TELTA Module (Week 7)
The following is a selection of my contributions to the group chat on Slack from from Wednesday 22nd February to Tuesday 28th February 2017. The Slack ‘Chat Channel’ was set up by Dr. Frances Boylan on 10th January 2017 and I joined the channel on 11th January 2017.
28th February 2017
Gerard Kilkenny [12:53 AM]
I have been involved in different ways in eLearning for about 26 years. I get very involved for periods of time and then move on to do something else. The MSc in Applied eLearning (this TELTA module is an elective component) is my latest foray. The names and acronyms keep changing – CAI, CBT, TBT, eLearning – but one constant is that when I come back to the eLearning ‘fold’, everybody I meet, and everything I read, suggests that we are on the cusp of a digital breakthrough in education. The names of the principals often change, but the evolving eLearning community always seem excited that something is about to radically change education. Except it never does. There is a line from a Mary Coughlan song (from her 1996 album ‘Under The Influence’) that reads “…but every few years it’s right back to zero.
I was aware that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had a long chat shortly before Jobs passed away in October 2011, during which they talked about education and technology. This is an excerpt from one of two postings below. (The second posting, which is nothing to do with Jobs and Gates, is a 7 minute video called “This will revolutionize education” which I think is well worth looking at in the context of today’s webinar).
QUOTE FROM MEETING BETWEEN JOBS AND GATES:
“True to form, one of the elements Jobs brought up during their final meeting was the failure of both men to “materially” improve education through technology.”
http://www.macnn.com/articles/13/05/13/friends.and.rivals.discussed.family.history.future/
Bill Gates emotionally details final meeting with Steve Jobs – (May 13) | MacNN
An unaired portion of a 60 Minutes interview with Bill Gates saw the founder of Microsoft in an unusually reflective state when questioned by interviewer Charlie Rose on the topic of the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, his friend and rival.
This Will Revolutionize Education