms, newsgroups, usenet, and discussion boards. How many of the people posting in these places have a hidden agenda? How many are trying to boost traffic to their own sites? These are not questions that occur to most readers. Most people take what appears to be spontaneous testimony at face value.
---Negative testimony. Ironically, it's not necessary to speak in order to give a negative testimony. Silence can have the same impact, especially if you don't deny negative character assaults. On the other hand, Whately acknowledges that if you take the bait and spend a lot of time defending negative claims, you end up reinforcing the negative rather than refuting it. A good example of this is the case of negative political campaign ads. To take a look at Presidential television ads, check out the American Museum of the Moving Image's wonderful presentation of The University of Oklahoma's Political Communication Center's collection. The spots can be found here: http://www.ammi.org/livingroomcandidate/. You can view the digitized television ads with RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. Download is smooth, and the site's great flexibility for different connection speeds makes accessing them a real pleasure. I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect that these streaming media files are housed with Akamai (http://www.akamai.com ).
---Concurrent testimony. If several unrelated individuals have the same or similar testimonies, it has a lot more impact than the testimony of a single individual. Think of space alien abduction stories. Would you believe that alien abductions take place if ten individuals who do not know each other and have had no common contact all offer testimony that it occurred to them? Would you believe it if only one person claimed to have been abducted by aliens? For archives of alien abduction stories, please visit Alien-Ufos.com's archive of first-person testimonials: http://www.alien-ufos.com/abductionstories.shtml.
--Character of the witness. Whately's not breaking any new ground here. Of course, the majority of individuals are going to believe the testimony of an individual who is a solid, respected citizen over that of an individual who breaks society's rules. Ironically, sometimes the "outsiders" are more truthful. Nevertheless, they're going to have a harder time of convincing anyone.
--Testimony of an adversary. According to Whately, the words of an adversary can be quite persuasive, especially if they are speaking in a way that is not expected. For example, if an adversary suddenly begins to support the opposite position, the impact can be profound.
Whately's emphasis on the "burden of proof" is very helpful to the writer who is embarking on a "taking a position" paper. Whately is realistic about the nature of written discourse, and he accepts that "truth" can become a concept to managed in the service of persuasion.
Although it's not too advisable to end on a quote, this one is irresistible:
"It is one thing to wish to have truth on our side, and another to wish sincerely to be on the side of truth."
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
HISTORICAL SIDEBAR
Richard Whately (1787 - 1863)
Richard Whately's Elements of Rhetoric (1828) contains ideas and insights that are remarkably applicable to a person who desires to write a persuasive essay in which he/she "takes a position." Whately, an ordained Anglican priest who was educated and taught at Oxford University, was the author of numerous books that explored the relationships of persuasive discourse, rhetoric, and religion. A few more details about Whately's life can be found at sacklunch.com's entry for him: http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/W/RichardWhately.html.
Whately's ideas about "testimony" make a lot of sense today. Although we often think of testimony as something that belongs only in a court of law or perhaps in certain churches, the reality is that "testimony" is a much broader concept.
Testimony occurs whenever an expert expresses a viewpoint. It also encompasses most quotes or citations you may use, whether they involve case studies or the verbal picture that someone paints for you in order to define the concept(s).
According to Whately, a factual testimony carries more weight than simple opinion. How do you tell the difference between fact and opinion? A fact can be checked out and verified. Think of "rules of evidence."
Kinds of testimony include the following:
---Spontaneous testimony. Whately argues that unplanned testimony is persuasive because it has the appearance of being genuine and "unscripted." Keep this in mind when you have an argument that could be helped by "man on the street" kinds of interviews. We all know that the way that one asks questions can be pretty coercive, and yet that fact is rarely acknowledged. In the Internet, spontaneous testimony often appears in chat rooms, newsgroups, usenet, and discussion boards. How many of the people posting in these places have a hidden agenda? How many are trying to boost traffic to their own sites? These are not questions that occur to most readers. Most people take what appears to be spontaneous testimony at face value.
---Negative testimony. Ironically, it's not necessary to speak in order to give a negative testimony. Silence can have the same impact, especially if you don't deny negative character assaults. On the other hand, Whately acknowledges that if you take the bait and spend a lot of time defending negative claims, you end up reinforcing the negative rather than refuting it. A good example of this is the case of negative political campaign ads. To take a look at Presidential television ads, check out the American Museum of the Moving Image's wonderful presentation of The University of Oklahoma's Political Communication Center's collection. The spots can be found here: http://www.ammi.org/livingroomcandidate/. You can view the digitized television ads with RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. Download is smooth, and the site's great flexibility for different connection speeds makes accessing them a real pleasure. I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect that these streaming media files are housed with Akamai (http://www.akamai.com ).
---Concurrent testimony. If several unrelated individuals have the same or similar testimonies, it has a lot more impact than the testimony of a single individual. Think of space alien abduction stories. Would you believe that alien abductions take place if ten individuals who do not know each other and have had no common contact all offer testimony that it occurred to them? Would you believe it if only one person claimed to have been abducted by aliens? For archives of alien abduction stories, please visit Alien-Ufos.com's archive of first-person testimonials: http://www.alien-ufos.com/abductionstories.shtml.
--Character of the witness. Whately's not breaking any new ground here. Of course, the majority of individuals are going to believe the testimony of an individual who is a solid, respected citizen over that of an individual who breaks society's rules. Ironically, sometimes the "outsiders" are more truthful. Nevertheless, they're going to have a harder time of convincing anyone.
--Testimony of an adversary. According to Whately, the words of an adversary can be quite persuasive, especially if they are speaking in a way that is not expected. For example, if an adversary suddenly begins to support the opposite position, the impact can be profound.
Whately's emphasis on the "burden of proof" is very helpful to the writer who is embarking on a "taking a position" paper. Whately is realistic about the nature of written discourse, and he accepts that "truth" can become a concept to managed in the service of persuasion.
Although it's not too advisable to end on a quote, this one is irresistible:
"It is one thing to wish to have truth on our side, and another to wish sincerely to be on the side of truth."
Monday, June 21, 2004
Ethics and the Internet: Issues and Online Resources
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
As access to the Internet expands, the temptation to misuse it does as well, particularly among those who see immediate gain, the potential for malfeasance with impunity, and an opportunity to join, undermine, prey upon, or simply play within a "First World" virtual space. Ironically, organizations and internet service providers limit access by employing filters, spam-guards, and "web-washer" programs which can effectively disable an online education program. Further, surveillance by one's institution or the ISP is one thing, but it is now commonly accepted that various security and defense agencies are monitoring e-mail and websites. What are the ethical issues? Who decides the rules?
Internet ethics must be considered within a global playing field marked by vast gaps in economic condition. Tensions between have's and have-not's bring to the surface issues dealing with privacy, surveillance, and intellectual property (if such a thing exists in the way we understood it to exist a mere 15 years ago). The primary objective for compiling a list of online articles and resources dealing with a wide range of ethical issues involving the Internet is to encourage thoughtful discussion. What are current views on ethics and ethical issues and the Internet? What are potential implications for teaching and learning with technology? Must everyone abide by the same rules, or if you are from a team with fewer resources, are you somehow able to play by your own rules? This list was compiled by Susan Smith Nash and Edward Chen.
Definitions and Discussions on Internet Ethics
Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties released An Advocacy Handbook for the Non Governmental Organisations: The Council of Europe¡?s Cyber-Crime Convention 2001 and the additional protocol on the criminalisation of acts of a racist or xenophobic nature committed through computer systems, 01 December 2003.
http://www.cyber-rights.org/
Information Technology & Cyberspace: Their Impact on Rights and Liberties
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/VicCCL.html
NET-ETHIQUETTE Mini Case Studies of Dysfunctional Human Behavior on the Net
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/Netethiquettecases
The Netcheck Commerce Bureau was established in 1995 to promote ethical business practices worldwide and to increase consumer and corporate confidence in purchasing products and services on-line on the Internet.
http://www.netcheck.com/
A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/
Ethics and the Internet
ftp://nic.merit.edu/documents/rfc/rfc1087.txt
AiCE is a multi-disciplinary resource and research centre composed of a diverse group of people who care about the social effects of information and communications technology and seek to identify associated ethical problems and guidelines.
http://www.aice.net/
Applied Ethics Resources
http://www.ethicsweb.ca/resources/
Computer Ethics Institute
http://www.brook.edu/its/cei/cei_hp.htm
IN SEARCH OF A COMMON RATIONALE FOR COMPUTER ETHICS
http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/common-rat.html
Information Ethics: On the Philosophical Foundation of Computer Ethics
http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/~floridi/ie.htm
Web Clearinghouse for Engineering and Computing Ethics
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jherkert/ethicind.html
The Ethics of the Use of Internet Filters
Will New Standards Help Curb Spam?
http://info.computer.org/computer/homepage/0204/TechNews/index.htm
SpamCon Foundation
http://spamcon.org/about/
Heavyweights turn to authentication in e-mail spoofing fight
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0403/01/technology-77959.htm
EarthLink sues alleged e-mail spammers including Michigan firm
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/19/technology-68613.htm
A new spam loophole: poorly guarded home computers
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/17/technology-66474.htm
Inbox trauma: New anti-spam tools falter
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/12/technology-32671.htm
New law doesn't cut spam
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/07/c03-29184.htm
Congress approves first national anti-spam legislation
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/09/technology-344796.htm
Senate votes to impose tough limits on unwanted commercial e-mails
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0310/23/technology-305141.htm
Junk e-mail foes target spam king
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0208/04/a01-553425.htm
The Internet Watch Foundation
http://www.iwf.org.uk/index.html
Adult Filters
Mandated library filters could affect Internet access gap
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/25/technology-202040.htm
Supreme Court gives OK to forced anti-porn filters for Internet in libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/24/technology-200660.htm
Court strikes down law intended to keep kids from online porn
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0303/07/technology-102376.htm
Supreme Court looks at free speech and Internet filters in public libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0303/06/technology-101313.htm
Bush administration appeals Internet-pornography ruling to Supreme Court
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0206/21/technology-520113.htm
Anti-censorship advocate locks horns with anti-pornography filterers
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0206/18/technology-517558.htm
Federal judges throw out anti-porn law requiring filtering software at libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0205/31/-503601.htm
Porn in the court: Librarians repeating unspeakable words in battle over Internet smut
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0204/01/technology-453875.htm
SafetySurf is the Internet's oldest and leading source of internet monitoring and internet filtering software for parents. All parental control products are available for IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD with 100% Security!
http://www.safetysurf.com/
Adult content filter for MMS launched
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/8805.shtml
Mobile guidelines to bar kids from adult content
http://www.silicon.com/networks/mobile/0,39024665,39117847,00.htm
Pornography on the Web
The Adult Chamber of Commerce
http://www.adultchamber.com/members/advice.htm
Nasty Web Sights
http://www.ibiblio.org/maggot/jomc/graphy4.html
Web Sites Against Child Porn
http://www.wsacp.org/
Pornography and the Internet in the United States
http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/fall1999/www_presentations/c_hogg/default.htm
It's true: Whitehouse for sale
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/17/technology-66476.htm
Web-Surfing at Work
More firms check staff e-mail
Worker efficiency, lawsuit protections cited as reasons for growing tracking by employers.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/careers/0312/21/b01-14337.htm
Web Surfing at Work
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/27/technology-76001.htm
Privacy virtually non-existent on the Web
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/10/technology-59792.htm
The Censorware Project was formed by a group of writers and internet activists in late 1997. Our goal is to bring to light information about censorware products which is, by its nature, hidden. http://censorware.net/about.shtml
Acceptable Use
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES - A HANDBOOK
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/go/VDOE/Technology/AUP/home.shtml#intro
Technology Plans: Resources Online Acceptable Use Policies
http://www.netc.org/tech_plans/aup.html
Critiquing Acceptable Use Policies
http://www.io.com/~kinnaman/aupessay.html
INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
http://www.nlrg.com/lawlet/iup.htm
The Digital Divide
'Digital divide' summit splits over press freedom
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/11/technology-4586.htm
Digital Divide Basics
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/content/sections/index.cfm?key=2
Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/contents.html
Bridging the digital divide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/10/99/information_rich_information_poor/466651.stm
U.S. Cites Race Gap in Use of Internet
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/divide9.htm
Global Digital Divide Initiative
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Digital+Divide+Initiative
Digital Divide's New Frontier
http://www.childrenspartnership.org/pub/low_income/
Second-Level Digital Divide
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_4/hargittai/
Gender and the Digital Divide Seminar Series
http://www.worldbank.org/gender/digitaldivide/
The Evolution of the Digital Divide: How Gaps in Internet Access May Impact Electronic Commerce
http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol5/issue3/hoffman.html
THE GROWING DIGITAL DIVIDE IN ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION
http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/waddell.htm
Hacking
Hackers may have gotten access to personal info for 20,000 people at U. of Georgia
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/30/technology-50070.htm
Is the RIAA "hacking you back"
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28842.html
Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a Tool for Influencing Foreign Policy http://www.nautilus.org/info-policy/workshop/papers/denning.html
Bracing for guerrilla warfare in cyberspace
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/cyberterror/
Two views of hacking
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/qandas/
Scenes from a mall: Friday night by the Cinnabon with the 'hacker underground'
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/culture/
Hackers, crackers and Trojan horses: A primer
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/primer/
Computer Hacking and Ethics
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hackers.html
Hacking/Phreaking Reform
http://www.totse.com/en/hack/introduction_to_hacking/hackingphreaki173200.html
Cyber-Bullying, File-Swapping, Copyright Law, and Other Issues
Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, and University of Maine law school clinics.
http://www.chillingeffects.org/
Cyberbullying stalks students
http://www.detnews.com/2003/editorial/0311/09/a13-319592.htm
Dutch Supreme Court rejects suit against makers of Kazaa file swapping program
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/20/technology-13950.htm
Chinese government's efforts to control Internet access aren't effective, expert says
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0311/22/technology-331947.htm
Copyright Law FAQ (1/6): Introduction ~ Copyright Law FAQ (6/6): Appendix
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/law/copyright/faq/
New computer virus variant floods Web sites of anti-spam activists
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/04/technology-341223.htm
10 Big Myths about copyright explained
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
China vows to curb junk e-mail -- but it's politics, not annoyance, at issue
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/03/technology-53942.htm
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
As access to the Internet expands, the temptation to misuse it does as well, particularly among those who see immediate gain, the potential for malfeasance with impunity, and an opportunity to join, undermine, prey upon, or simply play within a "First World" virtual space. Ironically, organizations and internet service providers limit access by employing filters, spam-guards, and "web-washer" programs which can effectively disable an online education program. Further, surveillance by one's institution or the ISP is one thing, but it is now commonly accepted that various security and defense agencies are monitoring e-mail and websites. What are the ethical issues? Who decides the rules?
Internet ethics must be considered within a global playing field marked by vast gaps in economic condition. Tensions between have's and have-not's bring to the surface issues dealing with privacy, surveillance, and intellectual property (if such a thing exists in the way we understood it to exist a mere 15 years ago). The primary objective for compiling a list of online articles and resources dealing with a wide range of ethical issues involving the Internet is to encourage thoughtful discussion. What are current views on ethics and ethical issues and the Internet? What are potential implications for teaching and learning with technology? Must everyone abide by the same rules, or if you are from a team with fewer resources, are you somehow able to play by your own rules? This list was compiled by Susan Smith Nash and Edward Chen.
Definitions and Discussions on Internet Ethics
Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties released An Advocacy Handbook for the Non Governmental Organisations: The Council of Europe¡?s Cyber-Crime Convention 2001 and the additional protocol on the criminalisation of acts of a racist or xenophobic nature committed through computer systems, 01 December 2003.
http://www.cyber-rights.org/
Information Technology & Cyberspace: Their Impact on Rights and Liberties
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/VicCCL.html
NET-ETHIQUETTE Mini Case Studies of Dysfunctional Human Behavior on the Net
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/Netethiquettecases
The Netcheck Commerce Bureau was established in 1995 to promote ethical business practices worldwide and to increase consumer and corporate confidence in purchasing products and services on-line on the Internet.
http://www.netcheck.com/
A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/
Ethics and the Internet
ftp://nic.merit.edu/documents/rfc/rfc1087.txt
AiCE is a multi-disciplinary resource and research centre composed of a diverse group of people who care about the social effects of information and communications technology and seek to identify associated ethical problems and guidelines.
http://www.aice.net/
Applied Ethics Resources
http://www.ethicsweb.ca/resources/
Computer Ethics Institute
http://www.brook.edu/its/cei/cei_hp.htm
IN SEARCH OF A COMMON RATIONALE FOR COMPUTER ETHICS
http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/common-rat.html
Information Ethics: On the Philosophical Foundation of Computer Ethics
http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/~floridi/ie.htm
Web Clearinghouse for Engineering and Computing Ethics
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jherkert/ethicind.html
The Ethics of the Use of Internet Filters
Will New Standards Help Curb Spam?
http://info.computer.org/computer/homepage/0204/TechNews/index.htm
SpamCon Foundation
http://spamcon.org/about/
Heavyweights turn to authentication in e-mail spoofing fight
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0403/01/technology-77959.htm
EarthLink sues alleged e-mail spammers including Michigan firm
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/19/technology-68613.htm
A new spam loophole: poorly guarded home computers
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/17/technology-66474.htm
Inbox trauma: New anti-spam tools falter
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/12/technology-32671.htm
New law doesn't cut spam
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/07/c03-29184.htm
Congress approves first national anti-spam legislation
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/09/technology-344796.htm
Senate votes to impose tough limits on unwanted commercial e-mails
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0310/23/technology-305141.htm
Junk e-mail foes target spam king
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0208/04/a01-553425.htm
The Internet Watch Foundation
http://www.iwf.org.uk/index.html
Adult Filters
Mandated library filters could affect Internet access gap
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/25/technology-202040.htm
Supreme Court gives OK to forced anti-porn filters for Internet in libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/24/technology-200660.htm
Court strikes down law intended to keep kids from online porn
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0303/07/technology-102376.htm
Supreme Court looks at free speech and Internet filters in public libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0303/06/technology-101313.htm
Bush administration appeals Internet-pornography ruling to Supreme Court
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0206/21/technology-520113.htm
Anti-censorship advocate locks horns with anti-pornography filterers
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0206/18/technology-517558.htm
Federal judges throw out anti-porn law requiring filtering software at libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0205/31/-503601.htm
Porn in the court: Librarians repeating unspeakable words in battle over Internet smut
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0204/01/technology-453875.htm
SafetySurf is the Internet's oldest and leading source of internet monitoring and internet filtering software for parents. All parental control products are available for IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD with 100% Security!
http://www.safetysurf.com/
Adult content filter for MMS launched
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/8805.shtml
Mobile guidelines to bar kids from adult content
http://www.silicon.com/networks/mobile/0,39024665,39117847,00.htm
Pornography on the Web
The Adult Chamber of Commerce
http://www.adultchamber.com/members/advice.htm
Nasty Web Sights
http://www.ibiblio.org/maggot/jomc/graphy4.html
Web Sites Against Child Porn
http://www.wsacp.org/
Pornography and the Internet in the United States
http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/fall1999/www_presentations/c_hogg/default.htm
It's true: Whitehouse for sale
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/17/technology-66476.htm
Web-Surfing at Work
More firms check staff e-mail
Worker efficiency, lawsuit protections cited as reasons for growing tracking by employers.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/careers/0312/21/b01-14337.htm
Web Surfing at Work
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/27/technology-76001.htm
Privacy virtually non-existent on the Web
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/10/technology-59792.htm
The Censorware Project was formed by a group of writers and internet activists in late 1997. Our goal is to bring to light information about censorware products which is, by its nature, hidden. http://censorware.net/about.shtml
Acceptable Use
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES - A HANDBOOK
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/go/VDOE/Technology/AUP/home.shtml#intro
Technology Plans: Resources Online Acceptable Use Policies
http://www.netc.org/tech_plans/aup.html
Critiquing Acceptable Use Policies
http://www.io.com/~kinnaman/aupessay.html
INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
http://www.nlrg.com/lawlet/iup.htm
The Digital Divide
'Digital divide' summit splits over press freedom
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/11/technology-4586.htm
Digital Divide Basics
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/content/sections/index.cfm?key=2
Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/contents.html
Bridging the digital divide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/10/99/information_rich_information_poor/466651.stm
U.S. Cites Race Gap in Use of Internet
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/divide9.htm
Global Digital Divide Initiative
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Digital+Divide+Initiative
Digital Divide's New Frontier
http://www.childrenspartnership.org/pub/low_income/
Second-Level Digital Divide
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_4/hargittai/
Gender and the Digital Divide Seminar Series
http://www.worldbank.org/gender/digitaldivide/
The Evolution of the Digital Divide: How Gaps in Internet Access May Impact Electronic Commerce
http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol5/issue3/hoffman.html
THE GROWING DIGITAL DIVIDE IN ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION
http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/waddell.htm
Hacking
Hackers may have gotten access to personal info for 20,000 people at U. of Georgia
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/30/technology-50070.htm
Is the RIAA "hacking you back"
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28842.html
Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a Tool for Influencing Foreign Policy http://www.nautilus.org/info-policy/workshop/papers/denning.html
Bracing for guerrilla warfare in cyberspace
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/cyberterror/
Two views of hacking
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/qandas/
Scenes from a mall: Friday night by the Cinnabon with the 'hacker underground'
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/culture/
Hackers, crackers and Trojan horses: A primer
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/primer/
Computer Hacking and Ethics
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hackers.html
Hacking/Phreaking Reform
http://www.totse.com/en/hack/introduction_to_hacking/hackingphreaki173200.html
Cyber-Bullying, File-Swapping, Copyright Law, and Other Issues
Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, and University of Maine law school clinics.
http://www.chillingeffects.org/
Cyberbullying stalks students
http://www.detnews.com/2003/editorial/0311/09/a13-319592.htm
Dutch Supreme Court rejects suit against makers of Kazaa file swapping program
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/20/technology-13950.htm
Chinese government's efforts to control Internet access aren't effective, expert says
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0311/22/technology-331947.htm
Copyright Law FAQ (1/6): Introduction ~ Copyright Law FAQ (6/6): Appendix
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/law/copyright/faq/
New computer virus variant floods Web sites of anti-spam activists
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/04/technology-341223.htm
10 Big Myths about copyright explained
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
China vows to curb junk e-mail -- but it's politics, not annoyance, at issue
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/03/technology-53942.htm
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Preliminary Online Curriculum and Course Development GANTT Chart
PREPARED BY: susan smith nash, ph.d.
This GANTT chart provides a timeline for the development of online courses, with sequences mapped out.
Tasks may be expanded. A separate document which contains a narrative description of each task should accompany this.
Description of Task
1.1 Currriculum Finalized
1.2 Templates Approved
2.1 Subject Matter Experts Teams Formed
2.2 Lead SME Selected
3.1 Required Texts Selected
3.2 Initial Course Syllabus Developed
3.3 Draft Text
3.4 Initial Course Lectures and Documents
4.1 Instructional Design & Best Practices
4.2 Instructional Strategies Reviewed
4.3 Preliminary Course Draft Completed
5.1 SME team Phase I revision / expansion
5.2 Docs and Resources added
5.3 SME team Phase II revision / expansion
6.1 Unit Advisory Committee review
6.2 Academic Council Review
7.1 Instructor Needs Assessed
7.2 Instructor Orientation / Guides
7.3 Instructional Best Practices Reviewed
8.1 Uploading into CMS
8.2 Faculty Run-Through w/CMS
PREPARED BY: susan smith nash, ph.d.
This GANTT chart provides a timeline for the development of online courses, with sequences mapped out.
Tasks may be expanded. A separate document which contains a narrative description of each task should accompany this.
Description of Task
1.1 Currriculum Finalized
1.2 Templates Approved
2.1 Subject Matter Experts Teams Formed
2.2 Lead SME Selected
3.1 Required Texts Selected
3.2 Initial Course Syllabus Developed
3.3 Draft Text
3.4 Initial Course Lectures and Documents
4.1 Instructional Design & Best Practices
4.2 Instructional Strategies Reviewed
4.3 Preliminary Course Draft Completed
5.1 SME team Phase I revision / expansion
5.2 Docs and Resources added
5.3 SME team Phase II revision / expansion
6.1 Unit Advisory Committee review
6.2 Academic Council Review
7.1 Instructor Needs Assessed
7.2 Instructor Orientation / Guides
7.3 Instructional Best Practices Reviewed
8.1 Uploading into CMS
8.2 Faculty Run-Through w/CMS
Virtual Internships for Online Business Classes: A Project
Colleges and universities are engaging in virtual projects with developing countries throughout the world. Such projects give faculty an opportunity to collaborate with their peers, to conduct research, and to strengthen their organizations. Students who enroll in virtual internships or who participate in the project are able to gain experience in employing "appropriate technology" e-solutions in places where information sharing, education, training, and community and health support are desperately needed. Funding for such projects may come from transnational organizations such as the United Nations, or various relief or developmental agencies. The following example could be used for a business or information management class which seeks to help rural microfinance institutions in the "South" or lesser developed nations.
The Elements in a Virtual Business Class Internship / Collaboration Project to Use Web-Based Education in Rural Microfinance Institutions
Web-Based Resources Open to the Public
-a- Multi-use, multi-function web-logs for collaborations, information sharing, announcements, press releases, public relations
-b- Website portal pages and/or a site map that shows an inventory of resources, including links to directories, library resources, training materials, white papers, technical assistance. Some are sites that are linked would be password-protected. Others are available for sharing, particularly ones that contain "yellow pages" type directories and calendars of upcoming events.
-c- Portal for gateway to shared or collaborative information. This would include bulletin boards, announcements, threaded discussion boards, and public weblogs.
Web-Based Resources with Private Access Only
-a- Proprietary information and information resources
-b- Log-in and access to central server to the central information hub, which would include high-level applications (accessed remotely from personal computers and network hubs using thin-client software)
-c- Information management / project guidance through integrated customized "umbrella organization" portal
-d- Financial services provided via out-sources services -- payments, funds transfers, etc.
-e- Resource bartering provided via e-store, e-commerce solutions
-f- Open-source courseware for online training and education // distance collaborations
Web-Based Resources Open to Public in "Lite" Version, Restricted Access to "Full" Versions
-a- Virtual library of white papers
-b- Training materials: worksheets, procedure and policy guidelines, legal forms
-c- Educational materials: lessons, educational materials, workbooks
-d- Curriculum and online courses
Information and Resource Networking
Philosophy: The primary objective is to utilize a team effort in order to share resources, gain insight, enable programs to work effectively, and to train local and regional personnel. Sustainability is emphasized, as well as the development of productive linkages.
-Step 1- Directory of microfinance institutions
The directory provides online information for individual who often have difficulty locating information. It should be made available in English as well as the language of the country.
-a- Provide address, overview of services
-b- List key contacts
-c- List of loan products, services, support
-d- One-paragraph overview of the economy and communities served
-e- Overview of growth areas / challenges
-Step 2- Set Up Virtual Libraries
Virtual libraries allow the sharing of valuable information. Ideally, the interface for uploading will allow qualified individuals to classify the article and upload it onto the correct directory on the server.
-a- Develop a classification scheme, or numbering / filing protocols
-b- Organize existing white papers, technical manuals, documents, online journals, etc. within the classification scheme developed earlier
-c- Create a portal page with site map
-d- Develop protocols for meta-tags and links
-e- Determine which directories and files are to be password protected
-f- Develop "lite" versions of information to be made available for free
-g- Create forms and templates to be used in training and in the administration of loans. Examples include loan worksheets, loan flowcharts, secrets to successful lending and borrowing, borrower's handbook.
-Step 3- Weblogs
The weblogs are intended for the individuals at the individual microfinance institutions to stay in touch with each other, and to communicate with the virtual interns.
-a- Administrator selected for weblog
-b- Categories of topics selected
-c- Links to other blogs
-d- RSS feeds established
-e- Contributors selected to write weekly updates and provide information releases on new developments
-Step 4- Microfinance Institution Cooperation and Collaboration Task Force
By establishing a task force, concrete projects can be identified and implemented. Ideally, the participants will make a commitment that virtual internship lead to ongoing cooperation.
-a- Select participants from regional centers and mentoring university
-b- Define responsibilities and identify achievable goals
-c- Set deadlines
-d- Develop tactics, with an action plan and concrete steps - assign individuals to complete the tasks
-Step 5- Training and Education
The transfer of skills, knowledge, and philosophy is not possible without a robust training solution. It is not economical without utilizing online resources.
-a- Onsite training with access to distance expert who responds to specific issues, provides customized guidance
-b- Online / distance training
-c- Hybrid solution, with materials and curriculum downloaded from the internet with facilitators onsite
-d- Distance consultants provide feedback via chat and e-mail during the onsite part of the training.
Colleges and universities are engaging in virtual projects with developing countries throughout the world. Such projects give faculty an opportunity to collaborate with their peers, to conduct research, and to strengthen their organizations. Students who enroll in virtual internships or who participate in the project are able to gain experience in employing "appropriate technology" e-solutions in places where information sharing, education, training, and community and health support are desperately needed. Funding for such projects may come from transnational organizations such as the United Nations, or various relief or developmental agencies. The following example could be used for a business or information management class which seeks to help rural microfinance institutions in the "South" or lesser developed nations.
The Elements in a Virtual Business Class Internship / Collaboration Project to Use Web-Based Education in Rural Microfinance Institutions
Web-Based Resources Open to the Public
-a- Multi-use, multi-function web-logs for collaborations, information sharing, announcements, press releases, public relations
-b- Website portal pages and/or a site map that shows an inventory of resources, including links to directories, library resources, training materials, white papers, technical assistance. Some are sites that are linked would be password-protected. Others are available for sharing, particularly ones that contain "yellow pages" type directories and calendars of upcoming events.
-c- Portal for gateway to shared or collaborative information. This would include bulletin boards, announcements, threaded discussion boards, and public weblogs.
Web-Based Resources with Private Access Only
-a- Proprietary information and information resources
-b- Log-in and access to central server to the central information hub, which would include high-level applications (accessed remotely from personal computers and network hubs using thin-client software)
-c- Information management / project guidance through integrated customized "umbrella organization" portal
-d- Financial services provided via out-sources services -- payments, funds transfers, etc.
-e- Resource bartering provided via e-store, e-commerce solutions
-f- Open-source courseware for online training and education // distance collaborations
Web-Based Resources Open to Public in "Lite" Version, Restricted Access to "Full" Versions
-a- Virtual library of white papers
-b- Training materials: worksheets, procedure and policy guidelines, legal forms
-c- Educational materials: lessons, educational materials, workbooks
-d- Curriculum and online courses
Information and Resource Networking
Philosophy: The primary objective is to utilize a team effort in order to share resources, gain insight, enable programs to work effectively, and to train local and regional personnel. Sustainability is emphasized, as well as the development of productive linkages.
-Step 1- Directory of microfinance institutions
The directory provides online information for individual who often have difficulty locating information. It should be made available in English as well as the language of the country.
-a- Provide address, overview of services
-b- List key contacts
-c- List of loan products, services, support
-d- One-paragraph overview of the economy and communities served
-e- Overview of growth areas / challenges
-Step 2- Set Up Virtual Libraries
Virtual libraries allow the sharing of valuable information. Ideally, the interface for uploading will allow qualified individuals to classify the article and upload it onto the correct directory on the server.
-a- Develop a classification scheme, or numbering / filing protocols
-b- Organize existing white papers, technical manuals, documents, online journals, etc. within the classification scheme developed earlier
-c- Create a portal page with site map
-d- Develop protocols for meta-tags and links
-e- Determine which directories and files are to be password protected
-f- Develop "lite" versions of information to be made available for free
-g- Create forms and templates to be used in training and in the administration of loans. Examples include loan worksheets, loan flowcharts, secrets to successful lending and borrowing, borrower's handbook.
-Step 3- Weblogs
The weblogs are intended for the individuals at the individual microfinance institutions to stay in touch with each other, and to communicate with the virtual interns.
-a- Administrator selected for weblog
-b- Categories of topics selected
-c- Links to other blogs
-d- RSS feeds established
-e- Contributors selected to write weekly updates and provide information releases on new developments
-Step 4- Microfinance Institution Cooperation and Collaboration Task Force
By establishing a task force, concrete projects can be identified and implemented. Ideally, the participants will make a commitment that virtual internship lead to ongoing cooperation.
-a- Select participants from regional centers and mentoring university
-b- Define responsibilities and identify achievable goals
-c- Set deadlines
-d- Develop tactics, with an action plan and concrete steps - assign individuals to complete the tasks
-Step 5- Training and Education
The transfer of skills, knowledge, and philosophy is not possible without a robust training solution. It is not economical without utilizing online resources.
-a- Onsite training with access to distance expert who responds to specific issues, provides customized guidance
-b- Online / distance training
-c- Hybrid solution, with materials and curriculum downloaded from the internet with facilitators onsite
-d- Distance consultants provide feedback via chat and e-mail during the onsite part of the training.
