Power Users of Technology
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"Power Users of Technology" is a project that aims at researching into if a new generation of power users are emerging due to the intensified use of technology and how this affects conditions for learning and design of future education:
"Their self-selected, long-term, intensive experiences with technology have changed them. They think, behave, and solve problems differently from us and from others who have not had this special relationship with technology. [...] We now live in a world where many of our youth are the "experts" and adults are the "novices." With ready and easy access to information, they challenge us as parents, teachers and adult supervisors." (Malyn-Smith & Guilfoy, 2003)
The project is headed by Education Development Center (EDC), which is an international, nonprofit organization with more than 325 projects dedicated to enhancing learning, promoting health, and fostering a deeper understanding of the world.
Participants from e-Learning Lab, Aalborg University, are Professor Lone Dirckinck-Holmfeld and PhD student Thomas Ryberg. Lone Dirckinck-Holmfeld is part of the Global Advisory board and Thomas Ryberg is a project member and part of the core research group within the project.
Activities in the project
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As a part of the project, which is envisioned to be a long-term research project two core events have taken place so far:
Power Users of Information and Communication Technology International Symposium - San Jose, Costa Rica - August 2005
As a part of this event a young team of power users from Denmark participated and worked intensively for two and a half day to adress the complex problem of "how can ICT be used to reduce poverty in the world". Two researchers and three facilitators followed them and helped them while being engaged in observing and documenting how they organised their work and how they learned.
You can read much more about the event here» or read the press release for the event»
Power Users of Information and Communication Technology Summit - United Nations Headquarters, December 12–13, 2004
An initial summit was held in New York to organise and share research results on youth and technology. During this summit a large scale research plan was formed encompassing the Costa Rica Symposium and future events were planned for. The two researchers from e-Learning Lab were part of this planning and further presented their own research at the summit.
You can read more about the summit here»
Publications from the project
Please follow the link below to read or find the references for articles, posters and presentations. The references are from the Knowledge Base of Northern Jutland (Vidensbase Nordjylland) - from here you can follow the research emerging from the ongoing work:
The Power Users Project at VBN»
Also Thomas Ryberg keeps a list of publications and presentations on his e-Learning Lab homepage.
