New Models of Learning for New Media: Observations of Young People Learning Digital Design

Abstract

There are numerous discourses that seek to define the relationships between young people and digital media. These discourses have different and sometimes contradictory ways of constructing learners and the learning environment (Facer et al. 2001). On the one hand there are panics around new media which position children and young people as being at risk from the dangers of digital technology. In this view children are in need of careful teaching and controlling, as they are unable to learn the correct and safe way to use digital technology on their own. In complete contrast, there are discourses around new technologies which position children as ready learners and technology as offering endless easy-to-use resources for worthwhile learning. This latter view of children as „natural cyberkids’ overlooks many aspects of learning and digital technology, not least the socio-cultural aspects of learning or the possibility that there might be a developmental progression of skills related to learning new technologies.There are numerous discourses that seek to define the relationships between young people and digital media. These discourses have different and sometimes contradictory ways of constructing learners and the learning environment (Facer et al. 2001). On the one hand there are panics around new media which position children and young people as being at risk from the dangers of digital technology. In this view children are in need of careful teaching and controlling, as they are unable to learn the correct and safe way to use digital technology on their own. In complete contrast, there are discourses around new technologies which position children as ready learners and technology as offering endless easy-to-use resources for worthwhile learning. This latter view of children as „natural cyberkids’ overlooks many aspects of learning and digital technology, not least the socio-cultural aspects of learning or the possibility that there might be a developmental progression of skills related to learning new technologies.