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User:Peter Damian

2010-10-23T08:13:17Z

Peter Damian:

{{User
|name=Peter Damian
|location=London, England
}}
Now retired, I used to teach philosophy at a Russell group English university. I have a number of publications in philosophical logic; currently completing a book on the early philosophy of the English theologian Duns Scotus.

I have a weblog [http://ocham.blogspot.com Beyond Necessity], and a website, [http://logicmuseum.com The Logic Museum].

Individual knowledge in the Internet age

2010-10-23T07:49:29Z

Peter Damian:

{{Summary
|title=Individual knowledge in the Internet age
|authors=Larry Sanger
|summary=Sanger attempts to unpack and engage with three claims made by online enthusiasts about education that he thinks are overstated at best. These claims include:

# The idea that access to databases on the Internet mean that memorization is no longer important.
# The idea that group learning is superior individual learning and that collaborative processes on the Internet have rendered individual unimportant.
# The idea that "co-constructed" knowledge by members of a group is superior to lengthy and complicated books.

Sanger discusses some of the arguments that support these claims or that are used by proponents of the Internet to support them (these include Brown and Adler, Carr and Shirky, Bauerlein, Keen, etc.) and concludes that a good "basic education" remains centrally important and that must ultimately be accomplished by becoming acquainted with original sources, the classics, and by reading increasingly difficult and important books.

* His argument to the first claim is that a strong focus is necessary for true knowledge, but the internet – the instant availability of information online - is a distraction for people who find it difficult to focus, and hinders them acquiring true knowledge. Therefore the internet is a hindrance to true knowledge.
* His argument to the second claim is that this view makes the views of the great thinkers of history irrelevant, when they clearly aren't.
* His argument to the final claim is that "To be well educated, to be able to pass along the liberal and rational values that undergird our civilization, we must as a culture retain our ability to comprehend long, difficult texts written by individuals".
|relevance=There is a longer discussion of Sanger's article [http://ocham.blogspot.com/2010/10/liberal-education-and-internet.html here], and a discussion of whether the Internet can transform the universities [http://ocham.blogspot.com/2010/10/university-of-future_21.html here].
|journal=EDUCAUSE Review
|pub_date=2010
|subject=Philosophy
|journal_vol=45
|pub_open_access=No
}}

Individual knowledge in the Internet age

2010-10-23T07:49:06Z

Peter Damian:

{{Summary
|title=Individual knowledge in the Internet age
|authors=Larry Sanger
|summary=Sanger attempts to unpack and engage with three claims made by online enthusiasts about education that he thinks are overstated at best. These claims include:

# The idea that access to databases on the Internet mean that memorization is no longer important.
# The idea that group learning is superior individual learning and that collaborative processes on the Internet have rendered individual unimportant.
# The idea that "co-constructed" knowledge by members of a group is superior to lengthy and complicated books.

Sanger discusses some of the arguments that support these claims or that are used by proponents of the Internet to support them (these include Brown and Adler, Carr and Shirky, Bauerlein, Keen, etc.) and concludes that a good "basic education" remains centrally important and that must ultimately be accomplished by becoming acquainted with original sources, the classics, and by reading increasingly difficult and important books.

* His argument to the first claim is that a strong focus is necessary for true knowledge, but the internet – the instant availability of information online - is a distraction for people who find it difficult to focus, and hinders them acquiring true knowledge. Therefore the internet is a hindrance to true knowledge.
* His argument to the second claim is that this view makes the views of the great thinkers of history irrelevant, when they clearly aren't.
* His argument to the final claim is that "To be well educated, to be able to pass along the liberal and rational values that undergird our civilization, we must as a culture retain our ability to comprehend long, difficult texts written by individuals".

|relevance=I have a longer discussion of Sanger's article [http://ocham.blogspot.com/2010/10/liberal-education-and-internet.html here], and a discussion of whether the Internet can transform the universities [http://ocham.blogspot.com/2010/10/university-of-future_21.html here].
|journal=EDUCAUSE Review
|pub_date=2010
|subject=Philosophy
|journal_vol=45
|pub_open_access=No
}}

User:Peter Damian

2010-10-23T07:45:03Z

Peter Damian: Created page with "{{User |name=Peter Damian |location=London, England }} Now retired, I used to teach philosophy at a Russell group English university. I have a number of publications in philosop..."