Robert and Ben have been discussing the impact of the Internet, and
whether or not it will be comparable to the Gutenbeg press. Consider the
following evolution of learning styles, and then consider where TV and
Internet will take us.
A long, long time ago, learning was passed down by memorization. This is
still the case in African villages around village and family history, and
as a consequence, the scholars in this setting are those who can memorize
effectively. In ancient times there were tracts written about how to
memorize.
The press changed that. The new skill became the ability to read, and
within a several generations, the ancient skill of memorization died out
as a recognized and valued skill set. Along with reading came the ned to
mentally integrate information from several different sources. But
reading is considerably more linear than memorization, and at the same
time less constricting in that more can be 'retained' if not in the mind,
then in readily accessible (linear) form.
Internet and TV are totally different media for learning. They are not
linear. They do not require hours of poring over books looking for
particular pieces of information. Sound bites work on TV, and in fact,
they work somewhat well on the Internet. As Ben points out, you can learn
EVERYTHING there is to know -- or less if you choose -- in a very short
period of time. Reading becomes, in this world, not particularly
important, search skills (eg in a library) disappear, information is
instantly available in a non-linear form, and the best learners may be
those who canquickly and visually integrate information and synthesize
something new.
Evolution of learning is in front of us.
==
Rol Fessenden
LL Bean, Inc
76234,3636@compuserve.com
--Rol Fessenden <76234.3636@CompuServe.COM>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>