This essay considers the analysis Jacques Ellul carried out about the devaluation of language. This investigation also explores the consequences of that devaluation (or humiliation as Ellul called it) wrought by our orientation to technology. Our existence in technology transforms language and our use of it, shifting emphasis as well to the visual…

The Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, also known as the Missouri Facebook Law, forbids exclusive or private conversations between teachers and students on Facebook. A judge has granted an injunction against it, but this issue has sparked a debate among teachers about whether they should be Facebook friends with current students and in what ways…

From time to time, every educator asks the question "why am I doing this?" Some of the answers may relate to personal goals or needs, but some are invariably focused on beliefs about the impact their work has on learners. For postsecondary educators, those answers may include thoughts about increased employability or better citizenship or mastery…

Few subjects have suffered as much as the liberal arts from the power of stale rhetoric, hollow appeals to tradition, and journalistic misrepresentation. Leon Botstein, begins this article by saying that together, these three factors have generated and legitimated public skepticism about the liberal arts. A liberal arts education (which is rarely…

The practice of distance education in the United States is traced back to its early roots. In the 20th century, distance education remained at the periphery in corporate training, K-12 schools, and most universities, but it gradually developed its practice by using broadcast media, and later the Internet. Since the turn of the current century,…

In this EL interview, Karen Cator, the director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, talks about ways to realize the potential of technology to transform education. She discusses what students need: their own digital devices for classroom use, the ability to use the information they access, the skills to…

A first time attender at the annual conference of the "National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology" (NITOP, 2014), Castro was impressed with how throughout, discussions were vivid and innovative; talks were warm and interactive, handouts and other resources were diverse and abundant, with all materials very well adjusted to various…

In this webinar, Dr. Stephanie Hirsh, Executive Director of Learning Forward, presented the research on effective PLCs and shared her experiences in creating, assessing, and leading PLCs. This Q&A addressed questions participants had for Dr. Hirsh following the webinar. The webinar recording and PowerPoint presentation are also available.

The biochemistry course at Stanford Medical School has been redesigned to incorporate online lectures. The Stanford instructors provide short online presentations then use class time for interactive discussions of clinical vignettes to highlight the biochemical basis of various diseases. Contemporary video capture equipment makes video lectures…

One of the most challenging questions of education in late modern society concerns technology. Development and use of technology is altering our views of world and humanity. In this paper I explore philosophical background for a new kind of critical education that would be up to date with the changed world. This paper introduces case philosophy…

This article features an interview with Pierre A. Lévy, Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Ottawa, Canada. He occupies the Canada Research Chair in Collective Intelligence where he is engaged in research on the design of a universal system for semantic addressing of digital documents. He completed his MA at the Sorbonne…

From Rio to Rio with Kyoto, Copenhagen and Durban in between, the conclusion remains the same: we fundamentally disagree on realities of this planet and the ways we can address them. A decisive breakthrough would necessitate both wider contexts and a larger participatory base so as to identify problems, formulate policies, and broaden and…

Obtaining appropriate special education and related services to establish the best educational environment--academically and socially--has not only been challenging but also downright daunting. The decisions the author has made supporting his children, 6-year-old James who is deaf and 12-year-old Miia who is hard of hearing, are, in part, derived…

This article offers an academic critique of new media culture, as viewed comparatively with George Orwell's "1984." The author makes the argument that a number of plot elements of "1984" are reflected within contemporary Western societies. The assertion is made that these parallels have developed as a consequence of new…

This theoretical article draws from the political thought of Jacques Rancière to trouble some taken-for-granted conceptions of citizenship education. Rancière's notion of politics and dissensus (as opposed to consensus) can lay the groundwork for a version of citizenship that challenges what is deemed sensible, visible, who is counted in…