Comparative Analysis of Postmodern Design for Information Technology in Education in Relation to Modernism

Abstract

Problem statement: The purpose of present study is a comparative analysis of the philosophical bases of postmodernism in relation to modernism and suggesting the necessities of each base in the designing information technology in education. Approach: The research method for the present study was comparative analysis. Results: The first base was rejection of objective view toward the universe and accepting the “pre-objective universe”. In this regard, it was suggested that information technology should be considered in relation to and as a component of life. The second base was doing away with totality. The necessity of this base was in the rejection of universal approaches and designing for specific situations. The third base was uncertainty. Regarding this base, it was suggested that the educational software provide a text in which the learner confront subjects for questioning and interpreting. The forth base was focusing on the complexities of the phenomena. In this ground, it was especially necessary for the design to be integrational. Conclusion/Recommendations: It seems that postmodernism view has been able to provide the possibility of recreating information technology in education through going beyond the basic assumptions of modernism. At last and in order to escape the metanarrative view toward postmodern ideas, we cannot regard the recommended solutions by postmodernists as the definite, final and general solution for educational issues of present and past times. But, we can look at them for further illumination of technological education condition of the present time.