Risks and Opportunities in the Age of Information Technology: E-Learning, Commercialization, and Measures of Success.

This position paper describes a theoretical framework for learning that encompasses new conceptions of learning, namely learning as social practice, new views of the learner as self-directed, and paradigm shifts in learning as it is mandated in new social contexts. Social learning theory, especially that of situated learning, provides a new framework for discussing how technology has influenced learning. Interactive learning can be described as access to the Internet that enables dynamic, and less static, learning where direct exposure to experts in the field is possible and multimedia presentations facilitate various learning styles, and the learning model of transmission is replaced by a distributed learning model. Teacher education for the future must take technology into account; understanding how the educational use of computers influences patterns of thinking and contributes to changes in the symbolic underpinnings of culture should be considered an essential aspect of computer literacy. The information apartheid that divides poor children from others with respect to access to computers must be bridged immediately. (SLD)