Journal of Media & Mass Communication Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2015
Technology in Online Learning
Stan A. Lindsay
Professional Communication, Florida State University, Panama City, FL/USA
Email: [email protected]
Kenneth Burke in his article on “Dramatism” calls actagency ratios (332-333). Obviously, the business example
just provided did not include more recent technological
agencies, such as Mobile apps, Blackboard, Online
discussion forums, Texting, Email, Web sites, Blogs,
YouTube videos, Skype, and Powerpoint
Different types of acts (proposing marriage, breaking
up, interviewing for a job, firing an employee) call for
differing technological agencies. T his is the act-agency
or agency-act ratio.
Both business organizations and college courses have
upward, downward, and horizontal communication
concerns (downward: supervisor to employee, teacher to
student; upward: employee to supervisor; student to
teacher; horizontal: employee to employee, student to
student). Both seek effectiveness (communication
effectiveness and cost effectiveness). Both are concerned
with human relations (COMSAT/tenure/social relations;
student evaluations/retention/social relations). Both are
concerned with human resources, as in Maslow’s
hierarchy of motivation.
Abstract—This paper places technology primarily under
Kenneth Burke's Pentadic term Agency and discusses the
Act of learning as it is influenced and motivated by the
Agencies of technology within the emerging Scene of Online
Learning Systems. Using as a paradigm a newly-developed
online course, Rhetoric of a Global Corporation, in which
students study the rhetoric in the music, films, and religious
expressions of the Walt Disney Corporation, this paper
analyzes the impact of various forms of technology on the
learning process. It applies the Roman rhetorical canons of
heuristics, arrangement, style, mnemonics, and delivery to
the act of online teaching and learning, and considers the
various learning styles in the process. 
Index Terms—kenneth burke, online learning systems,
canons of rhetoric, learning styles, walt disney corporation,
walt disney world, agency act ratio
I.
INTRODUCTION
Using technology to propose marriage sometimes is
associated with positive attitudes. We think that
proposing via skywriting is adorable. Marriage proposals
on the kiss cam evoke positive attitudes. But, dumping
your significant other via technology may take on
negative attitudes. Texting? Phone call? Skywriting? Kiss
cam? Email? Web site? PowerPoint? YouTube? Skype?
In business, we are not opposed to, and sometimes
welcome being interviewed for a new job by phone or on
Skype. But, when it comes to downsizing, the movie Up
in the Air suggested that firing by Skype is not welcomed.
Organizational Communication specialists conduct audits
to see what attitudes stakeholders in an organization have
towards different channels of communication as they
relate to different types of communication. For example,
they may ask the following question on a questionnaire:
Amount of Information I receive from the following
sources ranked as “Very Little,” “Little,” “Some,”
“Great,” and “Very Great”: Face-to-face, Telephone,
Written letters/memos/notices, Bulletin boards, Corporate
newsletters, Plant newsletter, Procedural manual, Home
mailings, Pay envelope stuffers, Communication
committee minutes, Safety steering committee, Shift
briefings, Meeting with supervisor, Meeting with
divisional management, Meeting with plant management,
Departmental safety meetings, etc.
The “act” is “receiving information.” The agencies are
the sixteen or so methods of performing various acts.
Reference [1] Analyzing the results calls for what
II.
A. Figures and Tables
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs introduces “purpose” to
the schema. Clearly, Maslow argues that different agents
have different purposes in performing acts—whether in
school or at work. These considerations generate agentpurpose ratios and act-purpose ratios.
So, what about online learning? Technologies can
assist with:
 Downward communication (an act)
 Upward communication (an act)
 Horizontal communication (an act)
 Communication effectiveness (a purpose)
 Cost effectiveness (a purpose)
 Student retention--even if the student is moving
away (a purpose)
 Maslow’s
Socialization--through
discussion
forums (a purpose)
 Maslow’s
physiological--through
providing
distance learning degrees/MONEY (a purpose)
 Maslow’s esteem--through providing distance
learning degrees (a purpose)
 Maslow’s self-actualization--Online learning
being more self-directed and motivated (a purpose)
While the majority of these matters are purposes, they
are either the purposes of the agent/instructor or the
Manuscript received January 19, 2015; revised July 1, 2015.
©2015 Journal of Media & Mass Communication
doi: 10.12720/jmmc.1.1.16-19
MASLOW AND BURKE’S RATIOS
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Journal of Media & Mass Communication Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2015
technological agency might one use to perform the act of
heuristics?) and agent-act ratios (for example, what type
of agent—student or instructor performs what type of
heuristic?). From the perspective of online teacher:
 Heuristics means we need to know our subject
matter.
 Arrangement means we need to organize that
subject matter into a comprehensible course.
 Style means we need to use language appropriate
to the academic level of our students.
 Mnemonics means we need ways of remembering
our vast stores of information.
 Delivery means we need a Teaching Philosophy
and Teaching Methods.
Reference [5] The Expanded Kenneth Burke
Concordance is an example of how technology can be
used by instructors for heuristics, arrangement, and
mnemonics. The very searching of Burke’s vocabulary
contributes to the instructor’s STYLE, as well. Next, we
consider DELIVERY and how technology can be used by
the STUDENTS in the 5 Roman canons.
Reference [6] The foundation of my teaching
philosophy is from Burke's definition of the human in
Language as Symbolic Action. The human, according to
Burke, is:
 "The symbol-using . . . animal,
 Inventor of the negative . . .,
 Separated from his natural condition by
instruments of his own making,
 Goaded by the spirit of hierarchy . . ., and
 Rotten with perfection" (16).
In Burke’s definition, the term “Technology” should
be connected with the language “instruments of [our]
own making.”
The term that summarizes my own educational method
is "edu-tainment." My goal is to use whatever resources
are available to make my teaching stimulating yet always
informative. In the classroom, I intersperse the use of
computer projected materials, role-playing, anecdotes,
examples, humor, references to movies and music,
discussion, student presentations, and caricatures, to
make my class sessions memorable and vivid.
However, some learners are visual learners. They
prefer (and “prefer” is an attitude) using images, maps,
and graphs for the act of learning. Some learners are
aural, preferring music and sound. There are verbal
learners, who prefer written or spoken words. Others are
physical, preferring movement and the sense of touch.
Logical learners prefer inductive and deductive reasoning.
Social learners prefer learning with other people, as
opposed to solitary learners who prefer to work alone.
Howard Gardner terms what others have called “learning
styles” “Multiple Intelligences,” and eventually identifies
nine of them: musical–rhythmic, visual–spatial, verbal–
linguistic, logical–mathematical, bodily–kinesthetic,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and moral
intelligences.
This schema argues that differently styled learners
have differing attitudes toward different technologies. In
that case, what we may have, instead of an agency-act
purposes of the agent/student. Hence, there is an agentpurpose ratio at work. And, whenever technologies are
considered, agent-agency and purpose-agency factors
emerge. Also, in order for anyone to perform an “act,”
s/he needs a “purpose,” so there are act-purpose ratios,
and consequently, we return to the discussion of
technology in agency-act ratios.
Reference [2] Burke, in Attitudes Toward History,
defines “attitudes” as “incipient program[s] of action” (20)
and “incipient acts” (218). Reference [3] In Dramatism
and Development, Burke discusses his recurrent regret
that he had not made attitude the sixth term of a
Dramatistic Hexad, but seems satisfied to fit it instead
into one or more terms of his Pentad. Reference [4] He
refers to his chapter in Grammar of Motives on
“’Incipient’ and ‘Delayed’ Action” (235-247) where he
points out that I.A. Richards calls attitudes “imaginal”
activities and “tendencies to action” (236). Burke
observes: “[T]he concept of incipient acts is ambiguous.
An attitude can be the substitute for an act . . . [or] the
first step towards an act” (236). The latter phrase
employs entelechial language, in the similar way that a
soul or seed is the first phase of a biological entelechy.
Burke further cites George Herbert Mead’s observation
that “attitudes are ‘the beginnings of acts’” and suggests
that Mead’s work The Philosophy of the Act might just as
well have been entitled The Philosophy of the Attitude.
Hence, I am content to place technology primarily under
the Pentadic term Agency, while I place “attitude” under
the Pentadic term Act. I shall, nevertheless, discuss the
incipient Act (or attitude) of learning as it is influenced
and motivated by the Agencies of technology within the
emerging Scene of Online Learning Systems. Using as a
paradigm my newly-developed online course, Rhetoric of
a Global Corporation, in which students study the rhetoric
in the music, films, and religious expressions of the Walt
Disney Corporation, I shall analyze the impact of various
forms of technology on the learning process.
III.
MASLOW AND BURKE’S RATIOS
What types of “acts” do we as teachers and students
perform in Online Learning Systems? I believe they
correspond fairly well to the five canons of rhetoric—
developed by the Romans: Heuristics, Arrangement,
Style, Mnemonics, and Delivery:
 Heuristics (Researching! The term “eureka,”
which means “I found it!” comes from the same
root)
 Arrangement (Organizing our knowledge into
theories)
• Style (Choosing words and grammatical structures
that properly communicate our knowledge to our
audiences)
 Mnemonics (Remembering what we have learned)
 Delivery (Effectively presenting)
If these five canons classify “acts” performed by
students and teachers (“agents”), the various technologies
(agencies) employed by the agents may be analyzed in
terms of act-agency ratios (for example, what
©2015 Journal of Media & Mass Communication
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Journal of Media & Mass Communication Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2015
Just as one leaves Spaceship Earth, one encounters the
technological learning exhibits of Innoventions East and
West. Although my Global course, as currently
constituted, does not utilize all of this technology, the
technological learning agencies available can provide
opportunities for other courses. I determined years ago
that it is neither prudent nor feasible to even attempt to
replicate the technology Disney has developed when
students have the entire Disney theme park experience
available for as little as $150 for a four-day pass for
Florida residents. This is roughly the price of a college
textbook. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Disney
stays on the cutting edge in the development of
communication technology.
Virtually every attraction at the four theme parks
employs unique forms of technology. Reference [8]
Although Baudrillard critiques the Disney experience as
being “simulation—the inability to distinguish the real
from the fake,” the Disney experience can vastly improve
the learning process. Throughout the Twentieth Century,
universities have used the technologies of film, radio,
records, television, audiotape, videotape, and other audiovisual media. Each of these, it could be argued, were
steps toward simulation. On the other hand, they were
also agencies that could be used to enhance student
learning experiences. We encourage students of the
humanities to study abroad as an enhancement of their
learning experience. Absent the funds to send all students
overseas, analytical visits to the simulated environments
of Epcot’s World Showcase provide a splendid, low-cost
alternative. Students of multiple disciplines find in the
robotics and advanced audio-visual presentations at the
Disney parks, not only a visual 3-D representation of
various aspects, not only an auditory surround-sound
experience, not only a smellitzer-induced engagement of
the sense of smell (as in Soarin’, Journey into
Imagination, the Dark Ages in Spaceship Earth, Ellen’s
Energy Adventure, etc.), but also taste and touch
experiences as students inhabit the classroom that is
Disney.
So, let us return to the 5 Roman canons and the
learning styles/multiple intelligences, and wrap this up. In
terms of heuristics, aural (musical-rhythmic) learners
“discover” rhetoric by listening to the musical scenes in
each of the Disney lands and attractions. Visual-spatial
learners discover rhetoric in the architecture, scenes,
movies, sculptures (both metal/mineral and topiary/plant
sculptures), landscapes, etc. Verbal-linguistic learners
discover rhetoric by reading multiple books, blogs,
websites, and student forums. They learn not only from
the visual aspect of the Kilamanjaro Safaris, but also
from the running commentaries by their safari guides.
Logical/mathematical learners are engaged by analyzing
the logic of the religious-secular debates operating at
Walt Disney World, with Hall of Presidents and the
American Adventure presenting a Lincoln who
emphasizes a Creator/God while the Universe of Energy
presents a naturalistic approach to the origins of the
universe, completely devoid of God. Physical learners
(bodily/kinesthetic) discover the rhetoric of Disney by
ratio, is an agent-agency ratio. But, since any given
individual is actually a composite of these various
multiple intelligences, like snowflakes, every single
individual will have his or her own specific agent-agency
ratio. Reference [7] In Burke’s article, “Tactics of
Motivation” (26), we have something close to an attitudeagency ratio. As an aside, I am particularly appreciative
of the fact that my Expanded Kenneth Burke
Concordance is finished, because in the process of
digitally researching the Concordance, I noticed this
interesting passage. In terms of mnemonics, I easily
forgot where I had located the passage, but later, as I
prepared this paper, it took me only 15 seconds to locate
the passage in the Concordance. Here, Burke ties
together the terms attitude, agent, and agency. He
comments: “[Sidney] Hook's expression, ‘faith in
knowledge,’ could similarly be classed as an attitude of
the agent directed towards agency; for ‘intelligence,’ like
‘scientific method,’ can be interpreted as a means.”
Without getting into what Burke was talking about with
respect to Sidney Hook, we at least, have an objective
citation of Burke writing about attitudes and agencies.
The type of agency employed depends on the attitude
(which is part of the nature) of the agent who employs it.
In my new online and distance education course—
Rhetoric of a Global Corporation—students engage in
learning acts using technologies (agencies)—but for
various purposes, depending on the varying attitudes of
the students (agents). Oh, yes! We have left out one of
the most important terms: Scene! In Walt Disney World!
Since Florida State University was officially designated
as one of two pre-eminent research universities in the
state of Florida by the Florida Board of Governors, I
developed an online and distance course that takes
advantage of the preeminent technological learning
environment in the state of Florida: Walt Disney World.
In the course, I assist students in studying the rhetoric
found in the music, films, and religious expressions of the
Walt Disney Corporation. In the past few years, I have
developed multiple online and distance learning courses
for Florida State University, but the Global course is the
most thorough example of online learning technology I
have developed.
The Global course celebrates the history of technology
as it pertains to Communication and learning. The
Spaceship Earth geosphere in Epcot introduces students
to the incremental developments in communication
technology throughout human history—Cave drawings,
hieroglyphics, papyrus scrolls, Phoenician alphabet,
Roman roads, hand-written books of Jewish
scribes/Islamic scholars/Christian monks, moveable type
and Guttenberg’s press, sculpture and chapel artwork,
newspapers, telegraph, telephone, movies, radio,
television, and the computer age. Of course, this
attraction omits other primitive technologies, such as
Native American smoke signals, African drum messages,
Jewish shofar calls, and South Pacific conch shell signals,
but the attraction provides a memorable introduction to
communication technology.
©2015 Journal of Media & Mass Communication
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Journal of Media & Mass Communication Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2015
My graduate students who have taken this course are
much better prepared for Comprehensive Exams than
those who have not.
In terms of Delivery, the Greek, the term for delivery
is hupocrisis (from which we get the word hypocrite). It
means “acting.” Acting is a form of entertainment. So,
edu-tainment is my guiding principle. Nobody does edutainment better than the Walt Disney Corporation.
physically walking through the artifacts of the
corporation. Social (interpersonal) learners actually take
family members with them and ask their families to help
them discover things as they study in the parks, or
coordinate with fellow students to plan their park visits
together. Solitary (intrapersonal) learners frequently
desire to take on the experience of analyzing Disney on
their own. Naturalistic learners discover by being able to
hold, touch, and feel nature and animals in the outdoor
environments of Walt Disney World.
Moral or existential intelligence has been described by
Gardner as capturing and pondering the fundamental
questions of existence. Reference [9] This is one of the
key focuses of the required text Disneology: Religious
Rhetoric at Walt Disney World.
In terms of Arrangement, although the course is
mostly arranged by me, the student has a major portion
chosen by himself or herself for the final 1/3 of the course.
S/he participates in arranging his/her own specific course,
depending on his/her attitudes toward the various specific
types of technology and subject matter:
 Religious Rhetoric at WDW
 The Rhetoric of Music at WDW
 The Rhetoric of Disney’s animated films
 Library research paper over some aspect of
musical rhetoric, religious rhetoric, cinematic
rhetoric, or marketing communication rhetoric in
the Walt Disney Corporation.
Also, the student is moved to rearrange his/her own
Disney experiences into rhetorical categories.
In terms of Style, it is always a learning experience to
study Disney’s style:
 Musical style
 Architectural style
 Cinematic style
 Marketing style
In terms of Mnemonics, remembering what is learned
is required in virtually every course offered by
universities. In Face-to-Face classes, we measure
memory by quizzes and exams. The Greeks taught that
memory is accomplished by tying new information to
strongly established memories. By tying rhetorical
concepts to the technologically-produced Disney
experiences, the memory of the concepts is much stronger.
©2015 Journal of Media & Mass Communication
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
K. Burke, “Dramatism,” in Communication: Concepts and
Perspectives, L. Thayer. Ed. Washington, DC: Spartan, 1967, pp.
327-360.
K. Burke, Attitudes Toward History, 3rd ed., Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 1984.
K. Burke, Dramatism and Development, Barre, MA: Clark
University Press, 1972.
K. Burke, Grammar of Motives; Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press, 1969.
S. Lindsay, The Expanded Kenneth Burke Concordance; Orlando,
FL: Say Press, 2014.
K. Burke, Language as Symbolic Action, Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 1966.
K. Burke, “Tactics of Motivation,” Chimera, vol. 1, pp. 27-44,
1943.
J. Baudrillard, "Simulacra and simulations," in Selected Writings,
M. Poster, Ed., Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988, pp.
166-184.
S. Lindsay, Disneology: Religious Rhetoric at Walt Disney World,
Orlando, FL: Say Press, 2010.
Stan A. Lindsay is Teaching Professor of
Professional Communication at Florida State
University. He holds the Ph.D. degree from
Purdue
University
in
Rhetoric/Communication. He has served on
the faculties of Indiana University, Purdue
University, and Loyola University Chicago,
in addition to Florida State University. He is
the author of the following books: *
ArguMentor (2015) * Making OffersThey
Can’t Refuse 3rd ed. (2015) * The Expanded Kenneth Burke
Concordance (2014) * Basic Public Relations Documents: Implicit
Rhetoric in Practice (2010) * The Essence of Rhetoric in Disney Music
(2010) * Disneology: Religious Rhetoric at Walt Disney World (2010) *
Persuasion, Proposals, and Public Speaking 2nd ed. (2009) * Psychotic
Entelechy: The Dangers of "Spiritual Gifts" Theology (2006) * The
Seven C's of Stress: A Burkean Approach (2004) * A Concise Kenneth
Burke Concordance (2004) * Revelation: The Human Drama (2001) *
Implicit Rhetoric: Kenneth Burke's Extension of Aristotle's Concept of
"Entelechy" (1998) * The Twenty-One Sales in a Sale (1998) He also
writes a blog, entitled "StanPoint," available at www.stanlindsay.com.
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