Changing Literacies; Changing Pedagogies

Quotes

"From this perspective, it may be that the new generation of teachers is well placed to develop innovative uses of new technology in the classroom." -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 7

I feel like this can generally be true.  Often times, it's the more experienced teachers who have been teaching for years who don't like to change the way they teach.  They may use technology occasionally, but it's in simple ways that are mentioned in this chapter, like sometimes using SmartBoards or Laptops.  It's a rare occurrence within the classroom.  I feel like teachers who are younger and around my age are more open to bringing technology into the classroom, and using them in more innovative ways.

"Education can be enriched by the contributions of new 'playful social' teachers because these are the 'first generation of young teachers to have had the possibility of playful social learning in their social lives'." -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 8

I think that, not only can "playful social" teachers do better with incorporating technology, but that they also connect better with students.  It's easier to find commonalities with the students and this helps to make connections.  I've connected with both Middle and High School aged students over video games or shows they watch.  We've used them for writing assignments or analogies that help them understand content.  It also simply helps the teacher build a relationship with the students in the classroom.

"Parallel pedagogy is a way of describing how old and new literacy practices, including print texts and visual texts, may be fruitfully taught side by side, rather than the 'old' being a precursor to the new or being replaced by it." -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 9

This particular quote speaks to me primarily because it's in line with my own teaching beliefs.  I love using technology in the classroom and coming up with new ways to incorporate it, but I also love using more traditional texts, like novels.  I don't think that novels and books loose their value.  Perhaps the way we read has changed, but the act of reading itself shouldn't.  I've watched students read print books, graphic novels, on tablets, on e-readers, and even on their phones.  There are many ways to combine these two modes of teaching, and using both could even help multiple learners.

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Media Ecology and Learning Case Rough Draft

My Media Ecology and Learning Case Rough Draft

Changing Literacies

Quotes

"Other classrooms use their wiki as an information hub.  In this context, the wiki becomes the site where homework is posted, where assignments are listed, and where student upload various pieces of work.  The wiki is a central point for accessing and disseminating information; for drawing students and teachers together in a community space unhindered by distance and time." -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 4

I have heard about wikis before, but I have never seen them used within the classroom.  I really liked the idea of having a kind of classroom site where students and parents could access that displayed everything they might need to know.  I work with middle school students a lot, and they can be very forgetful, especially when they don't write information down.  If something like this was used, parents would not only be able to see homework assignments and such, but they would also know what was going on in their child's classroom, and even see work that they've done.  This, to me, seems like a great idea, and it's rather disappointing that many teachers don't take advantage of the opportunity.

"We now realize that to read online texts in a critical way, one needs to see them as more than free-standing, isolated constructs to be deciphered in the same ways as paper-based texts." -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 5

I really liked the discussion they had here about how blogs were examined for accuracy and realism.  When working with online media, there is always the question of whether or not what you're reading is the truth.  We ask ourselves the same questions when reading news articles or even watching or hearing about events.  The ability to examine text, and the world, critically is a great skill to have.  Finding online resources is not always easy, because sometimes information is unreliable.  This also relates back to the discussion in Chapter 4 about Wikipedia and it's academic use.  Cross-referencing information is always important, and working with digital text can be a good way to teach that.

"The idea that digital technology might help to motivate reluctant learners and provide more meaningful contexts for literacy has captured the attention of an increasing number of educators." -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 6

One of the major questions I think every teacher faces is "How do I teach someone who doesn't want to learn?"  What if nothing that is tried in the classroom motivates that student to learn?  It's a big issue, and I love the idea that technology can be that motivating factor for students.  There was a conversation about the use of video games in this aspect, which is something I find interesting.  I think games, whether digital or not, have always been a good motivation for kids, especially those that are younger.  I have, however, seen high school kids get excited by the use of games.  They're kind of a universal teaching methods that we don't always utilize, because there's this belief that high school kids shouldn't be playing games in class.  When dealing with reluctant learners, though, any means that works shouldn't be ignored.

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Interview Analysis

Hanging Out

Mia spends a lot of time on Social Media.  She is active on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, which she uses to communicate with her peers.  She also plays a number of games (usually gaming apps) which have been shown to her by her friends.  They are games that they usually play together.

Messing Around

Mia doesn't use the computer often, except when she has to do something for school.  Most of the time, she is on her Smartphone.  However, in relation to the use of her phone, she's taught herself a lot of what she knows and how to use it.

Geeking Out

Mia has not developed an interest in any sort of specialized skill set in relation to technology.

Schooling

Mia has taken several technology courses in high school, such as Basic Computer Applications (BCA).  When texting, Mia tends to use correct spelling, though capitalization and punctuation are questionable.  Sometimes she uses texting language.  Mia has never been much of a reader, but she also does not spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, either.  Typically, she only writes for school purposes.  At this time, she usually uses the computer to do research and write papers.

Digital Texts in and Out of School

Quotes

"No one form of text reigns supreme; together they construct the multimodal textual landscape of the city."  -- Digital Literacies, Introduction

The author used this quote to discuss the way in which people can get around a foreign city, such as Hong Kong, but I think this sort of thing is true even in a place like the classroom.  You go from reading a textbook to looking something up on the computer to watching a video or putting together a presentation.  There are so many different forms of text and we, as teachers, can't just focus on one of them.  They can all work together to enhance learning.

"However, access to technology is never simple--schools have qualitatively different kinds of access, with physical, digital, human, and social resources all impacting on the skills, knowledge, and learning that can be expected."  -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 1

As a substitute, I see this very often.  I've been to schools who only have one computer lab and no personal computers for the teachers, and others that are rich in technology.  Some schools within the same school district are like this, with some having more than others.  Integrating technology can be incredibly difficult when the technology itself is not available.  It's hard to be innovative when the tools are not there.  Many teachers work out of pocket and raise funds on their own to supply their classrooms.  Even within the same schools, some classrooms have more than others.  Some teachers don't even get the luxury of their own classroom, and instead have to push a cart from room to room and borrow the room's of other teachers.  They don't have the same opportunities as the other teachers.

"Literacy is not just about decoding marks on a page; it is also about performing social acts of meaning, where meanings and practices vary according to context."  -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 2

This is kind of what we've been talking about throughout the course of this class, that the definition of literacy is changing.  Literacy is no longer just the ability to read and write, but to interrupt symbols and what's on a screen.  It's also about the skills that can be learned and how they are applied.  I like how this also mentions context, because that has a lot to do with how learning is taking place.  Sometimes, students have difficulty understanding something in the context of the classroom, but may understand it better when applied in some other way.

"Clare and Tom's formal education has been driven by a strong focus on developing functional skills-based literacy as a result of current high-stakes assessment regimes and teacher accountability."  -- Digital Literacies, Chapter 3

I am a firm believer that high-stakes tests are ruining education.  So much about student learning and teacher ability is based on these tests.  However, most students, especially those in upper middle school and high school, usually don't care about these tests.  They don't care if they do well or not.  It's a waste of time for them, and they don't see the point.  They don't try their best most of the time, even when there is a reward in place.  There are also students who are brilliant that are awful at taking tests, and so they don't do well.  These tests have nothing to do with their abilities, but how well they can repeat an answer or do what is asked correctly.

Technology and the Classroom

I've always believed that incorporating technology in the classroom is a good thing, and that it can be very helpful to student learning.  We talk so much about incorporating technology and how important it is, but sometimes the resources aren't there, or they're so stretched that it's difficult to get them regularly into the classroom.  If there is only one computer lab, or one mobile lab, and every teacher wants to use them in the classroom, then it's impossible to get a hold of said lab.  It can't become a regular use in the classroom.  Not all schools are made equal, and this is especially so in areas where the school districts don't have a lot of money to spend on technology.

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Media Ecology and Learning Case Interview

Interview

For this case study, I interviewed my cousin, because she is the only young person I happen to know.  She is 17 years old and will be a senior in High School.

Ask your young person to choose a pseudonym for you to use in the writing of your case.

Mia.

Do you have a computer/iPod/MPC Player/Wii/ect.?

Computer (Desktop & Laptop) - Yes
iPod - Yes
Wii - Yes
iPhone - Yes
TV - Yes

What kinds of things do you use the computer for?

Schoolwork mostly.  I use my phone for everything else.

What is your favorite thing to do on the computer?

I spend a lot of my time on Social Media.

How did you learn to do that?

I messed around with it and figured out how to do it.  Sometimes my friends showed me things and it snowballed from there.

What is your favorite game?  Why?

I spent most of BCA II playing BubbleShooter.  I also really like 1010.  It's like Tetris!  BubbleShooter because I always beat my friends at it and it takes a long time to win, so it was very distracting.  1010 because it is also distracting and makes me sleepy.

Do you know other people who do this?

Yeah.  All my friends do.

How do you use the computer at school?

I play BubbleShooter (which I'm not supposed to do) and my schoolwork.  I have online college classes, projects, research for projects, write papers, and completer classes (business/computer classes).

How would you like to use the computer at school?

I'm more of a hands on learner, so I don't feel I would benefit from virtual learning.

Do you think teachers would let you use the computer to do those things?  Why?  Why not?

I think they would be more in favor of online lessons.  The younger teachers would, but the older teachers are stuck in their ways.

Anything else you would like to tell me?

I think technology can be really helpful if you're a visual learner.  It's still beneficial, though, because it's going to keep growing and you're going to have to deal with it in life.

Quotes

"Each generation is exposed to a unique set of events that defines their place in history and shapes their outlook." -- Digital Natives, Chapter 3

"First, there is a general need to stereotype in order to reduce complexity and to apply simplified rules of thumb."  -- Digital Natives, Chapter 3

"While numbers of our old routines have remained, in many instances these routines have been added to, augmented, and, in some cases, supplanted by applications of the Internet."  -- Digital Natives, Chapter 8

"The findings suggest that rather than a homogeneous population of always connected digital natives, young people's technology activities and interests are widely varying, beyond a core set of common activities involving communication and information retrieval."  -- Digital Natives, Chapter 11

"There may indeed be a small subset of young people who are highly adept with and interested in digital technologies, but there is mounting evidence to suggest that patterns of access and use are varied and complex."  -- Digital Natives, Chapter 11

Beyond Digital Natives

Quotes

"It had been documents that young children are actually demonstrating an ability to handle screen texts even when not exposed in their own home." -- Digital Natives, Chapter 10

I found this very interesting, especially when discussing children who were not at school age.  It makes me wonder where the children have been exposed to technology.  To have knowledge of something, children usually have to be exposed to it.  If the children haven't been exposed to computers and digital text in their own homes, then where could they have been exposed at?  We live in a very digital world, so it stands to reason that somewhere, whether at a daycare or when staying with another family member or a friend, perhaps they were exposed then.  I find it hard to believe that children would just know how to operate technology if they hadn't seen and experienced it before.

"There may indeed be a small subset of young people who are highly adept with and interested in digital technologies, but there is mounting evidence to suggest that patterns of access and use are varied and complex." -- Digital Natives, Chapter 11

People, as a whole, are diverse, and sometimes I think we forget that.  It's so easy to lump everyone into a group and to apply generalizations to them.  In this case, we're saying that all young people are Digital Natives, and that all Digital Natives are good with technology.  However, that is not always the case.  Sometimes, students don't have that skill set.  Also, some students can do more advanced and complex things with a computer.  Some may have a basic knowledge of coding while others have no clue what HTML is.  These kinds of things are based on the experiences that the students have, not just their age or when they were born.

"We know from our research that for young people to develop sophisticated skills, it is crucial that they have a home where parents support them, schools where teachers support them, and libraries where librarians support them." -- Digital Natives, Chapter 12

I think this is a true statement about everything.  In general, children who have more support at home and at school do better.  They go further.  If parents don't care about their child's grades, then usually the child doesn't care either.  There is no motivation or expectation for them.  I think the order the areas are listed is important, too.  For kids, the learning and interest usually starts at home.  Parents are the ones who should push and support their kids and give them every opportunity.  Then, the kids come to school, and the teachers should do the same.  Teachers should support their students and motivate them to learn.  Unfortunately, that is not always the case, and instead of nurturing interests, teachers kill them.  Lastly, I think it is important to have librarians who are supportive and willing the help.  If a librarian is unapproachable, students are less likely to visit and use the resources available, which will ultimately hinder their learning.

Digital Literacies and Digital Natives

I think the most important idea mentioned in these chapters is that not all digital natives are the same.  Not all digital natives are tech savy young adults, and not all digital immigrants are clueless with technology.  The truth is, the human race is a diverse group of people, and we all have different interests and different skill sets.  Also, the terms digital literacy and literacy are seen as different, but to me, they seem very much the same.  Literacy can be defined not only as the ability to read and write, but also as competence in a specified area.  Therefore, with this definition, literacy is the same as digital literacy.

Meme

This meme goes with the last quote I included, because I believe that this is especially important when it comes to teaching.  This is something that is important just in today's teaching world or even in the past.  It's also important in the future.  Without support from teachers and parents, students are less likely to succeed in everything they do.

Digital Natives Presentation

*set autoplay to 10 seconds*

When putting together my presentation, my attempt was to address the different categories that go with digital natives.  All digital natives are not made equal, though we tend to generalize them to make it easier to discuss the current generation.  My presentation addresses these generalizations, but it also addresses the differences.  I think it's important to know that the majority of this generation have at least a basic knowledge of computers and other technology.  Typically, you can expect students to have a basic understanding.  However, it's also important to know that some students might not have an extensive knowledge of computers or other technology.  Some may also not have an interest in using technology or some technological tool, such as a video game.