Soft stuff hard stuff and invisible elephants Jon

Soft stuff, hard stuff and invisible elephants Jon Dron Elephant image by Adolf Oberländer, from http: //de. wikisource. org/wiki/Lustige_Naturgeschichte_oder_Zoologia_comica

Questions y g o l o n w h o c h e t d g n n a i * n r s t a n e l ? a r p s e i t t h y e c h W ch su o it b d r How should w a e e w s e d n esign re a c learning techn ologies? What are l e a rning technolo gies any way? * Brit. informal rubbish; nonsense : he thought we were going to be absolute pants.

a technology? • • • • paint stirrer murder weapon tin opener back scratcher door-stop chisel beard curler hole punch i. Pad stand sink unblocker door handle tyre lever plant aerator paint scraper screw tightener etc. . .

a learning technology? suggestions?

do people learn better with screwdrivers or without screwdrivers?

do people learn better s r e t u p with screwdrivers or com s r e t u p without screwdrivers? com

It depends on your point of view

it ain’t what you do. . . ss/ ry_of_congre ra ib /l s to o h /p kr. com / http: //www. flic /photostream n /i /o s e iz /s 6 2 21637822 /p. com r k c i l w. f //ww : p t t h h un rnell o c / otos 8 ary/3 r b i l ity ivers 554 21 set-7 / n i / 5 7301 5762 446 2140 726/ http: //c o File: AH mmons. wiki media W. org haeikir _Prof_Morit z_Vog /wiki/ che_L el eipzig_ um_19 _Matt 20. jpg . . . it’s the way that you do it

technology “the orchestration of phenomena for some use” (W. Brian Arthur) http: //www. amazon. com/Elephant-Orchestra-David-Soldier. Richard/dp/B 00005 B 19 H

pedagogies are technologies

http: //www. nosignificantdifference. org/ http: //4. bp. blogspot. com/_s. GYULzo. QCg. A/SA 6 HEWNCB 5 I/AAAABe. A/FTk qbq. Dd 9 do/s 1600 -h/1964 -worlds-fair-schoolmarm. jpg http: //commons. wikimedia. org/wiki/File: AHW _Prof_Moritz_Vogel_Matthaeikirche_Leipzig _um_1920. jpg

assemblies

Soft technologies Active orchestration of phenomena by people

Hard technologies Orchestration of phenomena embedded in the technology

Not just about machines: hard technologies can be human -embodied too http: //upload. wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/4/4 f/Judge_Thumb. jpg

Hard is easy

Hard is complete http: //commons. wikimedia. org/wiki/File: Linkware. jpg

Hard is brittle

Soft is hard

Soft is incomplete http: //commons. wikimedia. org/wiki/File: Jigsaw. svg

Soft is flexible

a continuum

a dance http: //antiqueclipart. com/image. php/elephant-dancing-with-doll. html

a tug-of-war http: //blog. modernmechanix. com/2008/10/24/tractor-out-pulls-elephant-in-tug-of-war/

poor compatibility http: //www. flickr. com/photos/nationaalarchief/2948560477/sizes/o /

incompatibility

http: //upload. wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Filter. Funnel. Apparatus. png

balance http: //www. flickr. com/photos/photonquantique/2596581870/sizes/l/in/photostream/

not too hard. . . not too soft. . . just right

assembly http: //commons. wikimedia. org/wiki/File: Building-bricks_hg. jpg

Design patterns Soft • Adapt • Aggregate • Recommend • Extend Hard • Automate • Replace • Filter • Limit

aggregating

http: //jondron. athabascau. ca jond@athabascau. ca