Politics of digital learning—Thinking education with Bernard Stiegler

Abstract

Bernard Stiegler is known as a leading philosopher of technics. He has developed an original interpretation of technics as an externalized epiphylogenetic memory that (1) remembers in the place of the human being, who appears therefore as a forgetful being and (2) is collective and constitutes a technological community, that is different from any ethnical-political community. Stiegler has also examined the social and political consequences of contemporary technology. Technics are not neutral. Contemporary digital technologies claim to inform but more fundamentally they produce pulsions in a way that is destructive to psychic and collective individuation and leads to a generalized proletarianization, where the problem is not biopower or capitalism but lack of attention and desire. Can the digital world become a new public space? Stiegler is quite pessimistic, but in principle, to some extent, it is possible to seize and convert ‘the means of memory production.’ Stiegler's insights are invaluable in the task of evaluating new learning technologies, because he analyzes political community from the double point of view of technology, and of the care of younger generations. In this article, I present Stiegler's philosophical theory and show how it can be applied to education and digital learning environments.     

网络学习评价研究

网络学习评价是网络学习系统的重要组成部分,网络学习注重学习者学习过程的评价.基于网络学习评价系统与传统的学习评价系统的不同,本文首先分析了网络学习评价的理论基础及其价值取向,继而全面阐述了网络学习评价的实施原则.最后,对实施过程中容易出现的问题作了分析.     

Contextualizing learning in the World Wide Web: accounting for the impact of culture

There is a developing urgency about how Australian universities should best make use of the World Wide Web (WWW) to meet the needs of culturally diverse students, especially those of Asian origin. This urgency is the result of both global and internal pressures, some political, (consider the imminence of the 'Hanson movement' against a multicultural Australia), some economic, some social. Moreover, to miss the current opportunity to exploit WWW technologies to design, implement and market effective instructional courses will only work to disadvantage Australia in a growing but globally competitive educational market. One of the most pressing problems in this context is how to provide instructional materials in a model of teaching and learning that is cost-effective, makes extensive use of WWW technologies to provide for flexibility in learning, and that is culturally appropriate. This paper outlines an approach and model for investigating and developing culturally appropriate instructional materials. It is hoped that through publication, we might obtain feedback on the validity of this model and also widen the potential of its scope beyond its immediate application to the Australian context. The following hypotheses are central to our work: (1) Existing cultural influences in instructional materials designed and delivered on the WWW by Australian universities, and intended for use by culturally diverse students, are minimal and ineffective. (2) The efficacy of learning based in the use of the WWW for instructional purposes can be improved by the adoption of a culturally appropriate model of instructional design. (3) Culture is a significant factor in determining the effectiveness of learning materials created in the WWW and intended for use by culturally diverse students. In testing these hypotheses, we intend to provide the empirical research to help determine the most appropriate ways of using the WWW to stimulate effective learning at tertiary level for all learners, whatever their cultural heritage or perspectives     

Learning of argumentation skills in networked and face-to-face environments

In a teaching experiment 16 face-to-face and 11 e-mailFinnish university students studied academic debatingin an argumentation course. The 19 students of thecontrol group did not engage in the course. The courseinvolved two lectures, exercises with argumentativetexts, and face-to-face or e-mail seminar discussionsbased on these texts. Free debate, role play,problem-solving and panel discussion were the devicesused in organizing the course. The level of thestudents' argumentation skills were measured in apretest before the course and in a post-test after it.The results were compared between and within thegroups. The results indicated that during the e-mailstudies the students learned to identify and chooserelevant grounds, while the face-to-face studentsimproved in putting forward counterargumentation. Thecontrol group did not improve in these skills. Thestudy suggests that argumentation skills can bepromoted by short-term e-mail and face-to-faceteaching, and that practising argumentation indifferent learning environments develops differentkinds of argumentation skills.     

Challenging ideals of connected learning: the networked configurations for learning of migrant youth in the Netherlands

New infrastructures that dramatically change our possibilities for knowledge production and learning have also brought forward ideals on ‘new’ connectivity. Two important ideals of connectivity are that of the individual who tailors his or her knowledge among expansively dispersed resources, and the ideal of access to multiple, diverse resources that provide individuals rich learning opportunities. In order to better understand what cultural norms are implied in our ideals of connectivity, we argue, they must be tested in the crucible of empirical data through the analysis of the actual socio-technical practices of different social and cultural groups. Through a combination of ego-network analysis and a qualitative, in-depth discursive approach, we analyze the networked learning practices of three ethnically different groups in the Netherlands from an extensive research study called ‘Wired Up'. We comparatively describe Dutch youth as ‘unrooted' learners, Moroccan-Dutch youth as ‘routed' learners, and Turkish-Dutch youth as ‘rooted' learners. We propose the idea of the Networked Configuration for Learning as a means to contrast the learning opportunities individuals and groups have in relation to particular offline and online connections, their historical geographies, the development of learning ‘places’, and particular learning affinities.     

Exploring learning culture in Finnish and South Korean classrooms

The authors aimed to investigate learning culture in classrooms at schools to understand education in Finland and South Korea. For this, Finnish and South Korean university students made observations on classrooms in partner countries and reflected on both education systems based on their own previous experiences (2011–2014). Afterwards, researchers from both countries categorized and thematized the experiences of the participants, and interpreted the main themes to figure out the learning culture in Finland and South Korea. As a result, the learning culture in both countries were characterized into six themes: teacher's autonomy in teaching, authenticity in learning, relationships between teachers and students, learning assessment, student engagement, and student well-being. Noteworthy features of high-performing education were recognized through the observation on the learning culture in both countries.     

Using case studies in business education to promote networked thinking: findings of an intervention study

Case studies are central to the way management is currently taught at universities. Among other benefits attributed to the case study method is that it promotes networked thinking by learners. Networked thinking takes account of interactions and repercussions, making it crucial to decision-making within the complex system of rules that shapes current business reality. However, there is virtually no empirical evidence of the extent to which the case study method actually delivers the advantages attributed to it. This paper aims to remedy that gap in the literature. The paper considers the extent to which the case study method promotes networked thinking on the part of students on business and management courses. The research is designed as an intervention study involving pre- and post-testing. The study finds that students who have worked on a case study correctly identify more interactions in post-testing than in pre-testing.     

Cognitive attainment in online learning environments: matching cognitive and technological presence

To know whether students' achievements are the result of online interaction and not just a consequence of individual differences themselves, it seems essential to link the cognitive results to the students' online behavior (technological presence). In technological presence, interaction is based on the degree in which the online student senses the availability of, and connectedness with, other students, the teacher, and the context. Cognitive presence as a part of the interaction process of teaching and learning reflects the level of accomplishment in online learning environments (cognitive attainment). The purpose of this article is to show some evidence of the mutual influence of the students' technological behaviors and the students' cognitive factors in online learning environments – including teacher and instructional design factors. Two thousand one-hundred thirty written computer-mediated communications from 88 participants in four prototypical online learning activities have been analyzed for this purpose. The analysis shows the influence of technological presence on the quality of learning results of the online knowledge construction process. The conclusions point out the importance of considering technological presence as a new and complementary type of presence as it provides relevant information for instructional and technological design.     

内隐学习理论视域下的大学英语教学

本文从认知心理学内隐学习理论的角度,探讨了如何利用内隐学习规律促进英语教学,在英语教学中创设文化语境,发挥教师的主导作用,促进学生内隐学习和外显学习的转化,提高英语教学效率。     

The problem of now: Bernard Stiegler and the student as consumer

Abstract

The student as consumer has emerged as a common motif and point of contestation in educational philosophy over the past two decades, as part of the critique of the neoliberal educational reform agenda that followed Lyotard’s (1984 Lyotard, F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. Manchester: MUP.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) mapping of the postmodern condition. In addition, the consumer-orientated student has assumed a problematic presence in secondary-school classrooms and higher education institutions, a fact that has led to the general lament for the dehumanisation of education under a market logic. Expanding upon these narratives of ‘loss’, Bernard Stiegler’s account of the student as consumer builds upon the Lyotardian view to reveal the neurological, generational and psychical implications of what he terms the ‘battle for intelligence’, which is a result of the proletarianisation of knowledge via the imposition of marketing technologies on the psyche of the youth. This leads not only to a consumer mind-set co-opting education, but a process of ‘short-circuiting’ disrupting the educative process itself. This article will consider Stiegler’s apocalyptic vision of youth malaise in comparison to the previous notion of students as consumers in the classical and Marxist narratives he revises. It will then outline the new challenges this poses to contemporary educators, as well as the possibility of translating his utopian call to action to pedagogical practice, both of which constitute the 'problem of now'.     

高等院校职业指导的理论探讨

对职业指导、职业定向教育、职业素质等概念进行了探讨,指出了高等学校的职业指导是一个教育和培养的过程;职业定向教育是指导学生个体不断提高职业素质的过程;提出了大学生职业素质是由专业素质和保健素质两部分组成。同时,文章还对职业指导的价值、目标、内容、途径和方法进行了分析和讨论。     

Using technology for enhancing reflective writing,metacognition and learning

There exists broad agreement on the value of reflective practice for personal and professional development. However, many students in higher education (HE) struggle with the concept of reflection, so they do not engage well with the process, and its full value is seldom realised. An online resource was developed to facilitate and structure the recording, storage and retrieval of reflections with the focus on facilitating reflective writing, developing metacognitive awareness and, ultimately, enhancing learning. Ten undergraduate students completed a semi-structured questionnaire prior to participating in a focus group designed to elicit a common understanding of reflective practice. They maintained reflective practice online for 6 weeks and participated in post-study individual interviews. Findings provide evidence for the positive acceptance, efficiency and effectiveness of the intervention. Using a structured approach to online reflective practice is empowering and ultimately enhances undergraduate learning through the development of metacognition.     

Action learning in virtual higher education: applying leadership theory

This paper reports the historical foundation of Northeastern University’s course, LDR 6100: Developing Your Leadership Capability, a partial literature review of action learning (AL) and virtual action learning (VAL), a course methodology of LDR 6100 requiring students to apply leadership perspectives using VAL as instructed by the author, questionnaire and survey results of students who evaluated the effectiveness of their application of leadership theories using VAL and insights believed to have been gained by the author administering VAL. Findings indicate most students thought applying leadership perspectives using AL was better than considering leadership perspectives not using AL. In addition as implemented in LDR 6100, more students evaluated VAL positively than did those who assessed VAL negatively.     

Language and culture learning in higher education via telecollaboration

This article focuses on the ways of researching the process of designing, developing, and using telecollaboration (also known as online intercultural exchange) to facilitate the learning of both linguistic and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in higher education courses in different educational contexts in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Although telecollaboration would intuitively seem to be an ideal medium for learning another language and about another culture, extensive research has shown that this learning process takes years and faces many challenges. This paper situates the research on language and culture learning within the broader scope of language and intercultural education (see Pedagogies, 8(2), for a report of an interview with Michael Byram, one of the originators of the concept of ICC). A multinational example of the integration of telecollaborative networks in European university language classes collaborating online, the INTENT project, is described. In addition, a telling case, the Cultura model, implemented in the United States, Europe, and Asia, demonstrates a successful approach (with accompanying research) to telecollaboration for language and culture learning. However, there are also invisible factors and unanticipated challenges that teachers and learners need to understand in order to benefit from these telecollaborative environments; these are examined at the end of the article.     

校园文化建设与高职人文教育

加强高职人文教育是时代发展的需要,重视校园文化建设,特别是校园景观文化建设,是高职院校实施人文教育的重要途径。顺德职业技术学院以校园空间及其物质文化建设为切入点,以丰富多彩的校园文化活动为依托,在建设校园文化、加强高职人文教育方面进行了有益的尝试。     

Governing student assessment: administrative rules,silenced academics and performing students

In this paper, the author reports on an analysis of an Australian university’s assessment procedure. The procedure – a major governance document of the university – is deconstructed by way of a Foucauldian discourse analysis in order to consider how students and academics are governed. There were three major findings. The dominant discourse operating in relation to student assessment was that of administration; a finding consistent with previous work in this area and at other universities. The main subject position in this discourse of administration is one of silence for the academic and of a performer for the student, one who is rewarded with the award of a degree if the performance is satisfactory. The passion to learn and to teach is nowhere to be found in this administrative discourse, one not unique to the said university, indeed one that flourishes in Western universities today.