Regular Posting- 17
In his article, Brown pointed out that today people use technology to support relationships between individuals. “We are discovering new tools to support each others, which is the very essence of social learning.” (Brown, 2000). It is a theory also supported by the Sherry Turkle, Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology.
I like to believe that technology does enhanced collaborative learning, people share their knowledge and their information via blogs, podcasts, videos, social networking. It is up to educators to value this tool and bring it into the classroom. We have to our disposition a gigantic classroom representing every culture, every language and every thinking. We can connect students with the world and teach them to use the best of what the Net can offer in order to improve as individuals. By using a collaborative learning networking, students learn to become more tolerant, patient and to keep an open mind on what is different.
Though, it is the way I translate it because for our digital natives, this way of thinking is natural, innate. As for people like me who are digital immigrants it is something that we need to keep in mind at all time. Because no matter how long, how often and how well I will use technologies, I won’t become a native. No matter for how long I have been living here and how well I know Australia, I will always be French, it is innate.
But I can keep an open mind, keep up to date with the technology and continue to learn this new language and learn about this new culture. Being disconnected from the new technologies it is being disconnected from the new generation of students. Technology is not a wall that seperate generation of people, it is a bridge between many generation of people.
