Pedagogy of the Connected: Facilitating e-Educative Transformation

Abstract

In 1970, Paulo Freire brought to the world’s attention the destructive nature of the “banking” model of education and the “culture of silence” this methodology promotes. Freire demonstrated how dialogue with others and reflection on our circumstances through “problem-posing” pedagogy brings about true education: people educating each other through their interactions in the world. In this first decade of the 21st century, I suggest that Frances Moore Lappé has brought the soul of Freire to our cyber age. In this paper I will connect the dots from Freire through Lappé then into online learning theory and practice through Communities of Inquiry research. I will delve into the transformational pedagogies of empowerment which are coming together into what I am designating a pedagogy of the connected. In the process of connecting these dots, I hope to bring into focus the promise and power of the 21st century e-Educative revolution which I propose this “pedagogy of the connected” facilitates. I will use examples from an online Women’s Studies course I teach to provide color and texture for the image we will bring into focus when we connect the dots.