CompuServe Messages

Hi Pat, Eric makes an interesting point and I think it is headed in the right direction. He makes a point about the message being wrong. I would like to expand that to focus on the idea that it is misguided and that is root of its wrongness. I feel that the focus of education over the last few decades or more has been the educators focusing from out side in. Basing the needs and directions for change on the teachers conditions: unions, hours, resources. The usual response when questioning the education system or methods seems to be an excuss of "well you don't understand how hard …..". The potential impact for technology on education excites me a great deal. Now don't get me wrong, I tend to agree with Eric that the technology itself cannot make an crooked company straight, or bad message good, or a poor teacher great. I believe that the technology will however push the emphasis back to the learning experiance, from the learners perspective. These wonderful new tools will allow children and adults alike to have more control over what they explore, experience and learn. I believe learning is a very natural act and an inate part of our lives. Unfortunately the naturalness has been sacrificed with our current systems for the sake of the systems. New tools will empower the learner and creative educators (who are also just as much learners). The system, the unions and the sour grapes in the system will resist and try to control the education or learning process, but I believe that technology will empower us all to be both educators and students. Anyone able to put together a powerful multimedia presentation, software package or illusion will be able to contribute easily to the cause, especially when the data hiways open further to make knowlege acessable on a truely global level. Learning (and I prefer this term to education because of the emphasis of focus on the student as apposed to the teacher) is nothing more than one aspect of our growth. Technology is one result. As with all things they have the potential to be of positive or negative value. I think it then must come down to your own outlook on the future. If you have an optimistic view of the future it is very easy to see the wonderful potential of technology. If however you have no hope for the future I am sure technology likely scars you from all angles not the least of which is education. With regards to VR we need to look no further than the simple Lemonade stand software, that came out years ago, to appreciate VR's potential. Image for a moment a Virtual Corporation created to simulate the going ons in a large business environment. When 'Billy' puts on his VR gear he immerses with the rest of the class into Big Corp. VRinc.. Once inside the company the students interact with other students and more importantly the rest of the employees at Big Corp.. The other employees are virtual simulations of real life mangers, secretaries and the like. Instead of six month Co-Op programe in business admin. you can go on a six hour virtual workday. The decisions you make while in this virtual company while doing your virtual job would give you immediate feed back, possible the ability to replay and try a different decision and see the difference in outcome. Big Corp.'s losses don't come out of anyones pocket and no harm is done. The VR environment offers amazing posibilities to the creative of mind to allow for the experiance of information and in this way acquire knowledge in a new exciting way. I will stop the ranting and raving here and hope that I have provoked a though or two. Dwayne.