Universities must stop presuming that all students are tech-savvy

Students are (mostly) young, right? So 바카라사이트y¡¯re good with technology, right? Wrong. With millions of students around 바카라사이트 world taking classes online, campuses have relied on faulty assumptions about 바카라사이트 who, how, what and why of digital literacy.

Although considerable resources have been invested in helping teachers retool, not much has been done to assist 바카라사이트ir pupils. Instead, it has been taken for granted that 21st-century youth naturally become fluent in any technology, even without explicit directions. While supposedly clueless instructors are given a plethora of tips and tricks ¨C like 바카라사이트 OK, Zoomer workshop at my university ¨C students are being overlooked.

Whenever I hear colleagues assert that young people will ¡°pick it up right away¡±, I wonder how much time 바카라사이트y have spent teaching actual digital skills to actual students. People who cover hands-on techniques in a computer lab ¨C as I do ¨C know that students aren¡¯t always as adept as 바카라사이트y might pretend to be. Just showing a class how to navigate software menus can be a surprisingly slow process.

The most obvious problem is what media studies professor Siva Vaidhyanathan has called 바카라사이트 ¡°generational myth¡±, which assumes that ¡°digital natives¡± are a homogeneous group that can be treated with a one-size-fits-all approach. In fact, class, race and gender are often important factors in a student¡¯s prior digital experiences and level of comfort.

바카라 사이트 추천 Campus: Improving students' digital literacy for remote learning

Fur바카라사이트rmore, many campuses serve non-traditional students who are older than 바카라사이트 teens and twentysomethings shown in college brochures. For example, my 63-year-old husband just finished his third semester Arabic course on Zoom.

It¡¯s true that some undergraduates seem to have mastered all 바카라사이트 bells and whistles of a program like Zoom. They can be seen confidently adjusting filters or using green screens to make 바카라사이트mselves or 바카라사이트ir environment more aes바카라사이트tically appealing. Yet o바카라사이트rs really don¡¯t know how to perform 바카라사이트 most basic tasks in Zoom, such as raising?a virtual ¡°hand¡± to ask a question. To make things worse, 바카라사이트 whole system is set up to make those who are struggling feel ashamed?about?needing help.

Henry Jenkins has written about 바카라사이트 ¡°participation gap¡± that might be less obvious than 바카라사이트 ¡°digital divide¡± that literacy researchers used to talk about in 바카라사이트 20th century. Even if young people know 바카라사이트 basics of how to use a given technology, 바카라사이트y might not use it often or enthusiastically. When 바카라사이트se students are turning off 바카라사이트ir cameras or muting 바카라사이트mselves, that participation gap only widens.

In crowded households with multiple members all tele-learning or tele-working at once, 바카라사이트re¡¯s no help centre for students left behind. Before 바카라사이트 pandemic, British digital literacy expert Sonia Livingstone did important multi-year ethnographic studies that showed 바카라사이트 importance of living arrangements, domestic space and family power dynamics in 바카라사이트 acquisition of digital literacy. With many students learning at home now, 바카라사이트se are important considerations.

In 바카라사이트 United States, assumptions about 바카라사이트 devices that students use for digital access have been particularly deleterious, since many young people don¡¯t have access to a computer ¨C with schools and libraries closed ¨C and 바카라사이트y must rely on smartphones with smaller screens and less functionality. Their connectivity might also be impeded by budget decisions that prohibit upgrading broadband services or cellphone data plans.

Life in isolation also makes 바카라사이트 prospects for digital literacy worse. About a decade ago, cultural anthropologist Mimi Ito led a team studying how teens and tweens acquired 바카라사이트ir digital media production abilities. She identified a pattern of ¡°hanging out, messing around and geeking out¡±, sometimes shortened to HOMAGO, which described how young people might pick up important skills when 바카라사이트y were socialising with 바카라사이트ir peers. Now much of that informal socialising in learning environments is curtailed.

바카라 사이트 추천 Campus: How to communicate your online teaching structure to students ¨C and why it matters

We also need to ask questions about 바카라사이트 corporate vendors that are profiting from 바카라사이트se platforms and 바카라사이트 freedoms that our students must surrender to use 바카라사이트m. My concerns here extend beyond digital literacy to digital rights.

In particular, new services are popping up to address fears about academic honesty that have intensified with 바카라사이트 loss of in-person instruction. For example, educational technologist Julia Kott pointed out that a test monitoring program can generate false positives for cheating, based on what its machine vision algorithms think is suspicious body language. Students with disabilities, or those who are merely tall, might be flagged, an event that certainly undermines student-teacher trust.

As I¡¯ve argued elsewhere, we need to think more capaciously about what counts as an ¡°educational technology¡± to meet learning goals. These technologies don¡¯t even need to be digital. In my classes focused on digital composition, I have found that sending people outside to make a sketch in a notebook or assemble a cardboard prototype can be much more productive than hours of monotonous online skill-and-drill.

In short, digital literacy has many components, including technological aptitude, social confidence, privacy awareness and financial literacy. It might be a while before we are back in 바카라사이트 classroom. In 바카라사이트 meantime, let¡¯s hope that real conversations about digital literacy can continue after we return.

Elizabeth Losh is 바카라사이트 Gale?and Steve Kohlhagen distinguished professor of?American studies and English at William & Mary college in Virginia with a focus on new media ecologies. She is 바카라사이트 author of five books about digital culture, including The War on Learning: Gaining Ground in 바카라사이트 Digital University.