ABSTRACT
Nearly a century before the Internet entered college and university life with online learning, the American philosopher and progressive education champion John Dewey recognized that traditional classrooms can often stand in the way of creative learning. Troubled by passive students in regimented rows, Dewey worried that docile students, accepting the unquestioned authority of teachers, not only undermined engaged learning, but thwarted democratic practice in the social and political life of the nation. Instead, Dewey called for a “spirit of free communi - cation, of interchange of ideas” (Dewey, 1915, p. 11), encouraging “active, expressive” learning (Dewey, 1915, p. 20).
