Week 9 tasks

Wenger VS Prensky

Wenger's theory on Community of Practice is similar to Prensky's theory in relation to education on a number of levels. Wenger stated that in a community of practice there are different levels of the participants according to how good their skills are at the practice in hand. However, he does not say this is in a power hierarchical form. There is a sense of authority in the leader of the practice but there is no atmosphere of competition or authority in the rest of the group, but more of a sense of learning from each other. No one is seen as 'better than' someone else, they are just seen as being at a higher level of skills then the rest but are happy to help others learn off them.

This can relate to Prensky and education as digital natives and digital immigrants are both living in today's society and in the education system next to one another, but it doesn't mean one is better than the other. Yes digital natives may be better at discussing new technology and how to use it easily, but it doesn't mean they have more power than digital immigrants. They can learn off each other which allows digital immigrants to gain access to new knowledge concerning technology and there is the same feeling of community learning as there is in a 'Community of Practice'.