Just got a couple of excellent reviews for my 2011 book, one from the British Journal of Educational Technology, and the other from Erziehungswissenschaftliche Revue (Educational Studies Review).
First from BJET:
“Friesen argues, tenaciously and knowledgeably, in favour of a different view of e-learning from the empirical one they know well and usually adopt. He administers some heavy doses of debate based on European philosophical writings. His own text is not dry-as-dust, however, because he provides many examples, such as the excellent one of dissecting frogs in the laboratory and online. By getting away from simply considering text in class and online, he stimulates his readers to think about the many differences, and the pros and cons, of the two modes of learning.” (see the entire review from BJET)
Here’s a translation from the original German review, written by colleague Malte Brinkmann (soon to take a chair @ the Humboldt University in Berlin):
Friesen provides important grounds for a critical revaluation of experiences in E-Learning. The book is above all a valuable contribution to empirical phenomenological studies of education. Friesen undertakes, in an exemplary manner, the hermeneutic-phenomenological method of the van Manen school. Finally, he can, with the concept of relational and responsive pedagogy, reach far beyond his particular area of investigation, and provide impetus for an internationally-oriented philosophy of Bildung and Education that is truly “trans-continental.”