Hubert Dreyfus and DL

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Gert Potgieter, Aug 30, 2002.

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  1. Peter Denning has an interesting article this month in the Communications of the ACM. The article is entitled The profession of IT: Career redux (Comm. ACM, 45(9), 21-26, 2002). The article is about how people continue to grow in their professions beyond their initial education. Denning presents a "ladder of competence" (from novice through expert to "legend"!). Of interest are his comments about the thinking of Hubert Dreyfus, whom we have discussed on this board: Another Noble adherent. Denning's discussion of Dreyfus includes the following:

    • Dreyfus uses his model to challenge a central claim of distance-education enthusiasts, which is that courses offered via the Internet will allow people to obtain degrees and high levels of proficiency faster and cheaper than in traditional schools. He argues, much as he did before, that distance learning using the Internet is good for teaching beginners but is unlikely to be capable of raising a student past the level of competence. He insists the embodied expertise of the proficient, the expert, and the master depend on extensive coached practice, presence and contact between the teacher and learner, and involvement. These higher levels require teaching and learning methods incompatible with the Internet. He says that in limited circumstances, with the right teachers and modes of interaction, telepresence might possibly enable some students to reach the level of proficiency via distance education.

      If Dreyfus is correct, and I believe he is, this poses a serious problem for competent, proficient, or expert professionals who have been hoping online courses might help them advance in their profession. At best, an online course can help them stay current with technologies at their current level of expertise. It can inform them of new concepts and processes, but it cannot provide them with the coached practice, presence, contact, and involvement needed to move them to higher levels.
    The article is quite good, though written informally for a general audience.

    Recommended.
     
  2. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Soon after Marina completed her DL MA in philosophy (Dominguez Hills), she was shopping around for a doctoral program. Dreyfuss was the person on the Berkeley campus whose writings she liked best. When she went to see him, and explained her background, he seemed to have no problem with someone with a DL Master's entering that doctoral program. But he had major concerns given her interest in feminist philosophy and eastern philosophy and existential philosophy -- none of them, at the time at least, in vogue at Berkeley. He strongly encouraged her to continue her search elsewhere, but did suggest he would 'take her on' if she insisted.

    Note: he would only talk to her in a moving car! He said or implied that it was not prudent for him to discuss his department or colleagues while on campus.
     

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