Upon reviewing my answer I realized that even I had confused the side the moon is on when there is a new moon and visa versa, and I took Astronomy in College! It made me really reflect on this. The video started out by saying "students who receive the best education" but continued to explain that they don't understand even basic scientific concepts. I really believe, in a global context, that this is an untrue statement. While Harvard may be considered to be the best in this country (which is very arguable), it is certainly not the best in the world. And, our public education is appalling in many ways, especially when we consider the amount of money that is spent on it. In the end, it doesn't matter, because the world is changing. With sites like Wikipedia, the world has become smaller. Things that were once private have become public through various media sources.
The video focused on how the student had ingrained her very own "private theory" into her brain and that it penetrated so deeply that it would be very difficult to remove it and replace it with a correct understanding of the material. So, how did this happen and why? Well, honestly, she accepted the truth when she was given the knowledge and the choice to react to it. She thought it through and it made sense.
In the end, she accepted it. This is what New Media brings to the table for education. A tangible, audible, visual, interactive way of learning, yes, but more importantly, a knowledge network that can dispel common misunderstandings. When one communicates through new media and places his/her "private theory" up against the scrutiny of his/her peers, the information is no longer private and one can learn from others. Learning becomes cooperative. Information is ready available to learn in a variety of contexts (thus stimulating different intelligences), and one can no longer keep "private theories." Everything has to be laid out onto the table. New media gives us the edge over cycles of ignorance if the information is controlled well.
You wrote "New media gives us the edge over cycles of ignorance if the information is controlled well."
ReplyDeleteI suspect that with science and math, getting good data and samples out there will benefit from new media. With controversial subjects like war, or climate change, it'll be pretty hard for folks to filter- like choosing between fox news and democracy now!