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# Choose Your Own (Technology-Enhanced Learning) Adventure
Greta Goetz
This presentation will move through Emacs artifacts: first illustrating possible paths for beginners and then mapping out the significance of the enhanced learning potential of Emacs (Caillet in Andler & Guerry, Engelbart, Markauskaite & Goodyear). The technology-enhanced learning (TEL) that Emacs affords includes a systems view of 'many, many features' (Stallman) which surpass the confines of a pre-fabricated environment (Stiegler). This affords diverse possibilities for individuals to interact creatively and autonomously to satisfy their own needs (Ill
ich). Its adaptability will be shown to be an asset in supporting the learning trends identified by the latest pedagogical research (Guo).
# Intro
The 'many, many features' (Stallman 2002: 4) of Emacs do not limit imaginable types of interactivity, supporting both formal and informal learning (cf. Caillet in Andler & Guerry 2008). Emacs can function as a scaffold for development (cf. Vygotsky 1979: 86), promoting the creative and autonomous ability of individuals to interact with their digital environment and others who share the use of this tool (Illich 1973). Individuals can use Emacs as often or seldom as they want to express their needs and meaning in action, with no obligation to use it (cf. Illich 1973).
The formal learning involved pertains to Emacs programs and documentation (the 'temple') while related discussion and smaller task-based problem solving represents examples of informal learning (the 'forum') (cf. Caillet in Andler & Guerry 2008). As a context-rich environment (Trocmé-Fabre 1999), Emacs fulfills the promise of general computing: not boxing users into personas (cf. Stiegler 2018) but allowing users at all levels to organize and assemble multiple knowledge domains (Markauskaite & Goodyear 2017) and programs so that they are 'just right'. People wanting to create tailored learning environments who feel alienated or unsupported by pre-fabricated text and programming environments will find their way with Emacs.
1. What if we are beginners overwhelmed by formal Emacs documentation? Two potential learning paths:
- a. Build on a needs-basis. Make your own artifacts: no use-case is too small; leave your trace.
- b. Study others' inits and use-cases; Read Planet EmacsLife; Consult programmer or power user use-cases; Map out workflows.
2. Emacs as personal, creative, autonomous:
- a. Emacs allows for organic ongoing changes to the organization of knowledge, imagination, and experience (cf. Guerry & Gaume 2009) . This is important as not all learners have the same spatial/visual needs and because these needs and knowledge can change over time (Vygotsky 1979; Gardner 1983; Wang 2020).
- b. Emacs allows us to control our tools and tasks (Illich 1973). By contrast, care-less use of pre-fabricated apps can lead to loss of know-how in life (Stiegler 2018).
- c. The art of collecting traces (digital or not) is timeless - and important to survival.
3. Emacs as systems design for technology-enhanced learning (TEL):
- a. Good TEL design performance should also educate the designer (Goodyear & Retalis 2010). Further, good design focuses on 'frameworks', which are systems 'that can be customized, specialized, or extended to provide more specific, more appropriate, or slightly different capabilities' (Alexander 1993 in Gabriel 1996), assembling epistemic domains (Markauskaite & Goodyear 2017). This pedagogical approach is supported by Emacs artifacts (packages, documentation, forums, etc.).
- b. The 'wise' use of programming (Crichton 1983) actively manages and organizes workflow. This permits iterative development. Elementary use-case: a workflow that relies on PPT and Zoom vs. already having a more modular viewpoint supported by diverse Emacs packages. The latter adaptability is supported by the latest educational research (Guo). Further: Emacs allows movement from user to contributor (Stiegler 2018; Stavrou).
- c. Wise programming can include fun programming - 'there are people who want to put a stop to that' (Crichton 1983; Gaffney 2019).
- d. Extending this systems/design view, Emacs is developed and maintained by a community dedicated to supporting this freedom of use in these multiple contexts (cf. Illich 1973).
- e. One perspective is less likely to override others in such a heterogeneous environment (Morin 2004).
# Conclusion
Emacs does not limit any imaginable type of interactivity and promotes a diversity of related content, further supporting the pursuit of more advanced TEL (viz. Guo). This was illustrated through an elementary use-case that compared being limited to PPT as opposed to having basic familiarity with Emacs, which permits manageable, continuous exploration of knowledge, workflows, and tools (cf. Alexander in Gabriel; Goodyear & Retalis) and movement from consumer to creator (Stiegler; Stavrou). Using Emacs means being able to use a sophisticated digital tool, thanks to the contributions of heterogeneous maintainers, developers, and community members whose artifacts comprise a meta picture. It is possible, through using Emacs, to learn about the design of digital learning and learning in general as access to knowledge is not walled off by prefabricated design(cf. Illich; Stiegler). We can choose our own adventure.
# References
## General workflow and fun:
- Bin, C. (2020). Mastering Emacs in one year. <https://github.com/redguardtoo/mastering-emacs-in-one-year-guide/blob/master/guide-en.org#on-the-shoulders-of-giants>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Gaffney, N. (2019). Oblique strategies. <https://github.com/zzkt/oblique-strategies>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Goetz, G. (2021). Additional references: A back-to-school/GTD Emacs journey. <https://gretzuni.com/articles/a-back-to-school-gtd-emacs-journey>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Guerry, B. (2020). Org-mode features you may not know. <https://bzg.fr/en/some-emacs-org-mode-features-you-may-not-know/>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Kaiser, K. (2017). Writing a technical book in Emacs and Org-mode. <https://www.kpkaiser.com/programming/writing-a-technical-book-in-emacs-and-org-mode/>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Planet Emacs Life. <https://planet.emacslife.com/>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Stavrou, P. My packages for GNU Emacs. <https://protesilaos.com/emacs/>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Wellons, C. Emacs articles. <https://nullprogram.com/tags/emacs/>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
## On TEL design:
- Caillet, E. (2008). L’exposition, le musée: L’éducation informelle comme école de l’éducation formelle. In Andler, D. & Guerry, B. (Eds.). *Apprendre demain: Sciences cognitives et éducation à l’ère numérique*, 137-154. Paris: Hatier.
- Crichton, M. (1983). *Electronic life*. New York: Knopf.
- De Bono, E. (2009). *Think! Before it's too late*. London: Random House.
- Engelbart, D. (1962). *Augmenting human intellect: A conceptual framework*. Menlo Park: Stanford Research Institute.
- Drosos, I. & Guo, P. (2021). Streamers teaching programming, art, and gaming: Cognitive apprenticeship, serendipitous teachable moments, and tacit expert knowledge. IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), short paper, 2021. <https://pg.ucsd.edu/pubs.htm>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Gabriel, R. (1996). *Patterns of software*. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Goodyear, P. & Retalis, S. (2010). Learning, technology and design. In Goodyear, P. & Retalis, S. (Eds.). *Technology-enhanced learning: Design patterns and pattern languages*, 1-27. Rotterdam, Boston: Sense Publishers.
- Guerry, B. & Gaume, N. (2008). Ce que les jeux vidéo nous apprennent. In Andler, D. & Guerry, B. (Eds.). *Apprendre Demain: Sciences cognitives et éducation à l’ère numérique*, 155-159. Paris: Hatier.
- Guo, P. (2018). Students, systems, and interactions: Synthesizing the first
four years of Learning@Scale and charting the future. L@S 2018, June 26–28, 2018, London, United Kingdom. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3231644.3231662. <https://pg.ucsd.edu/pubs.htm>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Guo, P., Kim, J. & Rubin, R. (2014). How video production affects student engagement: An empirical study of MOOC videos. ACM Conference on Learning at Scale. <https://pg.ucsd.edu/pubs.htm>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Illich, I. (1973). *Tools of conviviality*. New York: Harper & Row.
- Kim, J., Guo, P., Seaton, D., Mitros, P., Gajos, K. & Miller, R. (2014). Understanding in-video dropouts and interaction peaks in online lecture videos. ACM Conference on Learning at Scale. <https://pg.ucsd.edu/pubs.htm>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Markauskaite, L. & Goodyear, P. (2017). *Epistemic fluency and professional education: innovation, knowledgeable action and actionable knowledge*. Dordrecht: Springer.
- Markel, J. & Guo, P. (2020). Designing the future of experiential learning environments for a post-COVID world: A preliminary case study. NFW ’20 (Symposium on the New Future of Work), August 3–5, 2020, Virtual Event. <https://pg.ucsd.edu/pubs.htm>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
- Morin, E. ([2004] 2008). *La Méthode - tome 6: Éthique*. Éditions du Seuil: Paris.
- Stallman, R. (2002). *Free software, free society*. GNU Press, Free Software Foundation.
- Stiegler, B. (2018). *The neganthropocene*. Open Humanities Press.
- Trocmé-Fabre, H. (1999). *Réinventer le métier d’apprendre*. Paris: Éditions d’organisation.
- Vygotsky, L. (1979). *Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes*. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.
- Wang, S. (2020). Open knowledge. Hope in Source. <https://hopeinsource.com/open-knowledge/#open-source-knowledge-proof-of-work>. Accessed 25 October 2021.
# Availability and preferred Q&A approach
Due to the pandemic situation, my teaching schedule fluctuates so I
will not know my availability until much closer to the
date. Therefore, I can only guarantee delayed answer response
(whatever you request), but if available, will join live.
May I please note that I will be pre-recording my video if this submission is accepted.
# Speaker release
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