6 Metaphors in Search of the Internet

Abstract

One task of educational technology is to develop and use the tools of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Another important function of educational technology, however, is to be "ahead of the curve" in understanding how forms of technology like the Internet impact culture, and restructure our awareness within culture. This paper uses the semiotic and abductive principles of juxtaposition via metaphor to explore six aspects of learning and culture which have been changed by the Internet, but where the changes have been such that we have not been conceptually positioned to see them. We conclude with an acknowledgement of the arbitrariness of the metaphors we have actually used, and a call for an abductive proliferation of metaphor examination along the very lines of the medium under study - that is, we seek a thread of metaphors.