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.
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.
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.
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...
There is a need to develop a broader view of knowledge for dealing with the way in which new digital trends influence the underlying conditions for schools, pedagogy and subjects. This short commentary article, based on my paper at the NVU-conference 2008, will therefore highlight whether a broader view of knowledge - situated learning, digital literacy and the digital revolution can generate new ways of how we perceive pedagogy within the new educational reform in Norway in particular and the digitized school in general. The focus is particularly angled towards the implications this may have for developing new practises for teachers and students.
The 37th Annual Congress of the Nordic Educational Research Association will be held in Trondheim, Norway, 5 - 7 March 2009. Keynote speakers are Ruth Kagia (World Bank), irene Rizzini (University of Rio de janeiro), Roger Hart (University of New York), Jon Smidt (Sør-Trøndelag University College) and Anna-Lena Østern (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). Deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 November 2008, and deadline for registration 31 Januar 2009.
The Dream conference is titled Digital
Content Creation: Creativity, Competence, Critique and takes place in Odense, Denmark, 18-20 September 2008. Keynote speakers include professor David Buckingham, John Hartley, Angela McFarlane and Roger Säljö.
Reviewed by
Stephen Dobson
Professor
Lillehammer University College
Email: stephen.dobson@hil.no
Introduction
Two questions can be asked: firstly, not do we need another book on remediation, but why? And secondly, if this is the case, what kind of book should it be? This review spirals around these questions.
Rhetoric and reality by A. A. Carr-Chellman (Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2005
Reviewed by
Dr. J. Ola Lindberg
Department of Education, Mid Sweden University
Email: Ola.Lindberg@miun.se
Dr. Anders D. Olofsson
Department of Education, Umeå University
Email: Anders.D.Olofsson@educ.umu.se
It seems suitable to begin this review by giving a brief description of the context in which the texts of this book are produced. If it fails to be regarded as a description, then we hope at least it can be regarded as one possible understanding of the context. When contextualizing a book, a good idea seems to be to start with a few words about the editor, Alison A. Carr-Chellman.
by George Lakoff, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006
Reviewed by Geir Haugsbakk
Ph.D.-candidate in Education
Lillehammer University College
Email: Geir.Haugsbakk@hil.no
“To lose freedom is awful; to lose the idea of freedom is even worse.”
This statement by George Lakoff is at the core of his attention in his
last book. And his opinion is that the loss of the concept of freedom
is a tragic incident that has struck a large part of the American
people, not least since September 11, 2001.
Volume 1 - issue 1 -2005 
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.