Bertram Bruce and James Levin created a proposed classification system
for educational technologies, entitled
"Educational Technology: Media for Inquiry, Communication, Construction,
and Expression."
Challenges to this system could take two main forms. The first consists
of information/technologies that completely fall outside of the system.
Since the categories are relatively broad, one would expect few examples
in this category. An example might be alternative methods of accessing
data, for individuals with different physical challenges than the majority.
I feel that could fall under "inquiry/data access," but is not specifically
listed therein. The second big challenge to the system consists of
educational technologies that are difficult to place into one category
because they either span multiple categories or seem like an imperfect but
arguable fit into a single category. Without pinpointing specific sites,
there are numerous applications for the combination of, for example, a
data-gathering and data-presenting site, or a combination
construction/expression site. Since the presentation of scientific ideas
is more clear when one one combines creative images with science or charts,
it's not too hard to imagine applications that could span categories.
Which is OK - a classification database could have multiple links that
point a researcher or student to the type of site in which they are
interested, even if it fits into other categories as well.
As far as slightly more specific examples, I began thinking about these
concepts in a broader sense than educational technologies. One reason for
this is that I consider a huge portion of the web is educational to someone,
in some manner. The other is that, simply put and despite improvements in
the form of web crawlers and search engines, the web is a mess. There
*must be* some way to get a handle on it all, and this seems like a more
organized beginning point than many. The question of "how would one
catalogue the web?" intrigues me. (Obviously, the Dewey Decimal System and
other library catalogue systems are also viable places to start, but that
wouldn't be within the scope of the question at hand.) Possible ideas for
all kinds of sites and technology that does not fit under the taxonomy
(keep in mind that the taxonomy may not have been created to encompass all
of these in the first place):
Page last updated: 16 December 1998 by Spike