Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!ukc!its63b!hwcs!hci!gilbert
From: gilbert@hci.hw.ac.uk (Gilbert Cockton)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Usenet as an educational system
Message-ID: <184@glenlivet.hci.hw.ac.uk>
Date: 2 Mar 88 15:31:18 GMT
References: <327@yunexus.UUCP>
Reply-To: gilbert@hci.hw.ac.uk (Gilbert Cockton)
Organization: Scottish HCI Centre
Lines: 20

In article <327@yunexus.UUCP> peter@yunexus.UUCP (Peter Roosen-Runge) writes:
>From Ivan Illich's DESCHOOLING SOCIETY (Harper & Row: 1970), Chapter 6, 
>
>"A good educational system should have three purposes:
>it should provide all who want to learn with access
>to available resources at any time in their lives; ...
>
>Could there be a more apt expression of the potential of Usenet?  

USENET does not cover Illich's first requirement - all available
learning resources can not ever become available on USENET.  For one, the 
nature of the medium will restrict what can be available, even though the
'requests for help/info etc.' mailings do allow net knowledge to be
somewhat user-driven.  However, we aren't representative, so many
resources won't reach the net.

-- 
Gilbert Cockton, Scottish HCI Centre, Heriot-Watt University, Chambers St.,
Edinburgh, EH1 1HX.  JANET:  gilbert@uk.ac.hw.hci   
ARPA: gilbert%hci.hw.ac.uk@cs.ucl.ac.uk UUCP: ..{backbone}!mcvax!ukc!hci!gilbert