A prevalent and pervasive view of designing is that it can be modeled using variables and decisions made about what values should be taken by these variables. The activity of designing is carried out with the expectation that the designed artifact will operate in the natural world and the social world. These worlds impose constraints on the variables and their values; so, design could be described as a goal-oriented, constrained, decision- making activity. However, design distinguish- es itself from other similarly described activities not only by its domain but also by additional necessary features. Designing involves exploration, exploring what variables might be appropriate. The process of explo- ration involves both goal variables and deci- sion variables. In addition, designing involves learning: Part of the exploration activity is learning about emerging features as a design proceeds. Finally, design activity occurs within two contexts: the context within which the designer operates and the context produced by the developing design itself. The designer’s perception of what the context is affects the implication of the context on the design. The context shifts as the designer’s perceptions change. Design activity can be now characterized as a goal-oriented, con- strained, decision-making, exploration, and learning activity that operates within a con- text that depends on the designer’s percep- tion of the context.

Design Prototypes: A Knowledge Representation Schema for Design

http://personal.denison.edu/~matthewsn/facebook and academic performance.pdf

Facebook® and academic performance

People who have grown up with digital media are often assumed to be universally savvy with information and communication technologies. Such assumptions are rarely grounded in empirical evidence, however. This article draws on unique data with information about a diverse group of young adults’ Internet uses and skills to suggest that even when controlling for Internet access and experiences, people differ in their online abilities and activities. Additionally, findings suggest that Internet know-how is not randomly distributed among the population, rather, higher levels of parental education, being a male, and being white or Asian American are associated with higher levels of Web-use skill. These user characteristics are also related to the extent to which young adults engage in diverse types of online activities. Moreover, skill itself is positively associated with types of uses. Overall, these findings suggest that even when controlling for basic Internet access, among a group of young adults, socioeconomic status is an important predictor of how people are incorporating the Web into their everyday lives with those from more privileged backgrounds using it in more informed ways for a larger number of activities.

/pdf/digital-na-t-ives-variation-in-internet-skills-and-uses-575xfmbrlq.pdf

Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the “Net Generation”*

This paper reports on a study conducted in 2006 with more than 2,000 incoming first-year Australian university students. Students were asked about their access to, use of and preferences for an array of established and emerging technologies and technology based tools. The results show that many first year students are highly tech-savvy. However, when one moves beyond entrenched technologies and tools (e.g. computers, mobile phones, email), the patterns of access and use of a range of other technologies show considerable variation. The findings are discussed in light of Prensky's (2001a) notions of the 'Digital Natives' and the implications for using technology to support teaching and learning in higher education.

/pdf/first-year-students-experiences-with-technology-are-they-2mgt94ggzk.pdf

First year students' experiences with technology: Are they really digital natives?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review what we know – and don't know – about Generation Y's use of social media and to assess the implications for individuals, firms and society.Design/methodology/approach – The paper distinguishes Generation Y from other cohorts in terms of systematic differences in values, preferences and behavior that are stable over time (as opposed to maturational or other differences). It describes their social media use and highlights evidence of intra‐generational variance arising from environmental factors (including economic, cultural, technological and political/legal factors) and individual factors. Individual factors include stable factors (including socio‐economic status, age and lifecycle stage) and dynamic, endogenous factors (including goals, emotions, and social norms).The paper discusses how Generation Y's use of social media influences individuals, firms and society. It develops managerial implications and a research agenda.Findings – Prior research on the so...

/pdf/understanding-generation-y-and-their-use-of-social-media-a-1ea8k5ufz3.pdf

Understanding Generation Y and their use of social media: a review and research agenda

The idea that a new generation of students is entering the education system has excited recent attention among educators and education commentators. Termed ‘digital natives’ or the ‘Net generation’, these young people are said to have been immersed in technology all their lives, imbuing them with sophisticated technical skills and learning preferences for which traditional education is unprepared. Grand claims are being made about the nature of this generational change and about the urgent necessity for educational reform in response. A sense of impending crisis pervades this debate. However, the actual situation is far from clear. In this paper, the authors draw on the fields of education and sociology to analyse the digital natives debate. The paper presents and questions the main claims made about digital natives and analyses the nature of the debate itself. We argue that rather than being empirically and theoretically informed, the debate can be likened to an academic form of a ‘moral panic’. We propose that a more measured and disinterested approach is now required to investigate ‘digital natives’ and their implications for education.

/pdf/the-digital-natives-debate-a-critical-review-of-the-evidence-1fsfykqt2p.pdf

The 'digital natives' debate: a critical review of the evidence

The idea of the ‘digital natives’, a generation of tech-savvy young people immersed in digital technologies for which current education systems cannot cater, has gained widespread popularity on the basis of claims rather than evidence. Recent research has shown flaws in the argument that there is an identifiable generation or even a single type of highly adept technology user. For educators, the diversity revealed by these studies provides valuable insights into students’ experiences of technology inside and outside formal education. While this body of work provides a preliminary understanding, it also highlights subtleties and complexities that require further investigation. It suggests, for example, that we must go beyond simple dichotomies evident in the digital natives debate to develop a more sophisticated understanding of our students’ experiences of technology. Using a review of recent research findings as a starting point, this paper identifies some key issues for educational researchers, offers new ways of conceptualizing key ideas using theoretical constructs from Castells, Bourdieu and Bernstein, and makes a case for how we need to develop the debate in order to advance our understanding.

/pdf/beyond-the-digital-natives-debate-towards-a-more-nuanced-1jye90hukz.pdf

Beyond the ‘digital natives’ debate: Towards a more nuanced understanding of students' technology experiences

1: Seeing Knowledge and Knowers: Social realism and Legitimation Code Theory 2: Languages of Legitimation: The curious case of British cultural studies 3: The Epistemic--Pedagogic Device: Breaks and continuities in the social sciences and mathematics 4: Knowledge--Knower Structures: What's at stake in the 'two cultures' debate, why school Music is unpopular, and what unites such diverse issues 5: Gazes: Canons, knowers and progress in the arts and humanities 6: Semantic Gravity: Cumulative learning in professional education and school English 7: Semantic Density: How to build cumulative knowledge in social science 8: Cosmologies: How to win friends and influence people 9: Insights, Gazes, Lenses and the 4-K Model: Fiercely-fought struggles and fundamental shifts in fields 10: Building a Realist Sociology of Education: To be continued ...

Karl Maton

Papers

The 'digital natives' debate: a critical review of the evidence

Beyond the ‘digital natives’ debate: Towards a more nuanced understanding of students' technology experiences

Knowledge and Knowers: Towards a realist sociology of education

Making semantic waves: A key to cumulative knowledge-building

The net generation are not big users of Web 2.0 technologies: Preliminary findings from a large cross-institutional study