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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>There is a topic that has interested me, but I have been unable to make much headway in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>past years since I am not sure where to look.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Consider that Kathy, an 8<sup>th</sup> grade student, knows more about how to use a computer than<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>her parents, who may know more than her grandparents. When learning to use digital<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>technology artifacts such as “menu”, education is imparted on Kathy. She learns something<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>about tree structures, and possibly finite state machines (FSMs). This is done invisibly because<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>she did not have to learn discrete mathematics and automata theory to use the computer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>One hypothesis that all technology is this way. We use technology and technology<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>uses us (by invisibly transferring new mental models). The introduction of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>the mechanical clock changed how we conceptualize time. Fast forwarding to digital <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>technology, Kathy must have conceptualized trees and FSMs as mental models even<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>though this theory was not made explicit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>My searches have taken me to psychology (where the dominant discourse is about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>dysfunction where technology is concerned), history of technology as well as the history<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>of science. This relates to math and computer science education too—teaching FSMs to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>people through implicit means. Learning something without knowing that your learning<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>If anyone on this list has a good place for me to dive, let me know. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>-paul<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>Paul Fishwick, PhD<br>Distinguished University Chair of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication<br>Professor of Computer Science<br>Director, Creative Automata Laboratory<br>The University of Texas at Dallas<br>Arts & Technology<br>800 West Campbell Road, AT10<br>Richardson, TX 75080-3021<br>Home: utdallas.edu/atec/fishwick<br>Media: medium.com/@metaphorz<br>Modeling: digest.sigsim.org<br>Twitter: @PaulFishwick</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>ONLINE: Webex,Collaborate, TEAMS, Zoom, Skype, Hangout</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>