All entries for Wednesday 10 September 2008

September 10, 2008

The creepy treehouse critique of educational technology

Writing about web page http://flexknowlogy.learningfield.org/2008/04/09/defining-creepy-tree-house/#comment-739

Here’s a comment that I posted in response to Jared Stein’s blog entry on the ‘creepy treehouse’ phenomena. His article is on the right track, but somewhat naive, and certainly missing the fact that the issue of the ownership of learning is already one of the driving forces behind innovation in learning and teaching.
Read my comment…

Actually many students view all institutional-educational contexts as creepy treehouses – both technologically enhanced and traditional (“authentic” – yuck – creepy Heideggerianism).

In a University, there are few occasions on which they have a sense of ownership and a deep understanding of process/power/knowledge. That’s not latest news. Educationalists have been trying to address this for a long time. My university (Warwick) has many such constructivist initiatives that aim to empower students – new spaces, new technologies, new pedagogies – “reinventing the curriculum” as they say.

And do you know what the greatest point of resistance to this is? Many students are so used to learning in creepy treehouses (lecture theatres, seminar rooms, libraries) that they feel lost without them.

See our Reinvention Centre for antidotes to treehouse creepiness.

Robert O'Toole : 10 Sep 2008 17:14 |  Tags:  |  Comments (7) |  Report a problem