Brave New Classrooms: Democratic Education and the Internet: 37 (Digital Formations) - Softcover

«This thought-provoking collection provides a welcome antidote to the utopian and dystopian positions that tend to dominate discussions of educational technology. The volume's critical perspective on e-learning deserves the attention of educators and policy-makers alike.» (Mark Warschauer, Department of Education, University of California, Irvine)
«'Brave New Classrooms' represents a landmark book in its examination of the complex relationship among the diverse demands of democracy, higher education, and electronic learning. Cutting beneath the surface of hype and superficiality, it offers a complex, erudite, and invigorating analyses of both the dangers and possibilities of e-learning within an ever increasing corporatized world. This book is crucial reading for those individuals and groups concerned about the future of higher education and the importance of democratic public spheres.» (Henry A. Giroux, Author of 'Take Back Higher Education' and 'Stormy Weather: Katrina and the Politics of Disposability')

The early, halcyon days of e-learning are gone. Many who embraced personal computers and the Internet, and who devoted their work to creating new forms of electronic education, have grown dissatisfied with trends toward commodification and corporatization, a paucity of critical thought, poor quality distance learning, and the growing exploitation of teaching labor. Online learning's inherent democratic potential seems increasingly a chimera. Brave New Classrooms explores whether and to what extent its original promise can be recovered. It includes sixteen essays from educational practitioners, including some of the best-known theorists of Internet-based education.