TY - JOUR

T1 - E-learning. A New Environment for Engagement

AU - Olesen, Mogens

AU - K. Logan, Robert

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - The emergence of digital media is currently affecting our society across the board. However, until now our educational system has been relatively unaffected. Building on Marshall McLuhan’s point that media are environments, we argue that our schools will eventually need to adopt digital media in their learning methods, i.e. e-learning. There are at least two strong arguments for e-learning: 1) it will help schools staying in tune with the rest of the society. 2) digital media offer opportunities to learn in new, activating ways. We use Andy Clark’s extended mind thesis to argue how technologies can scaffold interactive learning and make it more engaging. The article analyzes e-learning, first by defining four aspects that are affected by it, and finally we sketch four levels of e-learning. On the basis of this analysis, we use a case topic (World War 2) to demonstrate how e-learning in practice can take various shapes.

AB - The emergence of digital media is currently affecting our society across the board. However, until now our educational system has been relatively unaffected. Building on Marshall McLuhan’s point that media are environments, we argue that our schools will eventually need to adopt digital media in their learning methods, i.e. e-learning. There are at least two strong arguments for e-learning: 1) it will help schools staying in tune with the rest of the society. 2) digital media offer opportunities to learn in new, activating ways. We use Andy Clark’s extended mind thesis to argue how technologies can scaffold interactive learning and make it more engaging. The article analyzes e-learning, first by defining four aspects that are affected by it, and finally we sketch four levels of e-learning. On the basis of this analysis, we use a case topic (World War 2) to demonstrate how e-learning in practice can take various shapes.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - e-learning

KW - Extension of Mind

KW - iPads

KW - McLuhan

KW - Media environments

M3 - Journal article

VL - 2

SP - 117

EP - 130

JO - International Journal of McLuhan Studies

JF - International Journal of McLuhan Studies

ER -