A New Culture of Learning

Sunday November 22, 2015

I read this book and it introduced me to the word aporia, which I appreciate. Here is a definition that comes up on Google:

aporia: an irresolvable internal contradiction or logical disjunction in a text, argument, or theory

Here is a summary of this book, in one quote from its page 107:

In our view, MMOs are almost perfect illustrations of a new learning environment.

I have minor gripes and major gripes about this book. A minor gripe is they say "petri dish" a lot, and I think they shouldn't. A major gripe is that the whole book is essentially a false dichotomy between a straw man version of schooling and impoverished, unworkable gesticulations labeled "new learning." It isn't that there aren't any good ideas here, but they are old ideas misunderstood and presented as if new.

Skip this book.

A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change

by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown