Do we want a practical theory or an, er, “pure” (critical/theoretical/research) theory It is a difficult question to frame, isn it?
If we want our theory not to be a “pure theory”, in what way do we want it to be impure? I am going to argue that people who don’t want a ‘pure’ theory aren’t looking for a theory at all. They are looking for another technology. I think the question I’ve posed seems to neglect one trait common to many theories, that they are often wrong. Using theories that are right is important. We can see the missing step in Martin’s characterisation “In the first, theory was used as the basis for creating a descriptive model. This was then adapted to form a predictive model. This in turn was used to guide practice.” I would want to insert some kind of testing into this story, probably around the time of developing a predictive model. If we are not concerned with theories being right/true we are asking for trouble. So, the answer to Martin’s big question “Whats the Purpose of Theory in Learning Technology?” is that its purpose is to be right or true. If it turns out to be useful, that is a bonus, an
