Posts made in April, 2024

The Google dictionary (via Oxford Languages) defines learning as: “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught.”

In our most recent class we were invited to compare two AI generated images of “learning” and of “on-line learning” (image coming soon).  It’s worth noting that these are newly generated images, as opposed to a search result, which yields many more results.  My very first reaction to the slide was: Do we still need to hyphenate the word “online”; and I immediately wondered how the image might be different. Notwithstanding, the images contrast well and highlight a few important biases.

Brenna made the most obvious distinction between the two images, noting that the computer is at the center of the “on-line learning” image.  She also noted that while she didn’t get the Web CT connection embedded within it, she joked that “at least the computer is graduating”.  It’s a funny joke, but that steers into some Essentialism v. Instrumentalism biases.  Hamilton and Friesen (2013) argue that the educational value of new technologies is limited by the philosophical approach taken to evaluate them.  Is the computer doing the teaching and learning, or is it simply a tool to access additional resources?  As mentioned earlier in the same class, it isn’t an either/or proposition but more of a spectrum depending on the individual artifact. 

Which takes me back to the definition of the word learning and the biases in the first image “learning”.  Learning is not limited to books.  We might learn in order to obtain a diploma, or we might learn in order to communicate needs, throw a ball, or use chopsticks.  This learning often happens through mentorship, lived experience, or trial and error, but there’s nothing of the sort in either image.  Both images focus solely on the “study” element of learning.  In the world of Education that makes sense but learning isn’t limited to the domain of Education, and if we consider the larger social and cultural considerations at play we can bring awareness to the biases of AI and challenge its perspective (and our own) on what it means to learn.

References:

Hamilton, E., & Friesen, N. (2013). Online Education: A Science and Technology Studies Perspective / Éducation en ligne: Perspective des études en science et technologie. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La Revue Canadienne de l’apprentissage et de La Technologie, 39(2). https://doi.org/10.21432/T2001C