The smartphone. Umbilical cord for parents or IT corporations?
There are two reasons why parents give their children a smartphone. The first is the fear that their children will lose out in the “digital world” without knowledge of such devices. The second is that being able to reach their children at any time creates security in an unsecure world. [more]
The new learning killers
In the German state of Baden-Württemberg, a brochure was published by the State Media Centre which pointed out that every member of an average family now possessed a digital device. This was highlighted as progress in the foreword by the education minister. A picture shows children sitting back to back and “playing” with their mobile phones. Another one depicts two children sitting in front of the television as they eat. [more]
Mature handling of media instead of media addiction
Paula Bleckmann is a professor of media education and undertakes research into media competence and the media world. Bleckmann distances herself from a concept of media competence as advocated by experts she has interviewed who advocate the “early high tech” approach. We reproduce here a shortened version of a lecture she gave at the Media Day in Mannheim on 14 October 2016. [more]
Publisher's View
Moving mountains
“This class is impossible to teach!” With these encouraging words, a colleague handed me the list of names of my new class 1 pupils the last time I took over a class. [more]
Editorial
The shadow self
Attacks by hackers on institutions such as the German government, the banks, the German Association of Waldorf Schools, the publisher Verlag Freies Geistesleben and the editorial staff of Erziehungskunst have begun to increase severely. These institutions are having to take increasingly costly steps to protect themselves, and still they end up lagging behind because there is no such a thing as complete protection. [more]
Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen e.V.