The discussions over at Club Troppo on the future of education have certainly sparked my interest in the topic again. It started with Nicholas Gruen’s brief reflections on why Web 2.0 has not revolutionised education, why it should and how it could. In response, Ken Parish submitted his own personal experiences of adopting new technologies to analysis and critical scrutiny. Immediately, alarm bells rang off about a sort of technological determinism – an erroneous view that I corrected. But, what was lingering in my mind about their analyses and proposals was a submerged and, in my opinion, a problematic reliance upon individual initiative and resourcefulness as the catalyst for change and improvement. I want to offer a more considered response to their views.
This first part will address the specific points raised by Nicholas Gruen and part 2 will speak to the issues discussed by Ken Parish.