A Critical Approach to Digital Pedagogy – The Search for an Organic Methodology in the Information Society

Authors

  • Zoltán Szűts

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3311/ope.342

Abstract

In the present, the use of info-communication technology has become a living communication reality that pervades everyday life. The relationship between the learning and teaching process to medialization and digital technology has become increasingly prominent. Since the spread of digital data, and especially the emergence of the World Wide Web, many phenomena and trends and could have been observed regarding the use of ICT in education. Some of these trends have reached on theirpeak the plateau of productivity since the 1990s, but more have proven to be merely fad. One of the most frequently used methods in the present is, for example, the flipped classroom, where students acquire the theory at home through digital curricula, while in the classroom they deepen their knowledge and interact with teachers. From the 2000s, e-learning has become a new educational environment which includes novel forms of learning and teaching supported by ICT, both in form,content, and methodology. In the present, E-learning continues to be a significant trend, and many teachers are just now discovering the benefits of the platform and some of them turn to blended learning (Kis-Tóth – Lengyelné, 2012).The use of a Learning Management Systems (LMS) relies on multimedia and linking texts - hypertext - while it requires interaction between the learner (user) and the text (information). Gamification supports the player within, where point systems, levels, and healthy competition between students play an essential role. Although not a traditional methodology, the use of social media and web 2.0 in education is becoming more and more important, students follow or write blogs, or edit Wikipedia. As it is observed that nowadays students’ attention can be maintained for a shorter period then in the case of previous generations, the use of micro-content in the transfer of knowledge adapts to the accelerated information-taking habits. In the universe of micro-content, the use of smaller curricula reinforces thepopularity of independent learning. Finally, current trends include the strengthening of the interactive visual learning environment, (Benedek, 2019) and the use of augmented reality content, or how Microsoft refers to it, mixed reality.The lesson of the past 30 years might be that using technology itself, without a sophisticated methodology that takes into account as many didactic aspects is not enough. The technology-centered approach teaching-learning process is just as much a mistake as the thinking that automatically assumes the effectiveness of learning organization due to the use of modern technology. Any methodology in which the demonstration is given prominence describes that its application, if unrelated to the process, can very easily become a dead end. The use of technology, unless it is based on methodological principles, does not lead to an increase in the efficiency of the learning process. By focusing merely on the application of technology, unrealistic expectations cannot be met.” (Ollé, 2013: 102.)

Author Biography

Zoltán Szűts

Zoltán Szűts (1976) PhD is an Associate Professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary. He is a digital media and information society researcher. Studied at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, earned his PhD degree in literary science and habilitation is sociology. Author of the book Metaphors of the World Wide Web: An Introduction to the Art of New Media [in Hungarian]  published with Osiris in 2013, and Online - History, theory and phenonomena of infocommunication and media [in Hungarian], published with, Wolters Kluwer, Budapest, 2018, and numerous articles, including “An Iconic Turn in Art History – The Quest for Realistic and 3D visual Representation on the World Wide Web”, in: Benedek András – Nyíri Kristóf (eds.) The Iconic Turn in Education, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main. 2012. 

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Published

2019-12-17

Issue

Section

Studies