EDU 533, Diigo link

I found some websites that may come in handy someday.  They are neatly bookmarked at https://www.diigo.com/user/richardlabonte. Enjoy!

The article “Technology, knowing and learning” was authored by G. Anthony Gorry who is affiliated with Rice University.  The author has a splendid writing style and starts his article by writing about the industrial age, in particular the train.  Which he is using as a metaphor compared with the technology age; “with this shift in perspective, a new mental geography emerged: what had been far was now close; what had been fast, was now slow.”(Gorry, 2009)

He basically runs though a list of times that humanity changed; when developed alphabets were more wide spread, then to the printing press, and telegraph lines.  These were all great advancements in sharing information for their time.  Now we are in the age of the greatest knowledge sharing of all time a sort of a warning to this:

“We will accede to technology's demands, paying its price for the benefits it bestows. Companies will accept the loss of certain kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing, viewing the cost as amply repaid by the new ease of sharing they have gained.”(Gorry, 2009)

He bestows this observation upon us because, he noticed a growing trend of management students wanting bullet points to sum up a 90 minute presentation, he has also observed that in the real world too. Managers wanting a quick presentation of summed up bullet points and he feels that society may loose something as a whole if we all get sucked into this method of learning and working.

If I were actively teaching, I suppose I would try to avoid bullet points if possible so that I may gauge the students’ conceptualization of the given subject, teaching shouldn’t be about memorization of facts that will be pushed out for a different set of facts the next school year.  Unfortunately, no child left behind has forced the educators hand in teaching for a test, memorizing more bullet points.

Reference:

Gorry, G. A. (2009). Technology, knowing and learning. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 7(2), 178-180. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2009.7

Image courtesy of www.knowyourmeme.com

Fall is the best season

Fall is my favorite season for many reasons: First, everything is pumpkin, pies and coffee and muffins and all baked goods.  The leaves are now turning the most fabulous shades of yellow, orange and red.  Baseball season is winding down and with the Red Sox in contention it makes fall that much better.  Of course Football season is underway, there is nothing quite like a lazy Sunday, eating and watching football all day.  The days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler, but this is the season to ride your motorcycle in the countryside of New England.