A conversation with Gabe Ofiesh
12:00-2:00 LEARNING TECHNOLOGY LUNCHEON
National Demonstration Lab, Academy for Educational Development 1255 23rd Street, NW Washington DC. 202 884-8906
As usual, the lunch session is an informal brown bag. The brown-bag meeting is open to anyone interested.
For additional information, call David Barbee at 202 244-5697. or Anna Doroshaw at 202-260-7344.
"Over the past few decades, in the blink of the eye of history, our culture
has begun to go through what promises to be a total metamorphosis. The
influx of electronic communications and information processing technologies,
abetted by the steady improvement of the microprocessor, has rapidly brought
on a condition of critical mass."
- from the introduction to "The Gutenberg Elegies"
Digital technologies are converging to create new information and learning opportunities. The capability of merging text, audio, video, graphics and animation into a single delivery system such as the information highway is changing the way information is conveyed and comprehended. Learning and information acquisition are moving away from formal institutions and toward the individual user on an "as needed/when needed/where needed" basis, and are now being delivered very effectively. As the bandwidth capabilities of the Information Highways increase, the medium will begin to deliver multimedia to the average citizen. What will this look like? What are the implications for human development society as a whole?
Dr. Ofiesh will review contrasting visions and appraisals such as Negroponte's "Being Digital" and Clifford Stoll's "Silicon Snake Oil". In addition to his own vision, he will highlight the views of others such as Andy Grove (Intel's President) and Sven Birkerts' "The Gutenberg Elegies," characterized by Publisher's Weekly as "a different, darker take on new technology."
QUOTE FOR THE DAY : As Eleanor (Roosevelt) said, Work as though you were going to live forever, Live as tho you were going to die tomorrow".