This article was based on digital media and learning initiative that the JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MacArthur Foundation started three years ago. This study,
“Kids' Informal Learning With Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures," was looking at the impact of digital media and communications technologies on how young people will learn in the future/now. A team of 28 researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley, interviewed more than 800 young people and their parents over a three-year period. They spent more than 5,000 hours observing teens on websites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other networked communities. The researchers believe that their findings will help educators understand how young people learn and develop social skills online. The awareness gained by the study will allow teachers to better understand their students’ motivation, and shorten the gap the digital age has created between teacher and student.
There are three levels of kid’s online participation; Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out. Hanging Out refers to the basic level of kids socializing, researchers call it lightweight social contact. It's the use of mobile phones, Facebook, and MySpace. Messing Around refers to self directed exploration where students are exploring an interest. They are learning about the process of finding and retrieving information. Geeking Out is intense interaction and a high level interest in media and technology. Researchers call it "intensive mobilizing" where people share resources and information.
Question #1: Should kids be spending a lot of time online; on Facebook and MySpace? The research shows that this type of learning is empowering for students. It is creating a tech-savvy generation that participates in self-directed learning where students are learning on their own terms and schedules.
Question #2: Is online learning transferable to the classroom? Yes, teachers need to relinquish control. The research shows that what students learn in the virtual world (the skills) are transferable to the classroom and real world application.
Waters, John, K (march, 2009). The Kids are All Right. T-H-E Journal, Retrieved 4/27/2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/24104
“Kids' Informal Learning With Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures," was looking at the impact of digital media and communications technologies on how young people will learn in the future/now. A team of 28 researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley, interviewed more than 800 young people and their parents over a three-year period. They spent more than 5,000 hours observing teens on websites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other networked communities. The researchers believe that their findings will help educators understand how young people learn and develop social skills online. The awareness gained by the study will allow teachers to better understand their students’ motivation, and shorten the gap the digital age has created between teacher and student.
There are three levels of kid’s online participation; Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out. Hanging Out refers to the basic level of kids socializing, researchers call it lightweight social contact. It's the use of mobile phones, Facebook, and MySpace. Messing Around refers to self directed exploration where students are exploring an interest. They are learning about the process of finding and retrieving information. Geeking Out is intense interaction and a high level interest in media and technology. Researchers call it "intensive mobilizing" where people share resources and information.
Question #1: Should kids be spending a lot of time online; on Facebook and MySpace? The research shows that this type of learning is empowering for students. It is creating a tech-savvy generation that participates in self-directed learning where students are learning on their own terms and schedules.
Question #2: Is online learning transferable to the classroom? Yes, teachers need to relinquish control. The research shows that what students learn in the virtual world (the skills) are transferable to the classroom and real world application.
No comments:
Post a Comment