Weekly Reading #4

“Classrooms that privilege alphabetic, print‐based, hard copy texts over electronic, multimedia and online texts are failing to capitalize on their students’ expertise and creating dissonance, as well as perpetuating disadvantage for those teens, who are not engaging with new texts outside of school” (Adlington & Hansford, 2008).

This statement reminds me of the movie Kate and Leopold. Leopold is a misplaced man when he travels to New York City from a different era. He is completely lost in all modes of communication, transportation, and entertainment. I feel that this is what our students will feel if we, as teachers, don’t incorporate new digital media into the classroom for our students to experience and skillfully use—lost. When they graduate high school they will be lost in a growing sea of technology, if teachers don’t help them assimilate to such changes and become critical consumers of information and technology.

By Ron Mader at Flickr [CC (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)], from Flickr Commons.

I chose this image because I believe it is our responsibility as teachers to provide students the best education, which would involve the new technologies that improve collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. These skills are important in the job market, which is ever-expanding. There is always going to be some new digital experience that students should use or implement in their working knowledge, which is why this image is a perfect description of the growing knowledge that teachers must have. Teachers must be continual learners and leaders. It is unfair to students whose teachers refuse to change and are stuck in the "old school" ways. I believe this is the most important information I gathered from this week's article, Digital Spaces and Young People's Online Authoring: Challenges for Teachers.

Questions

• Why is it important for teachers to use digital media to support writing instruction in school?

Like I said previously, it is our responsibility to help transition students into new digital media so that they have a chance to succeed in the job market. School is a safe and easy way to be introduced to and experiment with new technologies that students wouldn’t have a chance to use otherwise. Moreover, if teachers use digital media to support writing instruction in school, the technology and digital media that students are familiar with will become a tool for motivation and engagement. Digital media allows for more learning than traditional texts because it is vast in its all-encompassing curriculum.

• What are the differences between writing online and writing in school?

The differences between writing online and writing in school is that there is a bigger audience for your work online, than there ever could be in school writing.  There are so many tools and various communication presentations that could be used when writing online versus writing in school. Text can come alive with online writing.

• How should teachers use digital spaces to support writing instruction in school?

Teachers should use digital spaces, such as Wikis or blogs, to support writing instruction in school. It’s creative sites like these that can cause growth in writings from students by the feedback and collaboration that can occur online. Peer and teacher feedback is what encourages corrections to text, because no student wants to look ignorant when they attach their name to something that will last forever and be seen by many.

• What are some of the challenges to using digital spaces for writing instruction in school?

Some of the challenges to using digital spaces for writing instruction in school is the lack of funding for technology in school. Technology is expensive and most schools can’t find the funding to do 1-to-1 technology—meaning, one technology per one child. I would love to teach in a technology/digital media driven school. I feel that the students would be better prepared for the real world and may even have an advantage over other prospective employees.

Please find another example (Lesson plan or student created product) that provides a good example of how a teacher kept true to the social purpose of a new digital text to support learning in the classroom. Please provide explanation for you example.

Understanding Stereotypes

I chose this lesson plan because it can be adapted and expanded upon within the digital environment. Students can create a digital story or a public service announcement on the effects of stereotypes have had in their lives or their friends' lives. This ending project can be placed on the Internet on websites, such as Youtube. I liked this lesson because stereotypes are harmful assumptions about other people. Just as students need to be critical consumers of information, they need to be critical consumers of people. In other words, "you can't judge a book by its cover".  The collaboration and input from various classmates with different backgrounds will be beneficial in the learning experience involved in this project. Having the students find stereotypes in newspapers, magazines, and other media is a great way to relate what they've learned and the effect of stereotypes in their world.

Adlington, R., & Hansford, D. (2008, July 6). Digital spaces and young people’s online authoring: Challenges for teachers. Retrieved June 10, 2013, from National Conference for Teachers of English and Literacy: http://www.englishliteracyconference.com.au/files/documents/AdlingtonHansford-Digital%20spaces.pdf