Week 2 - Reflection

How is the digital age shaping the way young people grow and act?

Young people have loads of information at their fingertips. They have the keys to any information they want. To the independent learner, this is convenient as they can learn/know as much as they want as fast as they would like. This helps them to be confident individuals.

They are able to get online and interact with people, young and old from all around the world at any time of the day. But this also means that they are used to communicating under a veil of anonymity and therefore do not necessarily need to censure their words or thoughts.

Are you hopeful or concerned about the way ICT is influencing the way young people think and learn?

I suppose that I am hopeful and concerned. Hopeful because I think that ICT has limitless possibilities to enrich the life of young people. But this is dependant on the young people; they need to have a strong sense of right and wrong and not abuse the freedom that they have on the WWW. On the other ahdn, I am concerned because some young people are using the internet without any boundaries for themselves. As most of the time they is very little adult supervision, young people who are left to their devices may cross the line. Also, the fact that they are communicating with faceless people means very often they are able to say what they want without having to face the consequences. So much so that although they may possess ‘netiquette’ they may not necessarily possess etiquette.


Do you feel empowered or are you debilitated by what ICT has to offer?

I mostly feel empowered by the use of technology. I believe that the way that ICT can be used to teach language is limitless. If used properly, it can excite the student, broaden his imagination and stretch his potential. But sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming / frustrating as technology has a tendency to fail when you need it the most! J

Where is the language learning expertise located in the digital age?


If ICT is not a silver bullet in language learning, then what is it?

Reflection