Digital Texts In and Out of School
"The skills and attitudes that provide young people with opportunities
to participate effectively in this world are often not the skills and
attitudes rewarded in our school system."
This quote from Chapter 4 is the one I used for my illuminated text, because it seemed a good summary of a lot of what this book is about. There are so many technology tools and skills that teens are using outside of school, and not very much of it is a part of what they are allowed to do in school. There is quite a bit about social media, chat rooms, gaming, and video production that can be hard to control, and, therefore, a little scary for teachers and schools. But, schools should try to find ways to utilize them, if possible, like the ways wikis were used in the examples for this chapter.
Digital Skills in School
Online Social Dilemmas
"While it may be the case that many youngsters are highly adept at producing all kinds of sophisticated texts out of school, it remains the case that many need support in negotiating their way through the social mazes and dilemmas they face."
Chapter 5 talked about using blogs in the classroom, and online texts that are similar to web pages. Even though students are often "highly adept" when it comes to creating online environments, they are still young emotionally and socially. That's why it's so important for teachers and administrators to also be adept at using and producing digital texts. They need to stay ahead of the curve, because the students will need guidance and support when faced with the choices that come with technology use. This topic seemed very poignant to me, as a middle school teacher, because there is a broad range of maturity levels among my students, and a lot of social, emotional, and physical experimentation going on during these years that crosses over into the online environment.
Trailblazers
"Teachers need not be the docile operatives of an outdated, centralized curriculum, but can instead respond innovatively to the learning potential of powerful new technologies."
When I read this quote from Chapter 6, my thought was, "only if they have the time, finances, and support of the administration," with most emphasis on that last point. The virtual environment created in this chapter for the kids in this school sounded interesting, and definitely gave the teachers a window into some of the texts, skills, and literacies of their students, but it also seemed to take a tremendous amount of time and preparation. There is a lot of value in understanding the online practices of our students, but the kids didn't just learn these skills overnight or in a few hours. They are using these tools, and playing these games, daily, and for hours. If teachers and schools are serious about learning how to stay on top of what the kids are doing, and utilizing these literacies in school, a lot of time, training, and support will be necessary.
I love your quote from chapter four, I think you are absolutely correct. I keep saying over and over that we as educators need to support the students learning and meet them where they are. I feel that you would be doing your kids a great service by teaching them with some of the modern tools we now have available. I have the same thoughts that you do about social media, that if they are not exposed to it correctly even in school they may make incorrect choices. When I taught preschool we had a no junk food policy., I don't agree with it. Simply because if they are never given the opportunity to eat some, they will go nuts later on when they do eat it. The same can be said for blogging and social media.
ReplyDeleteI loved the quote you chose from chapter four. It is so true that these young individuals are using all these skills outside of school and not inside the classroom. With the interview that we had to do on a young person I realized this was happening. She did pretty cool things on the computer for fun, but when it came to using the computer at school. It was like a boring task to her because they were not doing fun things. They were doing things like testing. We need to introduce these skills into the classroom and let the have more fun learning.
ReplyDeleteJulie, I'm really glad you raised the issue about the need for time, resources and administrative support in order for teachers to be able too take the risks they need in order to integrate digital media into their existing curriculum in ways that mirror authentic literacy practices in the world outside of school. I was presenting at a high school not long ago where the union rep and principal told teachers that if anything inappropriate happened while student where using computers or cell phones in the classroom they would basically throw them under the bus. At Fairmont State we are thinking of starting a Leadership program in digital media so that administrators might develop the knowledge and confidence to support teachers in their endeavors to modernize their learning environments.
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