Don Tapscott, Canadian technology guru, is in Portugal for the World Telecommunications Forum, which will take place in Lisbon. Asked about the benefits of the Magalhães program, the author of the works Economia Digital and Wikinomics did not spare his praise and classified the Portuguese State’s initiative as «the most sophisticated and advanced implementation of information technology in education in the world», quotes Lusa.
According to the specialist, the program could have very positive results for the country, mainly for «giving its children their birthright, which is to have access to a new means of communication that improves their learning and human experience».
Don Tapscott goes further and says that all children in the country must have access to the initiative and the networks to which it connects. This is because, according to the thinker, the traditional teaching model, in which the teacher holds the knowledge and the student absorbs the contents «is inappropriate» for this new generation that «grew up with interactivity and collaboration».
Taking into account the global evolution in terms of the implementation of IT in classrooms, Tapscott classifies Portugal as an example and stresses that it is through initiatives such as Magalhães that «the future» is, and therefore it must be ensured that «citizens younger people have access to the Internet, because when the youngest grow up using technology it affects brain development in very positive ways «.
«I call this world generation the ‘net generation’. They are a generation of digital natives, I am a digital immigrant, I arrived in the digital world as an immigrant. They grew up in the digital world. […] Their culture is different, the way they interact with technology is different and if we want to win in the 21st century, we must ensure that all young people have access to the Internet and that is why the Magalhães Program is so important «, he concludes.
However, the Canadian advises Portugal to invest in a next generation high speed network, active and informed users, technology in schools to change the model of learning and pedagogy and policies to protect privacy and ensure that technology serves people. .
