T he limited exhibition space at the conference was dominated by adjacent Hyper-G and Joanneum exhibits. D espite the general enthusiasm generated by Hyper-G, the conference lacked the technological vertigo of Siggraph or Doors of Perception conferences. What might have enlivened this conference somewhat is the presence of the game-players who improvise their solutions, who combine cognitive enhancement with intense motivation. One group speaks a digital, the other an analogue, language. I n AACE circles, the philosophy of choice which allows these people to talk to one another is constructivism, but it can result in a stilted dialogue.
Constructivists question the assumption that abstractions constitute knowledge of the world.
Knowledge is tied to context, and cannot be transmitted reliably. Meaning is, ultimately, socially negotiated. J onassen s notions of mind mapping provided the theoretical underpinning of many sessions I attended. Very often, however, the paradox of designing multimedia and hypermedia applications for educational purposes became painfully obvious. Time and again, presenters quickly laid out constructivist principles before elaborating on schemes designed to lead learners through activities which could be both justified pedagogically as authentic and, hopefully, evaluated for their effectiveness.