Thursday, September 20, 2007

Dede and FOR

Dede, Christopher (2005). Planning for neomillennial learning styles: Implications for investments in technology and faculty. In D. G. Oblinger & J. L. Oblinger (Eds.), Educating the net generation. Retrieved November 20, 2006, from: http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?page_id=6069&bhcp=1

The one section of Dede's article that really resonated for me was his discussion about Salzman's frames of reference (FOR) as a way to induce immersion in virtual environments. This piece also tied in nicely to a topic that came up in another class about cyberculture studies and the blending of the virtual and the real (Is the virtual world separate from the real world? Can we understand the virtual if we don't take the real into account?). Dede outlines two different FORs - egocentric and exocentric - and refers to Salzman's dollhouse metaphor to clarify the difference between the two. According to Salzman (as quoted by Dede), the egocentric FOR "provides a view of the object, space, or phenomena from within" - like being inside the dollhouse. In contrast, the exocentric FOR "provides a view of an object, space, or phenomena from the outside" - looking at the dollhouse but only imagining what it is like to be inside.

While this section of Dede's article did not clarify the notion of blending the real and the virtual (and in my other class, it looks like we may be trying to get our heads wrapped around that issue for the rest of the semester), it did provide another lens for considering immersion and the learning experience.

1 comment:

Chanitra said...

It is important for students to be able to view situations from both frame of references. The egocentric allows students an up close and personal view whereas exocentric allows them to view the situation as an outsider. This can be important skill for managers to have - be able able to put themselves in someone else shoes but also be able to look at things objectively. Having a bicentric (FOR) will be very helpful to students.