Digital Ether

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/learning/concentration/old-school-new-school.html

With the advent of introducing new technology in to the classroom there is a coresponding shift in what is taught.  The risk is that as teachers we may “throw the baby out with the bathwater”, lossing the good with the bad.

It seams to me that there is now a push to develop critical thinking in our students, where before it was assumed.  Two changes that have happened during that time is the Computer has been introduced into school and has become more common place at home.  TV, & the Internet are all piped into our homes and this is leading to information overload in many people including students.

We now seam to live in a world of constant distraction, unable to focus our attention on a single object for any length of time.  Although Computers are an extremely powerful tool for processing and creating information and media.  What is the effect of using them in the long term?

The Information Age started back in the middle ages with the advent of an unique piece of technology. It allowed for the mass dissemination of information throughout Europe.

Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales and Ubuntu’s Mark Shuttleworth are backing a scheme to make publicly funded education materials freely available on the Internet. (Read more…)

It’s nice that the open source movement are making these kind of choices, but there is still a long way to go to have open source applications that match what is used in industry.

Just look at PhotoShop vs GIMP.  Although both are excellent for image manipulation, I do find PhotoShop easier to use and will keep using because it is used so widely in industry.  It’s a pity that the open source stuff is less user friendly.

Or look at Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice.org.  Both are excellent office tools for editing documents, etc.  MS Office does have a better look & feel, and documentation. But OpenOffic.org is free and can read many file formats.

See the previous post about an article that talks about digital natives & digital immigrants, and mentions the lack of education software.

Similarly, the learning opportunities offered by such technologies as multi-player online games were being overlooked.

But the author has not done any research;
Using NWN for basic learning skills or try the company’s website.
A LEVER TO MOVE THE MIND On the Southern coast of Sedig, a medical doctor recreates the nightmarish experience of schizophrenia…
I’m certain there are many others, but most are not worth listing.

Go digital or lose out, teachers told.

Just because something is on a computer does NOT make it better. Graphic artists use pencil & paper to brainstorm ideas, do thumbnail sketches, etc. Only once they have an idea of what they are going to produce do they move to a computer to create.
A computer can be a very effective tool, if you have a plan of what you want to do. There must be a focused plan; otherwise it’s just useless churning of clock cycles. And focus can be difficult to maintain with the easy distractions the computer offers.

One thing the digital native suffers from it a desire for stimuli, for new experiences, and becomes distracted by information, entertainment, or what-ever. This is best described by the expression Too Much Information, TMI, which is another phrase for Information Overload.

I notice it in myself, where I sit at the computer trying to do a simple task, but I’m unable to muster the brain power to complete it. I see it in the student I teach, by the fact that I have to keep refocusing them back onto the task they need to complete, and this is in an IT subject like Web Design, or Computer Animation.

And this brings me to the point, which is that with all the multiple stimuli, and easy distraction available in the media heavy digital world, people are loosing the ability to focus effectively for long periods.

Note these two points from the articles;

“Education systems need to protect the ethos or they will be swamped and overtaken by the commercial market.”

“Steal the technology, steal the ideas, use the energy and inventiveness but protect the values you are teaching.”