Friday, July 08, 2011

Academic Freedom Redefined? Who "owns the means of production" in education?

#vwwt2000 PREDICTION #17 OF 20 from year 2000
"Kali, Avatar of the eBook"
Who decides what is taught?  How and when?


PREDICTION 17:  Academic Freedom Redefined
As faculty and student roles shift and new educational resources are integrated, academic freedom and faculty leadership will remain highly valued; but they may be redefined. Many faculty members will embrace greater responsibility for identifying, selecting, and implementing pedagogical options – and supportive applications of technology.

Still likely?
In year 2000 I didn't anticipate the VARIETY and AVAILABILITY of information resources, information tools, and portable/mobile digital devices that would become irresistible to most students and many teachers by 2011.   Nor did I anticipate how such resources, tools, and devices could not be owned or controlled by any college or university.  Nor the continuing fluidity of "textbooks":  Who controls them?  How are they "published"? How are they used by students?

See Parody Alternatives to Traditional Textbooks, Courses, Degrees from Mental_Floss


- 17th of 20 predictions from "A New Vision Worth Working Toward: Connected Education and Collaborative Change," Steven W. Gilbert, 2000-2006, First version published via AAHESGIT listserv January, 2000; PDF of full article
Image: "Kali, Avatar of the eBook," by Javier Candeira is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kali_Devi.jpg.See:  http://hiperactivo.com/2009/06/20/el-verdadero-avatar-del-libro-electronico/http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiperactivo/3644097750/lightbox/"An Illustration I made for an article that I never finished, such is the nature of meltdowns. If I ever write a book about ebooks, I'd like this to be the cover."Based on "The Goddess en:Kali, 1770 Print, Colored etching on paper, Sheet: 22 1/4 x 16 3/4 in. (56.52 x 42.55 cm); Image: 21 7/8 x 16 3/8 in. (55.56 x 41.59 cm) Indian Art Special Purpose Fund" Date 18th century Source initially uploaded to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kali_Devi.jpg by en:User:Redtigerxyz, LACMA [1] Author Richard B. Godfrey (1728 - N/A) Permission (Reusing this file) PD
"This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923. See this page for further explanation."


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