Connected Learning Concept
Living in the twenty-first century often poses a string of various challenges. One of them is the necessity to be technically savvy and familiar with novelties and changes in digital systems. As Danah Boyd reasonably mentions, being aware of technological advances has a great impact on our social life, career opportunities, prospective job security and even getting on well with peers (1). However, it is quite difficult to find a balance between full immersion into gadgets and their effective and relevant usage. Moreover, process of getting acquainted with technologies can differ depending on age, surrounding and personality features. Teenagers are considered to be the most sophisticated and professional in this field, as they have never come across a problem of technologies deficiency or even absence. Nevertheless, the statement of teens’ untaught natural technical skills is rather ambiguous. Constant evolvement of information communication technologies requires not only basic skills but also an ability to stay up-to-date with all the changes. Even though teenagers are more engaged in virtual life, it doesn’t mean that they are always armed with sound core knowledge in the sphere of technologies.Education is a vital part of development that should be naturally implemented into everyday life. Process of getting knowledge is not limited by the borders of learning institutions, as it is much wider and penetrates with every scope of activity. Therefore, learning cannot be isolated from real life needs and demands that modern society puts forward. The necessity to be advanced at contemporary technologies and approaches to education has been recently well-found. Connected learning has proved itself as a powerful tool of students’ motivation and academic progress. There are a lot of advantages that both students and tutors can get by virtue of digital technologies use. Among them are mobility and availability of education as technologies give an opportunity to continue studying independently encouraging learners to take up out-of-class activities. In addition to this, educational resources are more exciting, appealing and relevant than standard educational data and can have a positive impact on students’ enthusiasm (2).The most widespread examples of connected learning can nowadays be noticed in the majority of schools, colleges, universities and sometimes - even kindergartens. Using of interactive boards is a helpful tool for speech delivery or main thesis explanation. It allows displaying of the visual aids on the screen without excessive handouts and keeps students engaged in a process for a longer period. One more novelty is a virtual classroom. However, its application is not as common due to such difficulties as the need for tighter structure of lessons, possible problems with technology navigation and different time perception online (3). One of the most ground-breaking ideas for education is gaming, including video games. It was proved that playing can have not only damaging impact on health and studying progress but also teach children and adolescents to see the world from a new angle. Furthermore, active participants of online games are usually good team-players who can collaborate and get …
