ICT E-learning 2

Digital Natives Part A

1. What are some characteristics of digital natives? (What are they good at? What are they poor at?)

• Students who live in this era are far more IT savvy compared to the last generation of people. i.e. our parents. They are more versatile in handling up-to-date equiptments and softwares and it is undoubtedly effective for this fast developing world that we are living in currently. Children these days explore and learn each time they surf the internet and are constantly striving to improve themselves each time. Especially when it involves games that they are engaged in. However, it can also be a set back as children can get easily distracted and may even be addicted to things like gaming and get distracted from their school work.

2. Which portrait did you select? (In your blog, create a link to the portrait.) In terms of their digital background, how similar was that student compared to a Singapore student?

LINK: http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-profile-olivia-video

• For this part of the assignment, I have chosen to watch Olivia's video. Olivia's story was really inspirational for me as I felt what she was going through. Olivia comes from an average class family with many other siblings. Her family is not wealthy and it is difficult for them to afford things like a computer or even a mobile phone. Olivia had to save up by herself for a simple mobile phone. However, inspite all this, she turned out to be very IT-savvy and she is able to work well with new items online, such as the MySpace webpage for uploading her photos and even creating template backgrounds.

Relating to the Singapore context, I believe that there are many students who are like
Olivia as well. Singapore is a well developed country and it is fast moving as well. People are
constantly upgrading themselves to keep up with this pace. Similarly, students are also
equipping themselves with new-age items such as the 'iPhone' or 'Ipod' so that they will be
be able to keep track of their surroundings. However, there are many students out in our
schools who come from families who are not well to do. They cannot afford luxuries like a
home computer or a laptop for their kids to do their school assignments on. In these
scenarios, students will try their ways and means to check their e-mails or 'facebook' by
using the school computers or at cyber cafes outside, just as how Olivia did. She uses the
computer at her friend's house or at the lobby of her apartment building.

3. How might teachers in Singapore today engage and teach our digital natives?

• Teachers in Singapore can plan more lessons with the use of IT in it. Apart from the cliche thing of bringing students to a computer lab to work on a cd-rom which I personally feel is overrated, teachers can try exploring other forms of IT, such as the digital camera. As how Olivia likes to take photos of her friends and herself with the use of her very own mobile phone camera. Students in school can use their own mobile phones with cameras for activities and dont need to buy a new one for school. This teaches them how to use their everyday objects educationally. For example, for an art lesson where students learn the animation of clay (Claymation), they get to use digital cameras (either their mobile phones or DSLRs) to take photos of the figurines moving to create like a stopmotion film. Subsequently, they are supposed to compile their shots together and edit them and then place them either in Microsoft powerpoint or windows movie maker to create the animation. In this scenario, there is a progression and a variety of ICT tools used here.

Part B: The Digital Native's Future

1. As you look into the possible future of the educational landscape, what sort of impressions, fears, or possibilities crossed your mind?

• I think the world would be moving at a very fast pace. Faster than it is today. Every student maybe in primary schools would own a laptop and would have to bring them to school for their assignments. It is a bit scary seeing how developed everything is in Singapore and how much we are pushing ourselves to keep up with everything. Development is a challenging and stressful thing at the same time. Education in schools would be tougher and more IT savvy for sure.
  
  I would like to highlight what Junaidah mentioned in her blog, "in the video it also states that "for students starting a 4year degree this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study". Isn't it overwhelming that we all have to keep on progressing..and whatever we have learnt before, will it be a waste in the future? ?"
  
  This is sure an interesting point I would like to highlight. The world is moving so fast that even whatever that we learn in the first year are getting outdated by the time we reach our final year. So as we go on further in life, we have to upgrade ourselves constantly so that all this info will not get outdated. I am a bit fearful of what awaits me in the future. I am a sort of person who would try to avoid IT things as much as I feel more comfortable using manual things. However, it is tough living like this especially when you see a laptop on at ever nook and cranny of the school or on the MRT. That is the reason why I feel a bit intimidated by the future, however, what can be done really? I have to adapt to everything that changes worldwide at any cause.

2. What might living, learning and working be like in the future?

• I watched the video on Singapore in 2015. Frankly, I find the video a bit ridiculous. 2015 is not that far away from now and I really doubt that Singapore would be really that advanced. People suggested 'flying' cars when we were moving into the new millenium in the year 2000 but nothing of that sort actually happened. Yes, the country is progressing fast to keep up with the rest of the world's standards but i highly doubt that it will be really that advanced.
  However, I really enjoyed watching the 'Did You Know' video online. It captured my attention and gave out really interesting facts about life and the ever changing world. Living, learning and working will evidently be ten times more hectic and stressful as compared to the lifestyles that we are going through now. I really wonder if our children are really up to it as they will be the ones leading the world and our generation will have to take a step back.