One of the problems I’ve had in my career as a technologist is the problem of novelty. We think we are doing something new, exciting and wonderful. Well, I guess we are, but less than we think. Formal education has always been a technological enterprise and it always will be. Sure, we aren’t sharpening quills any more and we don’t need the lecture format to essentially take dictation of our textbooks but are we really all that much different from our Renaissance predecessors? I’m always finding myself looking at the broader scholarship of Walter Ong. While he did make some provocative and interesting claims for what he called a media charged secondary orality He also did some great work on Petrus Ramus of the old University of Paris who, while seen as a mediocre scholar by many, made some serious print driven technological innovations to the teaching profession that would warm the heart of any instructional designer or, alas, PowerPoint devotee. In fact, were Ramus to rise from the dead he probably, sadly and unfortunately like PowerPoint. He probably would be writing a Title III grant now and feeling very, very important but like Ramus…

As for Ong, he and McLuhan were quite well aquainted, so for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpIYz8tfGjY

Too bad they tore that movie theater down a long time ago…