Resurgence of Media vs. Method Debate

It seems like with the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, there has been a resurgence of the Media/Method debate. Just a quick recap of the debate to catch-up those unfamiliar with the debate...

In the 1980's and 1990's, Richard Clark and Robert Kozma wrote a series of papers debating whether or not media influences learning. Clark posited that media does not influence learning under any conditions, and Kozma was claiming that media does influence learning as an active process (although some contest that Kozma was actually arguing a different hypothesis).

I've come across three items in the past few weeks that makes me realize the debate is still subtly ongoing.

1) Tony Karrer blogged about an article he read stating that "Podcasting has no inherent Pedagogical Value". Tony's correct reaction was that this was a "no-duh" claim. It isn't the technology, it's how the technology is used.

2) There is a website that is called "No Significant Difference" that documents the phenomenon of no significant difference effect in student outcomes between different modes of educational delivery.

3) I received a random email at work (probably from attending the recent ASTD conference and having someone scan my badge in the hopes to win an Ipod/DVD player/or any other prize...I never win). This email was talking about the buzz of Web 2.0 and how it doesn't require instructional design, information architectures, assessments, etc., but rather that it was focused on "learner centricity" that reaches the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Thankfully, the email ends with the following:

CBT guru Gloria Geary used to remind people, CD-ROM isn't training, it's a piece of plastic! Likewise, Web 2.0 is just a platform.

We must, no doubt, remember not to "oversell" a technology (whether that is games, Web 2.0, or even classroom instruction). Oddly enough, this is an argument that can be turned around as well. For example, I've heard many people discount games altogether claiming that they are "the downfall of society". I will be the first to admit that the content of some games is wrong. However, we need to realize that it is the content that some twisted individuals have put into a game...the issue is not the delivery medium itself. For the same reasons, magazines are not corrupt...it is the content that publishers put into the delivery methods.