Power users of ICT

The term Power Users of ICT (Information Communication Technology) is used to describe young individuals who have developed sophisticated technology skills. This phenomenon is being explored through a research initiative led by Education Development Center, Inc.(EDC) in collaboration with a network of partners including EDC Europe, Microsoft Research, the George Lucas Educational Foundation/Edutopia, DigiPen Institute of Technology, CINPE-Universidad Nacional, University of Aalborg, California State University, Sacramento, KEMPSTER GROUP, PTC, and UNFIP.

EDC describes Power Users as an emerging group of youth distinguished by their self-selected, long-term, intensive experiences with technology. They think, behave and solve problems differently from others who have not had a special relationship with technology. They are "individuals who break out of the confines of traditional learning, demographic, or technological barriers by constantly using, sharing, creating, producing or changing information in creative, innovative and/or unintended ways so that they become force multipliers in their own environments."(Definition by Power Users of ICT Global Advisory Committee in 2002) [ [http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2004/issue2/0204p58.asp "Power Users of Technology"] , article published in UN Chronicle No.2, 2005, p.58-61]

Power users of ICT are students who have grown up with digital technology as a part of their everyday lives. According to EDC, these students have technical acumen beyond any previous generation. By the age of 10 to 15, they are in control of their technologies and have become self-directed learners, seeking and constructing new learning from their environments. They are characterized by their ability to "leverage the internet to the highest degree conceivable" and are energized by technology well past the point of most digital "immigrants"--that is, older learners forced to adapt from the analog age. [ [http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=36780&CFID=2112528&CFTOKEN=93149796 eSchoolNews: "Study: Power Users drive Pedagogy"] by Robert Brumfield]

Characteristics

There are not yet any long term studies to support this theory, but some research have been done to uncover the characteristics of this group of youth. Teachers have indicated that Power users prefer to use troubleshooting and online resources to learn, and that having Power Users in their class influence how they teach. Power users have also been seen to help their peers and facilitate the learning of other students, and 84% of teachers in a study reported that Power users had positively influenced their learning/knowledge of ICT. [ [http://powerusers.edc.org/materials/CertiportPUResearchAbstarct.pdf Certiport Research Abstract: Power Users] ] Descriptive studies find that Power users of ICT [ [http://powerusers.edc.org/eventsWSIS.htm Power Users of ICT - World Summit on the Information Society presentation] ] :
* Seek information on a just-in-time, as-needed basis: learn what they want to know, when they want to learn it, to the level of depth that satisfies their immediate quest for knowledge
* Select and use both technology and traditional methods of acquiring, using and producing information
* Evaluate the validity of information
* Understand their own technology skills and capabilities, make distinctions around technology use
* Master multitasking: moving their focus from one task to another seamlessly, without effort
* Change with technology through iterative development
* Recognize the social connections technology brings; and put in significant investment of time to learn through or about technology
* Exhibit continuous partial attention: continually scanning the environment for opportunities to connect
* Take part of a global community: share sets of knowledge/skills, communication patterns/language, and ethics/values
* Break hierarchy: make friends with strangers, ask questions of experts - and get answers online as peers
* Are self-taught and peer-taught: finding the learning resources they need online and learn from each other

Expert behavior

What is different about Power users of ICT is that they have been able to acquire expert technology skills through informal learning, i.e. outside school. Research on how people learn tells us that expert learners exhibit certain ways of thinking and problem-solving. Experts (in any given area) are different from novices in the ways they organize, represent and interpret information. This in turn affects their abilities to remember, reason and solve problems. Experts recognize patterns, chunk various elements into patterns that represent meaningful information to them, and organize their knowledge around big ideas. They have acquired a great deal of content knowledge that is organized in ways that reflect deep understanding of their subject matter. They develop a sensitivity to patterns of meaningful information, and flexibly retrieve important aspects of their knowledge with little attentional effort. Experts approach problem solving in these ways. In contrast, novices focus on the superficial or rudimentary steps in a problem solving process. ["How People Learn:Brain, Mind, Experience and School", Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning with additional material from the Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, National Research Council, 2001, Ch.2] To become experts – students need to develop the ability to teach themselves, and this is precisely what Power users of ICT are doing.

References

External links

* [http://powerusers.edc.org/events.htm Power Users of Information and Communication Technology Summit, United Nations Headquarters, December 12–13, 2004]
* [http://powerusers.edc.org/ Official Power Users of ICT web page]
* [http://www.edc.org/ Education Development Center official web page]