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UNIT
2a: Your Webcourse is Your Reality:
Course Design and the Manufacture of "Essence"
Part
a
Unit Overview
The space you see on the
Internet is a world that has been created, and yet exists as though
it were a natural extension of what we know and understand as
the phenomenal world.
The world is false. This is not necessarily a negative -
it provides individuals with the opportunity to access information
and to envision an alternative reality.
The constructed world of the Internet can be a powerful agent
for positive social and spiritual transformation.
Ethics must be kept at the forefront.
Unit Objectives
At the end of this unit, the student will be able to
· Describe and explain how reality is constructed in the Internet.
· Explain "authority" in the Internet, and how ethics must be
kept in mind when constructing any sort of webspace, but particularly
one that has as its ultimate goal, being the impetus of positive
social, spiritual, and personal change.
· Apply concepts in a self-aware manner to the design of courses,
curriculum selection, and in strategies for effective interaction.
Why does reality-construction
matter in e-learning?
E-Learning has revolutionized
perception and taken authority to another level. Before
radio, television, and other media, printed text was considered
to be a source of juried, reviewed, and approved information.
With the advent of television, the film montage was considered
to be the ultimate source of reality, particularly when presented
as a "documentary." What was unnoticed or at least unspoken
was the awareness that virtually every "documentary" is heavily
edited, orchestrated, choreographed in order to guide the viewer
to a certain conclusion. This is still the case. Now
it occurs in the Internet, where absolutely every image has been
manipulated in some way. Streaming media (video, etc.) has
likewise been "managed" - if not constructed, even falsified.
How can we believe anything? And yet we have to believe
something.
Your challenge is to create an ethically-sound space where the
images, text, streaming media, audio, etc. are assembled in such
a way that it reinvokes authority, but without the negative connotations.
Further, the viewer has an opportunity to believe in something--but
without harm to oneself or to others.
Ideally, education can be an agent for positive social change.
Education can be a component of transformative thought, an integral
part of growth and spiritual growth.
The Internet Re-creates and Reinforces Essence
As opposed to those who would suggest that all of reality is a
constructed event, and that "essence" does not exist, and that
no thing possesses an essential, primordial beingness, the Internet
exists as a tacit reminder that all that is perceived via the
Internet relies on the perceiver having at least one idea of what
the thing is that they are perceiving. If the reader's mind
is a perfect tabula rasa,
then there is no way at all for the person to be able to classify
what he or she is perceiving. Further, if there is no essential
idea of what the thing is, and if it has no primordial beingness,
then there is no way to measure or ascertain whether or not it
is "real."
·
The essence
of something is communicated by means of a referent.
This often relies on the
semiotic and symbol systems, of which language is one, images
and signs are another. In basic terms, this means that you
one comes to understand what something is (its essence) by means
of something else (a referent). Let's a use a basic example.
What do you think of when you think "rose"? Do you think
of a flower? Is it red? Does it have bright petals,
a long stalk, thorns, and a delightful, sweet and delicate scent?
The referent of "rose" is the word itself. "Rose" indicates
the flower, and all that that particular flower symbolizes (love,
for example). However, the referent can be an image.
It can be a botanical sketch, a photograph, a painting.
But what do you think of when you think "rose"? Chances
are, the rose that is "essential rose" will be an archetypal rose
- pruned, groomed, dark red, in a bouquet of 12, or presented
singly, festooned with a lovely ribbon and a card expressing abstract
concepts ("love" and "devotion" and "romance"). The referent
refers to a plant, and it also refers to a concept. In the
case of a rose, the "essential" rose is one that evokes feelings
and abstract concepts as well as the botanical counterpart, the
rose flower or rose bush.
Since essence is communicated
by a referent, the implications are powerful in Internet design.
The key is to analyze what emotional impact one wishes to have,
and what overarching idea one wishes to communicate. Then,
by working back & then extrapolating forward, one can choose
the perfect referent to convey the nuanced and multiple meanings
that one wishes, as well as a certain desired "essence."
Perhaps this is the anatomy of constructivism. At least
it's an approach. It's pragmatic, too.
·
Essence is often
reinforced by evoking mental images, especially ones that correspond
to powerful emotions.
Memories - either real or induced
- often are used as the arbiters of essence. When you remember,
what comes to mind? Is it an image? Is it a series
of images? Is it a scent? A touch? A texture?
A taste? A remembered sibilance or a softly droning assonance?
If one evokes mental images, then the mind naturally moves to
associations. The associations are part of the connectionist
structure of the brain. This is interesting, and it helps
explain why people "jump" to conclusions, and why the "saltos"
and leaps the mind makes are not so random as one might think.
There is enormous power in harnessing the "saltos" - if one can
manage the connections, the leaps, then one can persuade (absolutely
with subtlety, precision, nuance) another to a foregone conclusion.
This is the essence of propaganda. It is also the underpinning
structure of persuasive discourse. What makes the procedure
even more effective is to combine all of this with emotion-evoking
images and discourse.
·
An experience
deliberately designed to coincide with the "essence" of something
will immediately be classified in one's mind, and later will be
difficult to dislodge.
And example of this are the "reality experiences" of Walt Disney
World, where individuals role-play and interact with the "essence"
of something. And example is a roller-coaster in which participants
are guided through a scenario in which they interact with the
holographic images of well-known rock stars (in one case, Aerosmith),
and then accompany them on a roller-coaster ride to their concert.
In the scenario, the drive to the concert is so intense, it is
"like a roller-coaster ride" when in fact, it really is a roller-coaster
ride (!) So, the holographic images, which are more real
than the real members of the band are the "essence" of Aerosmith
- the quintessential Aerosmith. Since viewing the images, and
interacting with them was combined with actual physical sensations,
it is unlikely that any of the participants will forget the images
they saw, and will from that day on, when they think of the group,
Aerosmith, they will not think of photographs or even band appearances,
but of their "interaction" with the group on the "reality ride"
in Walt Disney World.
Reality is what you (and your
audience) make of it.
What we see is what we believe.
This is doubly so on the Internet. Here are a few additional
thoughts & considerations...
Theoretical Underpinnings
1. Language creates reality. (Roland Barthes) Barthes bridges
'high' structuralism and poststructuralism, and concentrates
on the main theme of language and how we use it and relate to
it. Barthes believes that the author is not the sole determinant
of meaning in the text; but he goes further. In his book S/Z,
Barthes suggests that text is a "multi-dimensional space
in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and
clash... a text's unity lies not in its origin, but in its
destination." Thus the reader "produces" a text
on his or her own terms, forging meanings from "what has
already been read, seen, done, lived, assuming many different,
and possibly contradictory roles as a text is read. This way,
the reader is 'no longer the consumer but the producer of
the text' (S/Z).
Implications
for e-learning: The
Internet is an extremely fluid multi-dimensional space "blend
and clash," particularly if students are conducting online research
and interacting with other students
in chatrooms and bulletin boards. It is impossible to completely
control what conclusions they will reach and what they will learn.
This is not a negative aspect; it can be the key to the true power
of online learning. The knowledge and exploration gained
are, in theory, almost infinite.
2. The way
you perceive is the way you believe. The perception of the
real is preferred over the real, to the point that people choose
the false over the real. Case in point - Disneyland.
Jean Baudrillard writes of this in America:
According to Baudrillard,
Disneyland
and America
are one and the same. There is no "real" America outside
Disneyland; the walls surrounding Disneyland are there to make
people think that Disneyland is only a fantasy land, and there
really is a real America out there.
Implications
for e-learning:
Because the "Disney" reality is more aligned with the mainstream
values and archetypal narratives that individuals have learned
by growing up in society, it is likely that learners will tend
to reject the "real" for the "disney" version. Certainly,
the "disney" version of reality is more familiar and less threatening.
It is a classic example of false chasing out the real, the bad
driving out the good. Instructors must be wary!
3. Reality is constructed
from text, signs, perceptions, which can be manipulated. (Roland
Barthes).
Implications for e-learning: Constantly
remind e-learners and instructors that everything that they see
in the Internet has been manipulated in some fashion. Reality
is absolutely a construct there. After all, aren't you simply
peering into a flat screen at this very moment? You think
you are communicating with me, but isn't it just the vestige
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