ERIC Number: EJ853105
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1449-5554
EISSN: N/A
Technology, Human Agency and Dewey's Constructivism: Opening Democratic Spaces in Virtual Classrooms
Hyslop-Margison, Emery J.
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, v20 n2 p137-148 2004
This article examines whether the ubiquitous presence of technology in schools negatively affects democratic learning by promoting instrumental rationality and, hence, reifying social reality. The author suggests that structural critiques of educational technology ignore the considerable impact of human agency on shaping related learning outcomes. By combining Dewey's constructivism with Internet technology, the article suggests student agency and participatory democratic learning are actually encouraged. Rather than condemning educational technology as necessarily socially reproductive, then, the author concludes that democratic educators should appropriate classroom technologies and utilise them in ways to promote the critical consciousness of students.
Descriptors: Constructivism (Learning), Educational Technology, Virtual Classrooms, Influence of Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Politics of Education, Internet, Democratic Values, Learning Processes
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Ascilite Secretariat, P.O. Box 44, Figtree, NSW, Australia. Tel: +61-8-9367-1133; e-mail: info@ascilite.org.au; Web site: http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A

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