Media Ecology – serie

This book examines the history of electronic media in education, from film through radio, television, and automated instruction, ending with a look at contemporary educational technology. It shows how every new educational medium is argued to be compatible with the popular theories of learning, pedagogy, and curriculum of its time, and is embraced by school reformers as a means toward achieving the changes they desire. In particular, the book highlights the common themes that run through these stories, and that characterize today's discussions of educational technology. There is much to be learned from this history that is currently being ignored or discounted. The book is unique in that it makes a concerted effort to place this history of educational technology in context. It relates that history to ideas about what schools are for, how teachers should teach, how students learn, who has the right to control what goes on in public schools, what the curriculum should consist of, and what the agenda for school reform should be. It places contemporary ideas about educational technology in the context of Americans' longstanding love affair with technology, their belief in progress, and their tendency to connect progress, technology, and public education. Finally, it examines the question of what public education for a democracy should consist of, and how technology, in particular, should or should not come into play in fashioning public education for democratic citizenship.

This book examines the history of electronic media in education, from film through radio, television, and automated instruction, ending with a look at contemporary educational technology. It shows how every new educational medium is argued to be compatible with the popular theories of learning, pedagogy, and curriculum of its time, and is embraced by school reformers as a means toward achieving the changes they desire. In particular, the book highlights the common themes that run through these stories, and that characterize today's discussions of educational technology. There is much to be learned from this history that is currently being ignored or discounted. The book is unique in that it makes a concerted effort to place this history of educational technology in context. It relates that history to ideas about what schools are for, how teachers should teach, how students learn, who has the right to control what goes on in public schools, what the curriculum should consist of, and what the agenda for school reform should be. It places contemporary ideas about educational technology in the context of Americans' longstanding love affair with technology, their belief in progress, and their tendency to connect progress, technology, and public education. Finally, it examines the question of what public education for a democracy should consist of, and how technology, in particular, should or should not come into play in fashioning public education for democratic citizenship.

Many media ecologists have speculated about oral culture and custom, but few have documented in situ the cultural changes actually experienced when a traditional system of musical experience is transformed by modern technology. This book is an oral history and ethnographic description of musical change in a small town community in Brazil through the compilation of 40 oral histories. The study of music as communication is squarely within the media ecology theoretical framework of orality-literacy-electronic environments.

Many media ecologists have speculated about oral culture and custom, but few have documented in situ the cultural changes actually experienced when a traditional system of musical experience is transformed by modern technology. This book is an oral history and ethnographic description of musical change in a small town community in Brazil through the compilation of 40 oral histories. The study of music as communication is squarely within the media ecology theoretical framework of orality-literacy-electronic environments.

This book uses television news coverage of the 1993 Midwest flood as a case study to analyze the intersection of television news and nature, with specific focus on how this intersection must be examined within the context of place.

This book uses television news coverage of the 1993 Midwest flood as a case study to analyze the intersection of television news and nature, with specific focus on how this intersection must be examined within the context of place.

This book is a study of this evolution of writing systems. It describes the role the phonetic alphabet has played in the development of Western civilization. Drawing a variety of conclusions about how societies advance, the author shows how the advent of mass communication and the use of computers affect how we communicate.

This work is a study of this evolution of writing systems. It describes the role the phonetic alphabet has played in the development of Western civilization. Drawing a variety of conclusions about how societies advance, the author shows how the advent of mass communication and the use of computers affect how we communicate.

This volume of original research contributes to the renewal of interest in Marshall McLuhan and his work. In Section One, four chapters provide a general discussion of McLuhan's work. The chapters in the second section present the reactions of five media professionals to McLuhan and his work. The third section explores topics that go to the heart of McLuhan's theories; the linearity of written communication, perception as it is reflected in artistic expression, and media semiotics. Section Four emphasizes the humanistic basis of McLuhan's thought and its applications. Chapters in the fifth section cover the sector of scholarship for which McLuhan is best known. Chapters in the final section examine his work in light of theory and research on the new media of the past two decades.

This volume of original research contributes to the renewal of interest in Marshall McLuhan and his work. In Section One, four chapters provide a general discussion of McLuhan's work. The chapters in the second section present the reactions of five media professionals to McLuhan and his work. The third section explores topics that go to the heart of McLuhan's theories: the linearity of written communication, perception as it is reflected in artistic expression, and media semiotics. Section Four emphasizes the humanistic basis of McLuhan's thought and its applications. Chapters in the fifth section cover the sector of scholarship for which McLuhan is best known. Chapters in the final section examine his work in light of theory and research on the new media of the past two decades.

This text investigates some of the most fundamental effects of electric technology that change the human spirit: particularly information overload and our strategies for inhibiting that onslaught. It shows how technical complexity consistently devours simple realities and thus erodes meaning.

The American cultural historian and philosopher Walter J. Ong, S.J. (1912-2003) studied the deep developments of Western culture extensively. As a result, his multifaceted work can help us get our cultural bearings in the world today. In the present book, Thomas Farrell provides a comprehensive view of Ong’s thought, but he also shows the importance of Ong in the contemporary intellectual landscape.Ong has made a contribution in the following disciplines: literary studies, communication, theology and religious studies, psychology, literary history, and linguistics, and he is a recognized scholar in still other areas. The objective of this book is not so much to summarize and synthesize but rather to provide some interpretative guides that will bring the reader into Ong’s own lively discussion of contemporary intellectual issues.