connecting with digital natives

I sourced this visual from lindas blog. It was a great summary of the external lecture we had from  Hilary Hughes from the Centre for Learning Innovation. Like Linda, I also discovered  the  Business Studies resource.

Refreshingly Hilary brought alive some good examples, sadly they were predominantly for primary schools and other KLAs. There is a huge opportunity for technology in the Commerce, Business Studies and Economics KLAs. Often on u-tube the digital natives are crying out for engaging technologies other than whiteboards e.g podcast &  wikis. In common they all want to learn how to think, learn, create, analyse, evaluate and apply. I thought the visual here dramatised that effectively.

Some good observations on student and teacher attitudes to digital learning and Web 2 can be found from Matthew Kearney and Sandy Schuck in Australian Educational Computing (Vol.23, no.1 2008.

I agree that  Web2 tools, “usually have an inherent collaborative nature.” Online communities  here and polling tools top tools for learning are practical applications for Commerce and Business Studies.

Thanks john, this is a great summary and gateway to where web 2.0 and web 3.0 are taking us. Of particular observation is the key themes of collaboration, communication and connection. Good to reveiw the Horizon report,  The Horiz, I

I also enjoyed the BECTA report. Amongst other observations it highlighted that we have all been here before. The report states in int’s conclusion…”Communication technologies are constantly  changing and re-configuring human relations. Often they send their waves of disturbances through cultural traditions. the danger is to dwell on only the technology, thereby adopting some narrow deterministic view of its ‘effects’.

Of particular note, the report says..”The enthusiastic uptake of web 2.0 tools will first depend on the acceptance of particular attitudes towards knowledge and knowing.”

So much hype about wikis. Check our Rob’s rant on them. He seems pretty keen and was greatly influenced by an article by Brian Lamb (2004) ‘Wide open spaces wikis – ready or not’ Educause Review, Sept / Oct 2004 Pp 36 – 48. I get that wiki’s can engage students and encourage them to write, but I question the quality control. Where’s the authority to say what is being written is actually correct. More people go on and can vet the content but is it reallly that reliable? I then see that Jordan has jumped him, another convert! But is anyone concerned with the pedagogical challenges. Lamb cites Dylan: “I accept chaos. I am not sure whether it accepts me”.

Some challenges, e.g. tracking all the changes can be time consuming and attribution of authoring can be tricky. The constant reworking puts another spin on the dynamic world of Web 2.0 and wikis.

So go in with your eyes wide open. From additional research some TEACHING wikis include: http://pbwiki.com/education.wiki, this lets students and teachers establish their own with an educational slant. Also see http://westwood.wikispaces.com, here the school makes their students wiki visible. http://knowhomeschooling.com offers material for more specialist interests.

Hear it here. Listen to what the converted are saying. Please note this is a remote location, so technology is key to being connected. Teachers claim school attendance has increased and so has the quality of work. Here they claim that technology is redefining the way we live and consume e.g. services, products, home and our relationships. What I see as key is that digital learning assits students EXPLORE IDEAS and EXPERIENCES. Laptops equal creativity, they help students discover, sounds more like Constructionism (Papert, 1980). The clip talks about how teachers should be nervous – if they want to be relevant, they must change and adapt – now thsi sounds like the demise of Instructionism (Papert, 1980)

We all hear about i-pods and classrooms but here is some practical  ways to use both. The outcome is increased student engagement. These reporters claim that kids love the way schools are embracing the technology. They talk about teachers podcasting assignment briefings and the i-pod calendar is great for diarising due assignments and homework. For me its’ another tool, just like a pencil or text book. Students need it, but does it replace our teaching strategies. Play this and lets chat….

Clive‘s blog on learning Web 2.0 technologies from the e-learning Guild states that learning 2.0 is growing much faster than other approaches (albeit from a much lower base). Digital literacy is about storing, finding, selecting, evaluating and using information to make something new. Because Web 2 has increased interactivity and increases the malleability of information the paradigm of traditional learning is being reshaped.

The resultant issue is that teachers do not have the bandwidth (pardon the pun) to retain all that is OLD and all that is now NEW. It seems the capacity to UNLEARN the old is as important as learning the new. So when it comes to my KLA (Commerce, Business Studies and Economics – what should I unlearn. Are the Board of Studies and Julia Gillard listening?

The immersive environment of virtual worlds can challenge students to resolve the barriers they are presented with. I’ve read that for many cyber students avatar to avatar,  is as real as face to face interactions. I question whether the same degree of Emotional Intelligence is demanded.

Are we heading down a new world order where the capacity to unlearn the old is a critical as the obligation to learn the new?

This site has some good tips on classroom management in the digital era. It seems there is so much literature on what and how we can teach with Web 2.0 applications etc..that many may be overlooking some of the fundamentals of cyber teaching. For example how can a teacher adequately check for plug-ins, plagiarism, supervise all screens, ensure appropriate behaviour is adhered to, how can we access and block sites etc…

The US has DOPA what legislation are enforced now in Australia?

The SMH reports on the potential liabilty blogger have to lawsuits. Teachers need to remind their students that  it is one thing to have an opinion but in todays’ highly litigious world, defamation cases are a groing industry.