Bildung/Soziales 2.0 [Education/Social 2.0]

Results from the most extensive U.S. study on teens and their use of digital media show that America’s youth are developing important social and technical skills online – often in ways adults do not understand or value.

"authentic learning" is relatively recent, the idea of learning in contexts that promote real-life applications of knowledge

learning in contexts that promote real-life applications of knowledge

Approaches that focus on such authentic tasks include project-based learning, the case method, problem-based learning, cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989), situated learning, constructive learning environments (Jonassen, 1999), collaborative problem solving (Nelson, 1999), and goal-based scenarios (Schank, Berman, & MacPerson, 1999).

How are pupils and teachers encouraged and motivated to relate to digital culture and use digital technology?

main incentives usually offered with respect to digital technology use are concerned with life after schooling and the promise of a future career in the workplace. The ineffectiveness of such incentives is clearly evidenced in the “lifestyle choices” of many children

the role of both face to face (friends, relatives, family, peers, neighbors, memberships to groups, etc) and remote (online help facilities, helplines, etc) social and resource networks needs to be recognized (Selwyn, 2004). Social networks may represent a significant determinant in the process within which different pupils and teachers, as members of diverse communities and collectivities, identify a “use” for digital technology in their daily and leisure lives, develop an interest towards this use, establish an initial and later a meaningful engagement with digital tools and contents and sustain this interest and engagement throughout time by expanding their skills and knowledge.