Junginger Annotated Bibliography

EDTECH 504 Anja Junginger

Selected Research on the Emerging Theories of Knowledge: An Annotated Bibliography

In a post-industrial age ripe with the exponential growth of technologies, our social,

educational, and professional lives are changing unabatedly. As is often the case with

change, at times it happens so slowly one hardly notices, and at others it rolls over us like

a wave. The changing concept of what constitutes knowledge in today’s world has done

both. As we have moved from print to digital media, the shape, structure, and therefore

function and role of knowledge in society has changed. It is no longer confined to a

written text, a book, or a film produced by experts, filtered by experts. Everyone can

produce, and of course consume, huge amounts of information, which is not necessarily

synonymous with knowledge. This shift implies that as educators we should not lose our

footing, but rather ride the wave - but in a manner that is thoughtful and thought-through.

With knowledge no longer seen as compartmentalized and transmissible, nor solely

constructed by the individual, our traditional epistemologies need to be reviewed, and

possibly changed, to account for how knowledge is created, learned, and shared in the

digital age. The questions we should be asking revolve around how our changing

conceptions of knowledge, driven by developments in the digital age, should be affecting

curricula and practices in our learning institutions. The articles and books listed in this

bibliography explore this issue from a variety of perspectives.

Brown, J. S. (2002). Growing up digital: How the web changes work, education, and the

ways people learn. USDLA Journal, 16(2).

John Seeley Brown is an expert in organizational learning, particularly in how

to help businesses benefit from emerging opportunities offered through the


leveraging of technology. His background as a scientist, educator, researcher,

and leader in Silicon Valley give him a grounded perspective on how

communities and individuals learn, and how they respond to evolving

technologies, as well as having the eye of a businessman. In this article Brown

describes the idea of a ‘learning ecology’, which resonates with David

Weinberger’s idea of “the smartest person in the room is the room itself”, an

idea that is worth exploring further, as at first glance it is not easily apparent

what is meant by Weinberger’s statement. The concept of a ‘learning ecology’

makes the concept of how a knowledge asset is formed by, and resides in, a

community clearer. The community holds the knowledge of the group, not just

of the individual. To use this concept for learning, Brown furthers the idea of

providing opportunities for cognitive apprenticeships, and argues for paying

attention to some of the natural learning processes that we engage in, but often

don’t pay attention to. An example of this is storytelling. Especially the idea of

learning in situ is important, as we are building 3-dimensional learning

communities, where the local and the virtual connect on a global scale. This

aligns with the theory of situated cognition, which is also explored by Brown

in other works. Lastly, Brown gives an interesting alternate viewpoint from de

Castell, for example, on the intersection between industry and education.

Brown sees the powerful benefits of this connection through the creation of

learning ‘parks’ where educational institutions and businesses produce and

consume knowledge interdependently, while de Castell sees the dangers of

business taking over control of learning environments, for profit, without


having sufficient understanding of educational theories and how these, and the

resulting practices, are impacted by evolving digital media.

de Castell, S., Bryson, M., & Jenson, J. (2002). Object lessons: Towards an educational

theory of technology. First Monday, 7(1). Retrieved from

http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/923/845

In this article, de Castell, Bryson, and Jensen explore the conflict between the

power of digital media to transform education and the tendency we have to

keep things “comfortable”, even in times of dramatic change. Due to the influx

of so-called ‘miracle workers’ from corporations who sell educational products

designed to solve all our problems, educational institutions and teachers are

lured towards quick solutions and doing the same things they have always

done, but now with technology. This critical look at how even thoughtful

educators can be enticed out of their historical drive to question the impact of

changing technologies on epistemological beliefs and resulting practices, asks

of us that we continue to question why we doing things as we do, and for what

purpose. Further to this, de Castell draws a compelling comparison between an

‘educational theory of technology’ and a ‘theory of educational technology’.

This article is a critical perspective, as well as a reminder, on how important

the role of grounded design is for creating meaningful learning environments,

especially as digital media evolve and become more and more commercialized.

de Castell is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the Faculty of

Education at Simon Fraser University where she teaches qualitative research

methods, and courses in literacy, new media, and technology which gives her a


good perspective on the issues surrounding emerging technologies and

learning.

Kop, R., & Hill, A. (2008). Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the

past? The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9(3).

Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/523/1137

Rita Kop, as an Associate Dean of Education, has a particular interest in

exploring the intersection between learning and technology. Accordingly, this

article is written in response to propositions made by Siemens and Downes

about the need for a new learning theory due to the affects of evolving digital

media. She fairly explores various perspectives on the issue, with extensive

quotes from Siemens and Downes, as well as their opposers such as Kerr.

While she clearly sees a need for addressing the questions raised by Siemens,

she critically analyses whether connectivism can hold its own as a new theory,

or even needs to. She makes a point, with Kerr, that the intersections amongst

the principles on which connectivism is founded can be found in traditional

theories as well. She proposes that possibly it is just a new pedagogy, one that

is still grounded in existing theories, that is needed, rather than a new theory all

together. As the question of what knowledge really is and how the answer

affects our frameworks and practices is a pivotal one for modern educators, the

discussion, though not conclusive, is helpful in illuminating various

perspectives on the dilemma. Interestingly enough, educators must now engage

in constructing distributed knowledge ‘a la Siemens’ in order to come closer to

an answer - for the time being.


Land, S. M., Hannafin, M. J., & Oliver, K. (2012). Student-centered learning

environments: Foundations, assumptions, and design. In D. H. Jonassen & S. M.

Land (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning environments (pp. 4-26). Oxon,

UK: Taylor and Francis Group.

In a postmodernist and postindustrial view of education, constructivist theories

are more relevant than ever. In this article, as the introduction to the book

Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments, Land, Hannafin, and

Oliver make a case for a constructivist epistemology as the underlying theory

for designing student-centered learning environments (SCLEs). Pivotal to this

view is the importance of learning for understanding within authentic social

and cultural contexts. The authors point out that the role that technology tools

can play in SCLEs is of great significance, as it is exactly these tools that can

support individuals and communities in manipulating resources and ideas to

construct individual and group knowledge. Examples of such environments

include PBLs, Learning Communities, Communities of Practice, gaming and

simulations, and digital repositories as resources. It is particularly Learning

Communities and Communities of Practice that resonate with the assertions

made by internet philosophers such as Brown and Weinberger, and support the

idea of distributed knowledge or ‘learning ecologies’. The need to scaffold and

support learners to have meaningful access to such communities and to be able

to go from novices to experts within them is one educational goal that should

be pursued by schools, with or without a new epistemology. These types of

SCLEs are central to navigating the changing landscape of the digital media


world. Hannafin is well versed in making the claims he does, with a PhD in

Educational Technology from Arizona State University. He is currently

focusing his research efforts on exploring the impact of emerging technologies

for teaching and learning. After creating and validating frameworks for

teaching and learning, he now focuses specifically on open and student-

centered technology enhanced environments. He collaborates in this article

with Susan Land, who has a similar focus in her research as Associate

Professor of the Instructional Systems Program at Pennsylvania State

University.

Lankshear, C., Peters, M., & Knobel, M. (2000). Information, knowledge and learning:

Some issues facing epistemology and education in a digital age. Journal of

Philosophy of Education, 34(1), 17-39. Retrieved from

http://michaelbatie.com/papers/information_and_knowledge.pdf

Colin Lankshear is a freelance researcher who studies literacies and new

technologies from a sociocultural perspective. He has worked in countries

around the world, giving him a wider global perspective. Along with Michele

Knobel he is also co-editor of the New Literacies book series for Peter Lang

Publishing (New York). Like Brown, Lankshear and Knobel see the field of

education as a powerful contributor to the global economy and note the raised

status that is associated with this. As would be applauded by de Castell and

Siemens, Lankshear and Knobel also see the need for re-evaluating and

developing theories of learning and what constitutes knowledge. They argue

that we have moved from a knowledge economy to an ‘attention economy’,


where few or many produce new knowledge and vie for attention as they

‘perform’ it. Key skills for developing this new knowledge are questioning and

searching, and how well a learner performs these will define the outcomes or

their product. With this also comes a call for perspective and balance as the

new knowledge is assembled. This reminds us of Brown’s idea of ‘bricolage’.

This article is particularly useful for guiding thinking about the implications of

the shifting terrain of what defines knowledge. Along with Weinberger, the

authors see knowledge as not only being that which comes from confirmed

experts. Rather, they say, we are all assembling knowledge, and educational

institutions should be leveraging this action to the greatest benefit of society

and businesses. This brings us back to the need for re-evaluating learning

theories and practices so that the learners are properly equipped with the skills

and attitudes to be successful in this endeavor.

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A theory for the digital age. Retrieved from

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

George Siemens, like Brown and Weinberger, is an educator and researcher

who specializes in learning, networks, and organizational structures within

digital environments. He explores, as do his colleagues, what the changing

nature of knowledge means for learning and for organizations. In this article

Siemens asks the reader to consider the need for a new theory of learning. He

posits that changes due to shifting digital landscapes require us to look at

learning in new ways, and that the traditional theories of behaviorism,

cognitivism, and constructivism no longer suffice in meeting our needs for


designing effective modern learning environments. His solution is called

‘connectivism’, which lays its focus on the networks and connections that can

be found in ‘chaos’. Learning is the finding of patterns in these connections,

and learning is done by the individual and the group through something called

‘nodes’. Siemens explicitly addresses the ‘cycle of knowledge development’

which goes some length to answer the question of how individual and group

learning are connected. This is a question to explore further, as the overlap

here with social constructivism is apparent. Connectivism is not yet an

established theory, and it is questioned by others such as Kop and Kerr, who

wonder if connectivism is really necessary as a theory, or more useful as a

guide for developing new pedagogies which are still grounded in traditional

epistemologies.

Weinberger, D. (2011). Too big to know: Rethinking knowledge now that the facts aren’t

the facts, experts are everywhere, and the smartest person in the room is the

room. New York, NY: Perseus Book Group.

The idea that the structure of knowledge and how we perceive it is radically

changing is one that resonates throughout Weinberger’s latest book. Similarly

to John Seeley Brown, Weinberger asserts that the “smartest person in the

room is the room itself”. By this he means that knowledge is socially

constructed in diverse virtual networks, and that this knowledge has the power

to influence and change how people and institutions function. The sum of the

parts is greater than the parts themselves. Knowledge is not ‘owned’ or

created by the individual, but by the group. In this book, Weinberger takes use


through the history of knowledge-creation, which historically has been

influenced by the form of how knowledge could be spread. Our conceptions

today, if they are still traditional, are formed by the fact that historically

knowledge was passed on in the form of written papers and books. It was

vetted and filtered by a critical few. With the advent of the internet and

hyperlinked media, the form, and therefore the function of knowledge

production has radically changed. The learners must do the vetting and

filtering themselves, and what they produce as a result becomes part of a larger

network of evolving knowledge, ideally created by a diverse audience, and

stored as ‘the room’. If this is the case, then the implications for education are

immense. Our whole paradigm of what constitutes ‘true knowledge’ must first

shift, and following this shift, we must restructure our approaches to

curriculum and pedagogy to enable postmodernist learners to function in this

rewarding, yet also challenging, new world. Weinberger is an internet

philosopher, and a senior researcher at Harvard’s Berkman Center for the

Internet and Society and the author of several books. His assertions are well

argued and logically built both from an historical, as well as a social

perspective.

Junginger Annotated Bibliography

Documents

Transcript of Junginger Annotated Bibliography