This series of videos is titled "New Learning."
But in fact, in some ways it's a little bit of
a misnomer because we're talking about 'old learning' as well.
We're talking about 'old learning' as well in order
to think about what contemporary learning environments are like,
and we can do that by contrast
with the whole history of learning and traditions of learning.
What we also want this series to do is to tease out
some basic concepts about education: the nature of learning, what education is.
What these key terms mean.
Two of the key focuses are: the practices of education (what is this field of education,
and what are its practices),
but also what we will come to call the science of education as an academic discipline.
Out in the world we've got history,
and we've got physics,
and we've got law,
and we've got business.
Well, what is education as a discipline,
as a way of thinking about learning and the institutions of education?
That's essentially what this series is about,
and where we're going to start is by defining the basic terms.
This program is dealing with something that we've called 'new learning'.
Now this term periodically has appeared when things change in the world.
When we have changes in technology,
when there are changes in society,
when there are changes that occur as a consequence of human movement.
For example: the Renaissance had a period when it called for 'new learning',
exploration of the planet ended up with calls
for 'new learning,' new scientific discoveries
and other trends like that periodically name education as 'new learning'.
Well we're doing the same now, too.
But for us it involves
two really important dimensions that
are very different today than they might have been in previous periods,
and the first one is the impact of the digital age.
The affect of this new technology on meaning making and on learning.
Secondly, as a consequence of massive human movement and ease
of people going from place to place as they try to satisfy their needs as humans,
we see more and more diversity,
increasing diversity in human communities.
So these are the two domains that we think underpin our understanding of
'new learning' and what you'll explore with us as the sections unfold.