The Death of Aristotle’s World

The Death of Aristotle’s World

We know longer live in a world where one can read from every book or document written as Aristotle once believed (Bonk, 2009). We are over inundated with information on a daily basis. Information overload is a part of the internet, television, radio… We can watch the world burn in real time from half a world away. Some learners will become over stimulated by the barrage of constant information choosing to shut off the stimulus. Others may recognize that no one can know it all and choose to work in teams. A generation of technological savvy individuals actually prefers group work to working alone (Billings, 2005). As a member of generation X this is a difficult phenomenon for me to accept. However, the ever-changing world puts higher demands on the learner and instructor facilitating these generational adaptations.

When I was a young girl, I dreamed of being a published author. I had fantasies about traveling to New York City, finally getting my work accepted by a publisher and traveling the world to promote my novel. Now, I can be published in minutes online. One good television or internet promotion and my book is available to readers in seconds. The world truly is open to those who embrace that concept. Blogging enables authors who would never be recognized by the formal world of publishers to get their work to the public on their own.
According to the reading this week there are three larger trends converging in the world of online learning, the availability of tools/infrastructure , the availability of free/open educational content, and lastly a movement toward a global culture, collaborating and sharing in the learning experience (Bonk, 2009).
The world of information has grown so large there is no way one can process it. While at the same time the physical world has gotten smaller with the advent of the internet. We can Skype with someone halfway across the world overcoming time and distance. Learning has changed. With free access sites such as Google scholar, one can access educational pieces from home. No more long hours at the library research all the old periodicals for scholarly articles. With a click of the mouse in the right search engine, one’s questions can be answered relatively quickly. In the distant past many texts could not be accessed except by the elite. Books were sacred, reserved for only a few. Now, through free and open educational servers books may be accessed by virtually anyone.

With the proper pipes for delivery (bandwidth), the pages of many books can be delivered to anyone in any area of the world. Truly the world is open.

Works Cited
Billings, D. &. (2005). Teaching in Nursing A Guide for Faculty. St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elseiver.
Bonk, C. (2009). The World is Open How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.