Japanese class

I have just read this article. I have heard the similar story in Japanese news recently, so it is not just happening in Australia but happening everywhere in the world where children are exposed to the internet. Children and teenagers become addicted to the internet because they probably feel that they can control (making friends etc) everything on their own speed and they can do anything they want without interference by someone, especially parents and teachers. Also, children might consider the internet as a toy and they do not see its risk. The important thing is that parents should tell their children the degree of danger at an early state. Parents also have to think if the particular websites such as Myspace and Facebook are necessary for their child or not. Also, family members need to talk about the sites and parents should set rules and control the use of internet for children before it is too late.

I have just read this article. This article was written in 2001, so the number of time today’s ‘Digital Natives’ spend on the new technologies will be double or even five times compared to the situation in 2001. The author encourages teachers to shift the new teaching method which is based on the Digital Natives’ learning styles immediately. The author says as if Digital Immigrants have huge disadvantages. I think that learning/using new technologies is not the same as learning/using new language (the author’s metaphor)in different countries. I think that the Digital Immigrants will learn and adjust to the new technologies much faster than the author expected. Also,only Digital Immigrants can compare the traditional and new way of teaching methodology and evaluate which is better or not. Even though the new technologies are dominant our lives, we cannot destroy the old teaching styles which have been researched and examined many times over many years. I think the valance is important. Using new technology in a class is a good opportunity which students can be centered in the class. If teachers follow the way that the author says ” smart adult immigrants accept that they don’t know about their new world and take advantage of their kids to help them learn and integrate.”(Prensky,2001,p3), it will bring benefit for both teachers and students. So teachers should try to use both teaching styles (old and new) and decide which way is more efficient for students’ learning.

Original Chart: Flickr

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0Attribution Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Available at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/32104175@N00/529064785

I have just read this article(Wallis, C. (2006, April). The Multitasking generation. Time. 46-54. (Access at KGai library or e-copy via library catalogue). Preview here). This article mentions the issues which I have been thinking about in regard to today’s use of new technologies such as Myspace chat room, Facebook and online games etc. I agree with the idea that new technologies (eg: the internet and mobile phones etc) bring some benefits to  our lives. However, if people spend most time on these technologies in  every day life, their ability to communicate with people in terms of physical communication and body language etc will decrease. Also, from my experience, e-mailing and downloading while writing an essay is very inefficient and it is really difficult to concentrate on the task. The teenagers in the article might feel the same way as me. However, it is difficult to stop this because using internet is mentally addictive. So I think that parents should control how long their children are allowed to use computer, which sites they can visit and which tools (eg:mobile phone) their children can have. It is also important for parents to show good models to their children. It is totally our choice how much we use/spend time on computers or mobile phones but I feel that new technologies are being given too much control  in our lives in recent times.

Original Chart: Flickr

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0Attribution Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Available at: www.flickr.com/photos/32104175@N00/529341742

Welcome to your brand new blog at Edublogs.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.

There’s stacks of great supporting material too! Take time to view our some helpful introductory videos, read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or stop by The Edublogs Forums to chat with other edubloggers.

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.

And finally, if you like Edublogs but want to be able to simply create, administer, control and manage hundreds of student and teacher blogs at your school or college, check out Edublogs Campus… it’s like Edublogs in a box, all for you.

Thanks again for signing up with Edublogs!