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Cover image of Sage on the Screen
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Sage on the Screen

Education, Media, and How We Learn

Bill Ferster

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A critical look at the success of film, video, television, and the Internet in education.

Since the days of Thomas Edison, technology has held the promise of lowering the cost of education. The fantasy of leveraging a fixed production cost to reach an unlimited number of consumers is an enticing economic proposition, one that has been repeatedly attempted with each new media format, from radio and television to MOOCs, where star academics make online video lectures available to millions of students at little cost.

In Sage on the Screen, Bill Ferster explores the historical, theoretical, and...

A critical look at the success of film, video, television, and the Internet in education.

Since the days of Thomas Edison, technology has held the promise of lowering the cost of education. The fantasy of leveraging a fixed production cost to reach an unlimited number of consumers is an enticing economic proposition, one that has been repeatedly attempted with each new media format, from radio and television to MOOCs, where star academics make online video lectures available to millions of students at little cost.

In Sage on the Screen, Bill Ferster explores the historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives of using broadcast media to teach by examining a century of efforts to use it at home and in the classroom. Along the way, he shares stories from teachers, administrators, entrepreneurs, and innovators who promoted the use of cutting-edge technology—while critically evaluating their motives for doing so.

Taking a close look at the origins of various media forms, their interrelatedness, and their impact on education thus far, Ferster asks why broadcast media has been so much more successful at entertaining people than it has been at educating them. Accessibly written and full of explanatory art, Sage on the Screen offers fresh insight into the current and future uses of instructional technology, from K12 through non-institutionally-based learning.

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Reviews

The book is easy to read, with great illustrations and personal stories. The changes in hardware and software are also well explained and made friendly for non-experts... Helpful for producing more nuanced and complex arguments about how media and technology have contributed to schooling and learning.

Bill Ferster's book offers a solid introduction to the history of educational media, chronicling various technological developments alongside the justifications that engineers and educators have used for incorporating these into teaching and learning. This history is important as too often educational technology is discussed as though it has no connection to history or to theory.

Bill Ferster's book is a carefully researched, complex, and insightful take on both the past and future of digital technology in higher education. Unlike the 'disruptors' who believe that higher education’s business model is broken and can only be transformed by heavy investment in edtech, Ferster draws careful connections between the actual capabilities of technology and the goals of educators.

Anyone thinking of introducing "disruptive technology" into higher education should read The Sage on the Screen first. Bill Ferster’s history of media in education provides useful lessons about the promise and peril of technology in the classroom.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
216
ISBN
9781421421261
Illustration Description
72 halftones, 6 line drawings
Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Traditional media
2. Interactive media
3. Hyper media
4. Cloud media
5. Immersive media
6. Making sense of media for learning
Notes
Index

Author Bio
Bill Ferster
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Bill Ferster

Bill Ferster is a research professor at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and the director of visualization for the Sciences, Humanities & Arts Technology Initiative (SHANTI). He is the author of Interactive Visualization: Insight through Inquiry.
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