Changing perceptions about learning

1. Changing Perceptions about
Learning (in) a Foreign Language
in the
Age of Cyberculture

2. OUTLINE
1. KEY CONCEPTS: REFLECTIONS
2. THEORIZING CYBERCULTURE
3. CYBERLEARNING

3. 1. KEY CONCEPTS: REFLECTIONS

4. - Cyberculture (or digital/internet culture)
- Major theorist: Mark Dery (cyberblogger, media critic,
professor of literary journalism at NYU – UC Irvine)
- Founding works:
(1) Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture (NC: Duke
UP, 1994) (355+ P.)
(2) Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century
(NY: Grove Press, 1997) (400+ p., translated into 8
languages)

5. Video:

6. The cyberspace is for “lowlives”

7. People have different opinions. But most (if not
all) of us spend considerable time online, using
the computer for professional, entertainment, or
communication purposes

8. Cyberculture is a hypothetical condition
(virtual existence)

9. It is a sociocultural condition

10. The cyberspace is useless

11. People can use the internet to “save lives,” raise
awareness about issues in society (fundraising)

12. 2. THEORIZING THE FIELD

13. - It has 2 main characteristics: versatile and fast-growing
- Think about all that we can do with ICTs and how
innovative the field is:
from digital wearables, through augmented reality
devices, to online multi-player gaming consoles

14. - So cyberculture and ICTs in general
rely heavily on information and
knowledge exchange, engaging the
cognitive capacities of the people
involved
- Cyberculture creates real communities
(albeit non-geographic)

15. We call the discipline which investigates
the impact of technoculture and modern
ICTs on our lives: Critical Cyberculture
Studies or Cyber Studies

16. 3. CYBERLEARNING

17. So what’s “cyberlearning” (CL)?
Cyber: prefix (cybernetics)
It is “the use of networked computing
and communications technologies to
support learning”

18. “cyberlearning” vs. “e-learning”?
What’s the difference?

19. “E-learning”
Interactionist
Involves virtual spaces
Passive/Uncritical
“Cyberlearning”
Interactionist
Involves virtual spaces
Constructivist/Critical

20. CL’s main characteristic
CL engages the full critical/cognitive capacities of
the learner

22. Recognize
Interpret
Produce meaning

23. CL’s other characteristics
1. Easy access = availability
Input is now transmitted digitally (chatrooms, texts, social
networking platforms, news feeds)

24. 2. Instant access
Access to language (or any other content) anytime
(Just log on to your account!)

25. 3. Multimodal (environment)
Senses engaged: aural, oral, and visual

26. 4. Multitasking (environment)
Learn different aspects of the language (or any other
content) simultaneously

27. What’s on the downside?
- Safety
- Digital literacy
- Infrastructure
- Addiction
- Interpersonal contact

28. Suggested readings:
Gee, James P. (2011). Language and Learning in the Digital Age. NY:
Routledge.
Justice, Sean. (2016). Learning to Teach in the Digital Age: New Materialities
and Maker Paradigms in Schools. London: Peter Lang Inc.