Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigaba
nmap--
As ever, you provide food for thought.
I do have two questions. - Is the purpose of an education today to prepare young people to interact (and to compete) in cyberspace or in the real world?
- Do communication skills developed via CMC transfer laterally from cyberspace to everyday life?
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Those are good questions...and the best questions can be the hardest to answer.
First, what
is the purpose of education? Frankly, I get the impression that the primary goal is to facilitate getting a job. In essence, this means that education should prepare young people for the workplace.
And what do I see, both in the workplace and elsewhere? Lots of communication through electronic devices - and relatively little face-to-face communication. The workplace, especially, seems to place a strong emphasis on communicating electronically. Due to costs, the trend seems to be toward more CMC and away from FTF.
Even when I go out to eat, I observe people talking on cell phones while ignoring the other people at their table. Or, they'll busy themselves with texting while avoiding any risk of real conversations.
So on question 1, I'm not sure. At one time, I would have said "real world, not cyberspace". However, when I consider how people seem to spend their time, I'm tempted by the opposite answer.
Now, on your second question...I don't know of any specific research on the subject, so this is a case of MOO, YMMV. I would suspect there is not a perfect transfer, since non-text elements of communication are an important element of FTF exchanges. A smile, a nod - even how far apart people stand - all matter in real life. On the other hand, the verbal skills developed in written communication can transfer from CMC to FTF. I guess my answer to this one is that there is some transfer, but not a perfect transfer.
Those aren't very good answers, are they? But at least they're sincere.