Johanna Schicker’s Weblog

When I think back to my childhood and adolescence, Internet and computer in general did not play such an important role as it does for teenager nowadays. I had several pen friend to whose I wrote about my life, boys I am “in love with” or other general topics like school, music, hobbies and so on and I really liked to receive a letter with their answers and news about them. Today, the students are spending hours in front of their computer in order to talk or write to friends via chats or e-Mail. Seriously, the internet is the much more faster way for communication and I also use ICQ and e-Mail to stay in contact with my friends, but on the other hand, I try as often as possible to write letters or postcards (e.g. for birthdays or christmas) which is more intimate than sending a SMS or e-Mail.

As I already state in my post about the importance of computer skills two weeks ago, we have to find a healthy balance between the virtual world and the life beside that world. Sure, there are various possibilities to include those modern communication tools into our lessons, but we should not neglect other ways of communication and other social skills eventhough they might be old-fashioned. Maybe, we can encourage our students to start a pen friendship with other students from an English school by not only using e-Mail but also sending handwritten letters.

Communication via chats and other so called synchronous communication tools always lack emotional impressions like gestures and eye – contact eventhough you might use smileys in order to impress your feelings. But there is always a danger of a certain misunderstanding between the participants of a chat. It is not easy to explain exactly what you mean without using your hands and facial expression. In addition, you sometimes don’t know the person who you are talking to and cannot trust in what she or he is telling you.

Furthermore, the students should be aware of the so called network etiquette “netiquette” which describes the do’s and don’ts of online communication like e.g. appropriate behaviour and respecting other people’s privacy and time.

All in all, I absolutely won’t malign the helpful use of internet!!! But I am a little bit afraid that this communication tool might possess our daily life too much. I am still of the opinion that we cannot ignore the virtual and medial development and that it has to be involved into our lessons, but we should pay attention to other important values e.g. using traditional ways of communication and information exchange, too!!!

As I already stated in my last blog entry, the influence of our daily life by the media technology demands a good preparation and large knowledge of its use. This includes also appropriate ways of doing internet research. In the following, I will list several advantages and disadvantages and refer to some aspects concerning the internet use which we have to keep in mind.

ADVANTAGES

• It is much easier to find information in the internet than in a library: using the internet for research is time-saving and can be done whenever and whereever you want!
• In contrast to a library, the internet provides a world wide range of articles, book excerpts, journals, pictures etc. Certainly, academical libraries offer also a large range of international bibliography, but again, via internet it is much easier and faster.
• Furthermore, the internet facilitates a precise research on a special topic!

DISADVANTAGES

• One of the biggest problems concerning the internet research are results and sources which are outdated and not reliable. In general, we select one of the first three results which are found by the search engine without respecting its trustworthiness.
• Another negative aspect is the risk of plagiarism. Especially pupils tend to use the “copy and paste” function for their presentations, essays, etc….
• Unfortunately, the internet is full of annoying and suddenly appering advertisment which can lead up to blind alleys.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SEARCH ENGINES

The easiest way to find information in the internet is the use of a search enginge. All you have to do is entering a keyword or phrase and wait for the list of results the search enginge has found. The most common search tools might be google, yahoo and fireball. They all work according to the so called Boolean Logic which consists of three logical parameters which refers to the search terms (in this example SNOW and ICE), namely AND, OR and NOT:

Another very common search tool is Wikipedia. This database works like a forum where anyone can add or revise articles. Having a look at Wikipedia is definitely a good start in order to get a brief overview of a certain topic, BUT: it is not always reliable and therefore no academic source!!!

IMPORTANCE FOR FUTURE TEACHERS

As becoming teachers we should – again – keep in mind, that we cannot neglect the importance and presence of the internet!!! Hence, we also have to involve the internet research into our lessons and let the students get activated. There are three different methods:

• guided = The teacher leads the lesson and the research via internet
• half – guided = The teacher has more or less a supporting function while the students try to work autonomically.
• free search = The students work on their own, e.g. do the research work as a homework

In general, we should take into account that our students have different knowledge and experiences. Consequently, it won’t be easy to fulfill the students’ expectations and to create an interesting lesson for everyone. Therefore, we can make use of all of the methods according to the learners’ previous knowledge.

This week, I like to present an in-class group poster and discuss the following statement, taken from “The Atlantic Monthly”, July 1997:

“A 1996 poll of US teachers found that they ranked computer skills and media technology as more “essential” than the study of European history, biology, chemistry and physics; than dealing with social problems such as drugs and family breakdown; than learning practical job skills; and than reading modern American writers such as Steinbeck and Hemmingway or classical ones such as Plato and Shakespeare.”

Certainly, media technology and computers have already influenced our life a lot and we cannot abdicate its benefit anymore. Therefore, learners should definitely become familiarized with it. But, are those skills really much more “essential” than general knowledge about historical events, science or social problems?

In the following, I will relate to the group poster and try to work out some pro and con aspects in order to come to a feasible conclusion.

PRO ASPECTS:

• As the group already state on the poster, computer skills are inevitable and an important requirement in order to find a job. Nowadays, every company works not only with media and the internet but also with the “intranet”. Since not every family has a computer or internet access for one’s disposal the learners should get prepared for that in school!

• I already mentioned in my introduction that media has remarkably influenced our life. At University, for example, you have to sign up for courses via internet or get or exchange information about courses on a platform which facilitates learning and communication a lot. Furthermore, you have to do many research projects with the help of the internet… how would you tackle these situations without the knowledge about computer and media???

• Another aspect belongs to the field of communication. Many people have friends who had emigrated or spending a year abroad. With the help of the internet and tools like ICQ, Skype and of course E-M@il it is possible to stay in touch with them.

CONTRA ASPECTS:

• I totally agree with the group’s opinion that there is the danger that children could spend too much time with computers and other media and end up isolated as a maverick.

• Furthermore, pupils do not meet their friends outside e.g. to play football or experience the nature … They rather meet in their virtuell world to play a football game on the computer or to chat in the ICQ than meet at a Cafe or a pub. Consequently, they might lose their view for reality and the REAL world they are surrounded by.

• In addition to my first pro – aspect, the students who were dealing with the quote state, that learners not only need computer skills but also social skills concerning team work, solving problems etc in order to get a job or just to manage their life in society. Or does there already exist a programm/software which bears this in mind??? 😉

(MY) CONCLUSION:

From my point of view, computer skills and media technology is definitely essential and should play an important role in school, BUT: general knowledge like European history, sciences and reading on Hemmingway or Shakespeare should not get neglected!!! What’s the matter if a student is brillant in creating a Power Point Presentation and having a blog when he or she has absolutely no idea about the content of the presentation??? They do not only be familiarized with certain media skills. Employers rather attach importance to social skills and intelligent employes who know about what’s going on in the REAL world.

In my opinion we – as being future teachers – should try to find an appropriate “happy medium” in order to combine the old traditional approaches with the modern alternative approaches. There are many possibilities to include the media into the lesson. Learners should have the chance to bring in or ameliorate their knowledge concerning media skills, e.g. by getting the task to search for information about the Romans and their cultural background in the internet and present their results on a blog or with a Power Point Presentation. In addition, there are many new approaches to teach Shakespeare in a much more interesting way than ages ago. Showing a movie or read out a special scene in present english or even in a funny new version catches the learners attention and is much more fun for them!

What I like to make clear is the fact, that we cannot ignore the importance of new media nowadays and that there are various possibilities to involve them into our lessons. But nonetheless, I think it is also important that we pay attention to other important skills as communication OUTSIDE the virtual world, tackling social problems e.g. in class and develop a sense for old fashioned but still essential values of lifestyle e.g. doing sports, go out or meet with friends, family circle etc. In the end, we are in a role model and influence the pupils, crucially. . .