Distance Education in Transition - Master of Distance Education ...

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"Information" and "Knowledge" - On the Semantic Transformation of Two Central Terms accessible specialist information. To name just one example: the philosopher Jürgen Mittelstraß (1994) draws our attention to the fact that the mere abundance of information can have an effect on the contents and the orientation of the knowledge. For him, information differs from knowledge through its "inclination to infinite growth and unlimited variety" (1994, p. 140). New ranges of information, he claims, aroused new demands for additional information: "The thing about ranges of information is that the individual searching for information nearly always receives more than they are looking for, in fact, much, much more. This includes a great deal of information which he should have looked for and has now luckily acquired without having to search; but also a great deal which he does not need and which he his not prepared simply to ignore, now that he has it." (1994, p. 140). Following this, he continues, "the substance of traditional philosophical work" begins to alter, because now research directions and interests in knowledge are influences and "curiosity and the pleasure in experimenting take a new direction". Even the way in which knowledge producers work changes: Where "everything is available on call, the liking for comparisons, contrasts, overviews grows. More and more collecting, numbering and presenting takes place, and less and less thinking." (1994, p. 143). Accordingly, Mittelstraß sees philosophical work as being under threat from "a new superficiality" (1994, p. 143). Possible Perspectives These two outlined examples show by themselves how traditional knowledge might change as well. Members of the Net generation will proceed differently when producing and reproducing knowledge and arrive at different results. And even protagonists of traditional knowledge who do not have relevant experience gained as children and teenagers will be affected by the change. This will not only change the goals, directions and methods of knowledge production, but even the contents, perhaps even the traditional concepts of knowledge. According to this, but for other reasons as well, the traditional knowledge of the future will also be subject to a structural change. Results The understanding of traditional knowledge which was presented above is contoured and extended through the following excursus: In many ways, knowledge is always imparted in society, which takes place individually, depending on the location of its carrier. Knowledge develops in an individual manner because not only the cognitive preconditions in individuals are different, but also because the life history of each individual has an effect on the knowledge. Knowledge is not a fixed quantity but changes its structure and nature through the media which dominated the storage and reproduction of knowledge in each epoch. The existing knowledge contents in a defined environmental contribute to the individualisation of knowledge. Knowledge is created in the minds of individuals through the particular development and correction of knowledge structures. Knowledge also feeds on insights 149
"Information" and "Knowledge" - On the Semantic Transformation of Two Central Terms and experiences which are subjectively and objectively correct, which has to be substantiated and justified in each case. On the other hand, however, it is also claimed that knowledge is a collection of facts and rules which exist objectively, and are therefore not dependent on or influenced by the subjectivity of defined individuals. This includes the concept that encoded information is stored in human neural systems: in other words, thinking is processing information. Information Society or Knowledge Society? Jürgen Mittelstraß (1999, p. 728) summarised the problem that we are discussing here as follows: "We are standing on the threshold to a new society, but where will the road take us? Towards a pure information society? Or are we on the way to a knowledge society?". Now that we have elaborated on the differences between information and knowledge, it seems obvious to consider these questions with their help. Information Society It is clear that the spectacular advances in information and communication media cause the dominance of the term "information society". They now determine society's economic, cultural and social life and in addition possess a "potential or a new organisation of material reproduction" (Wersig, 2000, p. 461). Their enormous power for altering structures has placed people under their spell and made "information society" into an extraordinarily attractive slogan. Politics, industry and academics all discuss their chances and challenges7 . The resonance in the literature is enormous. For example, if the problem were to be decided using the number of academic titles on this subject in the university library at the FernUniversität in Germany, the equation of the priority of the two terms could easily be answered: there are 104 titles on the information society and just 9 on the knowledge society in 2002. The difference is even greater when we consider papers in academic journals: in October 2002 the paper search engine JADE showed 375 titles on the "information society" and only 68 on the "knowledge society". There are also experts who place the emphasis from the start on information. Helmut F. Spinner (1994, p. 53 ff.) for example writes of a "knowledge order of the cognitive technological complex" in which "knowledge activities and stocks of knowledge" could be found. What he means here is the "creation, processing, networking, and dissemination of knowledge under the new technological conditions of electronic data processing. Nina Degele (2000, p. 14) criticises this shift of the cognitive emphasis of society to a data pool because she fears that the abundance of information would then "be accompanied by a lack of knowledge." Joseph Weizenbaum (1998) identifies this situation by giving his lecture in the Tele-Akademie of the German “Südwest Fernsehen” the title "We are looking for knowledge and are drowning in information". 7 For example the German Bundestag's Committee of Enquiry into "The future of the media in industry and society - Germany's road to the information society", the "Council for Research, Technology and Innovation" with its recommendation "Information society. Chances, Innovations, Challenges" (1995). In addition, I would also like to refer to the book "Information Society - Media - Democracy" (1996) edited by Edelgard Buhlmahn et al. (All of these titles have been translated into English). 150
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Studien und Berichte der Arbeitsste
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Studien und Berichte der Arbeitsste
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Acknowledgements Chapter 1: “Grow
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Series Editors' Foreword In 1994, D
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Foreword by Fred Lockwood As an edu
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Introduction Owing to the exponenti
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1 Growing Importance of Distance Ed
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Growing Importance of Distance Educ
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The Educational Paradigm Shifts Eve
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Perspectives The Educational Paradi
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3 Concepts and Models Introduction
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References Aebli, H. (1983). Die Wi
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References Bell, D. (1975). Die nac
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References Dale, E. (1967). Histori
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References Faulstich, W. (1997). "J
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References Hauck, M. (2004). Explor
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References Jakupec, V. (1993). Das
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References Kuhlen, R. (1991). Hyper
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References Nolda, S. (2001). Vom Ve
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References Reinmann-Rothmeier, G. (
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References Schulmeister, R. (n. y.)
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References Weinberger, A., & Mandl,
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Giesecke, Michael: 136 Giovis, Chri
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Spada, Hans: 135, 136, 138 Spencer,
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computer-mediated: 32, 98; digital:
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emergence: 13, 17, 84, 86, 159, 162
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isolation: 47, 102, 103, 111, 119 I
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structuring: 79, 80-1, 86, 94; summ
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patchwork identity: 104 pattern rec
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self-regulated: 9, 29, 115, 126; se
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