Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 76

Internet Learning Journal – Volume 4, Issue 1 – Spring 2015
printing of written text is not new at all. However, many emerging technologies allowing for
immediate access to knowledge and skills in ways that were unfathomable even in the recent
past, are the technologies that will serve as the focus in this article. Additionally, we further
provide our thoughts on the practical implications that these emerging technologies may
impart on the field of online education.
Traditionally, the relationship between education and the economy was based either
on the technical-functional or on the modernization theories. Those theories are similar and
differ only on whether they emphasize the effects of education on creating job-relevant
skills, the technical-functional theory; or on creating job-relevant attitudes, the
modernization theory. The technical-functional theory has tended to be more popular on
developed countries, while the modernization theory has tended to occur more on
underdeveloped countries (Rubinson and Browne, 1994). Both theories correspond to
industrial societies where states had a lot of weight on both the economy and people's lives,
and that is no longer true for contemporary societies. Technological development and free
movement of factors of production have changed the nature of things. Today, the virtual
economy is becoming more dominant - Google and Wikipedia are good examples – and,
because of that, the success of collective action depends crucially on the autonomy and
knowledge of individuals (Beinhocker, 2006; Freedman, 2005).
The Knowledge Economy
The basis for one’s decisions is no longer dependent on the allocation of goods by
the state, but rather on the knowledge people have and on the choices they make. Therefore
it is crucial to promote the education and the training of people in order to make them more
autonomous (Steiner, 2009; Barnett, 1992). Knowledge here is understood as useful
information, by useful meaning that is capable of making products better. This is relevant as
in modern economic theory (Beinhocker, 2006) knowledge is wealth. It is private
knowledge that allows to create value in products, more than the access to raw products, e.g.
iron or gold, which are now of equalitarian access except for raw products with strong
military usage, such as uranium. There are also economical differences in the world because
the distribution of raw product is not equal across the globe, but the greater source of
economical differentiation is the unequal distribution of knowledge (Beinhocker, 2006). It is
thus correct to affirm that the present society is increasingly having a knowledge-based
economy.
Searching for equality is reasonable given that people have equal rights to human
dignity, but it is also true that people often work to gain socio-economical advantages over
those that work less. Thus, sharing knowledge universally would increase equality but
would likely reduce people’s interest in working. The best approach would likely be a
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