The very readable and friendly, \u201c25 Years of Ed Tech\u201d beautifully describes my professional journey to date. Prior to reading the first third of the book, I knew my own lived experiences with Ed Tech, but I was surprised at how he perfectly encapsulated what I suspected about certain aspects of it. These include how constructivism has a place somewhere but not everywhere, the development of e-learning, and the appearance of digital diploma mills.<\/p>\n
As a radiation expert, I agree that constructivism is \u201can approach that doesn\u2019t apply equally across all disciplines; quantum physics, for example, is almost entirely theoretical and largely counter-intuitive, so bringing your own experience of quarks isn\u2019t going to help\u201d (Weller, 2020, p.30). Even now, critical safety training such as nuclear power plant operations continues to rely on a more traditional method of teaching, which is what I believe Weller meant. Constructivist learning, as well as e-learning, remain generally unpopular in the nuclear realm in my experience.<\/p>\n
E-learning when present in nuclear remains asynchronous, low-risk, and regulatory box-checking. Weller provided the cost-effectiveness of e-learning thus: \u201csoftware simulations are costly to produce, taking time and requiring the input of a range of experts. However, once made, these components are relatively cheap to reproduce, so the costs do not increase greatly as the number of students increases. This model \u2026 is well-suited to large population courses which are presented over several years without much alteration\u201d (Weller, 2020, p. 46). I have seen this first-hand and a quick Google search for online safety training backs me up.<\/p>\n
As the century progressed, I saw organizations whose officers are described by Reid in 1959 as \u201cunethical self-seekers whose qualifications are no better than their offerings\u201d (Noble, 1998, p. 368). I was unfortunately surprised by Weller\u2019s and Noble\u2019s works to learn that my hunches about this group were right.<\/p>\n
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how well Weller\u2019s book has so far described the history of Ed Tech and look forward to connecting his future revelations to my lived experiences.<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
Noble, D. F. (1998). Digital diploma mills: The automation of higher education. Science as Culture<\/i>, 7<\/i>(3), 355\u2013368. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/09505439809526510<\/p>\n
Weller, Martin (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Canada: Athabasca University Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The very readable and friendly, \u201c25 Years of Ed Tech\u201d beautifully describes my professional journey to date. Prior to reading the first third of the book, I knew my own lived experiences with Ed Tech, but I was surprised at how he perfectly encapsulated what I suspected about certain aspects of it. These include how … <\/p>\n