unknown@email_address (Edward Wondoloski) (10/15/87)
Article from
NETWEAVER, Volume 3, Number 9, September 1987
Copyright(c) by Electronic Networking Association (ENA), 1987
An Educator, A PC, and a Modem:
A Multidimensional Approach to Knowledge
by Edward M. Wondoloski
The Overview
============
Computer assisted communication (CAC) can provide a multidimensional approach
to knowledge which replaces the "up and down linear ladder" concept with a
more "spherical" one. To grasp this concept, imagine yourself as a revolving
sphere. Now, from your center point, imagine an infinte number of rays
extending in all directions with varying extensions and colors. Imagine each
ray being a different aspect of knowledge. Imagine each ray as it extends
as far as you have developed that particular aspect of knowledge. Imagine
your knowledge ray of mathematics, your ray of personal relationships, then
art, and music. Keep adding these rays of knowledge. Notice how they
complement each other, how they create a dance and long for further
extension and synthesis to form the great white light. What you have just
envisioned is the spherical theory of knowledge.
Robert Mueller, author of CORPORATE NETWORKING, said:
"Organizations as we know it are obsolete in the information society
in which we now exist ... human networks are thriving while our staid and
rigid organizations heave and struggle to be effective or even to survive.
Something fundamental is happening in our organized society ... centered
on the intuitive notion that somehow in some way networking may be basic
to organizing and managing people."
It was this same intuitive spirit that we initiated a project using CAC at
Bentley College to explore the spherical knowledge concept. We hold the
belief that somehow in some way networking through computer assisted
communications is the key to providing high quality educational delivery
systems focused on self-learning experiences.
This is the first of many experiments we are planning to use this media. Our
purpose is to reach far beyond electronic mail and computer conferencing by
introducing the student to the experiential dynamics of "electronic
organization" and "expert networks"
The Process
===========
CAC was introduced in the Spring of 1987 in an undergraduate course called,
"The Management of Planning and Control Systems." There were two sections
involved in the experience.
To explore a spherical concept of knowledge, seven groups ranging between
seven to ten students interacted with each other in a collaborative fashion
for the purpose of creating an information product called "cultural smile"
(SMILE = Space Migration for Intelligent Life Extension). This information
product is a model that addresses the social, economic, legal, social, and
political systems to be employed in space colonization. These systems were
then to be aligned with the class's overall visioned purpose for such space
colonization and exploration.
An HP Vectra PC served as the host computer for a Caucus(tm) based
communications network to support this educational experience. Students
with modems and PC's of all variations call into the host computer and our
traditional educational delivery system was transformed into a virtual
classroom, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for dynamic interaction and
creativity.
The Results
===========
An interactive communications and learning space was created. The traditional
classroom was now converted into a virtual classroom, conducting business and
resonating with energy seven days a week. The geographic and time zone
restrictions were removed. This facilitated conducting the business meetings
because students were able to check in at a time and place of their choosing.
There were simultaneous discussions of different thoughts and strategies.
Students were able to discuss a wide range of topics and the comments were
automatically organized and retained under their respective topics. A
printable record of the process was retained for subsequent review by the
students. This greatly facilitated their preparation of individual learning
reports.
Brainstorming and problem solving were facilitated and supported. Creativity
was enhanced by an environment which openly allowed for suggestions to be
considered. This opportunity to toss ideas around, play with them, develop and
build on them, created a stimulating atmosphere for still further exploration
and inquiry. A distributed form of learning took place. Small project
"focus" groups were the source of the project's activity and leadership.
The focus groups operated independently and at the same time operated as
part of the whole network system. The focus groups developed separate
agendas for action - in fact, any one group could accomplish a great deal
on their own without the other project members. Yet, at the same time,
each group was really working on a different facet of a larger whole and
gained strength through working synergistically with other groups.
Student reactions to this new media varied, but some responses were:
increased motivation; felt more involved; a better learning experience;
more student interaction; peer reviews were useful.
What CAC Offers Education
=========================
There is a need to review the beliefs and premises that underlie our current
educational system. These beliefs and premises which must now be challenged
include:
- in any field there is a core knowledge that must be taught,
- once the core is mastered, the capacity for critical thought can be taught,
- deficiencies in any field are caused by a lack of instruction in the
core and can be corrected by the right faculty committees making the
right curricular decisions.
But we are now in the midst of an information explosion. Our body of
knowledge is doubling every 20 months. Well folks, at that rate of growth,
guess what? By the year 2000 our common body of knowledge would have
increased 512 times over what it is today. This statistic very seriously
puts a strain on the first premise above.
Some faculty have tried to cope with this by single handedly taking on
the responsibility for sifting, sorting, and distilling for the student
- an assignment which leads to premature professional burnout. What is
the student's role in handling this information explosion? When does
the student become self sufficient in ferreting out relevance from the maze
of information? Where and when does the student develop the necessary
skills to process, sift, sort, and distill on his/her own account the
mounds of information? Have we developed the capacity to manufacture
information in excess of our ability to consume it?
CAC offers us an alternative to the models based on traditional views of
knowledge. In a guided process-oriented environment like our CAC experiment,
students create their own model or system for employing their skills to
sift, sort, and distill information. The professor, rather than doing
the work for the student, provides the student with process systems skills
which empower the student to perform these functions. CAC provides the
opportunity for people to inform, question, and touch one another. A
community develops which adds emotional color and drama to the rational
content.
We will be expanding this electronic classroom to include students from
other courses, other institutions, and other countries. Interdisciplinary
team teaching will flow naturally through the use of this media. The
opportunities are only limited by our ability to visulaize new creative
applications.
[author's note: Ed Wondoloski is Professor of Management, Bentley
College, Beaver & Forest Streets, Waltham, MA 02254. This article is
excerpted from a longer paper given at the Fifth Annual Conference on
Non-Traditional and Interdisciplinary Programs which took place at
George Mason University, Virginia Beach, VA, May 4-6 1987]