Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age contains some extreme and innovative ideas for the future of teaching and learning. Rather than seperating the different disciplines into groups they should be interrelated and share a similar theme. The author also claims that seperating students into age groups is outdated and irrelevant. While these ideas may or may not be effective what this artcle is doing is creating ideas to encourage educators to think outside the square of teaching as it is today and to realise the limitless possibilities now available, especially through technology. Despite copious amounts of research regarding ICT in the classroom and the possibilities, nothing has changed. ICT has not taken up its place in the classroom, it has remained a popular idea but not put into practice. Computers are no longer merely tools for acessing information, students can now be the authors of information. Computers allow the active construction of information. Most importantly is to make learning meaningful. When students can relate what they are learning at school to a purpose that will help them in life outside of school they are more motivated. With the fast pace of the world skills one learns in school will be obsolete by the time they reach the work force. One important skill: being able to learn. Making the right response to situations that are outside the scope of what was learned at school.
As educators it is important to realise that incorporating the use of information technology into the classroom must be done in a way that allows the students to construct learning, making it meaningful. The article Mind on Fire by John Seely Brown and Richard P Adler brings a focus to the way in which teaching and learning has evolved and what has brought about this evolution. Despite being outdated, cartesian learning, in which the teacher stands before the class and explains concepts and expects students to absorb the content, is still the most popular method used by teachers. It is surprising that with all the new technology and advancements in all other professional fields, teaching has remained stagnant and although it is a profession that could profit from these advancements, the research is being put into practice. The goal for education should be social learning. Research by Richard J. Light found that students who study together in small groups achieve better results. This is because their understanding of the content is socially constructed through conversations, posing questions, explaining concepts and so on. Similarly Web 2.0 technologies, such as blogs, social networking sites, wikis and virtual communities emphasise participation rather than presentation and it encourages focused conversation rather than traditional publication. Educators need to focus on authentic ways of incorporating these technologies into the classroom.
The Pransky article, Life Online, also offers some interesting insight into the “Millennial” generation, as he refers to them. He outlines similar qualities of this multimedia generation as mentioned in the previous blog post about the article, Truly, Madly, Deeply Engaged. This is a generation that focuses on communication and devotes tremendous amounts of time communicating, they have access to mobile media which means they are able to multi-task with different mediums. Pransky is encouraging teachers to become familiar with these realities in order to offer the best education possible to this generation. I don’t agree with the broad generalisations Pransky makes about an entire generation. I understand that this is derived from statistical data but it doesn’t provide a clear picture of the spectrum of chldren we will be working with. What is relevant is the idea of being aware of the background of the students. Not only from a technological point of view but their social and cultural backgrounds and their upbrining are elements that can play an important role in the way in which the student learns. Again all these elements require the right kind of manipulation to be productive in the learning environment. Being a LOTE teacher I see many opportunities to combine the students’ love of technology and communication in order to enhance all four macroskills through e-mail, im and audio and visual contact with people in other countries. That is something that has never been possible before. We can literally invite native speakers into the classroom through technology. The possibilities are endless and Pransky is asking that all teachers be aware of this fact.
The article, Truly, Madly, Deeply Engaged, gave great insight into the generation of people whose education will soon be our responsibility. It is important to enter this line of work with an understanding that the world advances daily, whether it be in the technological domain, the environmental domain, political or social this is a time of constant change. Students today have an unsaid understanding of this and if older generations do not want to become obsolete they must take an active interest in what young people are doing. This article emphasises the fact that the “My Media Generation” is no longer passive about the way they experience mulitmedia. Vegging out in front of TV or endlessly playing video games is still a popular pass time for this generation but they are also now creating their own websites, short films, photography, music and publishing it to share with their friends. Just looking at the statistics in this article (see below) indicates not only the importance of technology but also the accessibility this generation has to technolog
Another important part of this generation is communication, young people have endless ways of staying in touch. This offers a great opportunity for manipulation, especially for LOTE teachers. This immense world of technology means that students have creativity, a thirst for knowledge and are resourceful about obtaining knowledge. They are adept at communicating through different mediums and multitasking is second nature. These are all qualities that teachers can manipulate to enhance the quality of the learning environment.
