Friday, July 27, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Power versus Control
Since I wrote about control yesterday, I've been talking to people and became interested in the difference between power and control. Afterall, the title of this blog is The Power of eLearning. It seems like people experience power when they have choices.
...Do you want coffee, tea or water?
...Would you like to sit in the front or the back?
...Click on the areas that interests you.
...Would you like to take the course now or tonight or tomorrow?
Maybe control and power are synonomous? Control has a somewhat negative conotation in our culture (control freak! Losing control!). Of course, I think of power in a positive way, however, some people do think of it as a controlling or dominating. Isn't language funny? I'll have to explore this some more.
...Do you want coffee, tea or water?
...Would you like to sit in the front or the back?
...Click on the areas that interests you.
...Would you like to take the course now or tonight or tomorrow?
Maybe control and power are synonomous? Control has a somewhat negative conotation in our culture (control freak! Losing control!). Of course, I think of power in a positive way, however, some people do think of it as a controlling or dominating. Isn't language funny? I'll have to explore this some more.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Who is in control?
It has been said that the more control you give to the eLearner, the more powerful the course. This has been my game, to continue giving the control to the person sitting at the computer.
I think most human beings like to be in control. I know Scott is always saying I'm manipulating him and, as much as I hate to admit it, he is right. I don't mean it to be manipulating, but somewhere in my head, it seems if he would do it my way (claiming the control), it would be "better." What do I know? So, I can see letting down the control is not a natural thing.
In education, the control of the teacher, the classroom, the text, etc. are quite controlling. Perhaps that limits some people's capacity to learn.
So far, in my game of giving the eLearner the control, I've discovered that giving them choices gives them freedom. Offer a list of 10 things to learn and let them choose when, where and which ones to learn. Giving them the choice of the format (video, audio, reading, etc.) is more control. Even the nature online courses gives them control over when and how often they take the course.
Here are some samples of the courses I've developed for http://www.massagetherapyclass.com
What else can we do to pass on the control?
I think most human beings like to be in control. I know Scott is always saying I'm manipulating him and, as much as I hate to admit it, he is right. I don't mean it to be manipulating, but somewhere in my head, it seems if he would do it my way (claiming the control), it would be "better." What do I know? So, I can see letting down the control is not a natural thing.
In education, the control of the teacher, the classroom, the text, etc. are quite controlling. Perhaps that limits some people's capacity to learn.
So far, in my game of giving the eLearner the control, I've discovered that giving them choices gives them freedom. Offer a list of 10 things to learn and let them choose when, where and which ones to learn. Giving them the choice of the format (video, audio, reading, etc.) is more control. Even the nature online courses gives them control over when and how often they take the course.
Here are some samples of the courses I've developed for http://www.massagetherapyclass.com
What else can we do to pass on the control?
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