Henry Jenkins et al. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture. Media Education in the 21st Century.
In the foreword Henry Jenkins claims that it is necessary to teach children new media concepts so that they would be able to take part in the participatory culture (Jenkins, xiii) in order to become full society members. He names a set of social skills that are necessary to be learned in the classroom or after-school activities. The skills are necessary to navigate wisely in new media, and among them he names play, multitasking, collective intelligence, judgment, networking, and negotiation.
"According to a 2005 study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, more than half of all American teens - and 57 percent of teens who use the Internet - could be considered media creators (Jenkins, 3).
The author defines participatory culture as having "relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, and strong support for creating and sharing creations with others. Members who feel some degree of social connection with one another." (Jenkins, 5-6). The author notes that everyone is a participator in such community and all people are at ease when producing content, because they know that it will be valued at a smaller or larger scale.
He has studied various studies which confirm that participatory media will be of greater value among peers, because everybody is allowed to create content themselves. Also the youth who grow up with computers and use them on a daily basis, will be able to communicate via electronic channels and with people from different cultures more easily.
But nowadays there is not an issue whether children have access or not, because a 2005 report from the United Kingdom concluded that now children are categorized into two: a) those to whom the Internet is a diverse, rich environment, and b) those to whom it remains unengaging, and narrow (Jenkins, 17). Those who use computers at home are more dominating in these skills and the other, less skilled pupils are left aside, and the latter find themselves struggling in the Internet.
The author claims that the importance of media education should be ethical issues, enabling acccess to skills and experiences in order to become a full participant in current society, and to ensure that every child would be able to verbalise understanding of new media or interactive media (p. 26-27).
Also he declares that "adolescents need to learn how to integrate knowledge from multiple sources, including music, video, online databases, and other media". This information has to be processed. The need to participate in online collaborations is on demand, because the world is globalizing.
As this was a book preview, not all of the content was captured, but I hope that I got some ideas for my essay. Together with globalization we could make all learning easier with students and teachers from different countries communicating with students via Internet.
4.11.09
The eighth interview: Don Tapscott's interview about education.
It is sad that people do not have supernatural powers to understand whether the article or book to be read is of good value or not. Sadly I have lost interest in quite a few books or they have had deadlines and I had to return them. Thus I am going on with the articles, and wondering whether audio is applicable for a reading task?
Right now I am listening to Tapscott's interview. Bad quality, but good topic.
A quick scetch of what I have heard.
He is talking about today's learning. The kids today aren't prepared to working hard. The backgound of these kids is different and their attention span is different today, nobody even knows whether they have the possibilities to do their homework.
Pupils become very engaged in their computer, where full attention is guaranteed. They can actually mix all channels of media and do homework at the same time. The students are good collaborators.
According to Tapscott there is a need to change the education system. Education is teacher-centered and the students stay aside from the process. He is giving an example of Portugal, where everyone has interest in new generation's learning, but on the contrary he says that in American schools most of the children do not even have laptops.
He also acknowledges that technology is not of utmost importance, and integrating technology into the curriculum is hard work. He also brings forth that the model of education comes from the factory/industrial model, and we are gradually moving on to studio learning. He says that with a small class size you do not need technology, but with more than 30 kids it is impossible to hold a lesson/lecture without it.
What is the purpose of education? According to him children should not learn for the tests, it is important to have more students who know about the things happening in life. Students should be able to find information, synthesize it, organise it. They should know how to gain knowledge, be able to collaborate and communicate. Also how to understand context and to get information.
Tapscott gives lectures, and his intention is to make the students think.
Now to reflect on the topic, I have read several news where 21st century skills are discussed. Those are used to prepare the students for life and work. Test scores are not of use in real life, therefore, I think, the students should be able to concentrate their thoughts and also find necessary information in the web or anywhere. For example know which person to turn to for necessary information. I personally think that it is more difficult and time-consuming to search for keywords in the books since modern technology finds the answers more quickly.
The factory model of the current education system should definitely be reformed, since I can witness pupils who are unwilling to learn from the book and want more engaging content. They are used to interactive environments and sitting in one place for 45 minutes seems to be a strain for them. We still manage to calm the students, but it is getting more and more difficult with time. It seems that more and more pupils want to express their opinion and to wander off-topic. At the same time silence is required in the classrooms, otherwise there is no discipline according to some colleagues. While doing group- or pairwork there can be a little bit of talking.
Pupils have school stress.... all of this seems too much for the current generation of digital natives. The teachers are not that much accustomed to computers, it is an unexplored territory for them. Some of the teachers and parents have managed to become digital immigrants, to explore the territory and pull through quite well, but I think there is a lot of work to do in this field, first to educate parents and educators and then try to go on with improving our education. It seems that educators need more time and effort to be able to integrate computers into the lessons in order to make them more engaging for such learners. I think that today's digital natives will change the current situation, because they feel at ease with computers and technology, and in fact, they think that the teachers do not know much about it. They will be able to find the most interesting way of making the content engaging.
Also the pupils lack information finding skills. You give them the source and it is difficult for them to find the correct topic from there. But to learn a new game they probably do not need a manual, they explore and discover themselves the rules of the game. So that leaves us thinking how we could improve the learning environment of current digital natives being digital immigrants ourselves.
Right now I am listening to Tapscott's interview. Bad quality, but good topic.
A quick scetch of what I have heard.
He is talking about today's learning. The kids today aren't prepared to working hard. The backgound of these kids is different and their attention span is different today, nobody even knows whether they have the possibilities to do their homework.
Pupils become very engaged in their computer, where full attention is guaranteed. They can actually mix all channels of media and do homework at the same time. The students are good collaborators.
According to Tapscott there is a need to change the education system. Education is teacher-centered and the students stay aside from the process. He is giving an example of Portugal, where everyone has interest in new generation's learning, but on the contrary he says that in American schools most of the children do not even have laptops.
He also acknowledges that technology is not of utmost importance, and integrating technology into the curriculum is hard work. He also brings forth that the model of education comes from the factory/industrial model, and we are gradually moving on to studio learning. He says that with a small class size you do not need technology, but with more than 30 kids it is impossible to hold a lesson/lecture without it.
What is the purpose of education? According to him children should not learn for the tests, it is important to have more students who know about the things happening in life. Students should be able to find information, synthesize it, organise it. They should know how to gain knowledge, be able to collaborate and communicate. Also how to understand context and to get information.
Tapscott gives lectures, and his intention is to make the students think.
Now to reflect on the topic, I have read several news where 21st century skills are discussed. Those are used to prepare the students for life and work. Test scores are not of use in real life, therefore, I think, the students should be able to concentrate their thoughts and also find necessary information in the web or anywhere. For example know which person to turn to for necessary information. I personally think that it is more difficult and time-consuming to search for keywords in the books since modern technology finds the answers more quickly.
The factory model of the current education system should definitely be reformed, since I can witness pupils who are unwilling to learn from the book and want more engaging content. They are used to interactive environments and sitting in one place for 45 minutes seems to be a strain for them. We still manage to calm the students, but it is getting more and more difficult with time. It seems that more and more pupils want to express their opinion and to wander off-topic. At the same time silence is required in the classrooms, otherwise there is no discipline according to some colleagues. While doing group- or pairwork there can be a little bit of talking.
Pupils have school stress.... all of this seems too much for the current generation of digital natives. The teachers are not that much accustomed to computers, it is an unexplored territory for them. Some of the teachers and parents have managed to become digital immigrants, to explore the territory and pull through quite well, but I think there is a lot of work to do in this field, first to educate parents and educators and then try to go on with improving our education. It seems that educators need more time and effort to be able to integrate computers into the lessons in order to make them more engaging for such learners. I think that today's digital natives will change the current situation, because they feel at ease with computers and technology, and in fact, they think that the teachers do not know much about it. They will be able to find the most interesting way of making the content engaging.
Also the pupils lack information finding skills. You give them the source and it is difficult for them to find the correct topic from there. But to learn a new game they probably do not need a manual, they explore and discover themselves the rules of the game. So that leaves us thinking how we could improve the learning environment of current digital natives being digital immigrants ourselves.
The seventh article: Cooperative learning
The Structural Approach to Cooperative Learning by Spencer Kagan
This article concentrates only on learning strategies based on the classroom activities. The main point that I gained from the article was that all students should achieve at least something from groupwork. It was not connected with interactive things, so it will be of little use in my essay.
This article concentrates only on learning strategies based on the classroom activities. The main point that I gained from the article was that all students should achieve at least something from groupwork. It was not connected with interactive things, so it will be of little use in my essay.
The sixth article: Learning by Sharing. Thomas J.P. Thijssen, Rik Maes, Fons T.J. Vernooij
Learning by Sharing by Thomas J.P. Thijssen, Rik Maes, and Fons T.J. Vernooij - a study.
The study comes from Amsterdam and is quite radical. It stroke me immediately from the introduction, because the authors degrade the current school system while promoting the multi-dimensional learning model which, according to them, should replace the traditional, uni-dimensional model. (p. 4)
The authors also draw conclusions from various literature that learning should not be learner-centered as it can be group-based. The latter helps the learner study better and gain more knowledge. The latter might prove as well that working in group can contribute in many ways, such as perfect other learners' mistakes. The second possible way of learning the new way would be learning at one's own pace and curriculum, which enables the students to learn according to their own pace, abilities and learning style. (p. 6)
For the teacher the two above-mentioned approaches mean that he or she is the leader of the team who guides the students through the learning process. Enabling the learner to move forward on his or her own pace will result in the learner becoming active. I think that in today's world this would really be a necessary step towards better learning, because based on my own observations learners are not happy with the teacher's input, they would like to contribute to their learning themselves.
According to the article the teacher's role is also to develop the students' learning abilities in order to gain better results from one's learning process. This process would require self-evaluation from both sides - the teacher and the student, who reflect accordingly on their teaching and learning (p. 7). I agree that it is important to improve the students' learning skills and the ability to be able to choose between important information and the unimportant.
The authors of this paper also emphasize on the importance of the communities of practice, but in order to be most productive they need to be reshaped. There is need for collaboration between all parties, the need for innovation and brainstorming.
The idea of a visiting teacher is brought in on page 12. It is a good idea, and it is recognized in Estonian schools (there was a week called "Back to School 2009" in October) where parents or former students or workers of different professions come to talk or teach about their experience. A fairly different experience may come directly from the practitioner and the pupils may discover something that the teacher would not have told them.
The study comes from Amsterdam and is quite radical. It stroke me immediately from the introduction, because the authors degrade the current school system while promoting the multi-dimensional learning model which, according to them, should replace the traditional, uni-dimensional model. (p. 4)
The authors also draw conclusions from various literature that learning should not be learner-centered as it can be group-based. The latter helps the learner study better and gain more knowledge. The latter might prove as well that working in group can contribute in many ways, such as perfect other learners' mistakes. The second possible way of learning the new way would be learning at one's own pace and curriculum, which enables the students to learn according to their own pace, abilities and learning style. (p. 6)
For the teacher the two above-mentioned approaches mean that he or she is the leader of the team who guides the students through the learning process. Enabling the learner to move forward on his or her own pace will result in the learner becoming active. I think that in today's world this would really be a necessary step towards better learning, because based on my own observations learners are not happy with the teacher's input, they would like to contribute to their learning themselves.
According to the article the teacher's role is also to develop the students' learning abilities in order to gain better results from one's learning process. This process would require self-evaluation from both sides - the teacher and the student, who reflect accordingly on their teaching and learning (p. 7). I agree that it is important to improve the students' learning skills and the ability to be able to choose between important information and the unimportant.
The authors of this paper also emphasize on the importance of the communities of practice, but in order to be most productive they need to be reshaped. There is need for collaboration between all parties, the need for innovation and brainstorming.
The idea of a visiting teacher is brought in on page 12. It is a good idea, and it is recognized in Estonian schools (there was a week called "Back to School 2009" in October) where parents or former students or workers of different professions come to talk or teach about their experience. A fairly different experience may come directly from the practitioner and the pupils may discover something that the teacher would not have told them.
The paper says that collaborative learning is also an important notion. In this respect the teachers act as guides and help the students go through the research. It can be implemented in learning as well – the teacher will give general guidelines and teach the students to get hold of the learning process. Students then give feedback on the teaching methods which enables their tutors to make changes when necessary. (p. 13)
The authors note also the gap between theory and actual working experience, and suggest that through internship this kind of gap can be solved. I think that it would be useful to bring such experience already to high school or secondary school, not to mention the end of basic school. This kind of learning through practice bridges the gap of learning and work. (p. 14)
The shortest point to be made from this text would be that all parties are learners as well as teachers.
The authors also bring in the role of ICT in learning by sharing which enables all the parties to collaborate more flexibly from any place in the world. (p. 19) The fact that a lot of knowledge is available on the Internet, lets the collaborators improve the existing material at any time or any place. It is mentioned, that this kind of education is cheap and let the students learn on their own, receiving immediate feedback.
According to the authors it is also possible to customise education according to different learning styles, which enables the students to progress at their own pace. It is useful for both students and the teachers, because according to the authors the students most likely adapt to the technology very quickly and the teachers can learn from them.
It is concluded that learning by sharing would serve as a model for life-long learning.
1.11.09
Ethics and Law in New Media, week five
Browse the Jargon File. Write a small blog entry about a term/definition which was the most intriguing for you.
I searched for the hacker profile, and found an intriguing post about food. I thought that a hacker prefers only fast food and does not care much about the food quality, but on the contrary the Jargon File notes, that they tend to like exotic food and most of the hackers are health food eaters. It also notes that the stereotypical claim that I previously thought comes from before the early 1980s.
Also Norbert's post was of interest, he stated that 'hacker' has a positive connotation and 'cracker' is used as a negative word.
Write a short blogged analysis about the hacker ethic found in today's world (is it there or not, how much of it etc).
According to the sources I have read, there is hacker ethic in today's world, but it is not sufficient enough to succeed in today's IT world. The key terms for succeeding according to McAllister are teamwork and collaboration in addition to hacker spirit. For that he suggests an education reform would be necessary in order to develop a new kind of computer engineering degree.
It seems that Web 2.0 has put a basis to cooperation and collaboration and open source is what "sells" in the hacker world.
Wikipedia: Hacker Ethic
Steven Mizrach. "Is there a Hacker Ethic for 90's Hackers?"
Neil McAllister. "Does the 'hacker ethic' help or harm today's developers?"
Choose a minority group and describe how they can make use of Internet to reduce alienation and prejudice.
For example a group of young people who are just discovering the world of Internet, and whose parents do not know much about what is going on there. The Internet could help them with useful material (of course this has to be guided by someone, because otherwise it is difficult to find) and help them with the problems that arise in the Internet. These pages contain lots of useful tips and tricks how to survive in the Internet world.
I think this kind of a situation is soon ending, because generation by generation the people are getting wiser and are able to teach their own kids to navigate in the Web, but right now there remains a group who will be afraid of computers and the Internet.
I searched for the hacker profile, and found an intriguing post about food. I thought that a hacker prefers only fast food and does not care much about the food quality, but on the contrary the Jargon File notes, that they tend to like exotic food and most of the hackers are health food eaters. It also notes that the stereotypical claim that I previously thought comes from before the early 1980s.
Also Norbert's post was of interest, he stated that 'hacker' has a positive connotation and 'cracker' is used as a negative word.
Write a short blogged analysis about the hacker ethic found in today's world (is it there or not, how much of it etc).
According to the sources I have read, there is hacker ethic in today's world, but it is not sufficient enough to succeed in today's IT world. The key terms for succeeding according to McAllister are teamwork and collaboration in addition to hacker spirit. For that he suggests an education reform would be necessary in order to develop a new kind of computer engineering degree.
It seems that Web 2.0 has put a basis to cooperation and collaboration and open source is what "sells" in the hacker world.
Wikipedia: Hacker Ethic
Steven Mizrach. "Is there a Hacker Ethic for 90's Hackers?"
Neil McAllister. "Does the 'hacker ethic' help or harm today's developers?"
Choose a minority group and describe how they can make use of Internet to reduce alienation and prejudice.
For example a group of young people who are just discovering the world of Internet, and whose parents do not know much about what is going on there. The Internet could help them with useful material (of course this has to be guided by someone, because otherwise it is difficult to find) and help them with the problems that arise in the Internet. These pages contain lots of useful tips and tricks how to survive in the Internet world.
I think this kind of a situation is soon ending, because generation by generation the people are getting wiser and are able to teach their own kids to navigate in the Web, but right now there remains a group who will be afraid of computers and the Internet.
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