Compendium of theory of the communication

 3. New media 

 3.1. Definition and potentiality of new media 

New the media, as Antonio Calvani in “new the media in the school” asserts, is technologies cognitive, that is dispositi to you in a position to being involved the inner processes of the mind.

Always Calvani adds:

The innovations in the technology of the communication involve sensory and cognitive reorganizations that in general terms accompany to a transfer of tasks and inner functions (mental) on external supports (physicists). (Calvani, 1999, p. 9)

For Calvani I use it of new the media will involve new possibility for the human mind:

• the lightening of the cognitive cargo, it leave of which will come transferred outside,
• the valorization of some cognitive functions, like the inferenziale strategy,
• the widening of the acquaintance area,
• the opening of new you space and functionality of the mind, if the associate-cultural context will concur it.

For Thompson (1998, p. 121) the development of the media induces “to create new types of action and interaction and new shapes of social relations” and determines “one complex reorganization of the space and the time”.

Just for the elevated one it upgrades them of these new means is not possible to leave completely the case their development and I use.

As it supports Van Dijk (2002, p. 17), exist a problem of social fairness, from the moment that some categories of persons participate more than others to the society of the information, and from the moment that the costs of the technology of the information determine the creation of numerous groups of “disadatta to you”, with a consequent intensification of the already existing social inequalities.

Moreover, as it supports Kubicek (1988), new the media can destroy the quality of the communications you make face, to render the job relations more you form them and, more in general terms to alter the social ecology (the social atmosphere).

Also as far as the democracy, I use it of new the media could concur of a strengthening, or viceversa a weakening.

The technologies of the information and communication (TIC, or to the American ICT, Information and Communication Technologies) are new the media digital them, been born around to years Seventy.

They comprise all the software, the interfaces and the devices you that they are connected to the computers and that they concur, through the use of a stiff technological support to the elaboration of symbolic systems, the construction, negotiation and sharing of means to you.

In order to plan and to introduce nets of information and communication it is necessary to take to decisions more levels.

The technological appraisal (TA, technology assessment) consists in the argument on the several possible options for the increment of the technologies of the information and the communication.

For Van Dijk “the issue key in the TA is: the technology can be developed in careful way to the social requirements” (Van Dijk, 2002, p. 18).

For Van Dijk, “in the history of the media various revolutions in the communications have been taken place, that they can be structural and technical uniforms in” (Van Dijk, 2002, p. 22).

The structural revolutions give to place to fundamental changes in the space coordinates and time.

The technical revolutions of the communications realize instead a fundamental change in the structure of the logons, of the memories craft them, in the reproduction of their contents.

New the media can to all the effects to consider a structural revolution, in how much they mark the end of the distinction between the media that are fixed in the space and the time and those that scavalcano these dimensions: new the media is in fact a combination of media online and media that it is not (Van Dijk, 2002, p. 22).

On the other hand a technical revolution with the introduction of the memories has been had also crafts them digita them and of the digital transmission and reproduction them.

For Van Dijk (2002):

… the essence of the revolution puts into effect them can be reassumed in the terms integration and interattività. The more important structural change is integration of the telecommunicationses, the communications of data and the mass communications in a single medium, second which has been defined the convergence process. (Van Dijk, 2002, p. 24)

As the digital revolution comes suggested from Paul Irons to us in the book “them”, the digitalis them and the technological convergence, that is progressive integration in various digital format them of the media, has:

… swept via the barriers between the various disciplines and the shapes of communication until transforming to the root… the modalities and the same epistemologico charter of the traditional carriers of the culture, the communication, the formation. The web, the sea of Internet, is the example more completed of the digital convergence them: on the net images, sounds and words they are deals to you in the same way. (Irons, 1999, p. 13)

An other structural change, that it has been determined from it puts into effect them revolution of the telecommunicationses, is the carried out one of the interactive mediale communication.

With new the media interactive there is possible to establish communications is bidirectional that multidirectional.

Moreover they have been improves the consultation system to you and the recording opportunities and have increased the model of the conversation.

New the media has given the possibility to arrange voices, data, text and images in the mediale communication, rendering it nei competitive confronts of the communication makes face (Van Dijk, 2002, p. 25 - 30).

Considering the objective characteristics of the media and the intersoggettive characteristics of their use their ability to communication can be characterized.

For Short (1976), following the objective approach in sociopsicologico within, the concept of social presence puts in prominence the sociability, the heat, the personal information and the sensibility of the communication makes to face regarding the media, that they are in a position to transmitting them single in limited way.

Also as far as the informative wealth the media the interaction would be found in disadvantage respect makes face.

Within the socioculturale approach the intersoggettivi processes of social construction have been mainly emphasize to you.

Fulk (1987) has developed a social model of elaboration of the information and has watched to as the media effectively they are used in the practical one every day and transforms to you intersoggettivamente in sight of the social elaboration of the information.

Also for Walther (1992), Spears and Lea (1992) - that they have developed the theory of the social identity - the mediale communication and that face to face end in order to become equivalents, in how much the persons transport the own social identity, cultural and personal in the communications, compensating therefore the limits of the medium.

According to Van Dijk (2002, pp. 33 - 35), than integral the objective approach to that intersoggettivo, it is necessary structurally to confront the new and old comunicative abilities to the media.

Van Dijk finds as they are characteristic salienti in new the media:

• the communication speed at a distance,
• the geographic and demographic capacity upgrades them,
• the enormous one upgrades them of memory,
• the accuracy of the transmitted information,
• the selettività of the messages.

It finds instead as they are characteristic detailed lists of the communication you make face:

• the interattività,
• the wealth of the stimuli,
• the complexity,
• the protection of the intimate sphere.

The technological transformation has carried with himself the economic and social transformation, in the passage from the society of the mass-medium to the society of the personal medium, where to the communication one-all have replaced the communication much-many.

Pierre Lévy in “collective intelligence. For an anthropology of the cyberspace” he speaks about substitution to the technologies molars, than they address to individuals mass, of the technologies of molecular nature, that they avoid instead the massificazione.

In the media digital the image in its assumes them one great importance several shapes.

Bettetini suggests to us in “the visual simulation” that “the observer connects to the image and the image to the observer (Bettetini, 1991, p.89).

The image is fruit just of the interaction between observer and image.

An other interesting characteristic of new the media is the simulation ability.

According to Bettetini (1991), the simulation sends back to the significazione phenomenon, in how much interests is the mental within that that sensory one.

But in reality virtual the image does not have referring a real one necessarily and therefore the ulterior step leads us to the consideration of the virtualità of the real one.

New the media, and above all the hypertext, also has made to evolvere the writing, being modified the same relationship between author and reader, that hour is called to interact mainly with the text, being able to inside choose its distance of reading of the possibilities given.

As Landow in “the hypertext says. Digital technologies them and critical literary”:

As the readers proceed through a burlap or net of witnesses, continuously moves the center - therefore the focale and organizational principle - of their surveying and experience. In other words, the hypertext infinitely supplies “a ricentrabile” system whose temporary point of focalization depends on the reader, that he becomes therefore a true “active” reader… (Landow, 2000, p. 63)

The organization and the inner hierarchy of the parts of the text a linear structuring does not have more, but with net, and concurs therefore multiple attraversamenti to the reader, that it becomes more assets than how much never has not been in the past.

An other of the problems that mainly are placed to the attention is what it regards who controls new means of spread of the knowledge.

 3.2. Epistemologici paradigms and currents of thought 

White woman Maria Varisco in the test “New technologies between theory and practical Didactics: the theories to support of the multimedialità”, the multimedialità, ipermedialità, data transmission and virtual truth put in evidence five important approach theoretical elaborate care to you.

They are:

• the associate-technological approach of McLuhan and de Kerckhove,
• the approach associate-linguistico of Ong,
• the psico-pedagogical approach of Bruner, Olson, Gardner and Greenfield,
• the psico-technological approach of I die, Bransford and Scardamalia,
• the tecno-anthropological approach of Lévy and Turkle

In particular, second the associate-technological approach of McLuhan, the changes of the communication systems determine associate-cultural changes, and the media extensions of our faculties can be considered, in how much concur the expansion of our senses.

Also second de Kerckhove the technologies operate deep modifications in the way to think about the man, that it is a biological ecosystem, in continuous dialog with the technology and the culture, which is being transformed in a bionica entity.

According to the approach associate-linguistico of Ong, the humanity has crossed three makes itself:

• of the primary oralità, characterized from the prevalence of the hearing on the other senses,
• of the phonetic alphabet and the press, characterized from the prevalence of the sight,
• of the secondary oralità, return to the oralità under the infuence of the writing.

In the phase of the secondary oralità there is therefore a recovery of the collective participation, had to the contribution of the technologies electronic electrical workers and, that it reorganizes the privatization of the mind of the previous phase that privileged the writing.

In the psico-pedagogical approach of Bruner (1971) the affirmation that is found intelligence is “internalization of the tools determines from one given culture to you”.

The construction of instruments is for Bruner one of the forces of the umanizzazione and the instruments are seen like amplifiers of the human powers.

The man therefore is conditioned in thinking from the instruments puttinges on hand from the culture.

Also for Olson intelligence is mastery and ability in a particular medium.

For Olson there is continuity between processes perceptive and cogniti to you.

Moreover Olson supports the necessity of a multimediale instruction-learning, in how much the means of the communication and those of the instruction are seen like ways in order to catch up various scopes, than rapportano to as many ways of being intelligent.

Gardner develops just the concept of “multiple intelligences”, than they refer themselves to a privileged different use arranges symbolic proposals in specific cultural contexts.

Same Gardner asserts that “the ability to face a problem using the more recent technology and than to deal electronically given and events Gardner can contribute in meaningful measure to promote the learning in the students (, 1991).

For Patricia Greenfield, every media technological stimulates sensory processes, of thought and styles communicated to you specific.

The integral learning will be integrating between they the various mass media.

In the psico-technological approach of Bransford they come conjugates the learning to you berthed to real and the generative learning, sped up from the multimediale narration of problematic events of real life.

I die has elaborated the Theory of the Cognitive Flexibility, that it is “the ability spontaneously to restructure the own acquaintances in many ways, in adattiva answer to the radical change of the situazionali demands (I die, Jehng, 1990, p. 165).

So that it is reached this flexibility is necessary to know to represent the acquaintance by means of multiple dimensions.

Through I use it of the cases is possible to render the complexity and tied conceptual variability to an acquaintance dominion.

A same material can be explored from conceptual perspective different.

The multimediali atmosphere development of instruction can allow the automatic generation of sequences of cases.

Marlene Scardamalia has instead implemented an integrated ipermediale atmosphere for the shared construction of a database to the aim of the collaborativo learning in net.

The objective of this system is to produce intentional learning, through the involvement in a process of expertise, inside of the school seen like learning community.

At last, in the tecno-anthropological approach of Lévy it is spoken about the technologies of intelligence, that is the collective technologies of the perception, the thought and the communication.

For Lévy the structures derive from “a variegato, stirred world, whose effects of soggettività emerge from local and transitory processes (Lévy, 1990).

The structures are the product of concrete ecological dynamics.

The technique is defined in relation to the social modalities of use of its potentialities, and is a strong factor of transformation of the possibilities of cognitive production.

The attitude of Lévy of forehead to the acquaintance costruttivista and is situated.

For Lévy it is the comunicativo action that defines the situation that gives sense to the messages.

Every new message replaces in game the context.

The situation is redefined uninterruptedly from the process of collective interpretation in action

For Lévy the ipertestuale structure explains all those aspects of the truth in which the significazioni enter in game, like the sociotecnici communication and processes.

The hypertext is the metaphor of the ermeneutica theory of the communication, whose focus it is the significazione.

Every person, attributing to a message a its sense, constructs a its hypertext.

The common sense is the collective elaboration of a hypertext.

For Sherry Turkle the computer is constructive and proiettivo means, than prompt reflections on the own cognitive processes you, affective-emotional and motor.

In particular Turkle has been taken care of the culture of the simulation, been born with the introduction on the market of systems that used the graphical interface, being interested to the problem of plurime the identities and multiple and flexible Himself.

The borders between real and the virtual one have been gone gradually losing weight.

The anonymity of the virtual spaces has rendered the construction of new Himself possible and has given to the possibility living screw parallels (like in the MUD, dominions more customers).

Also in the Chat, forum of argument in real time, is possible to interpret several masks.

Himself, with the new possibilities offered from the virtual world, it becomes more flexible and proteiforme.

<<< History, theories and currents of media | The analysis of documents and meanings >>>