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

10 Pedagogical Consequences of the
Transformation of Information and Knowledge
Introduction
A special aspect of the current cultural change is the transformation of the meaning of
"information" and "knowledge" (cf. chap. 9). Both terms are also in wide use in the field
of distance education, as a result of the computerisation of teaching and learning.
Their range of meaning is extended here as well. Along with traditional information
we find communication-technological information; along with traditional knowledge
there is "informed" knowledge. In practical teaching and learning this change in
meaning has the following consequence: teachers and students are confronted to the
same extent by the unusual task of having to acquire new knowledge in the digital
learning environment with the help of an inexhaustible abundance of stored information.
However, this informed knowledge differs greatly from traditional classical knowledge.
And there are consequences: we are faced with different forms of information and
knowledge, "dealing with" knowledge is given a previously unknown meaning, new
forms of learning behaviour arise and these include in particular knowledge
management. Because lifetime learning is practically inconceivable for teachers and
students without the computer-based acquisition of knowledge, this paper will discuss
these consequences from the aspect of pedagogy and instructional design.
Those who look at lifelong education seriously and who continuously develop new
activities in this field know that a considerable part of this type of continuing education
can no longer take place in the form of courses, seminars and conferences face-to-face.
On-line learning will increasingly penetrate this sector, above all for those people who
are already familiar from their work with computers and the unique opportunities they
provide. However, on-line learning also confronts participants with unusual situations.
They are provided comfortably and rapidly with an immeasurable wealth of technically
stored information, and they have to be able to handle a new type of knowledge:
"informed" knowledge (Degele, 2000).
This informed knowledge differs from classical knowledge in many important points: it
is not presented directly or indirectly by people but filtered or "generated" by students
from different items of information; it is broken down into fractions and pieces; it
demands thinking in data and data configurations; it requires the application of an
organising and regulating knowledge (meta-knowledge); and it can be represented in
several forms, even complex ones. It is removed from the original context and cut off
from the historical development. But above all: it is becoming more important for
society because it is used as a productive power of the first order. This knowledge has
become a sign of our post-industrial age.
The following is an examination of the way in which this type of transformed
knowledge can affect learning in continuing education.
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