New Media in Italy
For me as a person with a German
mother and an Italian father and who was raised up with influences of both
cultures, is it hard not to compare these two countries all the time in all
respects. So now by working with the topic New Media in Foreign Language
Teaching, I also want to take a closer look on my second home country Italy and
screen how they are reacting on issues like New Media in school and reveal my
experiences and knowledge about this in my second home country.
Like in Germany the New Media already captured the whole nation. Most of the people have internet access and everybody is using it. It seems that Social networks are more famous than in Germany because more elderly people than in Germany joined them. Everybody has the latest cell phones and of course a personal computer. The funny thing is that the cell phone phenomenon even started earlier in Italy than in this country. So I would confirm that the private lives of the Italian people are linked with the new media and maybe even stronger and for a longer time than in Germany.
That’s why it is all the more surprising that the new media haven’t reached the school in the same way than in Germany. We are here more trained and better equipped in terms of new media in school than the Italian teachers and students. But this is not the fault of the Italian people but the fault of the government and their President Silvio Berlusconi. The educational systems haven been disregarded for years and they are obsolete and don’t get subsidized with the necessary effort. This is the reason why in Italian schools the teaching style and the school equipment are still very old-fashioned and conservative.
But this does not mean that Italian schools are worse and German schools are very good, we all know that Germany was beneath Italy in the PISA survey. It just means that Italian schools, teachers, school equipment and teaching style have not a sound grasp of contemporary developments which is also disturbing The consequences are not yet apparent but they will have many problems because of that in a few years because time doesn’t stand still and neither should a teacher or school.
Like in Germany the New Media already captured the whole nation. Most of the people have internet access and everybody is using it. It seems that Social networks are more famous than in Germany because more elderly people than in Germany joined them. Everybody has the latest cell phones and of course a personal computer. The funny thing is that the cell phone phenomenon even started earlier in Italy than in this country. So I would confirm that the private lives of the Italian people are linked with the new media and maybe even stronger and for a longer time than in Germany.
That’s why it is all the more surprising that the new media haven’t reached the school in the same way than in Germany. We are here more trained and better equipped in terms of new media in school than the Italian teachers and students. But this is not the fault of the Italian people but the fault of the government and their President Silvio Berlusconi. The educational systems haven been disregarded for years and they are obsolete and don’t get subsidized with the necessary effort. This is the reason why in Italian schools the teaching style and the school equipment are still very old-fashioned and conservative.
But this does not mean that Italian schools are worse and German schools are very good, we all know that Germany was beneath Italy in the PISA survey. It just means that Italian schools, teachers, school equipment and teaching style have not a sound grasp of contemporary developments which is also disturbing The consequences are not yet apparent but they will have many problems because of that in a few years because time doesn’t stand still and neither should a teacher or school.
