We
are a group of students attending a masters in Pedagogy of E-Learning (MPL8) at
the Open University in Portugal.
1st.video
We
watched the video "Students helping students”, it clearly shows the
solidarity among students of a University and the way new members are received.
It
is meaningful the collaboration that exists among students of previous years
when it is least expected. It is a concrete and important action to integrate
new students and to spread values of solidarity, collaboration, attention,
union, friendship, among others.
A
relevant aspect consists in the disclosure of these actions through Youtube,
which is important so that other students in similar circumstances can do the
same.
If
we think about what happens in Portugal this makes us reflect and wonder how
things could be different: relations among students could be more human and
solidary.
2nd video
We
watched the video "The vision of students today” and here is our
comment:
Higher
education as it stands currently is a disappointment for students!
When
you give them the opportunity to give their opinion on higher education,
students express their disappointment through messages, revealing that there is
a high number of students per class, the teachers do not know their names, the
teaching is traditional, which goes against all the perspectives that students
have of a University.
Students
complain about the high cost of studies, the fact that they can't learn what
they need, (from 50% of required readings only 26% is relevant for life), with
high investment in the acquisition of books that will never be read, and even
the fact that at the end of the course you get a debt for having been to
University and have made a loan to do so.
Universities
are outdated in relation to technology and content irrelevant considering the
current society.
The
alert is there: technology can save students!
Universities
need to use social networks for learning because students use the Internet in
the classroom but frequently in activities unrelated to the subject. Teachers
need training and updates in what new technologies are concerned. They should
learn how to use photos, videos, animations, online network in their teaching.
Today, network help to organize and share information. Our current culture is
definitely related to the use of technologies, we need to adapt and be ready to
lead this whole process of knowledge construction.
3rd
video
We
watched the video "The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube and the Politics
of Authenticit” and here is our comment:
The
video addresses current issues: people are increasingly focused on themselves,
instead of thinking in civic engagement, i.e. thinking of others and as a
whole. Hope consists in changing individual actions into collective actions. It
is therefore important that we meet in our relationship with others. The new
media create other ways to relate and get to know each other.
We
can use several social networking tools as a support for communication, meeting
people and sharing. Youtube is one of these tools, but the massive generation
of videos does not necessarily bind with authenticity and transparency in the
network, requesting the need for self-knowledge and new self-awareness.
Our
culture strongly express individuality, independence, marketing, so we need to
enhance community relations and authenticity.
The
family has a huge responsibility on all these issues, because they should
educate for values. There is no control or supervision of on-line actions, on
mobile phones, on television and, with this inaction, we will have a society
where there is no anonymity. There is no respect for social rules, even the
adults don’t respect them. We will have a society where all that counts is
having an opinion, showing and commenting, no matter who you are.
The
machine is really using us, we must rethink what is real, what is fiction,
privacy, family, ourselves, educational practice, but also the way in which we
think the social function of education. As it is already done in some online
environments. Let's get personal computers, tablets and we will teach to
discover information, control the search process, and distinguish the
superfluous of the essential and to control the entire process of knowledge
construction.
The
hope is that technology that emerges can change the situation of classrooms,
teaching and learning. Technologies have emerged making changes in our lives,
creating new concepts, modifying our ways of acting, our cultures. We need to
rethink the pros and cons of using the media to serve human purposes.
4th
video
We
watched the video "The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version)” and
here is our comment:
It
is extremely pertinent to examine the benefits that virtual writing represents
for communication on the World Wide Web.
The
freedom of writing and the great mobility conferred by hypertext enhances
research and access to important information and it also facilitates the use of
web tools. Becoming content generators is getting increasingly simple.
The
web, in fact, is us, and in that context we have a great responsibility to
rethink the way we are interacting with and feeding this great sea of
information.
Greetings
Team
Pi
- Andréa Cesar
- Maria Emanuel Almeida
- Marta Saraiva
- Renata Duarte
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