| I believe that learning must transform both the learner and
the subject matter; it must transcend the traditional boundaries
of discipline and culture. We must discover how to create intensive,
face-to-face learning environments for both individual and groups
of students. We must explore both individual and group learning
contracts, alternative assessment modes, learning and teaching
on-line, both on and off campus, and in as yet unexplored field
settings around the world. We have to help people see complex
problems in holistic ways, help them connect ideas from many different
places, learn how to work together as members of intellectual
teams, to value and tolerate differences, to make decisions based
on realistic and appropriate information, and to risk failure
and mistakes. We need people who can apply their knowledge in
solving present and emerging problems.
I am fascinated by the Internet and its impact on our learning
and working lives; I see, there, the potential for an exciting
new way of engaging people in learning. Since 1982, I have been
exploring information technologies in my own teaching, and creating
learning contexts for classroom teachers to think about how these
new media could change education.
To provide a glimpse into my teaching I point to the websites
produced by educators in two summer institute sessions. In these
courses the teachers and administrators were engaged in an invesigation
of some aspect of the community. The point was collaboratively
to learn something new and find some way of sharing it via the
internet. The majority of these people had no prior experience
creating web pages; their projects attest to the strength of a
collaborative learning environment. |
