Moreover, the speech was written in 2005, although this was only 4 years ago, given the rapidly increasing pace of the development of technology, 4 years can mean a lot of change in this field, and the statistics he refers to may no longer be the case, Perhaps the trends described have lost momentum, or have taken a completely different direction by now.
In sum, the way message of the speech and the way in which it is presented seem to juxtapose to one another to create an extremely contradictory message. One the one hand the speech suggests repacking and rebranding of information, with humour and gossip, to make it more digestible by the digital native generation. On the other is an extremely basic web site, which seems to have no much of message to put across other than the surface text.
URL: http://www.newscorp.com/news/news_247.html
Thursday, 12 March 2009
W8. Task 3. Criticism No. 2 Teaching Digital Natives
Here the author describes the problems faced as a result of teachers who are digital immigrants using the types of teaching methods they were taught by in order to teach digital natives. He argues that as a result of this shift digital natives learn in a different way to the previous generation, so teaching methods equally need to change.
My problem with this is that the suggestions the author makes are inevitably flawed in that he himself is a digital immigrant. It is all very well suggesting that digital natives will learn more effectively if they are taught by a video game, and this seems to go with the logic he is describing, but does this necessarily mean that we ought to be using this method to teach spelling, geography, or chemistry? I am tempted to think not, in that school is an environment which lends itself to learning and education, having a teacher stand at the front of the classroom is something I associate with learning, and taking in information. On the other hand, sitting on the Internet is something I associate with my free time, and socializing ahead of taking in facts. I think a clear distinction and set of cultural practices are needed for both in order to prevent learning becoming trivialized.
And in this case, surely to put across his argument in a format which is more relevant to the digital natives, his article should have instead been represented through a “shoot ‘em up” style video game rather than an uninspiring black text on white background with no images?
URL: http://www.ascd.org/authors/ed_lead/el200512_prensky.html
My problem with this is that the suggestions the author makes are inevitably flawed in that he himself is a digital immigrant. It is all very well suggesting that digital natives will learn more effectively if they are taught by a video game, and this seems to go with the logic he is describing, but does this necessarily mean that we ought to be using this method to teach spelling, geography, or chemistry? I am tempted to think not, in that school is an environment which lends itself to learning and education, having a teacher stand at the front of the classroom is something I associate with learning, and taking in information. On the other hand, sitting on the Internet is something I associate with my free time, and socializing ahead of taking in facts. I think a clear distinction and set of cultural practices are needed for both in order to prevent learning becoming trivialized.
And in this case, surely to put across his argument in a format which is more relevant to the digital natives, his article should have instead been represented through a “shoot ‘em up” style video game rather than an uninspiring black text on white background with no images?
URL: http://www.ascd.org/authors/ed_lead/el200512_prensky.html
W8. Task 3. Criticisim No. 1 Book excerpt
This particular web-site is concerned with a book about the subject of digital natives. In order to sell the product they have published a lengthy excerpt of the book on the web-site promoting it.
In terms of up-to-dateness, as the book was published in August of 2008, and having read the excerpt, for the most part the information is up to date and extremely relevant, which I see as a strength given the rapid development of the technology it mentions. Of course, it shouldn’t be very long before even this is out of date and not reflective of the way in which the digital natives use technology.
A criticism I would make of the web-site is the irony in that the excerpt describes the way in which digital natives are able to share information digitally, by posting it to a blog, sharing a URL, e-mailing an online recommendation. However, no where on the site does it enable any of these things to happen. I would have expected a hyperlink, such as in the image I have posted, to share it via facebook, twitter, delicious, myspace or any of the other ways to bookmark or recommend it embedded into the site in order to take advantage of hypertextuality which is a fundamental part of the digital natives understanding of new technologies. However, here it seems that the reader will have to externally log into any of these sites
to be able to tell their friends about it, which to me seems ironic for a book which describes the different, new ways in which the digital natives can easily share information and how important this is. Maybe this was overlooked by the digital immigrants who produced the information!
URL: http://www.borndigitalbook.com/excerpt.php
In terms of up-to-dateness, as the book was published in August of 2008, and having read the excerpt, for the most part the information is up to date and extremely relevant, which I see as a strength given the rapid development of the technology it mentions. Of course, it shouldn’t be very long before even this is out of date and not reflective of the way in which the digital natives use technology.
A criticism I would make of the web-site is the irony in that the excerpt describes the way in which digital natives are able to share information digitally, by posting it to a blog, sharing a URL, e-mailing an online recommendation. However, no where on the site does it enable any of these things to happen. I would have expected a hyperlink, such as in the image I have posted, to share it via facebook, twitter, delicious, myspace or any of the other ways to bookmark or recommend it embedded into the site in order to take advantage of hypertextuality which is a fundamental part of the digital natives understanding of new technologies. However, here it seems that the reader will have to externally log into any of these sites
to be able to tell their friends about it, which to me seems ironic for a book which describes the different, new ways in which the digital natives can easily share information and how important this is. Maybe this was overlooked by the digital immigrants who produced the information!URL: http://www.borndigitalbook.com/excerpt.php
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Week 7- The World’s Cleverest Child and Me
I think an interesting example of distance learning comes from a documentary on Channel 4 called The World’s Cleverest Child and Me (Broadcast 28/01/09). A youtube link is here.
Adora, one of the children mentioned on the programme, follows an online curriculum, I am assuming because she would be too advanced to be in a school with others her age. It therefore provides her with the opportunity to learn at a more appropriate pace for her intelligence. In this way, the dispersal of the concept of education through the Internet allows her to access the materials she needs to learn as much as she can through virtuality, as she is able to be physically in one place but remotely accessing information from another which I see as a large benefit of eLearning.
I believe that this is achieved through gift economy, in that lots of the information online is published without expecting anything in return, and I also suspect that removing her from school and learning exclusively online would mean that she doesn’t have to cope with some of the difficulties which she may face in a traditional school environment, for example feeling like she’s different to everyone else and possibly being bullied. Something which she mentions in the clip, although claiming that she likes being different.
In this way it seems as if online learning works in her favour, in that she is able to get the education she would lack if she were to be placed in the traditional schooling system. However, I would dispute this cyber-utopian view if eLearning as being removed from school might also come with it’s own set of problems, as school is where we learn a great deal about ourselves, and functions to shape who we become as adults, but removing this her family and the Internet are the only way she has to learn about the outside world. Which I would argue does not result in a healthy mental development in terms of social skills.
Adora, one of the children mentioned on the programme, follows an online curriculum, I am assuming because she would be too advanced to be in a school with others her age. It therefore provides her with the opportunity to learn at a more appropriate pace for her intelligence. In this way, the dispersal of the concept of education through the Internet allows her to access the materials she needs to learn as much as she can through virtuality, as she is able to be physically in one place but remotely accessing information from another which I see as a large benefit of eLearning.
I believe that this is achieved through gift economy, in that lots of the information online is published without expecting anything in return, and I also suspect that removing her from school and learning exclusively online would mean that she doesn’t have to cope with some of the difficulties which she may face in a traditional school environment, for example feeling like she’s different to everyone else and possibly being bullied. Something which she mentions in the clip, although claiming that she likes being different.
In this way it seems as if online learning works in her favour, in that she is able to get the education she would lack if she were to be placed in the traditional schooling system. However, I would dispute this cyber-utopian view if eLearning as being removed from school might also come with it’s own set of problems, as school is where we learn a great deal about ourselves, and functions to shape who we become as adults, but removing this her family and the Internet are the only way she has to learn about the outside world. Which I would argue does not result in a healthy mental development in terms of social skills.
Week 7- The World’s Cleverest Child and Me Cont.
In addition, Adora also teaches online lessons to schools in America about writing poetry. In this way she is able to share her knowledge and teach children in a way which they might be able to understand better as it comes from one of their peers. However, I would argue for a more cyber-distopian view of this as much of the motives behind charging for these online lessons are monetary rather than being for the joy of passing on knowledge, working off the gimmick that she is a children genius and it merely being used as a way to make her family more money.
Whilst it does mean that she’s able to teach a larger amount of people, and those who she wouldn’t be able to reach in person through virtuality, I also think that the fact that the Adora “brand” is represented through her web-site, which she coincidentally sells her book via, suggests to me that her parents are almost “cashing in” on her intelligence and the online tutorials she does (from her basement come T.V. studio) are being used to make a profit from her behind the guise of distance learning, the emphasis being on money rather than sharing knowledge with those who wouldn’t be able to have the same opportunities because of location.
Whilst it does mean that she’s able to teach a larger amount of people, and those who she wouldn’t be able to reach in person through virtuality, I also think that the fact that the Adora “brand” is represented through her web-site, which she coincidentally sells her book via, suggests to me that her parents are almost “cashing in” on her intelligence and the online tutorials she does (from her basement come T.V. studio) are being used to make a profit from her behind the guise of distance learning, the emphasis being on money rather than sharing knowledge with those who wouldn’t be able to have the same opportunities because of location.
Week 7- eLearning Africa
From looking at the eLearning Africa web-site it seems that one of the main issues affecting distance learning is problems with the technology “going down”. This is discussed in an interview with the CEO of Fronter, the company which provides the technology for the eLearning programme found here.
If the technology were to be unreliable, and not work effectively, obviously the project would not work, in that students would not be able to effectively get an education. One way in which this is prevented is by providing tools which, although they are taken from schemes in Europe, they have been thoroughly researched to be adapted to be useful for the African ways of learning. In addition, back ups are provided so that students are able to have offline materials they can access when they aren’t able to have access to the Internet for one reason or another.
I personally get the impression that the project has been thoroughly researched in order to allow people with a range of different situations to get the most out of the technology through cultural democratisation. For example, solving the problem of a lack of teachers by taking successful training from other countries and applying it to the situation in Africa, therefore meaning that the chances of the students getting an education are drastically increased, as well as an education which is relevant to their individual situation and needs which they would not be able to receive in such a high quality if it weren’t for online methods. Students are also able to actively participate in discussion of their education so Steve Jones concept of a cybersociety, where people are able to share thought and information instantaneously across vast distances, has here resulted in the technodeterminist, cyber-utopian view that people will get a better education as a result.
http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/index.php [Accessed 05/03/09]
If the technology were to be unreliable, and not work effectively, obviously the project would not work, in that students would not be able to effectively get an education. One way in which this is prevented is by providing tools which, although they are taken from schemes in Europe, they have been thoroughly researched to be adapted to be useful for the African ways of learning. In addition, back ups are provided so that students are able to have offline materials they can access when they aren’t able to have access to the Internet for one reason or another.
I personally get the impression that the project has been thoroughly researched in order to allow people with a range of different situations to get the most out of the technology through cultural democratisation. For example, solving the problem of a lack of teachers by taking successful training from other countries and applying it to the situation in Africa, therefore meaning that the chances of the students getting an education are drastically increased, as well as an education which is relevant to their individual situation and needs which they would not be able to receive in such a high quality if it weren’t for online methods. Students are also able to actively participate in discussion of their education so Steve Jones concept of a cybersociety, where people are able to share thought and information instantaneously across vast distances, has here resulted in the technodeterminist, cyber-utopian view that people will get a better education as a result.
http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/index.php [Accessed 05/03/09]
Week 7- China: Its Distance Higher-Education System by Zhao Yuhui
One issue which struck me when reading this article was the selection of the presenters who are used to televise lectures over China. The article reads:
Whilst a solid academic background it can be assumed will mean that the presenter has a sound knowledge of their topic, and “knows their stuff”, as it were, does this necessarily justify the numbers of students to whom the lectures are transmitted to given the lack of interactivity, students aren't really able to engage more powerfully with the information which is being presented to them.
I would suggest that although there are opportunities for teachers and students to meet face to face, to ask questions and to have homework marked, in this case as there is a lack of people who are able to actually teach, and there seemed to be a rush to educate people in order to have a thriving economy, using TVU seemed like a perfect way to solve this problem in a temporary way until more individuals who were able to teach others came out the other side of the system.
Whilst I do not personally think that having one person teach masses of people is at all ideal, in the way in which ideologies are encouraged through institutions, the way in which China had dealt with it, for example by providing that face-to-face tuition that the televised lectures lacked, overcome many of the instant problems of it, and therefore allowed education to continue, in circumstances where is possibly would have not.
Zhao Yuhui, China: Its Distance Higher-Education System, http://www1.worldbank.org/disted/Technology/broadcast/tv-02.html [Accessed 05/03/09]
“Presenters are chosen from key universities all over China. In its initial, it is necessary for TVUs to adopt textbooks used in conventional universities and to choose academics with a sound university teaching back-ground as presenters, so that a high standard of tuition can be guaranteed. These two measures have proved to be effective.”
Whilst a solid academic background it can be assumed will mean that the presenter has a sound knowledge of their topic, and “knows their stuff”, as it were, does this necessarily justify the numbers of students to whom the lectures are transmitted to given the lack of interactivity, students aren't really able to engage more powerfully with the information which is being presented to them.
I would suggest that although there are opportunities for teachers and students to meet face to face, to ask questions and to have homework marked, in this case as there is a lack of people who are able to actually teach, and there seemed to be a rush to educate people in order to have a thriving economy, using TVU seemed like a perfect way to solve this problem in a temporary way until more individuals who were able to teach others came out the other side of the system.
Whilst I do not personally think that having one person teach masses of people is at all ideal, in the way in which ideologies are encouraged through institutions, the way in which China had dealt with it, for example by providing that face-to-face tuition that the televised lectures lacked, overcome many of the instant problems of it, and therefore allowed education to continue, in circumstances where is possibly would have not.
Zhao Yuhui, China: Its Distance Higher-Education System, http://www1.worldbank.org/disted/Technology/broadcast/tv-02.html [Accessed 05/03/09]
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