Research topic

Technology is certainly changing the way that we do things. 

As I sit in a room full of friends who are all on a device of their own it makes me think back to the cup of tea and scones culture we seem to have moved away from. At the click of a finger we can check the weather, what’s open, and what activities are highly recommended to go to. I am curious as to whether this takes some of the spontaneity out of life. After becoming a Mum last year I made an executive decision to rid my life of facebook. I was a serious facebook user and had been regularly updating my profile with posts, photos and videos of what we were up to and what Tyler (baby girl) was into. As my family all live overseas this was a great way to keep them up to date. The decision to ‘permanently delete’ my profile was met with surprise from friends. I have been asked why I did it and it came down to this….I want to have tea and scones and talk about what I have been up to with friends. When I see people in the street I want to be able to ask them how their day is going and be met with surprise when they tell me. When people see Tyler I want them to say how much she has grown or she was ‘this big’ last time they saw her.

I wonder if working on a project in the garage with Dad, or sitting down with Mum and watching her knit whilst attempting to knit some kind of scarf (because it is long and thin) might be a culture that we may soon be referring to as in the past. Certainly from a teaching point of view, I no longer need to learn everything before I attempt to teach it, because I know I can type it into a search engine and find an ‘expert’ within minutes. Online tutorials intrigue me. Today I was looking for a cable for HDMI to VGA, I didn’t know if they made them or where I could get one so I googled it, In the google search there was actually a 5 minute online tutorial of how to use one of these cables.

It just makes me think. What will the classroom end up being? Will Teachers set up a scroll down list of hyperlinked tutorials to teach their students skills? Will we no longer need a planning folder with all our own work in it? Will National Standards end up being run by online tutorials for students to follow in order to achieve At? Is youtube taking away that quick phonecall you make to Mum, an Aunty or sister to ask how to get red wine out of the carpet?

I feel like I know where I want my research to lead for my paper, I just don’t know how to specifically ask the right question……..So I have come to this

How are online tutorials changing the way we communicate with our students?

This is what I want to know…..