Comments on: New learning and the “so what?” http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/archives/619?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-learning-and-the-so-what Dave Ferguson's interests, ideas, notions, tangents Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:35:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dave http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/archives/619/comment-page-1#comment-9770 Dave Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:05:09 +0000 http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/?p=619#comment-9770 Ken, I agree with you on the new environments, and the mobile-phone use is a good example. I disagree with people who think that using these phones has changed anatomy or affected evolution (we don't evolve in perceptible ways in a single generation). Rather, individuals become habituated, and some become more skillful at manipulating new tools. But the mobile phone is at least as distracting as fiddling with the radio while you drive, or trying to dig out a map from the pocket on the back of a seat, or any other task requiring more of the bandwidth that we can't easily increase. Ken, I agree with you on the new environments, and the mobile-phone use is a good example. I disagree with people who think that using these phones has changed anatomy or affected evolution (we don’t evolve in perceptible ways in a single generation).

Rather, individuals become habituated, and some become more skillful at manipulating new tools. But the mobile phone is at least as distracting as fiddling with the radio while you drive, or trying to dig out a map from the pocket on the back of a seat, or any other task requiring more of the bandwidth that we can’t easily increase.

]]> By: Ken Allan http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/archives/619/comment-page-1#comment-9762 Ken Allan Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:17:30 +0000 http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/?p=619#comment-9762 Kia ora Dave! As you probably know, this is a hot debate (or should I say warm, for it's cooled a bit) that's been going on for some time now. I side with you about the neurons bit. I get a hard time from some people who know I have different metaphors for learning - but these are for the behavioural aspects of learning, not the neural mechanisms, which are what you are referring to. I get a hard time for mixing my metaphors - but the truth is, I'm not mixing them. I think what the new environments do, though, is highlight behavioural patterns that may not have been noticed till these environments came into play. It's a bit like the recent hype over mobile phone use and related driving accidents. <i>(Accidents of that type were always taking place (walky-talkies in police cars, taxis, ambulance and commercial trucks and other vehicles) but not to the scale that they are now, principally because of the enormous explosion in the use of mobiles in society.)</i> Ka kite from Middle-earth Kia ora Dave!

As you probably know, this is a hot debate (or should I say warm, for it’s cooled a bit) that’s been going on for some time now. I side with you about the neurons bit.

I get a hard time from some people who know I have different metaphors for learning – but these are for the behavioural aspects of learning, not the neural mechanisms, which are what you are referring to. I get a hard time for mixing my metaphors – but the truth is, I’m not mixing them.

I think what the new environments do, though, is highlight behavioural patterns that may not have been noticed till these environments came into play. It’s a bit like the recent hype over mobile phone use and related driving accidents. (Accidents of that type were always taking place (walky-talkies in police cars, taxis, ambulance and commercial trucks and other vehicles) but not to the scale that they are now, principally because of the enormous explosion in the use of mobiles in society.)

Ka kite
from Middle-earth

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