a Whimsical Commentary on the ADL Initiative by Don Johnson (former ADL Director)

1. A Whimsical Commentary on
Don Johnson
18 Feb 2005

2. Isn’t it funny

3. that the future

4. doesn’t always turn out

5. the way we thought it would.

6. But if we have the right vision
and we work together very hard
we can get there.

8. Weren’t computers supposed to change all that?

9. Speaking about computers in the classroom Dr. Seymour Papert said:
"We need a jet engine to do what the well-worn piston
engine cannot. And we need a jet engine that is used for a
jet plane, not one that is strapped to a stagecoach."

10. A couple of questions:
What is the Vision of learning in the future?
How is it being implemented?

11. Has our mental model
for the future learning environment changed?

12. Or is our mental model
bogged down in the same type of thinking
and processes of Yesterday?

13. “It was reported in the 1980s that General Motors spent more money
on technology than any other car manufacturer in the world.
While some processes became more efficient in GM's factories, too
many aspects of operations remained the same – the decision-making
process, quality control, supplies and sales.
The anticipated windfall of productivity did not materialize.”

14. Do we have the right Vision?

15. Or have we got it wrong?

16. What’s wrong with this picture?
Gee Bill I’ve been working on
this course design for six
months now and I only have 3
more months to go before we
can put it on the web!

17. What’s wrong with this picture?
Better hurry up on that
online physics course Tommy
we have to be in Miss Bakers
class in 3 more minutes.

18. What’s wrong with this picture?
Someday the knowledge from
this machine, and many others
just like it, will teach mankind
everything they need to know.

19. What kind
of world
do we wish
to create
for all of
our children?

20. Education must be both high touch and high tech.
"People believe that,
at its heart,
education is a human endeavor”
The Public Agenda Foundation

21. “Whatever development trajectory we follow depends upon our
commitment to a particular path we start from and follow.”

22. “If it’s the causal path, this ultimately leads to the ‘one best
way’, leaving very little room for deviation from the chosen
path and seeking alternatives.”

23. “If it’s the path of purpose, then it is the choices we make on
the way which shape the contours of the path, allowing for
reflective action and human choices.” Karamjit S Gill

24. “The challenge here is to transcend the idea of
the technical notion of the one best way model,
and focus on the creation of a conceptual
framework for understanding the nature of
knowledge and the purpose of knowledge
systems, and this requires the ethical
commitment to the creation and use of
knowledge in a purposeful societal context of
human development.” Karamjit S Gill

25. Can we transform the way we think from this …

26. … to this,

27. … to this.

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