PEDAGOGIAL THEORIES  The use of computer technology in education is increasing madly every year. So fast even, that no one can predict where technology stops and education begins. Learning institutions as we know them today may be gone tomorrow. The traditional classroom teacher may become an archaic medium, replaced by the supernet. Computers have changed how we function in the world. The change is forcing us to rethink the way we learn. In the olden days we had too little information to make an informed decision--now we have too much. While we surf and plunge ahead on the electronic superhighway we seem oblivious of our destination. While the whole world rolls ahead, there are some reflective individuals who are trying to put our advancements in education into perspective. They are asking questions. Do computers make better teachers? Are they designed to meet human needs? What are these needs? Can information overload be detrimental? What about radiation, eyesight and corporal tunnel? Will computer knowledge substitute dexterity and hands-on skill? Are kids becoming addicted? Do they inhibit mental growth? How can computers become more user friendly.

Education experts are trying to evaluate how we are actually learning with computers; and how to improve learning. They are trying to apply traditional learning theories with this new electonic medium. As well, they are formulating new theories based on what is happening right now. I have incorporated several of these old and new pedagogical theories into my tutorial web site--Image-making Strategies. I use both traditional and modern approaches to effective learning. The following three pedagogical concepts describe the kinds of learning this site provides.

EMOTION-CENTERED ART THEORY  According to Ruskin and Baudelaire believe that sincerity and and intensity of feeling are essential requisites for learning. With this in mind, I have included several images that evoke intense feelings in the viewer. I have also used inspiring and meaningful language to present the artist, Sveva Caetani. According to Ruskin:

There is reciprocal action between the intensity of moral feeling and the power of imaginaiton; for on the one hand, those who have keenest sympathy are those who look closest and pierce deepest, and hold securest; and on the other, those who have so pierced and seen the melancholy deeps of things are filled with the most intense passion and gentleness of sympathy.

If we are to really embrace computers as a means of educating people, we must create sites that are sincere, meaningful, inspiring, and able to change one's life. This is a great challenge, for computers are so technical, perfect, cold, and lacking human exchange. I hope that my site has incorporated some of Ruskin and Bauldlaire's theories and has inspired some passion, sympathy, and and insight into the melancholy deeps of the human psyche. For me, this is true education.

ACTIVITY THEORY  This is a relatively new concept that evaluates computer tutorials and education based on their activity elements. Today, computer programs are becoming increasingly interactive. Victor Kaptelinin writes in his article on   Activity Theory  that we can better structure and evaluate human computer interaction if analyse the "active" transforming component between computer and the student. One is the "hierarchical structure" of activity. These include "goal directed actions that must be undertaken to fulfill the object. Fundamentally, my web site is a goal-directed tutorial. I have built my site on external and hidden goals. I clearly set forth what the students will learn--the terms and concepts of image-making development. This is accomplished through active participation, some practical exercises, written assignments and guided questions and reflections. Embedded in these clear objectives are more subliminal goals. Namely, arousing curiousity in ancient literature such as The Divine Comedy; presenting psychology issues for contemplation; and a inspiring a sense of spirituality.

Activity Theory also concludes that actions are conscious, and different actions may be undertaken to meet the same goal. Again my site allows an interactive, non-linerar navigation toward similar goals. The student may take a different route--for which I provide sever--and in the end be able to discuss with colleagues the essence of the material present. Activity Theory differentiates between internal and external activities. My site allows for many internalizations to take place. Students think about what they have read and seen and can put their own life more into perspective. This kind of educaton is not obvious. Along side of the student's personal experiences, I have added external activities such as a Term Test and copying a painting. A final concept involves integrating principles. In my site I introduce new terms, apply them to the paintings, and then ask students to integrate this new information in a variety of ways. In conclusion, there are many current and traditional pedagocial theories used in this site.

IN CONCLUSION  To educate means to strengthen the faculties of the mind and body. I firmly believe that this is the goal of all education. We must not only transfer knowledge to students, but we must develop their minds. William James believed that real education can transform an individual both on the physical and mental level. When we learn, we evolve biologically. James wrote

All nervous centers have then, in the first instance, one esential function, that of intelligent actions. They feel, prefer one thing to another, and have ends. Like all other organs, however, they evolve from ancestor to descendant, and then evolution takes two directions, the lower centers passing downwards into more unhesitating automatism, and the higher ones upwards into larger intellectality. (pg.23, Horne)

So keeping James' words in mind, I conclude by saying that my web site activates the mind into higher thinking and larger intellectuality rather than dulling the mind into unhesitating automatism. Computers can do both and any sound pedagogical theory will advocate programs that invite active participation and meaningful content. Presenting web tutorials and on-line resources that stimulate higher thinking would be, in my opinion, the educational goal computer tutorials should strive for.