[Air-L] attention to attention
Jesper
ses at post10.tele.dk
Mon Jan 30 06:57:59 PST 2012
Dear All,
Here is the first paper in relation to the research project: 'Socio
Media Education' It is called 'Attention to Attention - Reflexions on
new Media in Education'. It was presented at the Danish Conference of
Sociology: Troubled Identities. 19 – 20 January 2012 here in Aarhus. It
is easy to read because it is based over the oral presentation on the
conference.
http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/43983449/Attention_to_attention.pdf
Enjoy your reading
Jesper
Abstract
In these years digital media and wireless networks are introduced in
upper secondary schools in Denmark. This implies new “attentional
objects” like updates on Facebook or tweets on Twitter within instant
reach of the pupils and teachers. Also it implies new kinds of attention
(awareness) like when pupils try to listen to the teacher and
simultaneously participate in online games. To this new social setting
the teachers has reacted with either prohibition or unconcern. What has
not been realised is that the introduction of new media profoundly
challenges the way attention hitherto has functioned as a psychic
prerequisite for the social interaction between pupils and teachers. New
kinds of “split attention” arise and new kinds of social mediation
(regulation and “use”) of psychic attention become necessary if teaching
in the new digital medium milieu shall be beneficial. In this paper we
qualify this interpretation theoretically through systems theory and
medium theory. Further we present initial results from the action
research project Socio Media Education (SME) in which we work with how
teachers and pupils can handle the new attention-demanding situation, so
the new media do not mean spoiled teaching, but new expanded
possibilities for teaching and learning provided by the new media. Our
core postulate is that the teachers and pupils have to develop social
reflexion on ‘the practice of attention’ in the class, both on a social
and individual level; use the new media to facilitate this reflexion
/and/ simultaneously (based on the on-going reflexion) learn to cope
better with the new attention-demanding medium milieu, which means both
to restrict oneself and behave more socially responsible and to develop
better awareness skills (e.g. multiplexing skills). Only this (and not
prohibition against Facebook, online games etc. neither unconcern and
ignorance of the new media and their consequences for attention)- we
argue - can generate adequate social norms regulating psychic awareness
in the new digital learning environment
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Jesper Tække
Associate Professor, PhD
Information and Media Studies
Aarhus University
http://www.jespertaekke.dk
imvjet at hum.au.dk
+45 8716 2021
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