Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The infantilisation of learning
- 2 Educational technologies and pedagogy
- 3 Piaget and natural learning
- 4 Piaget's conception of the framework: from instincts to intentionality
- 5 The infant as scientist
- 6 The socio-cultural approach to learning
- 7 Towards discursive education
- Appendix
- References
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The infantilisation of learning
- 2 Educational technologies and pedagogy
- 3 Piaget and natural learning
- 4 Piaget's conception of the framework: from instincts to intentionality
- 5 The infant as scientist
- 6 The socio-cultural approach to learning
- 7 Towards discursive education
- Appendix
- References
- Index
Summary
In his book The Mighty Micro. The Impact of the Computer Revolution (1979) Evans writes
we have to admit that thousands of years of academic effort all add up to very little understanding of what the teacher is doing when he teaches and how the pupil is learning what he is being taught.
(Evans, 1979, p. 116)Yet Evans goes on to claim that we think education is something simple, something we can easily accomplish if we only find the right formula in science or in technology, or a combination of both. So seductive is this idea of simplicity that Evans himself, in spite of his scepticism, goes on to claim that computers provide a solution to the age-old enigma of education. And he is not alone. Technologies like films, radio, television, Skinner boxes, and computers have all been hailed as the solution to all sorts of educational problems. Backed by the latest in science, the new technology will inspire and motivate pupils, adapt to their individual interests and abilities, give them access to the latest in knowledge, replace teachers, and reform classrooms or even make them obsolete. Schooling will be fun, easy, and successful.
Since the late 1970s these claims and high hopes have been touted for computers and the Internet. The scientific support has primarily come from the ideas of Noam Chomsky and Jean Piaget.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Towards Discursive EducationPhilosophy, Technology, and Modern Education, pp. 1 - 3Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010