tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5988350683382077886.post2349175534093549548..comments2024-03-03T18:42:45.305+00:00Comments on My Languages: Networking for Language Teachers : Sharing to GrowIsabelle Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08981793519693793815noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5988350683382077886.post-62278295629841379302009-07-31T09:42:14.750+01:002009-07-31T09:42:14.750+01:00Isabelle, you have given a very good overview of t...Isabelle, you have given a very good overview of the use of social media in the context of teaching modern foreign languages, and there is a growing band of teachers who are making good use of social media. I a number of discussion lists, blogs, wikis and social networking sites, including several language teachers’ personal blogs here in Section 12 of Module 1.5 at the ICT4LT site:<br /><br />http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-5.htm#anchorediscuss<br /><br />A key question that has been raised recently is: To what extent are students at school and in higher education making use of social media for learning? My personal experience as an evaluator of a major HE initiative in the UK is that students make extensive use of mobile phones, PDAs and social networking sites such as Facebook, but they have not seriously considered such tools and Web 2.0 tools in general as offering opportunities for learning. This is a barrier that we still have to overcome.<br /><br />See the ICT4LT blog, where I refer to an article by Gregor Kennedy et al., "The net generation are not big users of Web 2.0 technologies: Preliminary findings", ASCILITE 2007 Conference, Singapore:<br /><br />http://ictforlanguageteachers.blogspot.com/2009/07/students-are-not-big-users-of-web-20.html<br /><br />The 2008 CIBER project report, “Information behaviour of the researcher of the future”, dispels a number of myths concerning the Google Generation. Research carried out by the CIBER project team claims that:<br /><br />• young people rely too heavily on search engines,<br />• they view rather than read,<br />• they do not possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information that they find on the Web,<br />• they find it difficult to assess the relevance of sources,<br />• they spend too little time evaluating information. <br /><br />Regarding the information resources that young people prefer and value in a secondary school setting, the report also states that it is evident that young people consistently value teachers, relatives and textbooks above the Internet (which is comforting to hear). It also states that the impact of social networking is not as great as might be expected, at least when it comes to looking for information, and while younger users are keen consumers of user-generated content sites like Wikipedia and YouTube, there is a marked age difference between these younger consumers and the older people who actually create the content. The report also claims that over-65s in the UK spend around four hours longer online each week than the allegedly always-on 18-24s.<br /><br />Graham Davies<br />University College London, CIBER Project, School of Library, Archive and Information Studies (SLAIS) (2008) Information behaviour of the researcher of the future, CIBER Briefing Paper: London, University College London. Available at:<br /><br />http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber/downloads/ggexecutive.pdf<br /><br />Graham DaviesGraham Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15782751150452768910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5988350683382077886.post-89964127367513011242009-07-31T00:14:39.247+01:002009-07-31T00:14:39.247+01:00Isabelle,
I agree completely and will share this w...Isabelle,<br />I agree completely and will share this with my colleagues here at school. Thanks!<br />Building my network has provided a wealth of resources and connections to people in all parts of the world and provided new ideas and the inspiration / motivation to try new things. As a result, I feel like I am a better teacher.<br />Andrew Jajephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01687337054245697843noreply@blogger.com