How the social web came to be...

I'm currently writing a chapter for a text-book (yes, I know - traditional publishing.. but...) on Adult Teaching and Learning - my chapter is focused on e-Learning (surprise, surprise).
In the process of a brief retrospective of e-Learning implementations across higher education, colleges (including community colleges) and the corporate context it's extraordinary how focused the literature is on evaluating e-Learning by comparing the functionality of the technology against traditional teaching practices (didactic, classroom-based learning) rather than evaluating the experiences of the learners, or reviewing the innovative implementations that have extended the learners far beyond the boundaries of their classrooms and institutions!
The comparisons are just fundamentally flawed! No wonder these papers and reports can produce statistics that draw conclusions that are less than positive.
The innovative implementations that have demonstrate the potential for engaging, enriching, empowering all seem to be lost in isloated case studies and blatantly ignored by large government funded reports on trends...
In the meantime - this presentation from Trebor Scholz "How the social web came to be (part 1): A Social-Cultural History of the Social Web" is an elegantly presented review that might inform some of the opponents of learning technologies !
Looking forward to Part 2 Trebor!

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