Post-Fordist visions and technological solutions: educational technology and the labour process

This paper is concerned with the relationships between pedagogy, technology and the production of education. A central theme is that these relationships are coalescing around three conceptual arrangements of production, characterised by the terms Fordism, neo-Fordism and post-Fordism. Each of these ideal-type models suggests very different social, political and educational outcomes. The paper starts by introducing these terms within the literature. Second, the post-Fordist debate in distance education is summarised, identifying its strengths, weaknesses, omissions and objectives. Third, the labour process in higher education is explored in more depth, and its relationship to democracy and technology highlighted. The paper concludes with a focus on constructivist models of educational technology and their socio-political implications.