Dolors Reig´s Conference

Hi there! In this post I would like to comment upon a conference I attended in October entitled “Educar para las TEP (Tecnologías del Empoderamiento y la Participación).” It was held by Dolors Reig, a Spanish social psychologist specialized in the domains of Psychology and Social Media.

During the two-hour talk, Reig explained “la Evolución del Entorno Tecno-Social y del Conocimiemto” by making reference to three acronyms: TIC (Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación), TAC (Tecnologías para el Aprendizaje y el Conocimiento), and TEP (Tecnologías para el Empoderamiento y la Participación). Her standpoint is that, even though Digital Natives (Prensky, 2000) are incredibly skilful at utilizing TIC, they are not that skilful at dealing with TAC and TEP. She points out that TICs are the most widely used by adolescents since they make communication and interaction with one another straightfoward, but it is our duty as teachers to introduce the TACs and, mainly, TEPs in the school. What I mean is that by implementing these two new technologies we provide our students with an extremely powerful tool that allows them to broaden their participation. Even though she was interested in highlighting the importance of TAC and TEP over TIC, her main interest was in TEP. She strongly advised the audience to foster the development of educational environments in which students do have the possibility of speak their minds. These kinds of practices are the ones that will lead to active, well-informed and critical citizens, and will definitely bring about a positive change in society, provided we take into consideration that, together with participation and empowerment, we should teach values as well.

A further comment I would like to leave is that, even though Dolors Reig is pro-technology, she is perfectly aware of the fact that everything should attain a balance. Technology is an excellent resource when employed effectively, but, due to the current overwhelming and unstoppable use of technology, it is paramount to “Educar la Desconexión.” This consists of implement meditation in the schools as a mean of reflecting upon themselves and being conscious that face-to-face communication was, is and will always be essential.

To sum up, I would like to share with you the most thought-provoking piece of information I grasped from the conference. It shows the percentages that represent the way in which people assimilate information.

We assimilate:

-20% of what we hear,

-30% of what we observe,

-50% of what we hear and observe,

-70% of what we express by ourselves,

-90% of what we elaborate by ourselves.

Therefore, isn´t this an excellent reason for taking the plunge and support TEPs in the classroom? I would like to read your opinions! J

In case you desire to expand this topic, you can visit Dolors Reig´s Blog El Caparazón.