Colloquium at Stanford
The Unfinished Revolution


Memorandum

Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 17:39:37 -0800

From:   Clark Quinn
cquinn@knowledgeplanet.com
Reply-To: unrev-II@onelist.com

To:     unrev-II@onelist.com

Subject:   Intellectual Property Rights in a Knowledge-Based Economy

Sorry, I just can't let this go by...

[On Tue, 01 Feb 2000 13:42:04 -0800 Rod Welch wrote...]

Live audio and video streams are not effective learning methods.

I don't believe that's true as a blanket statement. They can be effective, particularly in certain contexts and/or for certain audiences.

[... Welch at the same location wrote...]

A more useful source of intellectual capital is the text of what is said and presented, because text can be quickly integrated by linking into other information streams for growing new knowledge.

I believe you're comparing apples and oranges. Streamed text wouldn't be better, would it? If you're storing and archiving text for perusal at learner control, why can't you do the same with video or audio?

[On Tue, 01 Feb 2000 13:42:04 -0800 Rod Welch wrote...]

If connections cannot be integrated quickly, the chance of overlooking critical new ideas is about 99.99% based on cognitive differences between literacy and orality, as noted by Kissinger in his book Diplomacy.

I'm not sure I recognize Kissinger on cognitive processing. While I can't cite a study, I'm sure that I could generate a case where individuals can get significant learning from streamed video or audio. They'd just have to be primed properly. And that's easily the case here.

Why do people listen to the radio? In Australia they use radio as a significant component to distance learning. Why, if it doesn't work?

[On Tue, 01 Feb 2000 13:42:04 -0800 Rod Welch wrote...]

At most, all one can derive from live feeds is impressions of something interesting that then needs a lot of work to capture the record and begin connecting it to test alignment.

And why do you assume that the streamed conversation needs to stand alone?

[... Welch at the same location...]

Less than 1% of people have time to do this, and fewer still have good tools for making these connections.

Based upon Kissinger's data? Is he comparing text with streamed speech? And what study is he citing?

And, it might vary by individual.

[... Welch at the same location...]

This is not a criticism of you, since everyone these days is enamored by video this and audio mining that. Unless you are selling a cake or a car, emotional entertainment, which dominates oral presentations is not helpful.

Actually, here I *can* cite a study. Adding emotional entertainment *is* helpful, according to Lepper and Cordova. They took the same interactive learning experience and made it CBT and into a game. There was improvement in outcomes for the game version.

OK, off my soapbox,

Sincerely,

Clark

Clark Quinn

KnowledgePlanet.com

(510) 768-2408

cquinn@knowledgeplanet.com