A Person Known to me who most threatens the notion of digital native/Immigrant.

One of my male cousins whos 22 now would be the person who most threatens the notion of digital natives and Immigrants. It appears that my Grandma can function with technology a lot easier than he does and shes hardly capable of sending an email. He chooses not to get involved with video games , rarely uses the internet unless he must and still has a Nokia 3310 a phone which is barely remembered. According to Prensky's theory he should be more involved and capable in the digital world than mos of my older relatives, although this is far from the case. My Dad recently showed him how to create a sharing folder on MSN Messenger further confirming how he threatens Presnky's ideas.

The Youngest Digital Native I Know

The youngest digital native i know would have to be my younger cousin who is actually the daughter of the older digital native i just mentioned in the earlier post. She's only eleven years old and has a brand new touch screen phone which she can operate with ease. She sends picture messages and a wide range of different files often and has sometimes even shown the older relatives how to use theirs. She owns a Nintendo Wii and a Nintendo DS which she uses to link to her friends Nintendos to compete against eachother. It seems rare to find a time when she isnt online on MSN Messenger or Facebook which emphasizes how much she makes use of technology and new media .

The oldest digital native i know.

The oldest digital native i know would most probably be my aunt . Still in her mid 30's many would argue she was still born in the digital world . She often sends text messages, is up to date with technology and even has her own facebook account. She spends most of her time online on Ebay buying or selling items even claiming shed rather buy clothes online than in stores. As a digital native myself in comparison i think she uses technology a lot more than i do. I still prefer seeing clothes in a store before i buy them and often keep texting to a minimal. She even recently bought a digital picture frame which can be used with a usb to create a slide show displaying different images an even videos which is on her bedside table.

Should Education Stretch a person ?

I think in this case to be streched by education is the notion of which through learning new means of knowledge a person can have a more open and capable mindstate. It is often said that with distractions in society today such as television , music and video games we sacrafice much time which could be used to gain further education . Many would agrue that in many ways these types of media can be used as sources of education although I doubt anyone would claim they are educated to their desire.

In this context , stretched can be perceived as meaning pushed to limits beyond your current state , through education many would argue this can be achieved. I rather prefer the sponge metaphor, assuming a person is similar to a sponge soaking up and absorbing education or knowledge and wisdom. In both cases there is a sense of growth or development which i agree comes hand in hand with education. Whether its coursework , exams or note taking in lectures, new skills are gained in all cases .Prensky has often applied this to technology and believes it holds the key fundamental source of education in the future, even encouraging new methods of producing video games which educate students today.

Week 8/9, 5 Chosen Websites

1.
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf


2.
http://www.wisc.edu/depd/html/TSarticles/Digital%20Natives.htm


3.
http://www.cemp.ac.uk/communities/interactivemedia/interactivemedia/are-digital-immigrants-really-grasping-the-digital-concept


4.
http://www.dimsum.co.uk/features/confessions-of-a-digital-immigrant.html


5.
http://jsavage.org.uk/?p=34

Week 9 Digital Immigrants

Digital immigrants are those who are unnaturally acquainted with the digital world. In comparison particularly in the western culture the more recent generations were born into this digital world as the Internet, video games and up to date technology seems like a second nature to us.' Digital immigrants have had to adapt in order to understand and grasp the digital world.''Our students today are all "native speakers" of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet.'' (Mark Prensky) I was intrigued by the theorist Mark Prensky's frequent comparison of digital users with language and accents and thought this was a good way to describe a 'digital immigrant'. The idea of digital technology being understood and used but still unnatural explains the idea rather well.It is often questioned how digital immigrants can be effectively teaching our generation in this area of study as we are seen as the 'digital natives'. The actual concept of digital immigrants suggests that those who fall into this category function differently from us the 'digital natives'.The idea of them being foreign to the digital world can be explored in many examples. An interesting one found online was that a digital immigrant may do something like print an email, edit it on the page and then re enter the word document to edit it again afterwards instead of doing it all at once. Ive found on occasions that older relatives of mine have often opened up another internet explorer instead of just opening a new tab or even closing a window when they want to make a new search.

Week 8/9 Criticism Website Five

The site was dated back to March 2006, some would argue this is outdated although in this area of study i would consider this to remain valid. When reading over this site in more detail i decided that choosing this site may have been a mistake as its usefullness is highly restricted when its main purpose seems to be to spark debate and question '' are you a Digital Native or a Digital Immigrant ? '

Again the writer has almost adopted the same views as the theorist i had used in my criticism of website one. Stating that todays students think and process information in a different mannor and the most usefull name he/she has found for them is 'digital natives' i began to question the meaning behind this text. It offers no ideas, solutions or criticism and for a text produced five years after the main text on this subject (in website one) there is no development at all, instead an article re wording what has been already established on many occasions.

Week 8/9 Criticism Website Four

The site was dated back to March 2008 , fairly recent although some would argue that even since that time technology had advanced greatly . The writer has focused on expressing her 'confessions as a digital immigrant' giving a breakdown of examples which demonstrate her attempt to adapt to different aspects of digital technology.

The usefullness of the site is in fact very limited as it seems to be mostly examples comparing how herself and digital natives function without really going into much detail of why and how. Many would argue against her description of a digital immigrant which is ''basically anyone over 28'' as im sure many of this age would claim they were born into a digital world which has resulted in them being able to grasp concepts of new media and modern technology.

Week 8/9 Criticism Website 3

The site was in fact dated in 2009 which at first i believed was recent enough to be useful evidence displaying how far the issue has developed over time. Infact this seems to provide nothing more than a digital native disregarding the intelligence of older generations. The writer understands the idea behind digital immigrants having to adapt more than natives in order to become a confident user of enhanced technology although often expresses how he puts this more down to ''ignorance''. His reason behind this is down to his belief that ''the concept of learning new things has stayed the same''. The examples given to back this up involve his experience in assisting customers of a mobile phone network. He explains how customers would ring up with ridiculous comments claiming the phone is broken , without actually locating the power button to turn it on , or trying to operate the phone without first putting the battery in. Although the writer makes a fair point that some consumers may be lazy, ringing with complaints before even reading the manual or trouble shooting section he doesnt seem to appreciate the difference in how the two groups function .This maybe because being a digital native has led to developing bias opinions as our recent generation often mock elders in their attempt to use recent technology.

Week 8/9 Criticism, Website Two

The article on this website dates back to 2003 which although is more recent then a few that were found is still quite outdated. Furthermore the writer refers to the text analysed in my criticism of website one on a number of occasions meaning the theory used is in fact from an even earlier source which dates back to the year 2001. In some parts this should be discluded as critiscm when the writer disagrees with certain aspects from the original theorist he refers to and further develops his argument claiming that he (the theorist) ''overemphasizes the differences between his two groups (digital natives and digital immigrants) and de-emphasizes the similarities''. When reading this i re accsessed the first site and found this to be quite an accurate critisicm therefore this could perhaps be applied as an addition to my criticism of website one. The text is actually quite usefull in this area of study as it approaches many angles regarding the relationship between digital natives and immigrants also offering interesting solutions suggesting the way both groups funciton should be appreciated and taken on board to produce new methods of consuming education.

Week 8/9 Criticism Website One

Firstly for this particular area of study looking into digital immigrants, the year the website was created is crucial in understanding its analysis especially considering how rapidly technology and its uses are changing. This website is dated back to 2001 and therefore its usefulness is obviously limited although can be interesting evidence as one of the more original writings on this subject.

Despite an in depth detailed observation and comparison between digital natives and digital immigrants the writer can be perceived as bias in a strange manner which involves criticising the relationship between his generation (the digital natives) and technology. Identifying elements which explain why digital immigrants have this relationship with recent technology are hard to find in comparison to how much is written about why digital natives function as they do. Instead there is more on examples demonstrating digital immigrants incapability of grasping ideas in the use of recent technology compared to the natives. Although there are a few statistics on how much time the recent generation spend using digital technology the report seems to rely more on opinion.

Week 7. China - Distance Learning

It appears that over the years China has maximised efficiency in its education system by making excellent use of television and radio as fundamental sources of higher education. As early as the 1960's when television broadcasting had just began to develop television universities were beginning to form in Beijing and began to spread across China. The success of these methods of education became evident as thousands of students graduated from TVU's in particular the Beijing Television University.

Despite the apparent success of TVU'S many disadvantages of the popular system became exposed encouraging 'The Social Modernization Project' which was introduced in 1976. It seemed as though progression in admission to higher education institutes were clearly limited and fell lower than many countries globally. The amount of trained tradesmen and jobs of a more physical nature which are fundamental were few and far between. ''The number of qualified technicians and engineers accounted for only 2.5 per cent of the country's work-force in state-owned enterprises and institutes.''(Zhao Yuhi). The popular structure of furthering education by T.V and radio in the earlier years had discouraged development in many areas of work which evidently made China suffer greatly .

Since then China have kept their faith in these methods of education as they still remain highly beneficial in educating students in a shorter space of time at lower costs. In the late 1970's the Central Radio and Television University was introduced in Bejing encouraging the development of many more PTVU's . These mediums have now become much more diverse as the CRTVU has offered up to 150 different courses althoug difficulties still seem to arrise when using media in these forms as transmission times can be limited .

Week 7 .E Learning - Africa

E learning appears to be an efficient alternative of education via an enhancement of technology to help support schools that need to be closed for a period of time due to health risks in Africa. A Cholera outbreak in Zambia resulted in a closure in schools within the towns of Lusaka and Mazabuka until the situation was under control. Whilst these schools were closed students had no other source of obtaining the education needed to pass exams, many claiming it to be unfair as they took the same exams as other schools across the nation which didn't need to be closed. The outbreak of Cholera has clearly effected the progress and education of many students in these towns whilst the government has been criticized for not providing primary solutions at the time.

There is currently support in place although many have questioned its limitations and have pleaded for further development. Taonga market is a radio programme in Zambia which is only two hours and only appeals to the lower school years. A key element in the further advancement of E learning is lies within access to I.C.T and the internet . Internet Cafes seem to be the most frequent method of internet access, Proffessor Sinkala has suggested a system of which students can accsess lessons online to keep updated during any school closures. These ideas appear to be mentioned constantly although funding for an enhancement in technology to offer various methods of education isnt perceived as important compared to the health risks currently spreading across Zambia. The idea that Radio is evidently the most beneficial and accessable medium in this enviornment emphasises the significant difference in comparison to the Western world. Understandably the focus seems to be more on preventing the spread of various diseases which seem to be striking Africa constantly.

In enviornments where technology like computing and the internet seems to be standard and often taken for granted, this blog topic has further enforced the idea that we should be making more use of our technology to raise awareness of the lack of technology in places like Zambia where during difficult times the education of students are highly effected. Furthermore if higher amounts of people where aware of these situations thousands of computers and gadgets we throw away and replace every year could be of vital use in other locations like Zambia.

Week 6. Task 1. Communities of Practice

A community of practice of which i have belonged to over majority of the last year is the Universal Martial Arts Association. Several people meet together at arranged times usually 7-9pm twice a week to learn the fundamental forms of Wing Chun. There is a shared interest to learn and gain more skills in this particular practice despite the fact that the members may have different motives from learning. A social gathering is evident when the members of UMA meet at the Grandstand Community Centre during the week. The uniforms requested to be worn at training demonstrates a sense of unity and 'togetherness' representing a group of members who engage and learn in the same area of practice. When applying more of Wengers guidelines for a CofP the Universal Martial Arts association contains students studying at different levels of ability each wearing different coloured belts to identify their level of understanding in the practice.The main teacher or as we call 'Sifu' is seen at the top of the heirachy having more than 24 years of experienced teaching Martial Arts. There are a wide variety of members, some who return after long periodes of being away, newcomers to this particular form of martial arts (Wing Chun) and beginners who learn from eachother as well as the more experienced students and also others who have never studied martial arts atall. Exclusions may be applied to people who attend one or two classes to get a breif introduction of whether they wish to continue enrol or not, furthermore not seen as a member or able to mentor any other individual.

Week 5.2 Blogs

Orgininally , blogging has developed from a system of news bulletins introducing threads , commenting and so on. Online diaries have also contributed ideas to the devolopment of blogs as users would consistantly comment and share issues from their personal life.The use of Blogs has developed drastically over time as text was often the main content wheras now videos, images, mp3s links and so on are a key part in blogging today. Dr Glen Barry founder of ecological internet (E.I) was known to have invented blogging during the year 1993 .Since then, blogging has produced some extraordinary opinions and ideas as well as sparking debates on near enough every topic of interest available. Blogs can provide an excellent service for distributing knowledge and is a great way for journalists, writers, organisations and more to recieve feedback on their work and ideas. One of the main disadvantages argued is that blogging can sometimes be time consuming as many fail to update blogs and reply to comments on a regular basis. Another disadvantage found in blogging is the way users tend to write is sometimes influenced by the original nature of blogs. A conversational tone and personal feelings and emotions could be expressed through text which could be a difficult situation when the feedback isnt what the writer would like to hear and may find offensive.

Week 5, 1 Freedom and Power. News On the Web

More flexibility and freedom on the net has allowed for an advancement in how users receive and interpret news. Robert Burnett has agrued the net has become “a subset of a wider search for information by Web users” (206) and “has led to a shift in how we recontextualise news around a much larger search for information” Online users can research news on a higher scale and can priorotise the importance of information they choose to receive. Paragraph 8 from Meikle highlights the internets oppurtunities by 'searching for new ways to hierarchise those sources, to establish some as more legitimate than others'. Many have argued television news programmes are biased and attempt to manipulate viewers by focusing on particular topics more than others, a key question to be asked is whether this is an aspect which seems to be as existant when researching news online. Online reports are still being delivered by popular broadcast channels like BBC , ITV and Sky although users have more choice and freedom when researching different sources. The quality of a majority of these reports is often questioned as bit part journalists and writers withold the ability to create news within very few limitations. The idea that anyone can be a journalist online is often criticised as open news is becoming more popular by day. Meikle , paragraph 18 informs us 'even the Sydney site, which, perhaps because of the history and involvement of the Catalyst group, promotes open publishing rather more than some other Indymedia sites. The concept of whether open news is actually entirely open remains skeptical as sources like Indymedia have introduced a system where audience members can sub edit , checking facts adding sources , checking spelling and more. The availabilty of news online is 24/7 and global meaning sources can come from different cultures and backgrounds in comparison to fixed broadcast channels from one location.