Volume 1 - issue 1 - 2005

Editorial Vol-1-Issue-1-2005

Launching a new journal is a rare event - doing it electronically is even more rare. Given the subtext for the journal: “media, technology and lifelong learning”, the format might not be so surprising. Enthusiasts for electronic publishing underline that it acts as an alternative to the traditional publishing in a number of significant ways. It is far more affordable for independent actors to establish, it is a lot more reasonable to run, and in addition supports genuine academic virtues more effectively than traditional journals: results from research can be published faster, they are accessible for everyone with a PC hooked onto the Internet, it can serve formerly unrecognised academic communities and special interests with a platform, etc.

Lars Qvortrup: Society´s Educational System

An introduction to Niklas Luhmann’s pedagogical theory
In this article, Lars Qvortrup gives an introduction to Niklas Luhmann’s book Das Erziehungssystem der Gesellschaft. Luhmann's analysis of the educational system of contemporary society is put into the context of his total oeuvre; and is related to the situation and function of education in our modern, “hypercomplex“ society. Lars Qvortrup is professor at University of Southern Denmark and director of Knowledge Lab DK.

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David Hamilton, Ethel Dahlgren, Agneta Hult and Tor Söderström: Message posting Or dialogue?:

On the dialectics of on-line practice in adult education
This paper by David Hamilton, Ethel Dahlgren, Agneta Hult and Tor Söderström, Umeå University, Sweden, examines on-line communication in liberal adult education. It highlights the problematic space between message posting and the promotion of dialogue, and asks if message posting also foster the democratic practices associated with reasoned discussion or dialogue.

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Neil Selwyn: Reflexivity and technology in adult learning

In this paper, Neil Selwyn, Cardiff University, UK, examines the roles that information technologies may play in supporting adult learners' reflexive judgements about, and engagements with, education and learning. It questions the common assumption that IT promotes reflexivity, and suggests that it rather reinforces already tendencies than creates new ones...

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