The Jotter of Rotter

In chapter 2, Weller makes the argument that our students have changed and provides data on how much time today’s students read in comparison to play online and watch TV. He quotes Oblinger (2005) and Grunwald (2003) that found that students want from the Internet mostly “new information’ and “learn more or learn better.” I find that that conclusion a bit to superficial; it does not account for the use of the Internet as either Pull Medium (Hulu, Facebook) or Push Medium (creating of content). While anecdotal it is my impression that students attitudes towards the Internet is more of a hedonistic one. That seems to be confirmed by Oblinger’s finding that 74 per cent of teenagers use IM as a major communication tool as well as Brown (2009) and Rowlands (2008) that point to a lack of reading and research skills. Digital Natives as a whole seem to me still in their infant stage. In addition and as Weller points out himself in 2.7., we don’t really know “what or if people are learning.” While there are plenty of educational resources (see 2.10) available, an assessment of their success is difficult. Visitor hits alone are not sufficient evidence.

All those are, of course, no reasons NOT to explore the possibilities of online, connected learning (2.12).