EPISTEMIC “FOUNDATIONS”: POSTMODERN

Though all of Lankshear’s changes could apply, I feel that the fourth change “changes in the relative significance of, and balance among, different modes of knowing associated with digitization” is most applicable to me. In this section he distinguishes between propositional and procedural knowledge the former being the content and the latter how to find it. I feel though it is important to have a general breadth and depth of knowledge from reading, the humanities etc. knowing how to find the information and connect it is a more relevant skill set. Lankshear list three subcategories of increasing importance:

1. Changes in identity and representation
2. Changes in the representation of truth
3. Rise in an “attention economy” and competition for attention

These three subcategories are foundation issues I will need to deal with in my work. I am interested in educational content development, i.e. creating interactive, engaging, educative, electronic content for classroom and cultural heritage facilities. I believe the primary way to achieve this will be through gaming and simulations. As such, the player/avatar identity creation and flexibility of representation is very important – (see Ch. 3 of Jim Gee’s book What Videogames Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy for more details). Changes in the representations of truth will be very important to the internal content of the game or simulation as only one truth can be represented at a time in game design. The only way to change this is through the choices the player/avatar makes, this point ties into procedural knowledge and knowing how to find information and connect it to get at the represented information. Lastly, the competition for attention will be the hardest to combat. Education based games are not funded in the way commercial games are and thus are not able to compete with the graphics and manoeuvrability that they offer. It will be necessary to constantly and innovatively compensate in order to gain and keep students attention.

EPISTEMIC “FOUNDATIONS”: MODERN

	Howard Gardner
	Multiple Intelligence
Attitude toward education & Philosophy	· Gardner criticizes just having an intelligence defined by IQ, humans are better thought of as having eight, maybe nine, kinds of intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. Gardner defines these “as abilities to solve problems or fashion products that are valued in culture. There are many ways in which we know, understand, perceive, learn and process information.” · Students will be better served by a broader vision of education, wherein teachers use different methodologies, exercises and activities to reach all students, not just those who excel at linguistic and logical intelligence · Deep understanding', performance, exploration · Additional intelligence identified – Existential, spiritual and moral intelligence
Conception of literacy	· Describes literacy as the mastery of symbol systems, o First there exist many kinds of symbol systems, many of which are not closely related and which can be conveyed through a multiplicity of media. o Second attainment of literacy poses a different task for children of different ages and, even more so, for adults who are trying to master one or another symbolic system
Curriculum	· Multimedia curriculum resources · All intelligences are needed to functions in society o Implies that educators should recognize and teacher to a broader range of talents and skills · A deeper understanding of curriculum material takes place when more intelligences are incorporated o Curriculum needs to facilitate the interconnections between the intelligences
Ethics	· Gardner on Ethics in a YouTube video o Http://www.google.com/url?Sa=X&q=http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=ge1zzjag2vo&oi=manybox&ct=51&cd=1&resnum=7&usg=afqjcnhqda9oqmzzvay8cwrxykrxnbud1a · Ethics have more to do with personality and emotion. The respectful mind, Gardner indicated, has to do with "how we think and relate to other people, most importantly to other people around us.” While this mind develops at a relatively young age, a kind of intuitive altruistic sense of reaching out to those around us, “attempting to understand differences and work with them,” the ethical mind is more abstract, and generally develops during adolescence. It has to do with fulfilling one’s responsibility in the world in terms of job role and as citizen. · Personal challenges of respect versus ethics
Evaluation	· Providing opportunities for assessment of students using their stronger intelligences gives an better idea of their nowledge of the material o Student portfolios, independent projects, student journals and assigning creative tasks · As children do not learn in the same way, they cannot be assessed in a uniform fashion · Individual evaluation practice - allow students to explain the material in their own ways using the different intelligences
Pedagogy	· Allows educators to reflect on the curriculum and their pedagogy to better meet the needs of their students · Material to be learnt in authentic environments · Utilize mentoring with experts in the area of development · No benefit in attempting to teach all subjects using all of the intelligences. He also expresses concern that some ducators have a shallow understanding of what it takes to really engage an intelligence · Teachers should introduce a topic with different entry points, each of which taps primarily one intelligence. Entry points are designed to intrigue the student via a presentation in an intelligence that is a particular strength for him or her. Gardner also believes that a thorough understanding of a topic is achieved only through multiple representations using different intelligences. Hence significant time must be invested to approach a topic from many different perspectives, and topics should be important enough to merit close study · To foster creativity in the classroom, Gardner recommends that teachers “model novel approaches and answers to questions and indicate [to students] that those responses are legitimate.”
Political/Sociology	· Believes ignorance is the root of most evil. Promoting intelligence, education, and reasoning skills won't solve all the world's problems, but at the least, we can know our world is escaping inertia and propelling itself far into the future · Gardner believes that scientists and researchers, those involved in the arts, and teachers at all levels of education can change people’s minds. He discusses how this goal is achieved by these “indirect leaders” through “scientific discoveries, scholarly breakthroughs, and artistic creations.” 7 ways to change peoples’ minds: o Reason: Presenting logical facts in se­quence such as Ben­jamin Franklin’s habit of listing the pros and cons of a given situ­ation to reach a deci­sion o Research: Presenting relevant data, an example of which would be gathering price information before making a purchase. o Resonance: An idea feels like a fit; in other words, the idea “feels right” to the audience o Representational Redescriptions: A viewpoint be­comes more convincing when it is presented it several different ways, each of which proves the same point. For example, an executive implementing a policy change would present the change differently to managers than he would to line workers o Resources and Rewards: In this instance, one option has an ob­vious advantage that makes it too good to pass up. Someone who decided to purchase a modest home to stay within her financial resources would suddenly re­consider her choice in the face of a sudden multi-million dollar lottery win. Coercion can fit into this category; a parent who promises a child extra privileges to reward an improvement in grades could greatly influence that child’s behaviour. o Real-World Events: Wars, economic depressions, or natural disasters can cause people to change their views. Someone who moved to Florida upon retire­ment may well move out of the area after experi­encing a hurricane o Resistance: The greater the resistance, the harder it is to convince others to change their minds. It is difficult to convince someone who is a committed life-long Democrat that he should vote Republi­can. Therefore, it is important to keep resistance in mind. In the book, Gardner attributes an ability to overcome resistance as one reason why Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were able to put their different political views aside and resume their friendship during their later years.
Psychology	· Cognitive Science or Brain Based Learning · When Gardner says that intelligences are independent, he is referring to separate sections of the brain that control each intelligence and have distinct methods of processing information. No one kind of intelligence is better than another each intelligence has its own sphere of expertise · Intelligences do not work independently of one another in a real-world setting. Most tasks require the simultaneous use of several intelligences in order to be completed successfully - intelligences are not fungible · Gardner’s criteria for selecting these particular abilities as intelligences include: o Independence from other intelligences (within the brain); o Having a central set of information-processing operations; o Having a distinct developmental history; o Having roots in evolutionary history; and having a cultural basis. · We all possess all of these intelligences but in varying degrees of strength, skill and limitation

EPISTEMIC “FOUNDATIONS”: PRE-MODERN

Quote: Plato's was the time of great change from instruction in elevated, rhythmic public speech to the predominance of prose speech What formerly could only be recited or sung, can now be pinned down, penned down. The script can be copied, one copy serving as the source for another. The scroll can freeze "materials" for a teacher. It is not the speech but the language of the past that can be made present (p.23).

Summary: In Plato’s time, an improvement occurred in the transmission of information and learning, information no longer needs to be recollected either publicly or by learning rhythms or cadences as a mnemonics device. The information could now be written down and fixed. This fixed material could also be faithfully reproduced and verified, thus resulting in an authentic transmission to others. It is not the “mechanics” (speech) of writing, i.e. how it is done; but the “system of symbols” (language) which gives meaning to the content that is available for learning.

Extension: This change has several double-edged implications. First, writing down information gives it a broader audience for example scholars in Athens could send scholars in Carthage information and it would not be changed by the messenger. However, writing limited the sphere of information i.e. one has to be able to “read” to receive the message. As discussed fixing or pinning the information down had a negative effect on memory, over the years people have not had to “remember” in the same way that they did before. Again, this can have another side to it, instead of “regurgitating” information, which could easily be looked up people could now spend their time conceptualizing. By fixing the word down on paper it appears to give it some form of “truth”. This is problematic in two ways first it is the “truth” of the victors, the power structure etc. that is being fixed not all voices are being heard. Second it can foster a sense of compliance, these people must be write as they already know more about the topic because they were able to write about it.