Kirsty's blog

ENOUGH with the Digital Native hype

Kirsty Young — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:05:19 +0000

Born 1974, I obtained sufficient dexterity, picked up a pencil and made incoherent marks on the page. I scribbled intently with an accompanied verbalisation of my story to anyone who would listen. I progressed and began to make marks that vaguely represented the people, places and experiences that formed my immediate environment - a circle on top of a triangle - there's mum! I moved on to passing notes in class to socialise with my friends during formal education. I eventually learned (the hard way) the importance of advice given by mum early on "don't put in writing anything you wouldn't everyone to know".

I was not a 'pencil native'- deemed exception because I naturally picked up a tool which was valued by the society in which I was born and **amazingly** used at a basic level without formal instruction for a range of personally fulfilling purposes. This was not classed an astounding skill; it was a child's natural curiosity to engage and play - made more appealing because it enabled (at times) some kind of interaction with the people around me.

I was capable of using the tool (pencil) but it took 'education' to take that rudimentary skill of scribble and turn it in to a functional communicative form, appropriate for my various stages of development and the audiences encountered throughout life.

We need to stop being fooled. Youth today are primarily doing the equivalent. Sure, the tools available to them are far more visually and interactively impressive but in reality they are taking what is available and being inquisitive. We place too much respect in their activities just because they are new. Parents and teachers are criticised for being out-of-touch, incapable of keepining up. Give us six weeks to be adolescents...no work, no bills, someone to shop, cook and clean for us and Gen X and Baby Boomers can get up to speed. More importantly, these adults will both master the technology and then apply their life experience to determine how these tools could most positively shape communication, socialisation and, importantly, opportunities for lifelong learning. Sure, now is a good time to rethink the role of teachers but, just because some people mistakenly believe that children know best, don't automatically diminish the importance of a teacher's role in learning - youth are not automatically best placed to monitor their own influence. We must value many teachers committment to facilitiating the growth of a future generation which is socially and environmentally aware, youth who value healthcare, education, progression and well-being of the majority.

Upcoming Conference

Kirsty Young — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:13:46 +0000

ICCE 2009 Hong Kong - 30 Nov to 1 Dec 2009
Poster Presentation - Applying Multimodal Analysis to Popular Websites to Develop Students' Digital Literacy
http://www.icce2009.ied.edu.hk

Upcoming Seminar

Kirsty Young — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:08:34 +0000

eBay as an authentic learning object

Kirsty Young — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:42:21 +0000

I recently presented at the 15th International Conference on Learning on the use of the popular online auction site eBay as an authentic learning object. This idea is underpinned by various socio-cultural theories of learning; Situated Cognition, Distributed Cognition and Activity Theory. An overview of the presentation can be found under my 'Research' - 'Projects' page.

AoIR

Kirsty Young — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:55:50 +0000

For those interested in Internet-mediated learning in any of its forms, I would highly recommend joining the Association of Internet Researchers www.aoir.org.

Online Seminar

Kirsty Young — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:29:25 +0000

In collaboration with colleagues at UTS I have been engaged in a research project which investigates prospective teachers as Learning Design authors. This project was funded by the Australasian Society for Computers in Teaching and Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE). The project encouraged pre-service teachers to use well-established learning strategies (Predict-Observe-Explain, Learners Questions and Analogical Reasoning) to develop an online Learning Design (using the LAMS platform). Our virtual seminar on this project can be viewed at: http://econversations.wetpaint.com/

We would really welcome your contributions to the online discussion - either through 'voicethread' or the traditional discussion forum.

Conferences 2008

Kirsty Young — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:53:29 +0000

During 2008 I will present on my current work:

Young, K. 2008. Identity creation and socialisation from the perspective of active online social networks.
Internet Research 9.0: Rethinking Community, Rethinking Place. Assocation of Internet Researchers. Copenhagen, Denmark. 15-18 October 2008.

Young, K. 2008. Authentic Learning Using an Online Auction Site. 15th International Conference on Learning. University of Chicago, Illinois. 3-6 June 2008.

How is the Internet being used?

Kirsty Young — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 01:41:02 +0000

I recently distributed an online survey investigating internet use. There have been 748 respondents to date. Initial findings reveal the following popular uses for the Internet across this group:
Email (97% using daily/weekly)
Instant messaging (47% using daily/weekly)
Banking (71% using at least monthy)
News source (82% using at least monthly)
Product searches (78% using at least monthly)
Recreational activity searches (78% using at least monthly)
How-to information searches (84% using at least monthly)
Work/study related information (97% using at least monthly)
YouTube (67% using at least monthy)
Music downloads (65% using at least once per year)
Purchasing tickets (78% using at least once per year)
Social networking (eg. myspace, Facebook) - 68% have a profile

A little less popular:
Online auctions (47% using at least once per year)
Online games (33% using at least once per year)
Adding photos (51% using at least once per year)

While the following do not appear to be taken up significantly by this group:
Downloading movies (78% never)
Dating sites (91% never)
Writing a blog (69% never)
Social bookmarking (80% never)
Adding reviews (76% never)
Music networking (88% never)
Creating/posting videos (89% never)

Use of social networking sites

Kirsty Young — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:29:14 +0000

Preliminary results of an online survey I am currenty carrying out into the use of social networking sites indicates that 62% of 254 respondents (aged between 15-65 years) currently maintain a social networking site. Is this a fad or a cultural phenomenon that will forever alter social interaction and relationships?

If you would like to take part in the survey please visit: http://surveys.uts.edu.au/index.cfm?surveyid=3355