Ok..I am going to get a little philosophical here, but a lot of what I am about to say stems from the intense studying that I am doing for my Comp exams in less than three weeks. Epistemology (one of thie things that I am studying) is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge. It attempts to answer the basic question: what distinguishes true (adequate) knowledge from false (inadequate) knowledge? Practically, this questions translates into issues of scientific methodology: how can one develop theories or models that are better than competing theories? It also forms one of the pillars of the new sciences of cognition, which developed from the information processing approach to psychology, and from artificial intelligence, as an attempt to develop computer programs that mimic a human's capacity to use knowledge in an intelligent way. When we look at the history of epistemology, we can discern a clear trend, in spite of the confusion of many seemingly contradictory positions. The first theories of knowledge stressed its absolute, permanent character, whereas the later theories put the emphasis on its relativity or situation-dependence, its continuous development or evolution, and its active interference with the world and its subjects and objects. The whole trend moves from a static, passive view of knowledge towards a more and more adaptive and active one. With all of this in mind, how can we conceptualize the "epistemology of Distance Learning", besides it being a paradigm shift in learning as we know it? Most educational instutions/fields have a theory of learning and "gaing knowledge" - but how does this transfer to DL? Does DL provide us with "adequate knowledge"? Just a question.....
First off I would like to question the point that DL learning is a "paradigm shift in learning". I would rather postulize that it is a shift back to the original concept of a teacher and a student sitting at the opposite ends of a log. BUT, the log is much much longer. The shift is away from the constrained methods of the last century (were yuou studied what was available) and back to the ways of Aristole and others. With the difference being you can now pick your log and adjust your learning to your needs and desires.
I would argue that DL is the medium through which constructivist learning is highly obtainable. Although this idea of learning has been around for a long time (Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, etc.), it's a real struggle to implement it in the traditional teacher-centered classroom. Jaworski (1993) provides an excellent overview of the principlies of constructivism: 1.Knowing is an action participated in by the learner. Knowledge is not received from an external source. 2.Learning is a process of comparing new experience with knowledge constructed from previous experience, resulting in the reinforcing or adaptation of that knowledge. 3.Social interactions within the learning environment are an essential part of this experience and contribute fundamentally to individual knowledge construction. 4.Shared meanings develop through negotiation in the learning environment, leading to the development of common or ‘taken-as-shared’ knowledge. 5.Learning takes place within some socio-cultural setting - a ‘community of practice’ in which we can think of social actions as well as social interactions. I think that in DL, and in particular web-based learning, by removing constraints of time and space from learning activities, the learners are able to take more control over their own learning, thus providing a more realistic and applicable environment in which they may build on previous knowledge, collaborate with others, and engage in meta-cognition about their own learning activities. The number of empirical studies providing support for constructivism in DL is rising, as well. Just my two cents, Adrienne Reference: Jarowski, B. (1993). Constructivism and teaching: The socio-cultural context. Retrieved February 10, 2004 from http://www.grout.demon.co.uk/Barbara/chreods.htm.
I find it hard to believe "false" knowledge equates with "inadequate" knowledge. In my area of technology problems are solved by the collective input of individuals, none of which have adequate knowledge individually, but as a group they do.
I think that epistemological issues arise more readily regarding the subject matter of learning than regarding the course delivery medium. For example, the epistemological questions surrounding theological presuppositions exist whether or not our Degreeinfo theologians physically study in a classroom. They include such questions as how humans can have knowledge of divine things in the first place, how true revelation is distinguished from false, and how conflicting religious truth-claims might be adjudicated. And obviously, these epistemological questions regarding theology look rather different than the epistemological questions that might arise in an engineering class, in political theory or in art criticism. Whether or not a class is offered remotely through communications media doesn't seem to me to have very much impact on that stuff. DL might well herald a sociological "paradigm change" in educational institutionalization and in the role of education in society generally. More speculatively, it might imply some psychological changes in how remote students learn using the new media. But epistemology? Sorry, but I just don't see very much change due to DL.
