Comments(3)

    • Ian Murphy

    • 14 years ago

    Hi Darcy, I hope you’re well
    During our conversation did you say that a load of NSW teachers were on Twitter/Facebook? I wonder whether they might be up for responding anonymously to some of the issues around ICT we discussed. For example the question vexing me currently is:
    If young people in school come armed with more knowledge than their teachers about digital media and better equipped to intuitively negotiate participatory culture what are we as teachers bringing to the party? Are we there to ensure or lobby for equity of access? advise on ethical and safe behaviour? or help them understand the economic, capitalist or neo-liberal roots of much of what they see on-line and participate in? Just a thought. Have a good one, Ian

  1. Darcy
    Its all about how we measure intelligence, if we continue to measure it based on the consume/practice/remember/recall/forget path then yes it will make us stupid, but only stupid by our own definition.

    If however if we shift away from measuring intelligence as the ability to regurgitate what we are told towards how we process what we can access (see my post on the ‘new access issue’) then we have not only improved our intelligence but the way in which we measure intelligence is more rigorous and culturally current.

    Ian good teachers will continue to do what they have always done, facilitate learning in which ever environment the operate. The article says “When writing itself appeared, philosophers feared that it would weaken memory and degrade intelligence.” I wonder if the teachers back them (sharmen/church etc) had similar thoughts about there roll in society too?

    My question is if this not the first radical change in the way knowledge is constructed and information is processed (stories/books/writing/printing press/libraries/books/internet and now social media) why do we have so much anxiety when we now all the changes that came before have moved the human race forward. Why do we assume that this one will be any different. Or more poignantly is social media the current embodiment of our real fear “change “.

    I think its time for a new Blog post you have my brain thinking…….

    Ben 🙂

    • darcymoore

    • 14 years ago

    Ian, increasingly baby boomer teachers are keeping in contact with their grown-up kids, as they study and travel, by using Facebook. 7 million Australians are on FB, many must be teachers. I have seen at work, for years now, teachers who have no clue about tthe challenges and rewards for students in their online world. The teacher with little experience of this, still has much to offer re: issues like cyberbullying but ideally, they would be experienced users.

    Ben , yes, ‘change’ would be the nail on the head, you’ve hit (chanelling Yoda).

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