Fall 1998
Vol 7 Issue 1
IN THIS ISSUE...
Peeking Around the TechnoCorner
Getting Rid of (Visible) Instructional Technology
A Philosopher's View of the Net and the Future
Demo of a Real Time Remote Experiment
What the Future Holds for Learning Languages
SEE ALSO...
The Forum
Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction
A Philosopher's View of the Net and the Future
An phone interview with Barry Vaughan, MCC
Alan Levine, MCLI
NOTE: The audio version of this phone interview, taped on September 18, 1998, is available in RealAudio format.
AL: Tell us a bit about yourself.
BV: I'm a native of Oklahoma who was born and raised in a small town called Shawnee. During my undergraduate program at Oklahoma Baptist University, I majored in theology and minored in Philosophy. From there I went to the Master's program at Baylor University. I then taught for two years at my alma mater, Oklahoma Baptist University, before I entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Oklahoma in Norman (I hope to be defending my dissertation in the next month or so). This is my third year as a teacher in the Philosophy department at MCC.
AL: Let's talk about technology and Philosophy ... How did you get started?
BV: In 1994 a friend who was responsible for information services at the University of Oklahoma introduced me to this thing called the Internet. He said, "This is going to change the nature of education ... if you are serious about post-secondary information, you must understand this thing called the World Wide Web, and you must find some way to incorporate it into what you do."
I learned how to get around on the web and began developing the basics of web page creation with HTML. Quite frankly, in the beginning, I did not know exactly what I would use it for. The first application that occurred to me came because, as a commuter student myself, I knew that many of my students could not always meet me during my office hours. So, if I could create a web page with class resources, my students would know where to get information they might need if they had missed a class or if they just wanted to review. Since I had already created the overheads, I began placing study guides and lecture outlines on my web page.
I was worried that students would begin skipping class if they knew they could get the notes on-line, but this did not happen. Students downloaded the notes before class, reviewed them and, during class, they did not have to waste time writing. It gave them more freedom to participate in classroom discussion.
Next, I began to think of other resources that would increase the impact on my students. First was an interactive dictionary of technical terms we use in Philosophy with links to related resources. I began looking for material that was no longer copyrighted which could be marked up with HTML and added to my electronic library. This, while it is not yet quite finished, is a resource for most of the major Philosophers in the Western tradition. It was a long time before I even thought about actually using the web as the medium to teach a Philosophy class.
I began to receive e-mail from people all over the world. These individuals had come across my site via a web search. I began to think about people who may not be in a class but may have a general interest in Philosophy. Most web sites then were merely collections of links to other sites, and these generally were places where authors listed their publications, vita, and their courses. However, there really was not a substantial amount of information out there. I was beginning to think of the Internet as a resource, a kind of public library.
It was then just a small step to see the web as a venue for actually teaching Philosophy; this was an opportunity presented to me when I joined the faculty at Mesa.
AL: Can you describe some of the courses you have taught over the web?
BV: For the past few semesters I have been offering my 101 course, "Introduction to Philosophy." The biggest obstacle in teaching Philosophy over the net is communication. Unlike courses like History or Literature in which a person can read and understand the subject matter, Philosophy is so abstract -- the works my students read are often translated works, and much of the learning comes from the discussion of topics. The method which has worked the best for me is the use of an asynchronous web board. This is a site where students can post questions and answers. I also require them to keep a journal of their readings, responses to the readings, and the readings' theses and major arguments. Rather than just have them turn in the journals to me, I have them post them on the web board, where other students can read and respond.
AL: Given the use of technology, have you seen changes in your role as a teacher or a philosopher?
BV: The vehicle of the Internet does not significantly change my role. I'm a college professor, whether I am in class, on closed circuit television, or across the Internet. Now professionally, there are some changes in the way we interact with colleagues. The Internet gives us an ability to communicate and research in a manner that was not possible before. I am able to share pre-publication drafts with colleagues worldwide, perhaps even with the very person I am arguing against. Also, I can get feedback before it even goes to the refereed journals.
AL: What do you see in your crystal ball, say three years from now, what do you see you and your students doing? Where does technology fit in there?
BV: One of the things I expect is that bandwidth to our homes will increase dramatically. I would expect a greater use of two-way video communications in our teaching process. This will happend once it is reliable, accessible, and cheap.
One thing that may surprise everyone is that I do not believe we will see a huge increase in the number of students taking Internet courses. There is something about the experience of being in a room interacting with other students. People will still come to the campus; it's just that what we do in the classroom that will change. We will incorporate more and more technology in the classroom. Students will use portable computing devices; they'll be much more dependent on computers in doing their research. There will be more collaborative projects rather than individual written assignments. Perhaps even web sites will be created by student teams.
AL: What else do you see in the crystal ball?
BV: We may see a movement away from large centralized campuses. With the shift from an industrial economy to an information economy, the need to live in huge metropolises is going to disintegrate. People are going to rediscover the benefits of living in small communities, much like the one I grew up in. This is a response to concerns of pollution, water supply, and because jobs will allow for a remote work environment. As this happens, educational institutions must be available to these people. We will see a revival of the small liberal arts colleges and community colleges in small urban centers. This is a good thing. I think de-centralization fosters creativity.
AL: What are some social or economic ramifications that you see for technology?
BV: In terms of history, we are very much in the same situation that occurred in Europe with the advent of movable type. People think that was the invention of printing, but we had printing long before Gutenburg's invention. Movable type simply made printing cost effective. Suddenly, very cheap books were available to lots of people, which caused an absolute explosion of literature. Prior to the Renaissance and the Reformation, there were centralized authorities for the dissemination of information. This was the Church. Because of the explosion of literacy, which was brought about by affordable printing, the power of authority moved from the centralized hierarchical authority of the Church to the more local regions. As the Church's power waned, there was a rise in new institutions that disseminated information, places that we would call the University.
I think we are in a very similar situation now. We are in a transition period. Instead of academic institutions being the primary source of information, people like Matt Drudge are disseminating information. "You can find anything you want to on the net!" One of the problems, and this is the same problem they faced with the disintegration of the Church's authority, is how do we evaluate information? How do we decide what is legitimate? How do we verify truth and accuracy? I don't think we know the answers to these questions. This is one of the largest issues facing us today.
Remember, after the invention of movable type and the explosion of books in Europe, it took sixty years before someone thought of putting in page numbers. The table of contents took even longer. Who would have thought of organizing a library by a card catalog? These are conventions that come about because of a crisis of information overload. Such overloads caused us to find ways of organizing and verifying information.
That's where we are right now; it is an absolute frontier. There are no rules and no laws. Academics as well as politicians and the public at large should be discussing these issues right now, because no one has a clue how to evaluate all of the new information.