NeuroGovernment

I’ve always liked Roger Schank since I read his Tell Me a Story back in 1991.  In fact, he’s the impetus for my interest in mental models.  His insights in teaching and learning are well-grounded in his experiences in teaching college classes and his consulting work to many large companies.  That’s why his latest opinion on being realistic about the effects of technology on learning.  “Learning is learning and technology is technology. The two are related if and only if the technology makes it possible to learn something that can be learned in no other way.”

There are seemingly numerous applications for elearning and trying to craft an elearning system can be confusing.  Learning Conversations has a great guide for determining what applications to use.  I especially like the fact that the guide is aimed toward the learner and not driven by the technology.

But, I believe it only looks like a large number of applications.  Many of the applications are just variations of wikis, blogs, twitter, and FaceBook-type applications.  Where are the truly new applications that enhance the learning experience?  By focusing on the needs of the learners, I am sure that the new applications will arrive.