Learning in the Digital Age

In the article, Learning in the Digital Age, John Seely writes, “Learning is a remarkably social process.” I would agree that all of us have had some learning experience outside of the traditional classroom environment. Be it learning to make a traditional Chinese New Year dish that our grandmothers made or just reviewing material covered in class with a classmate. These learning instances are very social in nature. They tap into the knowledge of the individual teaching us not just information being shared. Meaning, their experiences add context to the information creating their knowledge they share with us.

The article outlines several learning solutions utilizing technology as an enabler for new learning strategies. In many of these models, the technology does not replace the need for personal human interaction; rather it supplements or replaces some of the in-class time.

The digital age has also brought about a new phenomenon, “edutainment” (the article calls this “infotainment”. Surfing the web is not just leisure activity, but also an educational activity. When we surf the web, we seek information and in the process learn as well.

For the digital native, technology “is not a tool as much as way of life.” Thus, their expectations for their learning environment will also need to incorporate technology. Today, we have only started to embrace technology in the classroom. We still have a long way to go to meet the needs and expectations of the new students in the digital age.