I Am a Deviant Tool User. You?
Miguel Guhlin, Around the Corner v2, September 5, 2007.

More reaction to Gary Stager's take-down of Web 2.0 proponents, most of it not as nice as I was yesterday. Guhlin wonders, "Is Gary's call for us to wake up and do more than rally around the tools REALLY a call to submit to the accepted culture of schools, or one more in line with his point of view?" That was my interpretation, though people like Tom Hoffman suggest that Stager isn't so "bound to traditional schooling." Maybe not, but if the heart of his argument is that the challenge is "to frame the presentation of these tools to teachers in the best thinking about pedagogy," then it seems pretty 'traditional schooling' to me. More: Dave Warlick asks, Web 2.0 is like Logo? James Farmer writes a screamer of a criticism, including a set of (what I now dub) loljabs characterizing Stager's argument. Dean Shareski comments, "personal freedom and empowerment doesn't have to involve schools." Ewan McIntosh wonders why Stager can't find any research when he's read and summarized more than 100 research reports. And it's not directly related but you'll want to listen to George Carlin's take (language warning) on the relevance of the educational system, courtesy of Chris Sessums. Stager, meanwhile, simply changes the subject. I haven't yet seen him reply to any serious criticism, just the fluffy straw men he likes to set up. (Hits Today: 1 Total: 534) [Direct Link] [Tags: Schools, Web 2.0, Research, Web Logs, Online Learning]

Share |

Comments

Re: I Am a Deviant Tool User. You?

Anymouse, September 5, 2007

Dear Stephen,

Who called you a deviant? I appreciate it when you read my work, even if you disagree.

I was attempting to offer a hypothesis, by way of historical comparison, to explain why some teachers don't share the revolutionary vision for the tools you like. In point of fact, I like many of them too. I use them, teach them and teach with them.

It is physically impossible to respond to every one of your concerns, but I'd be happy to try if I knew what they were.

This isn't sport for me. I am serious about making the world a better place for children. I remain hopeful that blogging is a viable way of sharing serious issues.

Posting a new blog, especially a light-hearted one, isn't changing the subject. That's unfair. It does point to one of the problems associated with the interface though. I hate that "He who hesitates is unread." This phenomena leads to the cut and paste game of telephone that makes so many blogs difficult to comprehend.

All the best,

Gary [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: I Am a Deviant Tool User. You?

Stephen Downes, September 6, 2007

> It is physically impossible to respond to every one of your concerns, but I'd be happy to try if I knew what they were.

They were posted to my Half an Hour blog. http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2007/09/stager-logo-and-web-20.html

You'll find the link to them in your own comments.

I've written them. All you need to do to find out what they are is to read them. I can't do more than that.
[Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Comment



Title
Your comment:
Enter email to receive replies:

Your comments always remain your property, but in posting them here you agree to license under the same terms as this site (CC By-NC-SA). If your comment is offensive it will be deleted.

Automated Spam-checking is in effect. If you are a registered user you may submit links and other HTML. Anonymous users cannot post links and will have their content screened - certain words are prohibited and your comment will be analyzed to make sure it makes sense.