Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 12
Posts 1 - 10

Auf Facebook und Co. haben die Rassisten Hochkonjunktur

(Racists boom on Facebook and co. )

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 7.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, politeness, politics, threat
Summary | Racists are much more vocal on social media. But social media are no lawless space - actions on Facebook or Twitter can also lead to legal persecution under the Swiss anti-racism law. Ever since the advent of social media, more cases of racism lead to conviction (usually just entailing a fee).
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Auf die Bombe folgten die Explosionen

(The bomb was followed by explosions)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 10.12.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, politics, privacy
Summary | Recently the news story about a company called Cambridge Analytica made waves: they claimed to have extracted an accurate psychological profile of all adult US citizens based on their Facebook likes. The company uses those profiles to target very specific audiences with political advertising. Such rigorous profiling based on data that was not willingly given for the purposes of such analysis would be illegal in Europe.
Image Description | Bloomberg image of a woman with glasses (only eyes portion of face visible), the glasses reflecting a screen showing the Facebook logo.
Image Tags | Facebook, female(s), logo

Leserbriefe

(Letters to the editor)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 18.12.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, texting, Twitter, word/writing
Summary | The Pisa study results show that the Swiss language education concept has failed. The reading skills of Swiss students are very poor. More time is being dedicated to foreign languages than to the native language - are children now supposed to learn German from Tweets and text messages in Swiss German?
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Logisches Pisa-Ergebnis

(Logical Pisa result)

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 15.12.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, research/study, school, social media, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | The Pisa study shows that Swiss students have decreasing writing and reading skills. This is not suprising considering the high percentage of foreign heritage children in Switzerland, the many national languages and distinct dialects, and the fact that children learn two foreign languages while still in primary school - let alone the dubious influence of new media, texting, social media, and so on.
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Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor

(Youths write - more than ever)

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 29.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | code-switching, language threat, research/study, school, smartphone, social media, spelling, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | There is a public hysteria about how youths are no longer capable of spelling correctly or writing appropriately and skillfully. All this is seen to be caused by new media such as smartphones. BUt young people today write far more than previous generations did: they post on social media and text every day. The only difference is that this writing culture is very informal and colloquial. Researchers however assume that one cannot simply state that this spoils their writing skills generally, most students are easily capable of code-switching from informal registers to a formal register appropriate for school.
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Le HTML5 se parlera-t-il avant l'alphabet?

(Will people speak HTML5 before the alphabet?)

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Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 28.12.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | computer programming, digitized education, school
Summary | A lot of parents would like their children to be able to speak the language of computers. However, Swiss schools do not allow kids to learn how to speak fluently HTML5, Python or Java Script. Switzerland is lagging behind in terms of digital education. In Anglo-Saxon countries, computer programming has been part of primary schools' curriculum for two years. Learning computer programming is useful if one wants to know the logic behind a smartphone, a video game, or a fridge.
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Pour l’accès à une culture générale numérique

(For an access to a general digital culture)

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Newspaper | Le Temps
Date | 19.11.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | computer programming, digitized education, school
Summary | Some people would like to introduce computer programming in school curriculum whereas others are more cautious. The author of the article thinks that it would be useful to teach the basics of computer programming. He distinguishes the terms "digital culture" and "programming". A digital culture concerns one's knowledge about what a VPN is, about Google's algorithms, or about what the introduction of the SwissPass involves. Computer programming concerns the different languages used in the field. Programming is the key to understanding our digital culture.
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Das eigene Verhalten überdenken

(Reflect one’s own behavior)

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Newspaper | St. Galler Tagblatt
Date | 17.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | school, technology-free, texting, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | A Sunday school teacher reports that more and more younger people give up part of their multi-media consumption for lent instead of food. Many will for instance give up their use of WhatsApp, text messaging, or video games rather than food. This shows that youths think very critically about their consumption habits.
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Schulen verbieten Handys – sogar während Pausen

(Schools prohibit mobile phones – even during recess)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 11.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | digitized education, school, smartphone, technology-free
Summary | Several Swiss schools are prohibiting smartphone use at school, even outside of classes. Apparently, teachers think that students are no longer interacting with one another. This ban clearly clashes with the Swiss German curriculum reform “Lehrplan 21” which plans to occasionally introduce smartphone use in the classroom for school assignments. It does not make sense for a few schools to refuse to acknowledge what is now a reality, namely that people now frequently use their smartphones to communicate rather than talking face-to-face.
Image Description | Series of four photographs: group of teenagers sitting together and using their smartphone, and three portraits of male interviewees.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

C'est la rentrée à l'école numérisée

(It's the start of the digital school year)

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Newspaper | Le Temps
Date | 30.8.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, school, smartphone, youth
Summary | A school principal explains how digital devices can help children learn. He wants to progressively digitize 50% of the school material. Smartphones and laptops don't ruin the school system; we just need to know how to use them. At his private school, everyone has a an iPad where they can find their class material. Now, the school provides each child with an iPad, but soon everyone will bring their own device. Our digitized society has the advantage of tightening social relationships between people, which is something not everyone agrees with.
Image Description | Photograph of a child using a tablet.
Image Tags | chart, female(s), male(s), school, tablet

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