Does epistemology matter for educational practice?

Lankshear, Peters & Knobel (2000) suggest that 'The digital age is throwing many of our educational practices and emphases and their underlying epistemological assumptions, beliefs, concepts and substantive theories into doubt'. In particular, because of new technology, educational philosophers must reconsider 'epistemological matters in relation to educational theory and practice' as a matter of 'very high priority'. Of course, philosophers need no excuse at all to reconsider anything; but since Lankshear, Peters & Knobel argue forcefully that 'key elements of the epistemological model that has underpinned education throughout the modern-industrial era' are brought into question by the fact of a 'digital age where more and more of our time, purposes and energies are invested in activities involving new communications and information technologies', it is perhaps worth asking whether the advent of new technology can, in itself, have profound implications for epistemology, and' more fundamentally – how exactly does epistemology 'underpin' or 'underlie' educational practice? In what follows, the main practical educational questions that I have chosen to consider with respect to issues of epistemology are: – What should be taught? – How should it be taught? – How can one tell what has been learned? This paper is in four parts. The first part outlines the case made by Lankshear, Peters & Knobel that traditional versions of epistemology must be replaced by a post-modern social epistemology because of changed social practices brought about by new technology; and that educational practice must consequently be reconsidered. The second part of the paper considers some of the claims made about the influences of technology on contemporary knowledge practices. The third part of the paper suggests that the argument offered by Lankshear, Peters & Knobel works as a whole if 'epistemology' is identified with 'accounts of knowledge practices'. The final part considers whether there may be more to epistemology than just social epistemology

Finding the Ephemeral: Aura, Apperception, and Digitally-Mediated Music

This paper attends the live music performance in the 21st century to reconsider German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s theses on the authenticity of art in his 1935 essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Benjamin focuses on the emergent technology of photography in the 20th century as a method of technical reproduction of the art object, and, as he indicates, as having “captured a place of its own among the artistic processes” (219-20). Benjamin proposes several theories on the mechanical reproducibility and distribution of art within the culture industry, and his attention to the aura of the art object—“its unique existence at the place where it happens to be”—is, in my argument, reimagined in an age of digitally-mediated art practice. The ephemeral experience of live musical performance, I maintain, presents the requisite space-time to reevaluate the integrity of the art object’s aura. At the core of this analysis is the connection between the digital reproduction’s aura and its influence on human apperception, much like how the “Work of Art” essay is structured. Thus, the shift in the mode of reproducibility—from the mechanical to the digital—reflects a larger change in the mode of human apperception. Specifically, I am considering the use of digital devices by individual—and, more-specifically, non-professional—audience members to capture and reproduce a live music performance. This analysis repositions Benjamin’s theses on the authenticity of art in the 21st century to contextualize how capturing something as authentic yet as fleeting as music—especially through a digital device that is rarely out of arm’s reach—can answer the larger questions of who we are as authentic, individual beings and how the human experience is contextualized

What should we do with Jack-in-the-box? Anticipating surprises in mobile learning

Today's learners are the owners of multifunctional phones and other lightweight portable devices that many of them carry around wherever they go. Equipped with connected digital devices that make learning readily accessible 'anytime, anywhere', learners appear to be moving to a position of power with regard to their ability to influence how and where learning happens and even its content and form. The technologies are precipitating a shift from teacher-centred towards learner-centred education. However, the majority of teachers and learners are unprepared. There is anticipation of exciting opportunities, but also fear of what might happen. It is also becoming obvious that established methods of researching technology-enhanced learning do not transfer readily to mobile learning research. Projects report that learners behave in unexpected ways; context of use, mode of use, and learning process have all been described as 'unpredictable'. Our aim is to examine the implications of new manifestations of mobile learning for both teaching and research. Drawing on teaching experiences and research projects at The Open University and elsewhere, the paper identifies and illustrates the 'surprise' elements of mobile learning. The image of a 'Jack-in-the-box' toy is used here to symbolise both the playful and potentially unsettling aspects of mobile learning. Anticipating surprises means expecting and welcoming them, being happy when they occur, and being able to accommodate them in our plans

Are Books Becoming Extinct in Academic Libraries?

Purpose: Academic librarians who are planning for the future need to be knowledgeable about the short- and long-range outlook for print. They must also consider what will happen if libraries abolish most or all of their books. Current and future academic e-book usage is explored, and ideas for response to collection changes are suggested. Design/methodology/approach: This article examines a wide range of studies and comments on this timely topic. Findings: The disparity between the reception of e-books in the general population and the adoption of them in the academic world suggests that print is still important to faculty and students. Given the advances in e-book technological, the increasing popularity of online/distance education courses, the adoption of the new EPUB 3 format, and the ubiquity of mobile devices, e-books are expected to increasingly replace print volumes in academic libraries. Originality/value: What has received little attention in the literature is the complexity of the issue of e-book reception in the academic world. This article looks at current and future e-book usage from the perspective of several large studies on diverse aspects of academic life, including students’ perceptions of libraries, their information-seeking behaviors, faculty research habits and information needs, students’ reading habits, and the impact of emerging technologies on teaching and learning. Providing insight into current and future academic e-book trends, this article suggests practical ways to respond to these trends

Big Data and Due Process

Today, electronic footprints may follow us wherever we go. Electronic traces, left through a smartphone or other device, can be tracked to the scene of a crime, or they can place a person far from a crime scene. By the same token, individuals may be falsely implicated due to errors in large government or commercial databases, and evidence of innocence may linger in such archives without ever coming to light. Professors Joshua Fairfield and Erik Luna and have done an important service by carefully introducing the problem of “digital innocence” and marking out areas in need of clear thinking and policy. In this online response to their wonderful piece, I discuss four additional problems at the intersection of big data and due process rights: (1) the need for developed electronic discovery rules in criminal cases; (2) the need to reconsider the meaning of Brady v. Maryland and the due process obligations of prosecutors and government agencies in the context of government data; (3) the parallel need to reconsider standards for effective assistance of defense counsel; and (4) the need for broader and better-adapted postconviction electronic discovery and remedies

Reputation Agent: Prompting Fair Reviews in Gig Markets

Our study presents a new tool, Reputation Agent, to promote fairer reviews from requesters (employers or customers) on gig markets. Unfair reviews, created when requesters consider factors outside of a worker's control, are known to plague gig workers and can result in lost job opportunities and even termination from the marketplace. Our tool leverages machine learning to implement an intelligent interface that: (1) uses deep learning to automatically detect when an individual has included unfair factors into her review (factors outside the worker's control per the policies of the market); and (2) prompts the individual to reconsider her review if she has incorporated unfair factors. To study the effectiveness of Reputation Agent, we conducted a controlled experiment over different gig markets. Our experiment illustrates that across markets, Reputation Agent, in contrast with traditional approaches, motivates requesters to review gig workers' performance more fairly. We discuss how tools that bring more transparency to employers about the policies of a gig market can help build empathy thus resulting in reasoned discussions around potential injustices towards workers generated by these interfaces. Our vision is that with tools that promote truth and transparency we can bring fairer treatment to gig workers.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, The Web Conference 2020, ACM WWW 202

Resistance of channels: television distribution in the multiplatform era

This article focuses on distribution of television and, using BBC Three as a case study, provides an in-depth examination of how broadcasters’ strategies for packaging and distributing content are being re-considered in response to newly emerging patterns of audience behaviour and demand. It considers the extent to which the role of the broadcast channel – traditionally the main vector via which audiences have enjoyed television content - may now be threatened by the rise of online rivals and accompanying pressures to adjust to a digital multiplatform environment. Drawing on the experience of BBC Three, the research question it asks is: to what extent is there an economic justification for switching from ‘the channel’ as the distribution format to an online-only service? The original findings presented are based on analysis of the finances of BBC Three, on evidence gathered through a series of in-depth interviews carried out with senior executives at the BBC, and on analysis of secondary source data and public policy statements and performance reviews. They provide an empirically based contribution to knowledge about how growth of the internet is prompting public service suppliers of media to reconsider and adjust their strategies for distribution of television content and, more generally, to understanding of contemporary strategies for re-invention and survival in the television industry