An Educator, A PC, and a Modem:
A Multidimensional Approach to Knowledge
by Edward M. Wondoloski

The Overview
============

Computer assisted communication (CAC) can provide a
multidimensional approach to knowledge which replaces the "up
and down linear ladder" concept with a more "spherical" one.
To grasp this concept, imagine yourself as a revolving sphere.
Now, from your center point, imagine an infinte number of rays
extending in all directions with varying extensions and colors.
Imagine each ray being a different aspect of knowledge.
Imagine each ray as it extends as far as you have developed
that particular aspect of knowledge. Imagine your knowledge
ray of mathematics, your ray of personal relationships, then
art, and music. Keep adding these rays of knowledge. Notice
how they complement each other, how they create a dance and
long for further extension and synthesis to form the great
white light. What you have just envisioned is the spherical
theory of knowledge.

Robert Mueller, author of CORPORATE NETWORKING, said:

"Organizations as we know it are obsolete in the
information society in which we now exist ...
human networks are thriving while our staid and
rigid organizations heave and struggle to be
effective or even to survive. Something
fundamental is happening in our organized society
... centered on the intuitive notion that somehow
in some way networking may be basic to organizing
and managing people."

It was this same intuitive spirit that we initiated a project
using CAC at Bentley College to explore the spherical knowledge
concept. We hold the belief that somehow in some way
networking through computer assisted communications is the key
to providing high quality educational delivery systems focused
on self-learning experiences.

This is the first of many experiments we are planning to use
this media. Our purpose is to reach far beyond electronic mail
and computer conferencing by introducing the student to the
experiential dynamics of "electronic organization" and "expert
networks" (note: see Harry Stevens' description of these CAC
applications in the August issue of NETWEAVER).

The Process
===========

CAC was introduced in the Spring of 1987 in an undergraduate
course called, "The Management of Planning and Control
Systems." There were two sections involved in the experience.

To explore a spherical concept of knowledge, seven groups
ranging between seven to ten students interacted with each
other in a collaborative fashion for the purpose of creating an
information product called "cultural smile" (SMILE = Space
Migration for Intelligent Life Extension). This information
product is a model that addresses the social, economic, legal,
social, and political systems to be employed in space
colonization. These systems were then to be aligned with the
class's overall visioned purpose for such space colonization and
exploration.

An HP Vectra PC served as the host computer for a Caucus(tm)
based communications network to support this educational
experience. Students with modems and PC's of all variations
call into the host computer and our traditional educational
delivery system was transformed into a virtual classroom, open
24 hours a day, 7 days a week for dynamic interaction and
creativity.

The Results
===========

An interactive communications and learning space was created.
The traditional classroom was now converted into a virtual
classroom, conducting business and resonating with energy seven
days a week. The geographic and time zone restrictions were
removed. This facilitated conducting the business meetings
because students were able to check in at a time and place of
their choosing. There were simultaneous discussions of
different thoughts and strategies. Students were able to
discuss a wide range of topics and the comments were
automatically organized and retained under their respective
topics. A printable record of the process was retained for
subsequent review by the students. This greatly facilitated
their preparation of individual learning reports.

Brainstorming and problem solving were facilitated and
supported. Creativity was enhanced by an environment which
openly allowed for suggestions to be considered. This
opportunity to toss ideas around, play with them, develop and
build on them, created a stimulating atmosphere for still
further exploration and inquiry. A distributed form of
learning took place. Small project "focus" groups were the
source of the project's activity and leadership. The focus
groups operated independently and at the same time operated as
part of the whole network system. The focus groups developed
separate agendas for action - in fact, any one group could
accomplish a great deal on their own without the other project
members. Yet, at the same time, each group was really working
on a different facet of a larger whole and gained strength
through working synergistically with other groups.

Student reactions to this new media varied, but some responses
were: increased motivation; felt more involved; a better
learning experience; more student interaction; peer reviews
were useful.

What CAC Offers Education
=========================

There is a need to review the beliefs and premises that
underlie our current educational system. These beliefs and
premises which must now be challenged include:

- in any field there is a core knowledge that must be taught,
- once the core is mastered, the capacity for critical thought
can be taught,
- deficiencies in any field are caused by a lack of
instruction in the core and can be corrected by the
right faculty committees making the right curricular
decisions.

But we are now in the midst of an information explosion. Our
body of knowledge is doubling every 20 months. Well folks, at
that rate of growth, guess what? By the year 2000 our common
body of knowledge would have increased 512 times over what it
is today. This statistic very seriously puts a strain on the
first premise above.

Some faculty have tried to cope with this by single handedly
taking on the responsibility for sifting, sorting, and
distilling for the student - an assignment which leads to
premature professional burnout. What is the student's role in
handling this information explosion? When does the student
become self sufficient in ferreting out relevance from the maze
of information? Where and when does the student develop the
necessary skills to process, sift, sort, and distill on his/her
own account the mounds of information? Have we developed the
capacity to manufacture information in excess of our ability to
consume it?

CAC offers us an alternative to the models based on traditional
views of knowledge. In a guided process-oriented environment
like our CAC experiment, students create their own model or
system for employing their skills to sift, sort, and distill
information. The professor, rather than doing the work for the
student, provides the student with process systems skills which
empower the student to perform these functions. CAC provides the
opportunity for people to inform, question, and touch one
another. A community develops which adds emotional color and
drama to the rational content.

We will be expanding this electronic classroom to include
students from other courses, other institutions, and other
countries. Interdisciplinary team teaching will flow naturally
through the use of this media. The opportunities are only
limited by our ability to visulaize new creative applications.

--------
author's note: Ed Wondoloski is Professor of Management, Bentley
College, Beaver & Forest Streets, Waltham, MA 02254. This article is
excerpted from a longer paper given at the Fifth Annual Conference on
Non-Traditional and Interdisciplinary Programs which took place at
George Mason University, Virginia Beach, VA, May 4-6 1987.