iDilemmas and Humanities Education: Redefining Technology Literacy Pedagogy and Practice

U.S. and global citizens will increasingly be called upon to navigate complex social issues surrounding information and communication technologies (ICTs). At the start of the 21st century, humanities educators are uniquely positioned to impact the ways technology literacy is taught and learned in secondary and post-secondary educational settings. Cultural, social, and textual criticism are increasingly embedded in the evolving theories surrounding technology literacy. To build the new kinds of technocultural humanism required, however, humanities educators must continue to fight against fragmented, atheoretical technology literacy practices that while not ill-intentioned, do not fit the methodologies needed to produce the best results. Humanities educators must 1) inoculate themselves against the E Literacy Myth positing that Gen-Y / Millennial students are inherently tech savvy ; 2) be willing to provide key perspectives and conversations that have been largely absent from technology discussions; 3) avoid focusing research on narrow textual perspectives, but also investigate the vast range of practical and social implications of technology\u27s use conditions; and 4) explore new classroom techniques that can produce immediate technology literacy gains even if programmatic changes are not forthcoming

Assessing the efficacy of online teaching with the Constructivist online learning environment survey

Teachers of science, mathematics and technology Australia wide are being required to transform their established epistemologies of practice in order to engage learners as active conceptualisers within socially interactive learning environments. Many teachers are enrolling in postgraduate distance education programs to assist them with this challenging task. Curtin University is responding by using computer mediated communication to speed up the exchange of distance study materials and to provide online interactive learning environments (via chat groups, bulletin boards and email). For the past three years, the authors have been using the Internet to teach online Masters degree students studying at a distance from Curtin. The major pedagogical goal is to engage students (professional teachers) in reflective and collaborative learning. The web sites provide Activity Rooms in which the teachers engage students in frequent and focused discourse with each other and with their online tutors. As reflective teachers, the authors are keen to evaluate their own innovative practices and constantly improve them. To this end, they have designed the Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey (COLLES), an electronic questionnaire that enables them to readily monitor each student's preferred online learning environment and compare it with her/his actual experiences. In this presentation, they outline the rationale of the questionnaire and present some preliminary analyses that illustrate its usefulness. [Author abstract, ed] Teachers of science, mathematics and technology Australia wide are being required to transform their established epistemologies of practice in order to engage learners as active conceptualisers within socially interactive learning environments. Many teachers are enrolling in postgraduate distance education programs to assist them with this challenging task. Curtin University is responding by using computer mediated communication to speed up the exchange of distance study materials and to provide online interactive learning environments (via chat groups, bulletin boards and email). For the past three years, the Internet has been used to teach online Masters degree students studying at a distance from Curtin. The major pedagogical goal is to engage the students (professional teachers) in reflective and collaborative learning. Curtin's web sites provide Activity Rooms in which students are engaged in frequent and focused discourse with each other and with their online tutors. To evaluate and improve on their teaching practice, the academic staff designed the Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey (COLLES), an electronic questionnaire that enables them to readily monitor each student's preferred online learning environment and compare it with her/his actual experiences. This paper outlines the rationale of the questionnaire and presents some preliminary analyses that illustrate its usefulness

Developing cross‐cultural communicative competence via computer‐assisted language learning: The case of pre‐service ESL/EFL teachers

Based on a qualitative research project, this article presents a view on the use of computer technology to develop a critical cross‐cultural communicative competence in English as a Second Language (ESL) / English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for pre‐service teachers. The article includes a brief critical theoretical framework, some classroom pedagogical implications, and a data‐based discussion of pre‐service teachers’ views. These views included: (1) critical views and an awareness of cultural power relations in computer‐assisted language learning (CALL), (2) uncritical views and a lack of awareness of cultural power relations in CALL, and (3) uses of metaphors in CALL. The powerful contribution of CALL can be found in its potential for providing ways to connect people and build communities, for offering opportunities for cross‐cultural communicative competence to be developed and used, and for improving processes of democratization via computer‐mediated communication. However, a socio‐cultural criticism revealed that this powerful tool, like any other media, is non‐neutral because it can serve to reinforce further the hegemonic aspects of education, that is, the dominant culture will be strengthened and protected via computer technology. Computer‐based technologies and software are increasingly incorporated into the curricula of ESLIEFL teacher education programmes. However, this integration is often done in ways that seem to leave unquestioned the potential cultural and hegemonic ramifications of such technology. Hence there is a need for a more critical technological competence

Un/Becoming Digital: The Ontology of Technological Determinism and Its Implications for Art Education

Artists have been experimenting with analog and digital technologies since the 1960\u27s; early examples include Billy Khiver\u27s Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) and Nam June Paik (1966). While countless artists have since made highly innovative use of new media such as the computer, artificial intelligence (AD, biotech, the Internet and the World Wide Web, LED, motion capture, gesture tracking, CPS, open source, and robotics, artist/ theorists such as Penny (1995), Lovejoy (1997), Weibel (1996; 2001) and Wilson (2002) have cautioned against appropriating deterministic engineering models underlying such technologies.(l)These models, predominant in commercial industry, government and the military, embrace efficiency, commodity economics, innovation, progress, and privileging explicit (as opposed to ambiguous and metaphorical) knowing. However, each of these artist/ theorists has acknowledged the extreme difficulty artists have when attempting to critique or distance themselves from the institutional values embedded in the technologies themselves

Reference Services in Minnesota: Alive or Dead?

This document was written to guide my comments at the MINITEX conference: Reference Services in Minnesota: Dead or Alive, held on Thursday, November 9, 1995, at the Earle Brown Center at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul Campus. The conference was organized to discuss the themes set forward in Is Traditional Reference Service Obsolete, the lead article for the Symposium on Reference Service in Journal of Academic Librarianship, volume 21, number 1, January 1995

Rethinking the participatory web: A history of HotWired’s “new publishing paradigm,” 1994–1997

This article critically interrogates key assumptions in popular web discourse by revisiting an early example of web ‘participation.’ Against the claim that Web 2.0 technologies ushered in a new paradigm of participatory media, I turn to the history of HotWired, Wired magazine’s ambitious web-only publication launched in 1994. The case shows how debates about the value of amateur participation vis-à-vis editorial control have long been fundamental to the imagination of the web’s difference from existing media. It also demonstrates how participation may be conceptualized and designed in ways that extend (rather than oppose) 'old media' values like branding and a distinctive editorial voice. In this way, HotWired's history challenges the technology-centric change narrative underlying Web 2.0 in two ways: first, by revealing historical continuity in place of rupture, and, second, showing that 'participation' is not a uniform effect of technology, but rather something constructed within specific social, cultural and economic contexts

Improve speaking skills with Duolingo’s mobile game-based language learning

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of Duolingo's game-based methodology in improving speaking proficiency within mobile language learning, while also examining the specific attributes and strategies contributing to its success and exploring implications for language education and learner optimization. Given the growing prevalence of mobile language learning platforms, the research meticulously scrutinizes the specific attributes and strategies employed by Duolingo that contribute to the refinement of oral fluency. This study employs a mixed methods design, integrating phenomenological and experimental approaches through a pre, post and attainment speaking tests with a control group design supported with metaphorical perceptions. The findings underscore the pivotal role of assimilating technological advancements and gamified pedagogical approaches within language education to expedite effective intercultural communication across multifarious linguistic landscapes. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of continuously adapting language learning methodologies to leverage emerging technologies and gamification strategies in order to foster effective communication skills in diverse linguistic contexts. The implications for prospective inquiries advocate for longitudinal investigations delving into the enduring implications of mobile game-based language learning on comprehensive linguistic acquisition, necessitating comparative inquiries to ascertain the comparative efficacy of diverse mobile applications in fostering distinct language proficiencies. Additionally, probing the influence of individual learner attributes and predilections in optimizing the utilization of mobile language learning applications could yield valuable insights for tailoring language acquisition paradigms

Cr/Hacking the (Gendered) System: Breaking Down Barriers to Women’s Empowerment in STEM: A Manifesto

This manifesto re-envisions Alice Rossi’s (1964) “immodest proposal” to reignite the spark of suffrage and connect it to a revolution that breaks down the barriers to women’s empowerment in STEM-related careers. This is a decisive moment in time and transformation is within reach because there are two generations of women and minorities working in STEM-related fields, and the technology culture is changing the image of the hacker from the lone male to collaborating women. My goal is to motivate these cr/hackers to push beyond pipeline initiatives, and acknowledge that we are also a powerful institution. We will revolutionize STEM culture using three strategies: iNfIl7R@ti0n, dI$rUp7i0N, and eNG@G3Ment