The internet may very well be the closest attempt yet at
creating a universally accessible vessel for the delivery of true
Metacognitive Cybernetic models of learning. In these early days of
the internet it still lacks powerful, intelligent search engines,
ŒIntelligent agents¹ or cybernetic learner profiling systems with
logic mechanisms for assisting learners and their learning needs. But
the infrastructure is in place now to allow the internet to be the
vehicle for the delivery of individualized, context-sensitive, rich
and varied learning experiences to anyone who is connected. Much of
the information delivery systems we are using now (books, magazines,
journals, etc.) are being moved to the internet. It is becoming much
more common to find students doing their reading, research,
communicating, shopping or even watching TV online. What remains is
to incorporate many of the innovations described previously into web
sites and web browsers and to expand these tools with more powerful
components.
One tool which may provide the means with which
to build more powerful web tools is the programming language called
JAVA. Michael O¹Connell describes JAVA as ³-- the environment that
turns static Web pages into interactive, dynamic, animated documents
bolstered by distributed, platform-independent applications --².
(http://www.sun.com/sunworldonline/swol-07-1995/swol-07-java.html).
The Java programming language was originally developed as a tool for
programming appliances - those that can be seen in futuristic type
homes. Examples would include Œintelligent¹ thermostats that adjust
the temperature automatically based on a set of preferences input by
the user. Lighting systems that go on and off as you enter and leave
a room, stoves and microwaves that respond to spoken commands and
much, much more. The vast majority of software that I have seen
developed using JAVA is clearly in its elementary stages and would
not qualify as an MC model. This will certainly change as programmers
and designers become more proficient with the tools but the most
important aspect of JAVA is the fact that programs will be platform
independant and network-centric, NOT computer-centric. And, because
JAVA is not necessarily confined to use on a computer, we will see
integration within a wide array of Œinformation appliances¹ and
crossing boundaries such as television, transportation and many new
forms of interactive communications.
In their article
Characteristics of Technology-Based Virtual Learning
Communities, Kowch and Schwier speak of the World Wide Web as a
Œcommunity¹ as lively and interactive as any college campus... ³A
virtual learning community employs technology to communicate;
therefore, it can, and does, happen anywhere, and it can be
constructed anywhere.² (Kowch and Schwier, 1997) This is a powerful
concept and brings with it some rather disconcerting possiblities in
the minds of many teachers. Today any individual can go online to
access almost any type of information and communicate with Œexperts¹
in just about any field of learning. Are teachers going to be
replaced by this technology? If you view teachers as deliverers of
information and no more than I would agree that this kind of teacher
is going to be replaced. But because learning is very much a 'social'
process and we are all seekers of 'knowledge' , I feel we are going
to need more 'teachers', not less - both the human and the
Metacognitive Cybernetic variety.
Pick a different
paper