Education in the digital Age

This presentation demonstrates my personal experience

of Education in the 20th century and in the Digital Age

(21stCentury) .

I had the opportunity to be a student in the early 1980s

and a more recent experience in 2012 (Brighton University

SKE Course). This allows me to reflect on how education

evolved with the advancement in technology and the shift

of focus from an Industrial age model towards a more

Global Model based upon a hi-tech society.

My Experience of

the21st

Century Education

Tools I have used.

Significant Attributes of

the Digital Age Education

Topics Of Interest

Can We see the Future?

Significant Attributes of the Digital Age EducationMy Experience of the digital Age

Student Centred

Tools I have used.

Project-Based &

Research-Driven

Active Learning

Student Centred

This was unlike my Education in the 80’s, in the 80’sthe teacher / Lecturer was the centre of attention andprovider of information but now in the Digital Age he isbecoming a facilitator / Coach.

20th Century Education

In the 20th Century The

teacher was the one whocontrol the access toinformation and accordingly weexpected to be provided withthe information we need topass a series of assessmentwhere we had to simplyreconstruct knowledge andinformation, withoutnecessarily understanding it.

Our sources of informationwere limited to books andvideos.

“ Passive Learning”

20th century class room

21st Century Education

In the 21 Century The Lecturers weremainly facilitators helping us to access andprocess information. They recognize thateach individual had a different learningstyle and needs. The focus is on what weknow and learn rather than memorizingfacts like how t was in the 80’s.

All the projects carried out was basedaround researching on digital tools andexperimenting with them and compareand contrast different tools and theories,and discussing and evaluating differentsources.

We took responsibility for our ownlearning. We construct our knowledgethrough collaborating with peers andlecturers.

“Active Learning”21st century Class room

Project-Based & Research-Driven

The learning process was project based through most ofthe modules. It was a dynamic approach to teaching inwhich we have to explore real-world problems andchallenges, simultaneously it allowed me to developcommunication skills while working in small collaborativegroups.

This project-based learning is filled with active andengaged learning, it inspired me to obtain a deeperknowledge of the subjects we are studying. It alsodeveloped my research skills and it made it easier for meto retain the knowledge gained through this approach farmore readily than through traditional textbook-centredlearning methods of the 20th Century.

Active Learning

Through most of the timeour weekly meetings (NotLectures), it was merelydiscussions about what wehave researched in groupsthe previous week anddrawing conclusions fromour own thinking andexperiences.

We experimented withBlogs, On-line gamingresearching through theinternet and investigatedseveral gaming platformand theories and their linkto learning.

http://www.edutechie.ws/2007/10/09/cone-of-experience-media/

Tools I have used (BLOGS & Social Networks)

Tools I have used (BLOGS & Social Networks)

Our first task was to set a web learning space for ourgroup. Few options of blogs and social networks tochoose from. We decided that each member of thegroup to research two providers. We set some criteria toevaluate those site which included the following:

1. Popularity2. User Friendliness3. Target Audience4. Privacy5. Site capabilities to upload and embed different

formats of files and presentations.6. Space limitation7. Cost

Tools I have used (Our Choice)

Tools I have used (Word press .com)

Our choice was WordPress.com. This became our learning space for allour assignments. It was extremely helpful to share differentperspectives of different topics and assignments. We shared ourknowledge at our convenience. We placed direct links to all therecommended readings and videos for each topic .

We linked it to other networks like facebook and twitter. We faced someprivacy issues with twitter and when set it to the level we aimed for itbecame fairly inaccessible which defeat ed the object.

We looked “Doing Good” through social media but due to the timeconstraints and the different perspective of each member of the groupon “What is good” not much progress was made.

We raised other topics in wordpress like “Volunteer Options inNumeracy in the Local Area” which was vey helpful to many of us.

Tools I have used (Other Tools)

I have used various other toolsthroughout this module.Google: I have used Google searchengines which was quite helpful to findsome of the information I needed for myproject and it is powerful “PopularityIndexing Algorithm”

Wikipedia : My experience withWikipedia was not the best becauseof the amount of incorrectinformation which was of a greatconcern to me in this module andother modules. The credibility of its’information is a major issue.

I experienced several webpresentation packages like Prezi,Storify and Slidedhre. My choice forthis presentation was slidesharebecause it suits my needs for thispresentation .

Topics Of Interest (Daniel Soar - 'It knows)

Daniel Soar - 'It knows' (London Review of Books 06/10/11)

The book review reflects the “Googlisation” of our everyday lives. Thisintelligent algorithm which tracks our trails on the internet and interpretthem into a powerful database of information about our interests, habitsand our lives more or less in real-time. It use a highly complicated neuralnetworks system (Artificial Intelligence) to develop its’ performance andaccuracy.

Google like any other cooperation is money driven and its commodity is us(our information) and it is used for marketing purposes. Currently Google ismonopolizing the telecommunication market indirectly by giving themAndroid free software which is contributing to the expansion of it’sinformation database.Android is being paid a certain percentage of Google’s advertising market.

This information held by Google can also be used more positively toenhance the quality of our lives for e.g. like what the writer suggested aboutusing it’s statistical power to estimate flu levels.

I feel now that I am stalked 24/7. How would you feel about that….

Topics Of Interest John Naughton ‘Is the internet changing the way we think’

John Naughton ‘Is the internet changing the way we think’ (Observer15/08/10).

In this article John Naughton is displaying a discussion thread aboutNicholas Carr controversial essay “ Is Google Making Us Stupid”. Basically ,the essay is about How Nicholas Carr started noticing how is his readinghabits are changing and that he is finding it difficult to concentrate whenreading a couple of pages of a book . He is blaming the internet forphysically changing our brains and he refers to modern neuroscience andthe ”plasticty” of the human brain and how habitual practices can changeour neuronal structure.

Few neural scientist and psychologists disagree with Carr and thinks thatthis is a pessimistic view. Steven pinker(Harvard Professor) believes that isthis is a moral panic that accompanies new technologies and he compared itwith the launch previous technologies. Some people think that Internet hasenhanced human intelligence and others argues due to complexity of ourenvironment they need the net as “ power steering for the mind.

Topics Of Interest LUCAS, B. & CLAXTON, G. New Kinds of Smart “Intelligence is Distributed”

In this chapter the writer speaks about humans how they invent smart tools toenhance their intelligence and this is a defining characteristic of the humanspecies.

It also talk about concept of distributed intelligence where intelligence is notonly an attribute of an individual but it is an interaction of human intelligenceand collaboration with other individuals, with their tools and with their artefacts[Csikszentmihalyi, 1996].

Distributed intelligence [Fischer, 2005; Salomon, 1993] provides an effectivetheoretical framework for understanding what humans can achieve and howartefacts, tools, and socio-technical environments can be designed andevaluated to empower human beings and to change tasks.

He also refers to the ‘Person-plus’ term i.e. The person plus his pen or laptopor internet etc…. These tools also change us and similarly with all sorts oftechnology as they change we change with them

It also stresses that educators should help kids to expand their imagination andcreativity by using different digital tools and has to mange the right balance sothey don’t become dependant on them i.e. create tool minded generation.

Topics Of Interest Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

Jane’s goal is to make it as easy as to save the world in real life as it is in on-linegaming.Watching the videos of Jane McGonigal made me look at the gaming world in adifferent perspective. She reflects on the positive emotions of the gamers in thegaming world, like how energised they become and fully engaged in what theyare doing, and the level of optimism of the gamers that they can succeed andhow they become resilient to failure. While in real life we become defeated,overwhelmed and anxious when we face an obstacle. In the game world webecome collaborative and trusted to be able to achieve the mission and we alsobuild better social bonds.

One very important issues she raised that “ The mission is perfectly matchedwith your current level in the game and you can do it but it is on the verge whichmeans that you have to try hard to achieve”. Will the gaming world be theplatform for Education since the gaming world provide the individual with allthe element to achieve the “EPIC Mission”

According to research the average young person spend 10,000 hours by the ageof 21 which is equivalent to the number of hours spent in education from theage 10 to 18 if spent in any specific area we will be a highly experts in that areasaccording to “The outliers” by Malcolm Gladwel.

Can We see the Future? What is happening to my Brain?

Is the Internet eating our brains? According to Nicholas Carr in his book“The shallows” the internet is changing our shape and size of our brains.

Can We see the Future? Is Technology Fracturing Your Family?

Think about your family life, and ask yourself if technology is bringing youcloser or farther from the people you care about?I think that the opportunities for developing the brain's neural networksthat control our face-to-face social skills - what many define as ourhumanity - are being lost or at least compromised, as families becomemore fractured. (Dr. Gary Small Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA).

Can We see the Future? Are we Turning into Internet Addicts.

Tense? Angry? Can't get online? Internet addiction is now a serious publichealth issue that should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder,according to a leading psychiatrist. The Observer, David Smith technologycorrespondent Sunday March 23, 2008.