magic realism 2
Students can now do blogs and wikis in our VLE, which is cool, but somehow they seem like a shadow of the real thing. It feels as if social software has been colonized by the education system. So, to resurrect a debate initiated by Colin and Michele, have they therefore become inauthentic practices? We, in education, always seem to be two steps behind, but part of me thinks that some change – gradual though it might be – is better than none at all. The same thing goes for the Barnsley virtual worlds project. It’s tame compared to Active Worlds itself, but then again it’s like a quantum leap for the schools involved. I suppose I’m just going to patiently watch how it fits into the classroom context.
dunno if it means it is no longr authentic. Can anything in schools be authentic?
ReplyDeleteI suspect not as it has to be controlled filtered and channelled for all kinds of easns - assessment, accountability, ethics, 'delivery' of specific things....
Also I think that all web stuff feels contrived once everyone jumps on. Somehow there is aloss of newness of originality which changes it into something tried, tested and ritualistic.
True, I agree, and maybe part of this is inevitable, but I suppose it's how we always manage to restrict the affordances. It seems to get leeched of all colour (did I mean bleached?)....metaphorically BUT literally too. It all becomes GREY.
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