Interesting comments from Ian Hart. I think some good points managed to shine through the layers of hostility and negativism.
1. My focus on North American theorists was in spite of considerable efforts on my part to find people from around the world. If anyone knows of non North Americans who have been actively developing design theory (not descriptive theory) in education, particularly design theory that reflects at least some of the elements of the new paradigm, please let me know. I will be eternally grateful to you! Perhaps Ian is right when he says, "Of course, ISD is a particularly North American preoccupation." But if that's true, is it fair to cast blame on me? I can understand Ian's frustration with the U.S.'s "cultural imperialism," for I came to see it clearly during the three years I lived in Argentina and 27 years of living with a Latin American wife. And I would like to do what I can to avoid it in my work. I look forward to your input on this matter.
2. Some interesting thoughts on "information age educational values." But I would like to clarify that the values I listed were not focused on education. They are features that characterize a majority of societal systems. For example, for standardization versus customization, mass production is giving way to customized production in industry, mass marketing is giving way to customized marketing, and mass communications are giving way to customized communications, to name but a few. In education, we are seeing this reflected in the move toward "learner-centered" education. But those key markers I listed were not intended to characterize education specifically, but rather the more fundamental changes that are occurring throughout society that are likely to impact on education (but which may not have had much of any impact on education as yet). It seems to me that Ian's list may be more of an attempt to capture the status of education today, rather than looking at broader societal trends. I do agree with Ian that not all key markers of the information age are unqualified positives, but I also do believe that the information age is showing signs of being considerably more humane than the industrial age. 3. I am curious about Ian's impression that I was devaluing teachers' roles in education. On the contrary, I believe teachers' roles will be more professional, more enjoyable, and more rewarding than they have been in the industrial-age educational system. As I reread my comments, I feel I communicated that message. I hope not many of you came away with the same impression as Ian. You might be interested in a chapter I wrote with Robert Garfinkle in an Ed. Tech. Publications book he and I edited in 1994. It describes one possible vision of an information-age educational system that reflects the key markers I described.