H800-Week 1 - blog 1

Hi World
I learnt about keeping a journal or portfolio of work in H808 and plan to do so for H800 which started on 7th Feb 09. I think this shows a significant piece of reflective learning as I have had 2 weeks off since H808 and starting H800 and I've realised how useful it was keeping a portfoliop/blog for the assessments and TMA 1 in H800 is also evidence based so here I go.

Week 1a
First impressions - a bit scared. The course is designed around learning objects and a list of tasks I have to do. Although it's just as much commitment as H808 it seems more rigid and makes me feel I've taken on too much. My tutor group also make me scared, there are all a lot older and wiser than I and in general are lecturers/teachers so have a completely different take on elearning to me and are all VERY active on the discussion boards making even me seem inactive. Looking at it more positively I can see that I am going to learn alot from these people and in particular learn alot about their viewpoints which will help me in my working with academics. Maybe I've misinterpreted them, so far though they are all a lovely group of people - well they'd better be, we've got 32 hard weeks together ahead of us.
A1: Meeting fellow students and tutor. We had to send a message to the group introducing ourselves and saying something unusual about yourself and one learning technology that we enjoy using. We were also asked to reply to interesting points in other people's messages. I enjoyed this activity, there was a lot to do as I don't like to see anyone left out so wanted to reply to everyone and what I found that everyone made a point of picking up something in each other's messages to actually have a conversation about. This was rare in H808, which tended to be just a collected of postings, no real discussions as I would define them. I think we've done a good job of starting to get to know each other. I also note from the level of activity that I may be able to enjoy being a follower rather than the followed which I will enjoy. I don't have time for too much leadership. I look forward to discussions with the group.
Despite the high levels of interaction, there are a few group members who claim not to enjoy group study and love to be buried in books; quite the opposite to me. It'll be interesting to see how their views change, or mine of course! I think H800 is quite a different kettle of fish than H800 - I think it's stepped up a notch.
A2: Sharing your reactions to the courses themes. We were asked to tell the group about something that interested you about the course themes and the learning outcomes, to compare reactions. I posted that I was particularly interested in 2 of the learning outcomes, number 2. choices that learners make about their own learning, in terms of which technologies they use, why and how and 8. draw on a wide range of experience, accounts and formal research evidence to recommend appropriate ways of using technologies in specific contexts. Eddy at least had the same reasons as me, I think there were more. A lot of people were keen to learn about how they could use technology in their teaching.
A3: How much changed when printing arrived - see article here. about the first law of technology "THE FIRST Law of Technology says we invariably overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies while underestimating their longer-term effects." and how the invention of printing had such a huge impact on society that was not expected. We discussed other examples that upheld this view, such as the invention of the car (Eckart's post) and how Mr Ford can't have realised how much impact his invention would have.
A4: Generations of information seekers. This started off the debate about the Google generation or the supposed age based digital divide. A comparison of students of different ages in terms of how dependent they were on five methods of finding articles was shared with us (CIBER/UCL 2008). It showed that 17-21 mostly used online sources, and older generations were less dependent on these but more dependent on a range of sources including more traidtional ones. We compared the sources of information to our own preferences and I said that "
"My preferences are for Personal recommendations, which I include reference lists in course materials, and then Google Scholar to explore the reading further. I haven't the time for browsing libraries and find them difficult to use/find what I want, so prefer the online route. Like Simon this is also a reflection of how I shop!" Keith has also posted similar, and we three are all in the 26-35 age bracket which is showing a pattern already.
They tried to prove or disprove some of the myths of the Google Generation such as The need to feel constantly connected to the internet, the cut and paste generation, picking up computer skills by trial and error and expert researchers. This is what I thought about those 4 statements and me:
"1. ‘They [the Google Generation] need to feel constantly connected to the web’
Well you tell me, 6 months ago we went Wifi, 1 month ago I bought a phone with 3G and unlimited web surfing, this week I received a laptop. I do EVERYTHING online, it's scary. Shop, plan travel, talk to my friends, (i hardly ever phone anyone), do academic research, look for and apply for jobs, read the news, rent DVDs, the list goes on, study! If it's online I'm there. If it's not online I generally don't do it, or do it under duress, to my own disadvantage I know! I get really frustrated about services who do have websites and email addresses but don't respond to them. Another piece of evidence to prove this is me, as if I need it, is that when I go to Kazakhstan in a few weeks just for 3 days, I've already sussed out where the internet cafes are!
2. ‘They are the "cut-and-paste" generation’
I hope that this doesn't apply to me, but I have just cut-and-pasted Frauke's message and deleted her entries to save me typing the structure out again! Is that the same or is that me just being efficient?
3. ‘They pick up computer skills by trial and error’
I think I'm a partly this one, I start off with trial and error but then refer to the experts when I get stuck.I learned to use a computer early because we always had a computer in the house growing up for office tasks, not for games, so was exposed to it very early. I am a self taught touch typist and self taught at MS office. However, this only goes so far; I need to consult "online" manuals and attend training when things get more advanced and tend to refer to forums a lot for technological guidance. The drawback of trial and error learning is that you probably miss out on so much functionality.
4. ‘They are expert searchers’
There are so many legitimate sources online now that you can be an expert searcher online. It certainly helps to be digitally literate to help in your ability to be an expert searcher of online resources, so I partly disagree with the researchers, and as Frauke said, it's the ability to identify what to look for, how to find it and show you've made good research choices that make you an expert searcher, not simply being able to use a digital source of information. Whether you find the information in a physical library or an online library doesn't matter as long as the information is valid."
The same article explains a lot about the myths and truths of the google generation and it's potential impact on education in the future. There is an argument to say that even though the characteristics of the Google Gen exist, it's not restricted to the 17-21 age group, in fact it is the 30-50 age group who creates much of the content that the younger gen enjoys in social networking/web 2.0 stuff.
" But there is no evidence in the serious literature that young people are expert searchers, nor that the search skills of young people has improved with time . Studies pre-dating the widespread public use of the Internet have reported that young searchers often display difficulty in selecting appropriate search terms, and research into Internet use has consistently found similar difficulties."
However concerns are that young people are not questionning the validity of information as well as they should, and taking what they read on the web as true so one of the challenges in education is to unteach that.
The authors warn educators that: the internet is fading into the background in that it is being taken for granted and educational bodies are not keeping up with this and are not present enough in the environment. Educators need to be "more e-consumer friendly and less stodgy and intellectual". Educators also have to be wary of being decoupled, ie students finding information elsewhere that you have no links with or knowledge of and cutting you out of the process altogether eg making libraries obsolete.