Learning and Teaching with New Media

Henry Jenkins raises many issues regarding the use of information technology in schools. Amongst them, restricting access to information and regarding online experiences as non-valid are one of the most problematic, as they consist in denying young people's reality and preventing them from acquiring new knowledge.

Teachers are conscious of the fact that they cannot ignore ICTs and have to integrate them. Although not every school has a computer lab, students can use computers at their school library. However, such access is limited. I agree on restricting this access, mostly for legal issues; if one allows teenagers and children to watch material that is not appropriate for their age (or get in touch with people they should not), he/she might be held responsible for their acts. We can give up control to kids, to some extent, but we still have to remember that they are not of age; we therefore need to limit their access and know where they are going on the internet, the same way that a parent has the right to know where his child is when he is outside of school.Of course, restricting the access might mean that students will not all be equal on a cultural perspective, but anyway, they are not. Students from wealthy families will always have easier access to technology, culture and extra-curricular activities, which usually results in better academic results and integration in higher social circles. It is important that school invest money and efforts in ICTs, but it will not change social injustice; injustice just changes along with progress.

It is a great thing that both students be given equal chances, but it is not always doable. At the University of Québec in Trois-Rivières, all students are given the chance to use computers and software they could not necessarily afford buying on their own. This is a good example of a successful ICT integration. Teachers usually integrate ICTs to their syllabi; we are also given free computer technology classes.
However, we still have to work on the online collaborative environment; for the moment, it just presents too many challenges, copyright and ethical issues to have all students and teachers provide free access to resources they have designed, no matter how useful it would be to the whole community.

Creating shared learning communities across the world involves providing free access to our own work, which on the one hand would benefit everybody but, on the other hand, would encourage plagiarism as some people will rely on their peer's creations instead of spending time and money on their own. For this reasons, we are not ready to give up control to learning communities, until clear policies are designed.

Authorship is somewhat vague in the digital age, as many creations involve taking some ideas and retouring them for a different audience. According to Mr. Jenkins, teachers should "map kids in terms of social norms and legal standards" to make them aware of what is plagiarism, and what could be an issue.