learning & unlearning

I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It involves Russia. Woody Allen Reading is time consuming. When it involves unfamiliar terminology on novel topics it can also be hard intellectual labour. Worse still, some academic writing seems deliberately obtuse. No surprise then that a colleague who had been collecting feedback from learners following an online course reported they had objected to the amount of required reading. However the students' gripe was that the online nature of the course and the assessment tasks involved (evaluating what they had read on discussion boards) had required them to actually read the readings. One of the students observed that in a traditional seminar style course you can pick up the gist of the readings from other people, particularly from the teacher. In fact, just attending the seminar and bluffing some acquaintance with the literature is sufficient engagement, as long as you pass the exam or whatever the

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. --W.B. Yeats If you ask 'why use technology in learning ?' You get a lot of obvious and interesting answers e.g.: the right tool for the job: twenty first century learners must use twenty first century tools, the explosion of information in every subject area means teacher telling the kids how it is is less valuable than previously lifelong learnin g. More than ever education is about learning to (re-and un-)learn, to adapt, to make decisions. the knowledge economy : the skills kids (and not just kids) are going to need are handling the masses of information they are subject to. the range of stimulating media and activities available through technology personalisation : the ability to fashion your own route through content when and as it suits you collaboration may not necessarily be easier online, but it can be more multifaceted, involve more people and go on over a longer hours, days even weeks. Indeed, m