2

Education

“Our concept of an educated person is of someone who is capable of delighting in a variety of pursuits and projects for their own sake, and whose pursuit of them and general conduct of life are transformed by some degree of all round understanding.”

R S Peters, 1972

3

4CC by-nc steve_cxCC by-nc steve_cx

Growing up digitalDon Tapscott, 1998

Contrast between N-Geners and Baby-boomers

Contrast between TV and the Net

The Net:

Active

Raises Intelligence

Democratic

Community building

“Using the new technology is as natural as breathing”

Digital NativesMarc Prensky, 2001

“Our students have changed radically” Fast pace Multi-task Graphics before text Random access Networked Instant gratification Frequent reward Games not work

Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.

The Digital DisconnectLevin & Arefah, 2002

A substantial disconnect between how students use the Internet for school and how they use the Internet during the school day

Reasons:

Administrators

Variation in teaching policies

Uninspiring assignments

Barriers

Quality of access

Filtering

Inequalities of home access

Pupils’ home use of computers

Valentine, Marsh and Pattie, 2006

High level of access

Educational opportunities outside school are beneficial

Children value the freedom they have at home

Extensive use of communication

Their SpaceGreen and Hannon, DEMOS, 2007

Building relationships

Creating content

Essential skills Creativity Communication Collaboration

User types: Digital pioneers Creative producers Everyday communicators Information gatherers

Safer Children in a Digital World

Byron Review, 2008

Opportunities for fun, learning and development

Generational digital divide and risk averse culture

Children are still developing critical skills

Empowering children to keep themselves safe

Digital Media and Learning Initiative

MacArthur Foundation, 2008 Generation gap in

perceived value of online activity

Learning social and technical skills

Peer learning

Most aren’t making the most of the opportunities

Hanging Out

Messing Around

Geeking Out

What are your kids learning when

you’re not looking?

What are you learning whilst your teachers aren’t looking…

• Live from 26th November to 18th December 2008• Publicised via • online forums, • discussion lists, • blogs and • twitter

• google docs spreadsheet form• Demographics• Access to tech• Use of Internet and computers at home• Filtering• Social networking in school• Comparison between school and home

985 responsesexcluding duplicates and blanks

Access to Technology

Use of the Internet

Use of computers

18

Give examples of things you have learnt using technology that are not related

to school work.

Give examples of things you have learnt using technology that are not related to school work.

Girl, 16: You don't really learn much from these social sites. It is just an easy and fun way to communicate with your friends.

Boy, 16: I have learned how to do some simple programming using Basic and I have researched how to utilize the Macromedia Flash program to create basic flash documents.

Boy, 15: I have learned how to do some simple programming using Basic and I have researched how to utilize the Macromedia Flash program to create basic flash documents.

Boy, 14: I've taught my self some Python scripting and how to mod most of the games that I play. I've also learned to bypass nearly every filter/parental control my parents or school have placed on my computer.

Boy, 15: I have expanded my musical knowledge through YouTube video. I have also improved my instrumental skills through YouTube.

Girl, 13: how to personalise backgrounds, and how to download music

Boy, 15: I've taught myself to program in C++ and PHP through online technical documentation and tutorial sites like W3Schools. (I believe W3Schools is blocked at school.) Most of the home pages of FOSS projects are blocked as well.

19

Give examples of things you have learnt using technology that are not related to school work.

Boy, 8: you can talk to people in a different country on skype.

Boy, 11: Financing - from playing Football Manager every week Football - from Fantasy Football

Girl, 13: Watching BBC i-player nature programes because it doesn't work at school.

Girl, 15: I learnt how to power an i pod with an onion through Youtube!

Boy, 15: Av learned how to write flash games with actionscript.

Boy, 10: Making your own website and how to put on html snippets and embed codes

Boy, 11: Wikipedia lies (often)

Girl, 12: learnt words to songs. l learnt a tiny, tiny bit about brain/heart surgery

Boy, 10: How to make music, use iChat. Watching Videos and filming movies. Making websites (freewebs, iweb and justhost) Used to play DS

Boy, 12: Rune Scape is a game in where you have to be very social to complete

Boy, 16: The govournmental structure of the early Roman Republic.

Girl, 12: How to programme my laptop.

More information on Phyrrus.20

Eleanor, 11My mum taught me people`s email addreses but I taught myself how to  actually email. I just clicked most of the buttons until I found the  right one! I also taught myself a lot of diseses as I would love to be  a docter! For this I mostly used the internet. I once also worked out  how to use Google Earth. I`m not a very tecnical so this was a big  leap for me! I simply fiddeld around with the buttons picking the ones  that I thought would do the job and after just half an hour I found my  house! I don`t actuelly no why i kept at it- probably wanted to learn  something new as usual!

22

What is your favourite thing you do with technology at home?

23

What is your favourite thing you do with technology at school?

24

Which blocked websites do you think you should be able to access at school?

Enjoyment

What do teachers know?

27

How could ICT at school be more like at home?

28

How could ICT at school be more like at home?

Boy, 17: I believe that schools should take advantage of the ICT technologies that most students have at home to a greater extent. For instance they should use face book to keep students connected to each other and to the school such as teachers. Video games could also be used by schools to assist learning. Games can get kids interested in what they are learning, they also present the information in a more hands on way then a book alone.

Girl, 10: let us play games in our free time (at breaks etc...)

Girl, 10: they could install programs on moodle which are like games

Boy, 17: Yes. Allow students to learn on their own, don't set a plan for learning. Let students find websites and resources on their own and make it less of a chore to do assignments.

Boy, 16: I believe that my school should lower its restrictions on schools computer access, because the filter that blocks websites is a double-edged sword. I understand that my school blocks certain websites that may be distracting (eg. gaming websites), but some websites that could be utilized by myself and other students are blocked as well for no apparent reason. I would like my school to either lower the restrictions or use a different filter than can be configured much more easily than our current one.

28

29

Should ICT at school be more like at home?

Girl, 16: No because then people could use that to their advantage and go on websites that will distract them from their school work.

Boy, 15: No - Many students CAN'T TYPE ENGLISH ("u" DOES NOT EQUAL "you") because of sites like Facebook and MySpace (plus these sites are horrible anyway), along with a lot of IM services. Gaming would not be usable in school unless it's something like Garry's Mod (a mod that allows players to experiment with the Source physics engine).

Boy,15: no because then we would mess around instead of learning.

Girl, 14: No, school is not home!

Boy, 10: They should not because at school we should be learning not playing games.

Girl, 13: no because you dont want to learn how to do different ICT skills at home - you use if for fun at home

Girl, 15: NO what they have at our school is a fantastic program

29

• Register for an account at scratch.mit.edu

• Explore some of the uploaded projects, (start with the featured list).

• Provide feedback to young Scratchers• Select one project to discuss on your blog.

For next time… Complete your storyboard and

upload this to Moodle in advance of an interim submission deadline on 14th November.

Start thinking about some interactive games or puzzles to include in your project.

Read pages 5-16 of Pritchard (2008). To what extent do you see these ideas as having relevance to modern classroom practice? Blog your thoughts on this.