#FutureLearn and Past Technology

Sticking #future in front of something makes it look great in shiny packaging and then kicks it into the long grass. In the real future (not the #future), when people come across the package, sodden and decayed, and wonder what it is, it is unlikely that any of the glitz of its original packaging will have any impact at all. The power of history lies in its reconstructing of narratives which account for present decay. Decay and death is ever-present, although some periods appear more in decline than others. We're in one of those now. One of the things that happens in such periods are efforts to escape. Presenting things as 'of the future' is a symptom of this.

When we do see things which really are new, we know it viscerally. I was fascinated to see a transcript of an online conversation between Ronald Reagan (who was then governor of California), Edward Said and Marcel Broodthaers (waiting for Jane Fonda to appear..) in 1975. Actually it turns out this was a hoax! However, in the made-up transcripts each had their own agenda politically - it could have happened. They all 'got it'. They knew it would be big. Said's first reaction was "this really works" (they couldn't do punctuation, although I guess he would have stuck an exclamation mark at the end of it.. or maybe a smiley!).

MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Hello.
EDWARD SAID
Hello this really works.
RONALD REAGAN
Hello this is Gov. Ronald Reagan of California.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Yes amazing.
RONALD REAGAN
Neat stuff.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
I thought I would say hello whilst we are waiting.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
This is mb.
RONALD REAGAN
Hello Marcel.
EDWARD SAID
Who are we waiting for. Im Edward.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Hello.
RONALD REAGAN
Hi Ed. Call me Ron.
EDWARD SAID
Hi Ron you dont mind do you.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Hello Edward. Well Im told we are waiting for Jane Fonda.
RONALD REAGAN
No my wife calls me Ronnie.
RONALD REAGAN
Jane Fonda. Really. Well Ill be.
RONALD REAGAN
Interesting line up.
That's what it feels like when you see 'the future'.  MOOCS, #FutureLearn, etc are not 'the future'. They are, in fact, pretty miserable - a symptom of decay. The visceral reaction really matters. The same might be said of e-learning in general. The uncomfortable fact is that the reaction of Reagan, Said, etc appeared to educationalists as 'potential' for education.. But somehow we've not realised the potential. Said spotted it... RONALD REAGAN
Wouldnt you rather pick up the phone and call.
RONALD REAGAN
All this damned typing.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
You get faster.
EDWARD SAID
Yes I would but if it were to be cheap and inexpensive.
EDWARD SAID
Free.
RONALD REAGAN
Free. Well who pays for it in the end though.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
The people of course.
RONALD REAGAN
You mean taxes.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
I assume you are in a military communication centre like me. Both of you.
EDWARD SAID
But for a young man or woman in Sri Lanka this might help them voice their ideas to people like a university professor from Michigan or an architect from Bahia.  EDWARD SAID
The rich should pay.
It was obvious to an academic like Said that this was massive. Technology and communications have clearly done amazing things, and no doubt many lives in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, have been transformed. But they could not have foreseen how social structures, power relations, institutions and governments would have reacted to the potential. Reagan might also have been thinking "yes.. but if I was a terrorist or a communist..."   The essence of something powerful like ARPANET, or any development that is really new and "will change the world" is a sensation of emancipation. That's what all of these people must have felt. Indeed, that's what I felt when I encountered micro-computers in the 1980s. It was thrilling - particularly for a teenager.

When we look at MOOCs, we do not see emancipation. We see a manifestation of repressive social structures that have become technologised. We see powerful institutions that are looking for new ways of hooking customers into their products and making money. They will tell us "it's the future". But the point about really exciting things is that nobody needs to be told "it's the future".. they already know. 

The real irony in this was that ARPANET was a research project (albeit in a military unit.. although I'm sure it felt pretty much like a university). That's what research should do - produce cool things that emancipate people. So what are universities doing to produce new things that emancipate, that have the same thrilling effect? Isn't that where our research effort should be concentrated? Why are Universities doing such dull stuff with education? 

The answer to this question is depressing and symptomatic of the deep trouble we are in. Research in Universities has become so closely tied to capitalism, to 'revenue generation' that the value of research is measured in terms of "business potential". When University academics are dependent on meeting these criteria to keep their jobs, then it is little surprise that the rot sets in. When those rules are applied to the business of the University itself, MOOCs are what we get. For some reason, Universities have been unable to match the excitement of the early internet with regard to teaching and learning. A depressing "if it brings the money in, if it creates a marketing buzz, it's good enough" mentality.

I think the reasons for this are complex. Partly, it is because our theories of learning (particularly the dominant constructivist theory) is deficient in explaining the gamut of the human experience of learning. The fact that these deficiencies have not been explored academically is connected with disciplinary pathology and the organisation of Universities themselves. The fact that new exciting educational technologies haven't emerged is to do with an absence of theoretical development. What has taken its place is corporatism, technological "fadism", and the unremitting forces of marketisation. The only way out is better critical thinking and better theory.

The discussion on ARPANET expanded on the impact on education:

MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Students I think could benefit from this greatly.
EDWARD SAID
Yes I can imagine.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Vast networks of students.
EDWARD SAID
Networks. What does that mean really.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Youth must be provided with the means to grasp this opportunity.
RONALD REAGAN
Sounds a bit out of control to me.
EDWARD SAID
Sounds suspicious.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
The young will grasp its potential in a way we couldnt imagine.
RONALD REAGAN
I dont doubt that.
MARCEL BROODTHAERS
You agree with me Ronald.
RONALD REAGAN
Well yes.
EDWARD SAID
And what will it lead to Marcel. Other networks with more power will already have control.

I think that's where we are...