Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Rethinking the ‘digital’ curriculum: What else should we be aiming for?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I think part of the reason why I'm suspicious of content-based approaches to learning is that it is not a large leap from that to a theory of education that tells students what to believe and what to think, and that such approaches often benefit other people, and not the students in question. So too when I read this article and read "above all, however, is the need to focus on the issue of content," my suspicions are raised. The authors list three content priorities: awareness of surveillance capitalism, the morals and ethics of technology production, and "how our society-wide dependence on digital technologies is contributing to the ongoing climate crisis." These all have a flavour of "we want you to be involved in digital technology but don't you dare do it wrong." And I have to ask, is this really the ideal focus of a digital curriculum? Are these even the right ethics? And, for that matter, are the forms of digital morality raised here even a content problem? Because there's only one way to teach ethics, and that is to live ethically.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 22, 2024 06:28 a.m.

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