A 'likely benefit' from aligning Web 2.0 technologies with an institutions learning and teaching agenda

This paper demonstrates a ‘likely benefit’, and a practical view of expected challenges, when incorporating Web 2.0 technologies in a contemporary higher education context. After first exploring which factors potentially influence a shift in thinking about learning and teaching in a Web 2.0 context this paper then addresses the important role, or the affordance, of an integrated Learning Management System (LMS) and the pedagogical applications of Web 2.0 technologies. It then uses a series of case study from the University of Southern Queensland, a large distance education provider in Australia, to support these propositions. Overall, this paper suggests that the goals and ideals of Web 2.0/ Pedagogy 2.0 can be achieved, or at least stimulated, within an institutional LMS environment, as long as the LMS environment is aligned with these ideals

Are scanning minds dangerous minds, or merely suspicious minds?: harnessing the net generation's ability to scan

'Why would I go to the library if I can get all I need from the web?' This question should sound familiar to anyone teaching media studies in a tertiary institution today, and it is becoming an increasingly common question. It is also a question that typifies what has been called the Net Generation, and at the same time raises important questions about the way we teach this generation, particularly when it comes to media education. No longer can we assume that students will actually take the time to read the required readings that we have so painstakingly put together, because it is simply not their way of approaching or engaging with information. The concept of scanning sums it up beautifully: they scan for information, rather than search for specific texts to be engaged with in depth... In short, they develop scanning minds

Small tech: the culture of digital tools [Book review]

Book review of Hawk, Byron, Rieder, David M., and Oviedo, Ollie (eds.). Small Tech: The Culture of Digital Tools. Minneapolis & London: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. xxiii+236pp. (ISBN 978 0 8166 4978 5)

Refocusing multiliteracies for the Net Generation

This paper questions assumptions which underlie two influential concepts associated with new directions in tertiary pedagogies. One of these concepts (the Net Generation) is an attempt to pin down a series of characteristics of a new generation of students arriving at universities with different skills and knowledge sets from previous generations. The other concept (multiliteracies) attempts to design a pedagogy which equips students for the demands of a rapidly changing world. Combining these two concepts raises some important questions. Although multiliteracies is essentially a philosophy of teaching and learning, much of the writing on multiliteracies implies that it is something that should be taught, which in turn assumes that students do not already have multimodal abilities when they arrive in our university classrooms. However, one of the central characteristics to come out of the research on the Net Generation identifies precisely that: a highly developed ability to negotiate among different modes of communication, and a fluency in imagerich environments, rather than a text-only environment. But this raises the question: do fluency and speed in reading images (or text) equal the ability to evaluate those images critically? This paper explores these questions and makes some suggestions for future directions

Representing multiculturalism in a bicultural nation: the question of diversity in New Zealand cinema

Historically, New Zealand has always represented itself as a bicultural nation of Maori (indigenous peoples) and Pakeha (white settlers), and this is reflected in its national cinema. But since the introduction of the Immigration Act 1987, New Zealand has increasingly become a multicultural and globally networked nation. However, this is rarely reflected in its national cinema, which largely continues to operate within a bicultural framework. Given this historical context, this paper explores the tension between what is called the 'Maori Cultural Renaissance' since the 1970s on the one hand, and the increasing demands for inclusion of various migrant communities on the other, in relation to the dominant Pakeha culture, using New Zealand cinema as a case study. The combination of a very small population (4 million), a relatively remote location, and advanced economic liberalisation means that producing a national cinema is always going to be a struggle in the face of global competition. The majority of films produced in New Zealand are therefore heavily reliant on government support. This in turn means that funding decisions are often based on official versions of nationhood and national identity, and the institutions responsible for these decisions are dominated by Pakeha. This paper discusses the impact of this situation on the content of New Zealand cinema, and the ways in which debates about multiculturalism and biculturalism are framed in this context, before drawing some conclusions about its wider impact on how the nation imagines itself and projects itself globally

The situated politics of belonging [Book review]

Book review of Nira Yuval-Davis, Kalpana Kannabiran and Ulrike Vieten (eds.). The Situated Politics of Belonging. London, Thousand Oaks, CA, New Delhi: Sage, 2006. 238 Pages (including index). ISBN: 10 1 4129 2101 5 (hbk), ISBN: 13 978 1 4129 2101 5 (pbk)

Australian Idol versus Cronulla: whither the postcolonising nation?

This paper explores two apparently contradictory phenomena which, when taken together, raise some important questions about where Australia is at as a postcolonising nation. Targeting primarily a young generation of Australians, Australian Idol has been a major ratings success, especially in its first three seasons. Given the ethnic diversity of its participants and the fact that this diversity is primarily driven by audience votes (via SMS), a case could be made that this is a reflection of a new generation’s engagement with diversity, and thus an important moment in the postcolonising nation. The diversity of the show’s winners suggests that ethnic diversity could be seen as an increasingly ‘natural’ part of a young generation’s social and cultural environment. The Cronulla riots however, complicate this thesis considerably. While recognising the wide variety of factors that contributed to ‘Cronulla’, a significant number of the rioters were members of a young generation of Australians who also appear to fit the audience profile of Australian Idol; they were highly skilled in their use of SMS for a start…This raises a number of questions: did the Cronulla riots represent a setback in the postcolonising process? To what extent do the role and level of mediation play a part in this? Do mediated versions of diversity (like Australian Idol) accelerate the appearance of postcoloniality, where ‘real’ events (albeit highly mediated in a different sense) paint a more sobering picture? In short, is diversity on TV more acceptable than on the local beach? This paper addresses these questions to arrive at a conclusion about the overall central question: do Australian Idol and ‘Cronulla’ represent opposite sides of the same postcolonising coin, or do they represent the same side

A call for new approaches to identities in a crisis world [Review Article]

This is a review article of two recent books: Creative explorations: New approaches to identities and audiences, by David Gauntlett; and Culture-on-demand: Communication in a crisis world, by James Lull

Exploring the educational potential of social networking sites: the fine line between exploiting opportunities and unwelcome imposition

This paper explores potential educational applications of Web 2.0 technologies, and cuts through some of the hype generated around these technologies, as well as around characteristics of Generation Y, and their implications for learning and teaching. Web 2.0 technologies both reflect and drive a blurring of the lines between students and university educators, which has a potentially profound impact on learning and teaching in higher education. This paper argues that Web 2.0 technologies, and Social Network Sites in particular, offer exciting opportunities but that educational applications of these technologies should be based on sound pedagogical principles and driven by empirical research and careful evaluation, if they are to effect meaningful learning experiences for all students

Negotiating multicultural difference in a bicultural nation: a focused case study

This paper explores the ways in which multicultural difference is negotiated in Aotearoa/ New Zealand. While New Zealand is officially a bicultural nation, a major shift in immigration policy in the late 1980s has caused a rapid move towards an increasingly multicultural, and globally networked, nation. However, this is rarely reflected in its national cinema, which largely continues to operate within a bicultural framework. This paper is based on cross-cultural focus group research with three different communities: Maori, Croatian and Chinese. The study took the 1996 film Broken English (directed by Gregor Nicholas) as a starting point to analyse the fluid boundaries between national, diasporic and indigenous identities, as they move between public and private spaces. In the process, it draws conclusions about the limitations of official discourses in the management of cultural difference, and debunks many widely-held assumptions about cultural maintenance and integration. The paper applies a framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995, 1998, Laclau, 2000, Van Dijk, 1998, 2000) to the data and, while focused on a New Zealand context, it allows for productive comparison to the Australian one