3. Challenges of Today: Maniness, Multivoicedness, and Dispersion of Knowledge

Abstract

In today's age of globalization one faces the day waking up to a world that provides us instant waves of information and communication when accessing our media devices. As early adopters, particularly youth, show an intensive use of digital media in their everyday lives. At the same time, globalization brings a sense of ambiguity. This article questions how future students of higher education face and deal with the ambiguity in the online world. Based on literature and observations of youth and their use of interactive media, we propose that youth specifically faces three challenges relating to ambiguity: maniness, multivoicedness, and dispersion. We elaborate on how youth uses particular digital media in response to this ambiguity, respectively to explore, evaluate and narrate. Pointing out these central processes makes clear what are general tasks for educational practice.