[Year 12 IT Apps] Edutainment

[Anne-Marie Chase]

Hello All

I have only recently joined the IP&M list after an absence of some years I
seem to have come in part way through a very interesting discussion on the
relationship between students informal use of digital technologies and use
of technology in school.   This is a very timely discussion.

I am currently studying at the University of Western Australia and looking
for schools to participate in my research. I have included some blurb below
about the research and wondered if you might be interested?  

The title of the study is "Digital Technology In- and Out-of-School:  A
Comparative Study of the Nature and Levels of Student Use and Engagement"  

A major consequence of the advent of the technological age is that young
people today live in a 'techno culture'. Students' experiences with
technology outside of school are likely to be at least as important for
predicting student outcomes as their experiences in school.  As a result,
any questions of relationships between technology use and student outcomes
must take account of uses in both settings.  

The overarching aims of this research are to describe and compare the nature
and complexity of students' digital technology experiences in- and
out-of-school within Australia, and to explore whether these experiences act
as significant predictors of students school engagement.  

It is hoped that the outcomes of the research will help educators to better
align students' in- and out-of-school experiences, and thus to capitalise on
students' motivation and interest in using digital technologies.  

The research involves gathering data via surveys, from students in years
7 -12 (approx 25 students from any year level). There are four different
surveys: School, Student, Parent & Teacher.  The questions include general
background information about the students and their parents and how they use
technology.  There are questions for the student about how engaged they are
at school and what they think of technology and then the teacher survey asks
similar questions about the students levels of engagement.  

In the trials I have carried out the students have found it interesting just
considering what they can and can't do with technology and how the use of
technology for their own use has impacted on their lives.  

It's a thought provoking survey and if you are interested in participating I
will be more than happy to provide feedback.

I have received University Ethics clearance and approval for my application
to the Department of Education and Training to conduct research in Victorian
Government Schools.  The school principals are required to give permission
for the research to be conducted in the school, and consent forms will need
to be signed by students, parents and teachers

I realise participating in research like this can be yet another time demand
when as a teacher you already have so much to do, however you will all be
aware of the extensive technology skill range students develop informally,
research that can enable us to build on this is valuable to both students
and their teachers.

If you are interested in participating or would like further details please
let me know.

Kind Regards 

Anne-Marie Chase
chasea01 at student.uwa.edu.au
08 6488 2300 or 08 9204 1695

-----Original Message-----
From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]
On Behalf Of Cameron Bell
Sent: 13 August 2007 06:45
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Edutainment

Children need guidance and education on what happens in the real world. 
They can just "pick it up" but without the guidance of adults, well - 
we've read Lord of the Flies.
You could ban and ignore fire and hope it goes away or teach kids how to 
handle it and the dangers involved.
You could ban all tv's in school because of Big Brother and all the 
other rubbish and limit yourself to the ABC only. Kids go home and watch 
Big Brother without any adult guidance and think that is acceptable 
behaviour. *Kids need adult guidance*.
You could sit down with a class and critically analyse an episode and 
point out what is acceptable an not acceptable beaviour or would that be 
edutainment?
Kids can either roam YouTube or mySpace unguided as schools stick their 
heads in the sand or pass responsibility onto less-tech savy parents, or 
we acknowledge it exists, happens, its ugly bits, its good bits and we 
help our students makes sense of it, we point out that a lot of it 
contradicts our sense of values and we, as teachers help guide the 
students into recognising what it right and wrong. For some students, we 
are the only guidance they get.
I fear a lot of the ugly stuff that happens in society is due to 
parents/institutions/governments all passing the buck, ignoring it or 
simply being unaware it exists rather than acknowledging it and dealing 
with it.
Cheers
Cameron

Timmer-Arends wrote:
> I don't know that Stephen is arguing some of the things you attribute 
> to him but I'm sure he can defend himself. There is one point, 
> however, that I can't let go.
>
> DD>...Surely our main aim is to assist the
>> students to adapt to the real world that "they" live in.
>
> If helping students adapt to the real world was all we were trying to 
> do then we would not have to have schools. Children readily adapt to 
> to most environments without the need for school.
>
> DD>...We have
>> evolved to learn by doing, mimicking and acting out.
>
> ...and that's the problem. It is exactly the reason school needs to be 
> a 'better place' (I know that's massively value-laden but let's ignore 
> it for now!) than what parts of society present to our students. And 
> if we allow too much of the dross that's part of society into our 
> schools, we will legitimate it. In this respect the Internet 
> represents a great magnifier of all aspects of society - the good, the 
> bad and the ugly. Surely there is enough of the bad and the ugly out 
> there in the 'real world' without unnecessarily bringing it into school.
>
> Regards
> Robert T-A
> Brighton SC
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