Wednesday, 28 December 2011

The Digital Text Books Era

Digital devices are slowly but surely taking over text books. We see universities like Stanford in USA offering all its first year medical students Ipads to ease the load of text books. Louise Robinson the new leader of a top girls school in her first interview stated that  "In future, pupils will access texts through smartphones and e-readers. Taking on board the fact that textbooks will be on your mobile, whatever shape, name or type of fruit your mobile relates to... anywhere, any time, any place – it's a huge possibility," she said. Pupils could learn more from the "magic" of using smart phones and tablets than from simply reading a book, she argued. Mrs Robinson, who is head of Merchant Taylors' Girls' School in Crosby, Liverpool, added: "I can understand the concept that there's the real smell of a very old book – I'm not going to throw them on the bonfire at all. I do believe that there will be a time and a place for going to look at an old book – but when you're doing class reading, why buy the hard copy?"
Electronic books continue to generate strong interest in the consumer sector and are increasingly available on campuses as well. Modern electronic readers support note-taking and research activities, and are beginning to augment these basic functions with new capabilities. From immersive experiences to support for social interaction — that are changing our perception of what it means to read.

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

4year old VS 30year Old...Digi what?

Do we really need to inform today's generation about being digital?
I went to Comet with my four year old the other day, and as I went on about my business trying to find a good telly, he stealthy walked off to the 'Tablets' section, picked up a demo Ipad 2 and swiped his little fingers to some game apps, took a few pictures's of his little round face, and when he was finished, he came and found me and demanded I bought him an Ipad. He dragged me to the gadget and showed me all the amazing things you could do with it...
That evening, a friend of mine (25years older than my son) came to visit and knowing he wanted to shoot off, I informed him I had an app on my android that would inform him what time the bus is coming so he didn't have to wait in the cold. Looking at me funny he asks..what is an android?..before I could even answer, my son runs over, grabs my phone and says I will show you how to find the bus times and of course he did..
See, I never expected my nearly 30 year old guest not to know about this whole 'android/apps world' because you see my four year old 'knows it all'!  I then realised that it is easy to make assumptions about people's abilities and knowledge regarding the digital world and technology.
So back to the question, do we really need to inform this generation about being digital? I think the answer is........'it depends'..(eyes wide open...shrugging my shoulders). Maybe if I took the word 'generation' out of the question and replaced it with 'people in general'.. then the answer would be....YES!

In our IRG meeting least week we discussed a few factors that would be taken into consideration when we think about people and issues relating to digital literacies. One of the factors that I placed high on my list was cognition. I believe it is important for people to understand why they need to be digitally literate. I think we need to start a revolution where we get people to start asking themselves questions like: Why do I need to know about the digital world? How will it help me? Where am I going to use the skills? When am I going to use them? If I dont jump on the digital wagon, then what? If they understand some of the answers to these questions, then maybe, just maybe they will not feel alienated by living, learning and working in this digital society.Oh wait..! and they will know to get an android phone, download the London Buses app, and save themselves time standing in the cold waiting for a bus that is 20 mins away!...ok Cynthia, enough already!.. Adios