In addition to his position as the Director for Magic Lantern, Gary Karlsen is the President of the Association of Media and Technology of Education in Canada (AMTEC) which will be hosting the annual conference in Vancouver in June of 1996. As you can imagine, Mr. Karlsen was extremely busy preparing for this major event. He was gracious enough to answer Jan Boone's questions and to provide his thoughts about the field of Educational Technology.
Current Position and Duties
Important Aspects; Highs and Lows
Professional Background
ET Defined
ET and Future Trends
Interviewer's Comments
I am the Director of Western Canada for Magic Lantern Communications, Ltd.
My responsibilities include sales and marketing of educational media to all
sectors of education and training including government, educational broadcasters
and the private sector.
My duties include the following:
As Director, there are many important areas to be considered. However the areas that are most important include:
Any organization and any position within an organization experiences peaks
and valleys. The greatest satisfaction in this position is our ability to
improve teaching and learning through the distribution of quality media
resources. The downside is encountering cynics who denigrate the important
role of educational media.
Even with the ups and downs, it is still the most interesting field I know.
I have been empowered by it, in it, through it, and have helped others become
empowered too. There are still many questions to be answered, but it's the
greatest industry in the world.
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For most of my career, I have worked at the college level in educational
media. In 1993, government funding cut-backs in British Columbia caused the
downsizing of my department. After several job offers from the private sector,
I joined Magic Lantern Communications.
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I am going to duck the yet-another-request-to-define educational technology
question. I have written several over the years, which are buried somewhere,
but which are probably only variations of what you are using for yourself.
There is the key. Grab onto what you like and make the best use of it. I
give that advise only to those whom I trust are intelligent and educated
enough to avoid self-fulfilling prophecies and obfuscating jargon.
I admit that technology for me has always been both product and process.
You know, don't get too excited about the hardware. It's how it's used ...
right?
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Where do I see the field heading? Well, I don't know where it's going, but I see some clear pathways. These include:
I have a problem answer the question: do I agree with these directions? Instead,
I will say that the digital developments could be very good. Why? They are
faster, cheaper and more democratic, e.g. more people will be able to
communication and educate more people. But then, will content, design and
display features suffer as the masses get their hands on the means of production?
I'm certain these comments raise a lot of questions for debate. These will
be the discussions of the future.
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I appreciate the time Mr. Karlsen was able to devote to answering my questions
for this project. Unfortunately this caught him at an extremely busy time
during preparation for the upcoming AMTEC Conference in Vancouver in June
1996. The planning and preparation for this major event alone would be enough
to consume anyone's time, without the additional duties as Director for Magic
Lantern. Therefore, I wish to thank him for the amount of time he was able
to steal away from these other commitments to graciously answer some difficult
questions. I wish Mr. Karlsen and the representatives of AMTEC all the best
for a successful conference and look forward to meeting him in person when
Saskatoon hosts this event next year.
Jan Boone
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