Google “Stupidifies” Us?

“When we are googling, we have saved our time in finishing our paper, essay or even research since Google helps us a lot. However, did Google’s help spoil us?

This first question is not about a technical or policy issue on the Internet or even how people use the Internet, but an unsupported risk to human intelligence and methods of inquiry. Usually, questions about how technologies affect our learning or practice really concern our values and how we choose technologies, not the technology itself. And that's the basis on which I address such questions. I am not saying technology is neutral, but that it is created, adopted, and developed over time in a dialog with people's desires.

I respect the questions posed by Nicholas Carr in his Atlantic article although it's hard to take such worries seriously when he suggests that even the typewriter could impoverish writing and would like to relieve his concerns. The question is all about people's choices. If we value introspection as a road to insight, if we believe that long experience with issues contributes to good judgment on those issues, if we (in short) want knowledge that search engines don't give us, we'll maintain our depth of thinking and Google will only enhance it.

What search engines do is provide more information, which we can use either to become amateurs (Carr's worry) or to boost our knowledge around the edges and do fact-checking while we rely mostly on information we've gained in more vigorous ways for our core analyses. Google frees the time we used to spend pulling together the last 10% of facts we need to complete our research. I read Carr's article when The Atlantic first published it, but I used a Google search to pull it back up and review it before writing this response. That’s why, Google is my friend J

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High-Tech Vs Higher Order Thinking

“We should not take the whole technology without any filtering. The technology that we may use in the education should be an appropriate technology”

Appropriate Technology is the most learning effective, cost effective technology "available" for illustrating and communicating, while stimulating curiosity, enthusiasm, creativity, innovation, and active student participation in the learning process.

When my friend, Mr. Richard was working as an education technologist overseas at a university during the day, he taught electronics to people working in the electronics industry in the evening. The learning technologies that he chose were based upon the learners past academic history (not grades) and their entry level understanding of the basic principles of electronics.

For instance, he found that using simple technologies for instance bottles with holes and water was the best technology for conveying understanding and clarifying issues like Voltage, Current and Resistance. Even though he had access to a wide range of higher technologies he found that basic technologies (which raise the learners curiosity and participation) where they learn through "discovery principles" were most effective in achieving true understanding and higher order thinking skill.

When he was teaching mathematics (in electronics he use a lot of math) he always came back to the whiteboard as the most effective technology for "developing understanding", because all students could participate easily and contribute to the development on the whiteboard without the need for specific skills in using the technology.

Often the students had not used math for several years and the more complex formulas sometimes posed difficulties so he would break them down into steps using basic math processes, during which the students could contribute and thus reinforce their confidence until they felt confident enough to utilize more complex formulas effectively. Again participation in the process he believes is critical (even for large groups of learners).

He could have used higher technologies but he believes that the whiteboard is one of the most effective tools because of its simplicity and the fact that it is always ready when we need it. The white/black board is still the most used learning medium globally (and it's always ON :-).

When he teaches now, he still rely upon simple technologies, even though he have 8 computers now (3 laptops and 5 desktops) because of the issues of student activity raised above, but also because he can conducts the lesson effectively anywhere without concerns for power failures and technical problems, and he still believes that they are the most effective for creating an active-learning environment even though in his technology profession he uses all the latest technologies.

Therefore, with his experience, we can see that higher order thinking skill should be our priority. However, it doesn’t mean that we discredited high-tech. Our brain (and imagination) is still the best technology for generating learner interest and stimulating the learning process.

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Mobile Learning, Is It Applicable?

“Mobile e-learning will go away. There is always the latest thing in e-learning that everyone must do. One of my least favorite of these is mobile e-learning. E-learning will not happen, at least not seriously, on mobile phones.

Why not? Because it takes time to learn something. You have to really understand a situation. You have to practice a skill. You have to consider alternatives. You have to create deliverables. At least you do for the e-learning that I build. This takes time—a lot of time. It was seriously suggested recently in a full year all day every day course I was building, that we needed to make it available on mobile phones. I don’t know about you, but staring at mobile phone for an hour makes my eyes hurt. Try doing it all day for a year. It makes no sense.

We don’t learn anything instantly. Real learning is not done on a train or a bus. The kinds of courses that can be delivered that way will be shown to not be particularly useful.“

That was a quote from Mr. Schank article about technology in education.

At the first we may think that he’s wrong, and that can be expected from me as I am someone who’s passionate about the subject of mLearning. But then I dissected his quote and realized that he’s right to say that mobile learning will not happen the same way it does with real eLearning. That’s true, and mLearning is not supposed to be like eLearning. Mobile devices are not the venue for deep, broad learning, at least not as a single source for that learning (i.e. they can be part of a deeper, longer process of learning, but they are not a great place for that type of learning by themselves).

Mobile learning is often best as an extension to that core knowledge that you learn in a classroom or a good eLearning course. Mobile learning also has the potential to allow someone to access the information from those courses at any time because of the ubiquitous nature and portability of mobile devices.

Mobile learning at its’ best conforms to the learner’s lifestyle in a way that traditional classroom learning and eLearning titles just can’t. So while a learner is building a base of knowledge in a traditional setting, mobile learning can act as an extension to that, allowing the learner to practice certain tasks and recall important concepts at the point of need or simply to brush up on skills.

I don’t think mobile learning will or should ever come in the form of large multi-hour courses. But I do think that mobile learning has its’ place and I do think that Mobile Learning is gaining strength not because it’s another learning technology trend, but because it has real promise and shows real potential to help learners. 

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Video Gameducation

“Hey, kids! Stop playing the video game! Why don’t you study for a while? If you won’t do it, don’t blame me if I’ll take your PSP!”

Have you experience that kind of situation? Ok if you don’t, at least I've ever experience that since I’m a RPG (Role Playing Game) lovers. Most of adult think that playing a video game is just a wasting of time! And of course, I don’t agree with that statement. Beside as an RPG lover, I personally as an educator believes that video game may be the best tool for education.

Whether violent affairs like the much-villified Grand Theft Auto series or more complex games such as the best-selling World of Warcraft, video games can seem bewildering to the unacquainted. Levels? Cheat codes? Orcs? Certainly there cannot be much within the flashing and beeping to excite educators, right? But in the past few years, the tides have started to turn from dismissing, or even rejecting, video games, to exploring and embracing how they can be used to educate students around the globe.

It turns out, after all, that even gaming for pure entertainment brings about benefits: neurological studies have shown improvements in players’ peripheral vision and ability to focus. Jane McGonigal is one of the most powerful proponents of using games to meet serious challenges like educating the next generation. In her recent TED Talk, she outlines four characteristics of gamers:

1.    Urgently optimistic about their ability to make a difference,

2.    Builders of strong social capital,

3.    Capable of being productive while truly enjoying their task, and

4.    Attached to meeting important tasks.

In short, gamers are “super-empowered hopeful individuals” and McGonigal wants to use the activity to meet global challenges. As it turns out, this is already happening. In September, the New York Times Magazine profiled a public school in New York City that is placing video games front in center in the curriculum:

“A game, as Salen sees it, is really just a “designed experience,” in which a participant is motivated to achieve a goal while operating inside a prescribed system of boundaries and rules. In this way, school itself is one giant designed experience.”

That’s why there is nothing is impossible! As a prospective teacher we should pay a big attention on what’s being a trend for the students then we work with our mind to integrate it to the education. Let’s start to develop the video gameducation!

ICT for Child, Is It Always Effective?

“Provide children with ICT device in their home will support their academic performance. Is it, an absolute statement? ”

Results circulation of what is being termed the largest study yet of what happens to academic performance when you give a kid a computer began recently by The National Bureau of Economic Research. The news is not good. The study, conducted by Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, examined extensive data on all middle school students in North Carolina public schools between 2000 and 2005. Those years, as the researchers point out, were a time when home computer use and broadband access were both expanding rapidly.

The study found that giving students home PCs led to small but significant declines in academic performance as measured by math and reading test scores. In addition, the researchers reported, the “introduction of high-speed internet service is similarly associated with significantly lower math and reading test scores in the middle grades.” Worse yet, “the introduction of broadband internet is associated with widening racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps.” Vigdor and Ladd’s sobering conclusion: “For school administrators interested in maximizing achievement test scores, or reducing racial and socioeconomic disparities in test scores, all evidence suggests that a program of broadening home computer access would be counter-productive.”

Given the excitement that surrounds efforts to close the “digital divide” by subsidizing computer purchases for disadvantaged students and schools, these findings may seem surprising. But they shouldn’t be. An earlier study that examined the effects of giving Romanian students access to computers resulted in similar findings. It discovered that while home computers may improve students’ computer skills, the devices appear to result in an erosion of math and reading skills.

Educators often take an idealized view of new information technologies. They focus on the potential of the technologies to improve academic performance, weaving enticingly optimistic scenarios of how the tools will be used. But the reality of the way the technologies come to be used rarely matches the idealized view. Kids do not, for example, see computers, mobile phones, and the Internet as essentially educational tools. They see them as tools for entertainment and communication. As Vigdor and Ladd suggest, the computer becomes an instrument of distraction, interrupting study rather than deepening it.

Earlier research into the educational consequences of hypertext and multimedia pointed to similar conclusions. Thirty years ago, when personal computers were first coming into schools, it was often assumed that taking in information on screens, with lots of textual links between documents and supporting audio and video presentations, would lead to deeper comprehension and stronger learning than was provided by traditional textbooks. In reality, hyperlinks and multimedia were found to divide students’ attention, leading to reduced comprehension and learning. To put it into psychological terms, computer use often leads to “cognitive overload,” impeding the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory and hence short-circuiting the development of rich conceptual knowledge and critical thinking skills.

It is interesting and revealing to compare the impact of giving students access to computers and the Internet with the impact of giving them access to printed books. One recent study, published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, revealed a strong connection between the number of books in a student’s home and the number of years of education the student completes. “What’s surprising,” wrote the Chronicle of Higher Education in reporting on the research, “is just how strong the correlation is between a child’s academic achievement and the number of books his or her parents own. It’s even more important than whether the parents went to college or hold white-collar jobs. Books matter. A lot.”

Of course computers and the Internet have an important role to play in education, not least because computer skills are increasingly important to economic opportunity and achievement. But it is a mistake to assume that modern technology is an educational panacea, particularly when it comes to helping poor kids close gaps in learning and achievement. Investing precious dollars in teachers, books, and classrooms—in the traditional foundations of education—may well produce greater returns than investing them in computer hardware and software.

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Social Relations: Online vs Offline

Have you ever heard that someone who is “hyperactive” (read: exist) in social networking often revealed as a “standard” (read: normal) or even ignorant person in the real life?

Some people worry about losing touch with friends and family if they too focus on social networking. Then, I personally don’t worry about that problem. I think we'll continue to honor the human needs that have been hard-wired into us over the millions of years of evolution. I do think technologies ranging from email to social networks can help us make new friends and collaborate over long distances.

However, I do worry that social norms aren't keeping up with technology. For instance, it's hard to turn down a "friend" request on a social network, particularly from someone you know, and even harder to "unfriend" someone. We've got to learn that these things are OK to do. And we have to be able to partition our groups of contacts as we do in real life (College, Family, Best friends etc.). More sophisticated social networks will probably evolve to reflect our real relationships more closely, but people have to take the lead and refuse to let technical options determine how they conduct their relationships. Therefore, we are recommended to use social networking as long as we become the controller of our own relationship and not become controlled by the social networking.

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Wikis and Social Networking Sites in Educational World

In this digital era, technology is continually evolving. Years later in 2004, Web 2.0 tools such as wikis and social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc) have skyrocketed in the number of users. Then, most of the users are dominated by the students from all over the world. Therefore, nowadays it becomes an issue in the educational world.

A wiki is a communal, subject-specific Web site where users are free to add and/or edit content. When it comes to Internet-based collaboration, there’s nothing easier to use. In schools, wikis enable groups of students, parents, teachers, or all of them to gather content and share written work. While social networking site are often called “social content-sharing sites” where members create profiles, network, and share opinions, photos, and audio-visual content. 

When wikis and social networking sites are integrated into classroom, does not mean that it will automatically engage students in learning. Planning for integration requires rethinking teaching strategies and techniques to take advantage of their full potential. There are two major pointsthat highlighted in this essay. First are collaborative projects. This technology tool is ideal for project-based learning, cross curricular projects in middle school teams, and thematic units. For example, exhibition orfair projects which could be set up for middle or high school students to brainstorm ideas for and plan the projects. Initially it would mostly be brainstorming, posting ideas and information to back them up with text, images or video. Another example is collaborative textbooks and literature circles.Instead of sharing their thoughts on paper, they could post them to the wikis or social networking sites, respond to their peers’ thoughts or questions and best of all preserve this work for the next class to review at some time during their exploration of the same novel.

The second isonline resources for classroom use. A list of websites that provided appropriate information related to subject content is provided by the teacher for student use during the school year. It is possible to create and postclass notes, parental and student communication, handouts, course syllabus, course links and resource notes, school or class calendar, teacher information page, school newspaper, and platform for peer review of student work.

However, in 2006, Canole, de Laat, Dillon, and Darby reported student frustrations were attributed to the Web 2.0 applications being misused or to the instructor failing to provide appropriate support for the technology itself. There are some inconsistencies in positive feedback regarding the use of Web 2.0 technologies especially wikis and social networking sites. These inconsistencies were related to technical issues, instructors managing group work, and student expectations of how the instruction should be delivered. Therefore, these tools and practices should lead to pedagogical innovations in education. Then, ambiguity must be reduced so students are aware of what is expected in the use of these technologies and instructors know how to best utilize them.

These tools have changed the way we interact with each other both socially and educationally. Public schools and universities are exploring the use of these emerging tools to increase the effectiveness of instruction. The first step in this transition is encouraging teachers to try the new technology and providing support as they struggle to learn and understand how to use it. Once teachers are comfortable with the technology, they are free to integrate the use of social software into their classes creatively. Use of current software helps to prepare the next generation of students to be effective 21st century learners which will lead to a better educational world. 

Wikipedia: Reliability in Collaboration

“Remember, since you’re doing an academic writing especially on research, you are not allowed to use Wikipedia as one of your citation or references!” Have you ever heard those sentences? Yes! I guarantee that if you’re a scholars or learners that sentence is familiar. Then , what’s wrong with Wikipedia? Why it is restricted or discredited?

     Long time ago, BW (Before Wikipedia), most people either went to the library or collected expensive hardbound copies of the Encyclopedia Britannica. On January 15, 2001, Jimmy Walles and Larry Sanger launched Wikipedia officially. The two were working on an online encyclopedia using only expert-written articles called Nupedia, and found the process to be extremely slow. One of the employees on the encyclopedia suggested using the new wiki technology to create a “feeder” of information to the project. Soon the wiki articles overtook the Nupedia work. Then, Wales and Sanger decided to create Wikipedia to distinguish between the expert-written Nupedia and the open sourced, public driven, collaborative edited Wikipedia. Since its inception, the question of whether the site is a reliable resource or not has been debated. Therefore, since it is debatable, some of college and university choose to warn students not to use Wikipedia as a reference or citation.

     Moreover, as Wikipedia uses a collaborative editing process, questions of the sites reliability will be raised. Nonetheless, the site continues to grow. Again, according to their own website, Wikipedia has now more than “15 million freely useable articles in over two hundred languages worldwide, and content from a million registered user accounts and countless anonymous contributors.” As of the date of the publication of this article, Wikipedia has now more than 3.333 million English language articles. And as the site grows, attitudes toward the reliable and usefulness of the encyclopedia has changed. In 2007, the Chronicle of Higher Education published an article written by Cathy Davidson, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and English at Duke University, in which she asserts that Wikipedia should be used to teach students about the concepts of reliability and credibility.

     It could be argued that by Wikipedia highlighting the above articles they are guilty of self-referencing. Nonetheless, there is a general consensus forming on to how one should use Wikipedia as a resource. Most educators agree, Wikipedia can be an extremely useful tool. However, when reading Wikipedia, one should always check the sources cited in the article. Wikipedia articles are useful in providing general background on the subject you are studying. Moreover, as you can see when you’re looking for some information in the search engine like Google, Yahoo or Bing, you’ll find that Wikipedia is positioned in the first line, on the top of the search result, for almost every kind of information! Wikipedia is affordable resources.

     And so, in regards to Wikipedia’s reliability, it can be argued that the site is reliable in providing researchers and students a guiding light, or a “starting point,” into the subject. But, because of its collaborative editing process, Wikipedia should not be considered a carefully vetted source, unless you are writing about the Wikipedia (organization) itself. Then, directly quoting the site and its founders just might be appropriate. After all, who would know the history of Wikipedia better than Wikipedia? :D

Girls’ Phobia on ICT: Reality or Perception?

“Have you ever been taught by an ICT teacher which is women? The result is 1:4 for the respondents who say yes oppose to say no.”

     In the early years of the Internet, the typical user was young, male and most likely to be American. In the last ten years, the picture has changed significantly, with women representing a larger proportion of internet users, at a range of different ages. However there is still concern among both governments and the ICT industry that most of girls are ICT Phobia – is this reality, or just perception?

ICT activities: boys vs girls

Research reveals that girls and women use computer technology widely but in different ways to boys and men. DiDio (1996) and Brimmer (1997) found that girls use ICT for social reasons such as chatting and meeting people whereas boys tend to be more interested in playing games, hacking and learning about technology.  Girls are keener on creative technologies for artistic expression.

Educational achievement in ICT between girls and boys

There is very little difference between boys and girls in terms of achievement in ICT studies, although their self-perception is different. Girls tend to understate their skills whereas boys usually overestimate their competence. It is according to a research conducted by Infodev on “Women and ICT: Why are girls still not attracted to ICT studies and careers?” at secondary school level.

Girls often report that they enjoy studying ICT. In countries where girl is not enjoy studying ICT, it is typically due to an over-emphasis on pure programming skills in the curriculum which is kind of programming which is typically less attractive to girls compared to e.g. multimedia skills.

The causes of the problem

Girls, compared to boys, are more influenced by role models in their environment whether ‘close’ role models such as parents, teachers and family or ‘distant’ role models such as famous actresses and musicians. It is clear that the lack of ICT oriented role models is a discouraging factor for girls.

Another key issue is that parents, school guidance counselors and teachers lack knowledge of ICT studies and careers: they thus do not encourage students who express interest in such areas, as they perceive ICT as a field where there are good career opportunities for girls.

How ICT subjects are taught in schools also has a major impact on girls’ attitudes towards these subjects, according to Newmarch, Taylor-Steele and Cumpston (2000) who found that girls considered ICT subjects to be too theoretical, rigidly structured and boring. Girls in the study commented that they found working on individual projects to be less rewarding and satisfying than working on group projects.

The interesting point is that some popular movie show women actively engaged with computer technology depict them as encountering danger or harassment as a result of their technology use. For example, Sandra Bullock in The Net and Sigourney Weaver in Copycat are both victimized on account of their use of computers (Rowan, Knobel, Bigum and Lankshear, 2002).

What can teachers do?

·        Introduce students to a wide variety of computing applications in order to develop an appreciation of the possible uses of computers (e.g. using ICT tools as part of language lessons).

·        Dispel inaccurate images of computers and IT careers through direct experience with positive role models. schools (e.g. through inviting guest speakers in schools, or visiting local IT company facilities/university departments).

·         Explain explicitly to students the connections between ICT subject content and the world of work.

·         Integrate computer use across the curriculum to invite more girls into technology through a broad range of subjects.

·        Communicate to students the information that all jobs in the future will involve the use of more and more ICT.

·         Challenge and critique stereotypes about gender and ICT, involve more female IT professionals and female IT students in careers activities

·        Build informal ICT activities, such as computer clubs, alongside the school curriculum that give young people the space to ‘play’ with ICT.