Learning from interactive media or text

[SwitSof]

Am curious, it seems some people wouldn't use emoticons let's say cause they would prefer to relying on text to convey what they think or even what they feel on some things.
And I got the feeling these people are well quite articulate and in a way see themselves to be rather sophisticated to use text rather than emoticons, maybe I'm wrong, but please rest assure it's not an insult nor anything like that. Being articulate is a good thing indeed!

Similarly, say heaps of people prefer to reading a novel rather than seeing the movie of the novel. I suppose cause usually the movie doesn't capture the rich context of the situation and the story in comparison to the print.

However, recently we have say interactive e-learning modules, training videos to help people learn. But then with the same analogy of enjoying a novel rather the film of the novel, can it be said that there is a concern (if there is) that using more visual and interactive aids would make people lose touch of the art of writing?
Say how mobile phone for instance has well sort of destructed the way youngsters write say with these SMS language. I must admit I don't mind abbreviations and do use sometimes since I'm not that patient sometimes, but this new language is really beyond me.

 

[Dreadful Nonsense]

Prolly cause newbs are all over the net.IMHO.
The OP is good food for thought : )

 

[Kreskin]

E-learning is making people lose touch with the art of learning, not writing. Computer-based learning sucks. Give me a text book or a teacher any day. E-learning is a geek-induced waste of time.

 

[SwitSof]

E-learning is making people lose touch with the art of learning, not writing. Computer-based learning sucks. Give me a text book or a teacher any day. E-learning is a geek-induced waste of time.

Hey, there is nothing wrong being a geek actually! Some geeks I've met are quite cool and can socialise like other people and are just passionate in what they're doing. Nerds are probably a different story... Even though I would rather feel pity rather than scold them...

Anyways, what Curiosity said and you too does seem to imply the attitude towards this is quite different between generations.

Well, I think it's quite harsh to say e-learning is a waste of time.
I could learn English well partly because of the e-learning where there are functions I can make good use of which would be unavailable most of the time or too expensive to afford with prints or even by a teacher.
Say for example there are functions in e-learning to show graphics on how to shape your mouth and locate your tongue to pronounce things correctly which I've never encountered a teacher who can really show with so much details no matter how big s/he opened her mouth let's say. Well, I didn't use this function much cause I put more importance on say grammar or vocabs, so I still have my own accent which I would keep anyway, I reckon, but my point is there are useful things in these things say e-learning etc.

Say this forum, if it's not because of this forum, I won't meet you all nice people and we are so far apart and perhaps will never meet even. The forum technology is different to e-learning, but the idea is rather the same, that is to reach people beyond physical distance.
Well I don't think e-learning can completely substitute a teacher and/or a good book, but it can definitely be treated/considered as a complement, I reckon.
There are bad teachers too actually... Or bad books.
In my undergrad study in Japan, there were lecturers who were just reading from books let's say which made me think that we could've just read them in the convenience of our home instead!

 

[Kreskin]

I would challenge an assertion that anyone at any age or generation learns the same way staring at a computer than they do in a classroom or opening a book. I've worked for the same corporation for 20 years and have seen every generation go through e-learning. Funny the new generation in our company still knows nothing, and the rest of us who learned the right way will have forgotten more than they ever know. E-learning looks great on paper (or screen I guess). In practise it produces little check marks in ones e-learning library but not much knowledge is actually acquired/retained.

 

[SwitSof]

I can't say what the situation is in your office. But it can involve other factors, say the motivation or the dedication or the attitude towards work thus learning to improve what they know for their job would influence that. Learning has to come from oneself, so if one is not really that motivated nor dedicated to do so, not even say Newton's books nor Einstein himself tutoring him/her can help this person to learn physics. Well, cause these would be beyond his/her brain most likely , but you know what I mean...

Certainly I can say the work attitude/dedication is very different in Japan for example, between the baby-boomer generation and their parents' generation, and probably it can be said the same too that the older generation does know more, after all this is the generation that brought Japan to be the economy power no. 2 in the world. I even heard some people in the older generation would say how worried they are to trust the future of the nation to the younger generation who say didn't learn the hard way like the older generation did.