21 Oct 2009:

Method or Media?
Can we really separate method from media? False dichotomy.
Method is an abstraction
Classroom instruction is a method - but there are so many ways to go about it
Asynchronous classroom discussion is very different

Is this different if you think about instruction as an experience or experience as transfer
Transmission model - the refrigerated truck
If we can understand what each of these people think of learning, then we gain clarity
Definitions create the argument?

Media can include the efficiency in some cases
Affordance is the term used: all objects or tools have certain affordances

Some professors take extreme positions because that's how you get attention
Push people to defend their point
Paul Kerry: defending the rape of Africa for the colonialist cause - how have I benefitted instead of thinking of all the ways that Africa has been abused.

Status quo -> questioned -> then defended again?

Clark: Is this learning experience more effective if we use a laptop or a chalkboard

Images of door openers
- one for people without hands
- glow in the dark
- emergency exit
- makes you feel more personal (aesthetic not practical)

What are the affordances of the technological tools below?
- facebook
- teachertube
- expertvillage
- CMCs
- moodle (open university uk)
- second life
- personal devices
- simulations

- we should not do studies just comparing media - no - because media is as important as method and media alone doesn't tell the story? once you change the media, you're actually playing with the method too

allows the end user to interact with it - by sharing content
what content is useful is dependent on what the user/learner wants
affordances / constraints (what about the term "liability" instead - we need values in this too?)

Curt Bonk
Affordances built into CMSs are primarily targeted at administrators (instructor has to create the groups -
Most students can't alter blackboard and other tools (very top-down driven)

Characteristic is not enough (color, shape)
Affordance is more tied to application

TPACK Framework
Pedagogical Knowledge (yellow)
Content Knowledge (blue)
Technological Knowledge (red) - media

technological pedagogical knowledge (orange)
pedagogical content knowledge (green)
technological content knowledge (purple)