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.
I liked your quote from chapter four. This made me think of cell phone usage in the school setting. Most schools now, they are not to be used or even seen or they are taken away. Now many young people do misuse them and should not have them out texting during classtime, but what if the cell phone was used as a learning tool for research or even a discussion? I remember one of my undergrad classes where the teacher we have for this course created a poll. We had to use our cell phone to text in our answers and they showed up in a word cloud. That has always stuck with me and I always thought what a great idea to use the cell phone as a learning tool instead of getting in trouble with it.
ReplyDeleteSeveral other student chose the same quote as you did for your illuminated text. It does sum up one of the main reasons I decided to create the Digital Media Program! I enjoyed reading about your struggle with blogging and coming to view as a fun activity! You are a strong writer and your blog is a beautiful record of your learning this summer! You should consider continuing to blog about your endeavors to integrate digital media into your math classroom! It will help you connect to a strong group of educators who on the cutting edge of the profession!
ReplyDeleteI love your quote and explanation for chapter 4 because, as you said, it really makes you step back and think about the skills our students have and how they very rarely have the opportunity to show off these skills in school. I do not currently teach an English class, but it sounds like the new Smarter Balanced Assessment at least asks students to create something using technology skills that they will need in their futures. Again, I am not sure if that is accurate, but I do think it is important that we really focus on allowing our students to use what they know to show they understand what we want them to know.
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