ICT, Learning and Socrates

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p-1 Brendan Tangney Centre for Research in IT in Education Trinity College Dublin [email protected]

description

Short talk presented at an Inventorium.Org event on the role of ICT in learning and the need to take a much broader look at our vision of education.

Transcript of ICT, Learning and Socrates

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Brendan Tangney

Centre for Research in IT in Education

Trinity College Dublin

[email protected]

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“……for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness

in the learner…., because they will not use their

memories; they will trust to it and not remember of

themselves. The specific which you have discovered is

an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you

give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of

truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have

learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and

will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome

company, having the show of wisdom without the

reality.”

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Plato on Writing

“……for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness

in the learners' souls, because they will not use their

memories; they will trust to the external written

characters and not remember of themselves. The

specific which you have discovered is an aid not to

memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your

disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth;

they will be hearers of many things and will have

learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and

will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome

company, having the show of wisdom without the

reality.”

Plato – The Phaedrus 360BC (Jowett Translation)

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Gartner’s (1995) Hype Cycle

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The availability of new VLE systems for schools in

Ireland will allow staff shortages to be offset by

teachers who can get a lot more done in less time.[Software for Schools website]

Taking full advantage of the benefits of ICT in teaching

and learning will encourage and enable all students to

become self-assured and self-directed learners.[Smart Schools = Smart Economy]

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Take away points1. Above all we have to ask ourselves in a deep,

meaningful and challenging way – What is our vision or

understanding of the purpose of education? Is it merely

to train workers with the (currently) desired skills for the

smart economy or are we serious about fostering the

other dimensions of what it means to be human such as

ethical, happy, creative, emotionally intelligent,

spiritual........?

2. We should apply the much praised practice of critical

thinking to the too often naive technological (or

economical) determinist thinking which still pervades

much of the discourse on (ICT and) Learning.

3. ICT in the classroom needs sustained commitment but

as part of a which wider reform of schooling and

assessment.

4. Content helps but is not king. The truly significant

contribution ICT can make is to help facilitate deeply

engaging learning activities – what Papert called “hard

fun” and Plato called a “living discourse”.

5. Opportunity for IRL.INC is to create truly 21C learning

schools and the tools which they need.