Media Ecology and Learning Case Final

Media Ecology and Learning Case Final

Media Ecology and Learning Case Rough Draft

Media Ecology and Learning Case

Changing Literacie; Changing Pedagogies

Chapter 7:

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.-Cathy Burnett (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 115)

This is talking about how immersion in digital environments may lead to new ways of thinking and using texts in the new generation of teachers. I definitely agree with this idea that someone who has grown up with digital technology is more apt to bring it to their classroom. (On the other hand, however, I do believe that an older teacher can also bring new technologies into their classroom. They may have to work a bit hard or spend a little more time learning the new ways, though.)


Chapter 8:

Literacy teachers and teacher-educators must develop their own flexible and expanding digital literacies to support classroom integration of such literacies.- Rosie Kerin (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 145)

I could not agree more with this! I believe that teachers and teacher-educators must absolutely have their own skills that change, adapt, and evolve over time. Having a solid set of fluid skills are necessary in this rapidly changing world of technology. If a teacher is 'old-school' and refuses to learn new technologies to present in their classroom, they are doing the student a mighty injustice.


Chapter 9:

Are such practices a distraction to literacy education, or are they a part of literacy itself? - Kevin Leander (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 147)

This line is referring to popular visual texts, including video gaming, web surfing, and uploading short films, among young people. This is the million dollar question. This is what we are trying to decide and trying to learn new ways to teach these new practices. There are situations in which these  visual texts can be a distraction to education. Looking at the bigger picture, however, I think that they are part of literacy, but to what extent, appears to remain unknown.




How can I use digital technologies that reflect digital practices used in the world outside of school? That is a good question! I'm not 100% sure. With teaching college Math, there isn't a lot of wiggle room when it actually comes to trying new things during class. I would have to incorporate a new technology into the lesson so that the students work on it out of class. Realistically, a blog or a wiki sounds doable and I would love to try to make one, or both of these, a part of my fall semester. (if anyone reading this has ANY suggestions, please feel free to share!!) I don't feel prepared at all to do this yet; however, if I could come up with a plan soon, I would give myself several weeks to familiarize myself with either a blog or wiki and feel confident that when the fall semester started, I would be ready to go!






References:

Carrington, V., & Robinson, M. (Eds.). (2009). Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices. London, United Kingom: SAGE Publications.



Changing Literacies

Chapter 4:

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 - Victoria Carrington (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 76)

I like this quote as it makes me think deeper about the skills of our younger folks. From my experience, I can say that a lot of my schooling (pre college) did not involve a lot of technology. In my non-school life, I used the internet a lot and for different things. The fact that I could navigate around the web, search for things, and  had the ability to teach myself something by watching a YouTube video or reading and article, seemed irrelevant when I walked through the school doors. I'm not saying that students should text all through class and Facebook and SnapChat their friends every five minutes, but there needs to be a way for them to show their technological skills in a school setting.


Chapter 5:

Depending on one's point of view, this can be seen as a fascinating diversity of human experience or a confusion of unfiltered information and opinion. - J. Davis & M. Merchant (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 84)

(This quote is referring to blogs) I relate to this quote. When I first started this class, I had no idea what a blog really was, never mind how it worked or how to make one. I struggled through the first assignment and had a lot of trial and error as I taught myself how to make this blog. Once I got the hang of it and was satisfied with what I had done so far, it began to be fun. I like this quote because I am proof that a student can start out with no opinion of blogs and then actually learn how to make/work one and come out on the other side as having learned something.


Chapter 6:

What are the implications of working in an environment in which some pupils are more experienced or confident than the teacher? As in many other applications of new technology, children tend to be more experienced and more adaptable. Although this is not always the case, teachers do need to be prepared to learn from pupils and to value their experimentation.- Guy Merchant (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 108)

This bulleted point out of chapter 6 makes an excellent point. The lack of technologies used in the classroom might catch up to our teachers, especially our veteran teachers. I have had classes in the past that the  teachers literally only taught out of a book. There needs to be balance so that the students don't surpass the teacher in the knowledge that is used in a certain class.




Making Connections to the Text:
The reading is continuing to open my eyes to new thoughts and new possibilities of using technology in my classroom. Even though I teach math, there are still some ways that I can incorporate these ideas in way class. For example, I could have a blog where I post the daily assignments and homework and require students to comment their ideas or questions. Or, as a class, we could have a create and update regularly a wiki based  on the topics that we are studying. With lower level math, there is a lot of wiggle room for fun projects and activities and it would be great to incorporate more technology as I go!

 

For my illuminated text, I chose this quote from chapter 4:

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 

References:

Carrington, V., & Robinson, M. (Eds.). (2009). Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices. London, United Kingom: SAGE Publications.

Analyzing The Interview

Analyzing the Interview


Hanging Out:

John doesn’t use the computer to “hang out” with his friends. He does use social media, such as Facebook, but he does that on his iPhone. He says that his friends and some family also use the types of technologies that he uses.

Messing Around:

John uses the computer to “mess around” on YouTube. He watches music videos and videos of ATV racing. He learned about YouTube in school, even though the site is blocked from students. He observed his teacher showing a video in class, and from that little bit of exposure, he taught himself have to navigate it effectively.

Geeking Out:

John participates in GNCC ATV racing and uses technology to “Geek Out” by making videos, on an app on his iPhone, of himself and his friends from pictures of their race. He uses still photos and adds music and effects to them to produce these videos, which he uploads to Facebook. He found and taught himself how to use this app.

Schooling:

John uses the computer in a school setting to mostly practice typing and take standardized tests. All social media sites are blocked in the Marion County School system, as well as YouTube (available to teachers only), Pinterest, and some online game sites. When he is allowed to use the computer for leisure activities, John likes to go to www.mostfungames.com and play racing games.

 

Connections to the Text

Some quotes from the text that I liked and may consider using in my case study final are as follows: (all as cited in Carrington & Robinson, 2009)

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. p.76

They will need to understand and work with information in ways that are appropriate to the time in which they live. p 77

Digital texts are frequent multimodal and thus readers need to be. p 80

References:

 Carrington, V., & Robinson, M. (Eds.). (2009). Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices. London, United Kingom: SAGE Publications.

Interview with a Young Person

For this case study, I interviewed "John", an 11 year old boy from my town of Mannington, WV . He is about to enter 6th grade in the fall. His use of technology is heavy in the form of entertainment, and he seems to really only use an actual computer at school for practice/tests. He stated before the interview that he felt nervous to do it. I believe that his short answers show that.

 

 

For this interview, you get to choose a fake name. What would you like it to be? Anything that you want.
*thinking*….. John.

John…are you sure?
Yes.

Ok, John…Do you have a computer?
Yes. But I don't really use it a lot.

 

Will you please tell me all the different types of technologies that you have and use?
X box 360, PlayStation 4,… iPad,.. iPhone,…. Wii, TV….. and that’s it.

What kinds of things do you use the computer for?
YouTube…and games.

What is your favorite thing to do on the computer?
Probably to watch videos on YouTube.

How did you learn to do that?
School.

What are some other things that you use the computer for?(besides YouTube and games?)
Tests at school.

What is your favorite game? Why?
Basketball on the PlayStation 4. Because you get to play basketball and that’s my favorite sport. You get to be the character.

Do you know other people who do this?
my friends…my cousin

How do you use the computer at school?
tests, umm….. Appropriately. Typing game.

How would you like to use the computer at school?
uh……games.

Do you think teachers would let you use the computer to do those things? Why? Why not?
Maybe, if you get an award.

Anything else that you would like to tell me?
I’d rather come outside and play than stay inside and play video games all day.

What if you had a friend over and you had the choice to stay inside and play PlayStation together, l or anything, x-box, whatever, or go outside and swim. Which would you pick and why?
Go outside and swim. Because I like it.

*** “John” also had his iPhone in his pocket during the interview and when I asked him if there was anything else that he would like to tell me, after answering,  he got his phone out and showed me an app. It is an app that allows the user to use their pictures to create videos. “John” chooses the pictures he wants, the music, and some effects, and the app turns it into a video. He uses this to make videos focused on his ATV racing. He did not know the name of this app.

Connections to the Text

Some quotes from the text that I liked and may consider using in my case study final are as follows: (all as cited in Carrington & Robinson, 2009)

"Online practices are often exploratory, improvised, and bound up with people's social and cultural lives, seen as some as inappropriate for the classroom setting" (Lambirth, 2005) p. 31


"Digital texts are frequently multimodal and thus readers need to be aware of how images can represent 'reality' in different ways." p. 41


"Rather, as educators, we need to see what young people are already doing, so that we can build on their existing practices and knowledge, and identify barriers and enables to new media literacies.." p. 21

"In-school and out-of-school practices are clearly not mutually exclusive..." p. 30




References:
Carrington, V., & Robinson, M. (Eds.). (2009). Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices. London, United Kingom: SAGE Publications.
 

Digital Texts in and Out of School

Introduction:

To this day there remains a belief, entrenched in curricula and policy, that children and their learning should be quarantined from engagement with these texts and technologies, and should instead be taught and evaluated against a curriculum focused on print.(Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 2)

This quote definitely has truth to it, but I don't agree 100%. I do think that in a school setting, there are certain expectations that students are held accountable to (example- no cell phones in class, no Facebook/twitter/social media while in a computer lab). However, I do feel that teachers are growing, along with technology, and integrating more and more (as much as their school limitations allow them) technology into their classroom. I is happening with me in my own classes, as well.


Chapter 1:

For educators, an example of learning such as this can be intriguing, and we might ask ourselves how the kinds of learning Jacob is doing in his home environment complement or connect with the kinds of learning he is doing inside schools.- R. Willett (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 14)

I like this quote and it definitely made me think. The boys in this chapter didn't have any formal schooling on the topics that they were creating. Some of their fathers helped them and passed along their knowledge. I find it fascinating that kids, as well as adults, are able to pick up a new technology and just run with it. Are the things they are learning at school enabling them to be more critical thinkers and to be able to learn on their own and figure new technology out? Or, are they ways they are learning on their own, trial and error and intuition, helping them do better in a school setting? It's hard to say for certain one way or the other. I like to think there is nice balance and that it is all tied together in their learning.


Chapter 2:

Indeed, if we can talk about a 'digital divide', it resides within, as well as across, generations - a fact that those in education need to be wary of. - Julia Davies (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 32)

I love this quote! I could not agree more. I've talked previously about the digital divide and I think that this quote is correct. Just because someone is a 'digital native', does not mean that they know or even want to know all about technology. As the text continues, it says there are many young people  who are uninvolved or have problems with access/usage. Educators definitely need to be aware of this and when planning activities/lessons, need to take that into consideration so that they can reach the whole class, and not just those who are up to date with the technologies being presented. The trick is finding balance and actually making sure that we (as educators) are able to help/reach all our students.


Chapter 3:

Equally, therefore, Clare and Tom can be described as children of the new digital age (Marsh, 2005); children who, as long as they can remember, have been surrounded by ever-evolving digital technologies and practices that impact on their daily existence, and the textual landscapes that they occupy (Carrington, 2005). As sited in (Carrington & Robinson, 2009, p. 50)

 

I really like the phrase 'children of the new digital age' and I think that it is a nice replacement for 'digital native'. This phrase brings new meaning to someone born after 1980. It recognizes that not everyone that age can or wants to navigate through all the new technologies. It simply states that some people were born into such an age that the want/ability to know all this information is a possibility. Each person has the choice to participate or not.

     _________________________________________________________________________________________


The reading definitely made me think of the technologies that I use in my classroom. When I was in college, none of the math classes that I took had anything to do with anything online. Now, just 6 years later, the college algebra course that I am teaching is built around and integrated into an online program in which students can do homework, tests, quizzes, and practice problems. It is an important part of their learning process for the class, and the work they do in that program is a part of their final grade.

A major barrier that exist limitations. When I subbed in the Marion Co school system, some classes of kids only had the chance to use the school computer lab for 40 minutes a week, and that was in a good week. Not all schools are equipped with enough technology for all students to have adequate time to practice on and learn these new ideas. And it's not fair for teacher to assign all of this learning as homework because not all kids have high speed internet and computers at home. Even here at FSU, I only have available to me 15 iPads at a time. I have sometimes more than 25 students in a class. So, that makes it difficult for us to do a lesson using the iPads in class.

 



For my illuminated text, I chose the quote from chapter 2

Indeed, if we can talk about a 'digital divide', it resides within, as well as across, generations - a fact that those in education need to be wary of.

 

 

References:

Carrington, V., & Robinson, M. (Eds.). (2009). Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices. London, United Kingom: SAGE Publications.