The Final Part: Understanding Change means Changing

In reading the final section of "Digital Literacies" I found myself running this reoccurring thought through my mind. A thought that I should preface with a short bit of background information, while I'm no stranger to education I am what many would call a rookie educator. I am in no way offended by this moniker, but take exception when the monikers implies a certain lack of knowledge... as if to say..."your too new to education and do not yet know how things are done," which is in my opinion part of the problem that many new educators face. Instead of the seasoned veterans embracing the excitement, enthusiasm, and possibilities of a new educator they only seek to indoctrinate them in the ways of the "old guard" (likely the same way it was done to them), which helps to perpetuate the status quo, not change the process or recognize new literacies as valuable. Now to the thought... the hardest thing for a system to do is change, because in recognizing the need to change may also force you into realizing that what you are doing either isn't working or has failed to perform in the manner you need it to and since most educators were educated in a system that punishes you for failure then admitting that you have failed means punishment is coming. Yet another reason to do away with grades. The greatest catalyst for changing your approach to accomplishing a task is recognizing that what you are doing is not working (and there is valuable learning in failure when you aren't punished or shamed). Though Not specifically expounded upon in the case study of "Kathryn" it seemed to me that the clothing store owner didn't immediately seize the possibilities that Kathryn was excitedly telling her about... like as a way to reach new customers, stay connected with current customers, and in general potentially grow the business by keeping abreast of trends. I keep hearing those words of discouragement... "just wait till you've taught a few years you'll see" or "that sounds good, but in the real world of teaching you don't have time for activities like that CSOs are more important" as if to say, there is no room to really connect with learners and then connect them to learning.

 The section opens with the idea that changing means change, which likely means adopting a new approach and a new way of thinking about the education process, in a word pedagogy. Or another way to say this would be that all learners (and teachers) need to better understand their approach to learning and the value in learning in unexpected ways. Case in point, the four case studies of chapter seven didn't recognize or acknowledge the literacy they possessed in working with various technology tools because it didn't fit with the preconceived or adopted definition of being proficient in using that technology. Yet, they did use it to accomplish their intended goals even if those goals were just remaining connected to family via an electronic source, a use that some might not value. It seems likely that a connection between Joanne and Holly could be made back to Caitlyn, from the previous reading, in that they themselves did Not ascribe validity to their use of technology. In the case of Caitlyn she learned that the school system didn't value her self constructed interactions and it seems plausible that the four case studies presented in chapter seven learned that too, as evidenced by Holly's assertion, "I'm not a geek."

Another theme that is starting to appear is the ways in which schools, as a whole and separate, are integrating technology. It seems to me that the BYOD could instantly solve the lack of access to the 1to1 computing problem that many districts face. It would further solve the issue about what type of device is better for school use in that the individual would bring what they are currently using instead of having to use a different device that may not have all the update and familiar apps that the user is accustom to using.

In chapter eight the look at student-teachers specifically and their ability to use and create a "digital portrait" as an assignment. While the degree of proficiency varied among the student-teachers in ability to use technology tools an unexpected outcome to the assignment emerged as something that needed closer examination... multi-literacies, which has its roots into the multicultural learning experiences that is unique to every learner. This work by Kerin has the ability to turn this unexpected outcome into a teachable moment for new teachers, so when they have a group of students turn a future assessment into something completely different than expected they will be able to recognize its value, for both the learners and the teacher. This also plants the idea that assigning a multimodal project is really like a customized modification for every learner in that the individual will create in a media that they feel comfortable using and may through "low stakes - low risk" consequences try a new media as a form of growth.

In Chapter nine Leander introduces us to the 4-Rs, resistance, replacement, return, and remediation as the common stance for understanding "new literacies" versus "old literacies." In this chapter I found that in many ways the following question... why are we still arguing about semantics? In that literacy means what? What does literacy mean? the definition seems quite clear and yet here we are stuck discussing old versus new as if you only need one or the other. How can anyone function in a complete and authentic way without being fully literate in their own culture and customs? I pose that question from a POV that doesn't impose or judge what being fully literate means to different cultures as if to say in order to be fully literate one must possess proficient skills in reading, writing, and keyboarding. Because if you were born and raised in the Borneo rain-forest, as were your parents, and you had no access to books or computers then being fully literate has a different meaning. I guess what I'm trying to say is educators need to start recognizing more the value in the diversity of learning experiences and stop judging different as "good" or "bad" but just different. The other "big picture" item I took away from chapter nine was the idea that when creating a visual story the creator create subtle or overt nuances with transitions, which "parallels" the connection I use when teaching students how to interpret political cartoons, there are now errant markings or accidental images there creator purposely placed every pen stroke. Ironically, that's exactly what can be said by writing, visual media, comics, movies etc... literacy is multimodal all the time even if the multi is only in the mind of the creator.


I've opted for a note card confessional in lieu of an illuminated text on digital literacy: by Jeremy Blauser







I felt compelled to add this as another way to think about and accept new and changing literacies.

Case Study: Digital Natives; The Beginning

When Thinking about the digital natives and the time they spend in the various venues are generally for a purpose that is deeper than obvious to understand.The terms below are an effort to give a comprehensive definition to those terms. In many cases the expectation of learning can be overt or subtle and many would contend that in many cases learning occurs that is not readily recognized as such or deemed valuable. For example in the "Game Design Class" we read about the experience of a teen playing Sid Meier's "Pirates" in which no expectation of learning, beyond the scope of the game, were expected and yet during a specific social studies class the teen was able to recall vast amounts of information regarding colonization, ships, trading, and the countries involved with exact and fine details. The teen returned to the game a changed individual and the teacher was forced to recognize that "useless" gaming may in fact have educational merits. In the categories listed below the the reader can infer the level of commitment, the expectation of learning, as well as the level of interest of the participant, understanding the there can and is a fluid shift from one to the other based on varied factors. It should also be noted that these categories also exist in F2F interactions as well and I would assert that the online or digital interactions serve as a place to practice or model other interactions. It would also be fair to note that the language or register people use in these interactions also changes and must be learned by the participants. I always find it somewhat ironic when I hear a digital immigrant talk about the shortcuts and language of texting as if it is something so foreign and idiotic, yet the acronyms of their day are readily received as second nature... RADAR and LASER come to mind... "I know right???"   LMAO



Hanging Out:It would generally appear that Sam places gaming in this category, which seems to follow the idea that he has no real interest or has not yet found a game that he is interested in taking to a deeper level.

Messing Around: While all teens are seemingly interested in social media it's fair to say the primary function of social media for Sam is to stay current on events... locally, regionally, and globally. I also think he very easily shifts from "Hanging Out" to "Geeking Out" depending on the factors or events that are trending and if its a topic that truly interests him then he would be "Geeking Out."

Geeking Out: Only because I know more about some of Sam's accomplishments than discussed in the interview it's easy for me to place his desire to write and create stories as the dominant area of interest.

Schooling: Sam's schooling has been quite diverse over the course of his life. He was born in Guatemala and spent the first few years of his life in Arizona. His pre-school years were spent in Connecticut in a parent founded Montessori type day-care. His elementary through early middle school was also in the New Haven, Connecticut School system. He started 8th grade in the Louisville, Kentucky school system and will be starting his Junior year in high school this new school term. He has had many opportunities outside the formal school term in the way of a variety of summer camps. Both of his parents have a PhD and many of his grandparents as well as aunts and uncles have college degrees, which in a way emphasize the importance of education and learning.


Much of my formal case study will incorporate the ideas presented in the case studies mentioned in "Deconstructing" and "Digital Literacies" as they might relate to Sam and his educational experiences.

Digital Definitions: What is Text?

I really like the opening to Part B, takes a historic perspective as it relates to text and technology, especially how it connects learning to development. I find individuals that can see the change in front of them with such accuracy and certainty that they want help prepare others for those impending changes that they not only speak out, they try to help implement the changes (of course from their POV). Neil Postman was in a way a great "revelator," and as an educator tried to help educators prepare for the future by shifting their focus to the dynamic changes that technology brings to everyday life and what he thought those changes would mean to society and the classroom learner. In his somewhat skeptical way Postman talks about the impact and implications technology could have on learning. I found a great PBS interview to share his views as they also relate to the historic perspective of literacy. I would also recommend reading his book... "The End of Education" as way to expand your own thinking about the "New Aged Learner" in the classroom. Just keep in mind this was written 1995 and his primary focus was the impact of TV and visual media in general, a topic that we have been exploring in depth this semester. Note: I don't necessarily agree with all of Postman's views, but all of them make me think!

The End of Education: By Neil Postman




When considering the ideas of wikis and MOOCs as examples of how access to information and learning is changing the educational model as a whole... I'm reminded of why this is such a great time to be in education. Yet, there seems to be so much resistance to change that the unknown gets labeled bad and unreliable... there are still educators that believe Wikipedia is bad unreliable research source and while I don't think its the only source students should use I do think it's a good place start, especially if you use some of their references to explore a topic deeper. It should be noted the most trusted names in encyclopedias, "Oxford" and "Britannica" are on equal footing as Wikipedia when it relates to accuracy, all are about 87% and mainly do to the changing world and new discoveries, NOT bad entries. Many of the uses in technology that are implemented in my classes primarily deal with access and creating media on different websites or apps, like using Padlet as a place to develop and post project ideas that allow the entire class to comment and create... from the Padlet wall to the presentation creation site like Emaze, Presi, or PowerPoint, with research and instruction built in to scaffold the learners that need it, but not wasting the time of the learners that do Not.

My Illuminated Text:
"The moral panic about new communicative practices does not bode well for the teacher for the teacher wishing to work wieth online text production in her classroom. "

Interview With a Native

The Digital Native I interviewed is a 16 year-old male, Sam, that will be starting his junior year in high school. He is a well adjusted teenager from an upper-middle class family. He started preschool by age 2 in a Montessori like day care, and entered the Connecticut  school system before transferring to the Kentucky school system for 7th grade middle school. Sam is the oldest of three children, a younger brother and the younger sister all of school age and four years apart in age. It would be fair to note that Sam is now slightly above the average height of his peers, but was easily taller than ten through fourteen year-old boys, which caused unknown adults to assign greater "age appropriate" responsibility on him than should have been. A ten year-old that looks 16 is still only ten developmentally and socially. I conducted the interview via Facetime, rather than just a phone call, so I could assess non-verbal cues as well. The interview duration was about 23 minutes.

Do you have a computer / iPod /MP3 player / Wii / Xbox etc....? Yes, I have a Mac Airbook, iPhone, Wii, and access to 3 different iPad s of differing generations

What kinds of things do you use the computer/phone/iPad etc for? Mostly social media and looking up information. I listen to some music, but not constantly. I also like to check out breaking news stories...Do you have a special News app? Not really it's the one already on the iPhone. I also use my iPhone to text and check social media for messages... Do you use speech to text when creating or answering messages? No... Why? it never gets it right and auto correct is hard enough sometimes.

What is your favorite thing to do on the computer? I really just like typing... What do you mean? Well, I like writing stuff like ideas for plays or short stories... Do you actually type or do you just use two fingers? I learned how to type using both hands, but I usually just use a couple of fingers...Like texting? sort of

How did you learn to do that? My dad taught me a lot of the basics, but I really just learned more by doing it.

What are some other things you use the computer for? School work and presentations like power point and stuff... Do you take your computer to school? Yes... Can you access the internet at school? Yes, but it's really slow... Do you log on as a guest or a user? a guest, so when I really need to look something up I use my iPhone as a "hotspot" ... Would you like to use your computer at school more? Yes, I really like the online textbooks and would like to use it more for notes

What is your favorite game? Why? I don't really play too many games... Really? Yes really, sometimes I play a game called "color switch" it used to be popular... So no massive online games like WoW? No...Why? I don't have time because of the other things I do, like Walden theater.

Do you know other people who do this? My friends and I might play sometimes, but not together, it's not that kind of game.

How would you like to use the computer at school? Like I said, I like to use my computer for the online textbooks. I wish all my classes had online textbooks.

Anything else you would like to tell me? No, not really... I guess I think the schools should give us an iPad to use for the year... Would you rather use your own computer if you had better WiFi? Yes, maybe... Do you think the school should ask you to use your computer and if you don't have one they will then give you an iPad? No, I don't think so...Why? because that wouldn't be fair to students that don't have a computer.

Are you allowed to use your phone for class work during class? No... Do you think you should be allowed to use your phone during class? Yes, but only for school work during class unless you can listen to music while you work.

My post interview comments and reflection, as well as follow-up with Sam's father center around the idea of fairness Sam pointed out when asked about being required to bring your own device if you have one. I will likely explore this in greater detail when writing the full case study

Digital Text: Not Just For School

Chapter 1, the opening picture of Part A, a multi-level mall epitomizes the links and cross links of multi-modal literacy! I spent a great deal of time processing the constructs centered around social interactions and the role they play for students and adults, particularly as it relates to digital media literacy. Since we just completed the "Deconstructing Digital Natives" many of the salient points still resonate and are relevant in this new book, which keeps circling back to the differences between Natives and Immigrants. On one hand, social media plays a significant role in the daily life of many teens (Natives), but in some cases that significant role has soared into a dominant role for some adults (Immigrants). This all leads me back to importance of social interactions and the role they play in learning. Gee offers evidence to support his claims about learning from video games, yet it's not the "what" so much as the "how." Trial and error can be an effective way to learn a new concept, especially if there is more experienced learner there to scaffold, only when the dynamic struggle leads to frustration that would cause a learner to quit rather than persevere. This leads to my quote of the chapter, "Arguing that game players are developing different approaches to learning"(Willett, pg 14). The learn by doing or low risk practice is a concept that a lot of people wanting to support, but feel constrained by mandates and timelines, which then turns into..."we don't have time for that" or "that's not really learning what you need to know to be successful" which led me to this visual.

Chapter 2, the quote I chose really is a continuation of all the discussion about multi-modal communication that I have been involved in for quite some time. Julia Davies offers this thought..."All communication is multi-modal (Norris, 2004), so it is not surprising that play in one mode often triggers play in others; thus play with images, for example, often provokes playful, creative language. (Davies, pg 32-33) Furthermore, the quote builds upon many other points of view about learning in general, for example if people are just "hanging out" with no expectation of learning something new or how to better access where they are "hanging" does learning occur? By digging deeper on this question you might be inclined to ask for a specific definition of learning as it applies to this situation and I would be inclined to agree, but also add that any interaction regardless of the motive yields understanding not previously obtained. Since the quote opens the door to play I was immediately remembering some of Mead's thoughts on the idea of self, which led me to offer this video as way to broaden the conversation as it relates to students learning how to learn and think about their interactions with different types of texts. As well as what they and others around them learn to value. Reading this chapter I was still recalling the case studies of Shaun and Caitlyn, which caused me to ponder this question... How do they make sense of the "Me" and "I" as it relates to digital literacy?




Chapter 3 gives way to more case studies that really get the reader to start thinking about their own possible students as well as classroom practices. The first glaring point is the required hand writing vs typing (I agree that students need to learn how to write by hand and even further agree that the very act of writing letters make a cognitive difference in the decoding and encoding skills of students), but the lame excuses offered are well just that lame! My students must write a timed essay, either informative or persuasive, as part of the writing exam required for their English credit. Since this essay must be typed all the practice work they do in my classes is electronic and turned in via email as an attachment that I grade or gets peer graded, No paper and they benefit from using more 21st Century skills (Note: all peer grading in my class is anonymous, No student ever knows whose paper they are grading). The other points in the case studies point toward the social aspects and interactions as well as the motives for those interactions, which led to this quote..."In order to succeed socially, as well as, academically, across the myriad opportunities for text production available in the early twenty-first century, children must possess the ability to interrogate and recognize the power relations and forces that play upon and around their production." The term I would use is "authentic digital literacy" not just functional awareness of digital literacy tools.

Illuminated Text

More presentations from Raphael

References:
YouTube: Khan Academy: George Herbert Mead

Photosforclass.com

Carrington, V., & Robinson, M. (2009). Digital literacies: Social learning and classroom practices. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.

Digital Natives: A Point of View

This is my Point of View presentation: There are several links and short videos to watch that support and enhance my understanding of the information. The presentation was prepared using the EMAZE presentation website.






 The purpose behind the images and videos I chose follow my understanding and philosophy about the book, Deconstructing Digital Natives and my own understandings that have grown from the many different paths I have walked and the ones I'm still walking. Their are many factors that have shaped my views and this work is a glimpse into that understanding. I have carefully chosen image, video, background, music, and text as way to lead the viewer on a journey. Some of the video links are short and some need a few extra minutes of your time, but hopefully, if you have Not seen them, you will take the time to engage with this presentation. I welcome your comments, questions, or concerns. Please view full screen, press pause and click on the various video links to view separately.

The Digital Natives Are Restless

Chapter 10, I found the case studies presented in this chapter to be particularly interesting as it deals with our pre-conceived ideas about literacy... in this case digital literacy. I was really interested in the findings and comparisons made between Shaun and Caitlyn in their case study, which led me to this reoccurring thought as it related to Caitlyn... Had the institution of learning killed her creativity? I ask that question because even in the interview session Caitlyn's mother had no real explanation for her ability to solve, make sense, and interact with meaningful text while at home on the computer, yet did Not do so at school. Furthermore, Caitlyn, whose mother was a teacher,  was able to surmise or discern what the school system valued as appropriate interactions with literacy / digital literacy that she could not or would not use her self taught creative strategies in a formal setting like school. While some of this assessment by me is built upon my own reasoning and comprehension skills and not direct interaction with the case study, it seems likely to me that in this case Caitlyn's strategies (self taught and unknown by her educator mother) were not valued and supported as authentic. This led me to include this TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson, if you have not watched this talk I highly recommend it! My quote for this chapter, "This suggests schooled constructions of literacy, and perhaps reading literacy in particular, caused considerable disruption for Caitlyn, as her own strategies to make sense of texts were perceived to be without value in the school system."(Levy, pg 160) There is so much more to say about these case studies and their findings as it relates to the students in our own classrooms year after year. I will end with this thought... If "teachers" would more readily recognize themselves as learners too, then the learning environment will change and each learner will be seen as a valued contributor to the learning process.






Chapter Eleven's Title pretty well said it all for me... Paulo Freire's, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" was the first thought that hit my mind, and while this chapter did not dig off into this ideology I did make a sort of connection in this chapter to the "natives vs immigrants" that we have been reading about all along. The overall underlying theme seemed to focus on "change" and what that generally means for different age learners, in that the natives seemingly embrace technology simply as a normal way of accomplishing a task, while the immigrants see technology as something that changes the way to perform a task. I offer this example... can you imagine yourself hand writing a countless number of entries into a large, roughly bound, ledger book in alphabetical order and tracking account details and tallies, while also needing to add new alphabetical entries with no extra space to do so.... Now do the same task with a digital spreadsheet... No comparison right? One allows for infinite editing which maintains complete alphabetical order and built in formulas to calculate. So, why then would an immigrant be fearful of changing to a tool that helps them do the task better? The quote comes in form of a paraphrased quote by Marx, "All to often people have tried to change education in various ways. The point, however, is to understand it, so we know what requires change, what is possible to change, how to change it, and with what effects for whom" (Bennett, Maton, pg 176). I include this TED Talk by Clint Smith as a glimpse into what that quote might mean in different context.





Chapter 12, the concluding chapter of what has been a book dedicated to dispelling the myth and trying to clarify what the term "digital Native" truly means. There have many Points of View offered and research backed findings to support a good working definition of the term, yet as with many of the fallacies that surround education dispelling the preconceived notions or ideologies is Not an easy task. A problem that really bugs me... teachers and educators should know better or at least constantly strive to make themselves better... what some would call mandated Professional Development (PD). The thought that makes the most sense to me... is that the goal of learning is constant, and if we want our students to become lifelong learners, then why would we, as teachers, not also be lifelong learners. Trying to stay one step ahead or allowing students to teach /guide you is just you recognizing that you too are a learner. I really like it when a student says, "I can show you a trick to do that better," which helps me, but really helps to support the overall class rule..."1. All are learners and All are teachers, we are in this together, so let's help one another." The quote helps to build upon the true definition, "...to allow a term to describe a subset of today's youth; the manners in which they relate to information, technology, and one another." (Palfrey & Gasser, pg 188). As a point of clarification I would add... and how they communicate with one another... to aid in the understanding of the term relate, this helps the reader to include texting, social media, snapchat, periscope, instagram, etc.... And while immigrants may see the interactions as different and maybe even judge them as not authentic, yet only because those interactions do not align with the immigrant's experiences of authentic interactions. The Natives are interacting on levels that have never been possible until now and those interactions are a way to prepare them for the interactions they will continue to have in the future, but they still need to learn how and so do the immigrants!






We are all Learners!

Change: It's a Learning Thing

Chapter 7, in the Introduction offers this bit of insight..."Not all young people are digitally competent, nor are they all interested in every aspect of the new media (Livingstone, 2009)(Erstad, pg 99). The point I would like to focus on in this quote is the "Nor are they all interested in every aspect of the new media," because this thought in and of itself is probably the greatest qualifying statement to the majority of the students that pass through my classroom. Many of them have and use their phones for various media interactions, but few are actually interested or capable of using their devices to the potential they could be used. Texting and checking social media are some of the communication tools many of the students use regularly, but few use their devices to organize their everyday lives or track goals because they have no interest in using them for that, fact is they can be seen writing those types of things down in a pencil / paper planner... why? Many of them only use manual entry forms of texting vs the speech to text options available that becoming increasingly more accurate... why? Many students still only check their email on the computer rather having the account linked directly to their devices...why? I also found this chapter to further discuss the ideology of socio-cultural studies identifying generations with the various different monikers that have emerged as late like...Gen X, Gen Y, and Millennials, as well as others, which led me to think about my generation's label... turns out I'm a bit of a "tweener" in that technically my birth year is the last year for the so called "baby boomers" or in the beginnings of the Gen X, but how could this be because I grew understanding that the Gen Xers were that catalyst for the origination of the X Games (1995), yet the so called Gen X ended in 1981... what?? and Gen Y started and loosely included the Millennials, but that ended in 1995, prior to Y2K... really? how could the millennials end before the millennium ends / begins... what?  You see this entire circle of thought leads you the reader away from the original ideas and clouds or confuses those ideas... The importance here for me is recognizing that labels are just labels and the have very little to offer in describing those individuals under those labels, think of them more as a way to categorize our understanding or as I like to say..."place in our own little boxes" Hence the need to think outside the box...just saying. The Table, 7.1, on page 107 is a great representation of this thought.

Chapter 8 shifts the focus from labels to how those labeled make use of their searching for credible information. This immediately set my thoughts on all those conversations I had in the past with other educators that refused to accept anything that wasn't a .edu or .org as a credible source. Which I think was really code for they didn't want any internet sources at all, but rather demanded students to labor intensively in the library pouring over article after article only Not to find what you could have found with a well questioned query in less than a minute. This, I think, is still the case with many teachers today, and while I agree that students need to learn how to discern good credible sources... they will Not learn that skill by osmosis, you have to teach them! The quote I chose to support my opinion comes from the chapter's conclusion... "...undergraduate students have always been admonished to develop more sophisticated research skills..."(Kennedy, Judd, pg. 132) How? How are they to learn these skills... I hearken back to the words of Neil Postman, saying students need to be schooled in the "Art of Crap Detection." The "information age" is upon us and students have access to information unlike any previous time in the history of the world, so the main focus of education should acknowledge this phenomena and start teaching students how to better locate information and discern the quality of the information located!


Chapter 9 starts with yet more studies on what young people are doing when they access the Internet. tables 9.1 and 9.2 offer a quick reference to the data collected and for whatever reason I was quickly struck with measure of the questions in Table 9.2, as 0 or 1, yet the range for possible interaction varied widely. Blogging for instance... yes or no, is not the issue, but rather the frequency... monthly, weekly, daily... all receive the same score. Someone that blogs daily scores the same as someone that blogs monthly should be in the same data column, nor the individual that has a weekly podcast. What is the difference between the individual that posts regular status updates with pics on like, say Instagram, vs someone that updates their status once a month receiving the same score. I understand the explanation that followed, but it really just struck me as odd, which often leads to questioning validity and reliability... dare I say "crap detection" (keeping in mind that I'm Not, repeat NOT, bashing their findings, just questioning this one point). The subsequent charts, graphs, and tables are filled good information and a visual way to process the findings... the good stuff, for me starts, in the sub-heading, "Limitations" which circles right back to the validity and reliability definitions. This all led to my choice for the quote, buried in the conclusion, "Using the Internet does not automatically guarantee participation in the information society, hence assistance is required in order to engage them in relevant activities."  To turn the popular phrase..."build and they will come"... "teach them how to learn, then inspire them to learn how to think."

Digital Natives: Their New Culture

Chapter 4 yielded this nugget for me... "new digital Internet tools do enable new forms of creativity, communication, and participation, but not necessarily for all young people," (Banaji, pg 60)... in the ongoing effort by many activist groups and civic organizations to engage the youth of their country technology has become the "go to" method of reaching out. What many organizations do not take into consideration is that many of the so-called "digital natives" or "millennials" want authentic ways for engagement not just a web-based app.  It's true that these are the types of tools they will engage with, but not because it's trendy, but because it connects them in real time. Twitter wars are talked about the next day, but in real time they are relevant, authentic, and full of purpose... in that yesterday's news is well old... the daily news paper is old... and small town weekly's well they are real old. A connected generation wants to participate in the now not read about it days after, so if the goal is to connect today's youth to real issues then it is all about connecting them in real time with real issues. 

Chapter 5... They constantly use mobile phones for immediate communication with their peer group and family and connect with each other beyond time-space via Internet sites such as Facebook and Twitter. (Thomas, 2011, pg. 67).  Constant contact... I remember a time when I left the house for work at 5am and returned home sometimes as late as 9pm without so much as peep as to my whereabouts and further I had no inclining as to peeping my daily activities... I was working in the DC Metro area 10 and 12-hour days with a total commute time of nearly 4 hours, but times have changed and the ability to "check-in" has led to the need to do so. Like, I said above today's youth want to be involved in "real-time" and that means constantly checking to see if there is something worth following or getting involved in so they can stay current. Furthermore, I can remember current events meant clipping a newspaper article or writing down what was on the evening news, but today current events mean current... minutes or hours old... "We interrupt the current programming to bring you this breaking news..."   to   "can you believe this just posted????"  While I understand the need for balance, I also understand the need to be connected to your social circle... Nobody likes being the one that doesn't know what's going on in the world, Nobody! 
 
Chapter 6 led to what I have been saying all along...  "From our analysis, it is also evident that regardless of their technical fluency, students still require traditional skills for successful task completion." (2011, p. 95)... the concept I have been espousing along, while digital natives may have more access at an earlier age this in No way implies that are born with innate skills. I still have high school seniors that have never sent an email or created an email account until they do so in my class and I have to provide very detailed instruction or even provide them with a "pair share" learner to guide them through the process. Teaching students how to better use the tools they have is essential to growth and achievement.

This MEME is i suppose to have the "World's Most Interesting Man" holding an iPhone 6s as a way to show that even digital immigrants use technology too! Most of my students are shocked to know that I have a "Snapchat" and "Periscope" account, but Not Facebook (which keeps me from declining their persistent friend requests). I, Twitter, Snapchat, Insta-gram,  and even guide them through what some would believe is easy formatting set-ups for different types of documents, I even have them set their MS Word Docs to show the "readability" statistics so they can see the grade level of their writing, which they think is really cool, especially when they start achieving grade level statistics above 10th grade. I may not be a "digital native" or the "Most Interesting Man." but I'm learning to use technology just like the best of them.

Thomas, M. (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology, and the new literacies. New York: Routledge. 

Pecha Kucha: Learning It's A Thinking Thing

This is my Pecha Kucha for Curriculum In The New Media Age

Digital Immigrants vs. Natives: Dispelling the Myths

The forward and first three chapters... WOW! Yet, I'm left feeling like someone  had been stealing my thoughts... how could that be possible I had not yet read this book and still so many words that seemed like thoughts and conversations I have already had. Maybe Honest Abe was right, "Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't that new at all." the first quote from the forward goes like this..."The problem here is not with the natives themselves, but rather with the rest of us, the "Digital Immigrants"who remain obstinately tied to older media, and who are failing to catch up with  the times."(Buckingham, pg xi) Though I don't feel like I am holding on to the old media I sure know a lot of people my age that are, and I should clarify by my age I mean people who still remember phones attached to the wall and black and white TV, and that's all I have to say about that.
My quote form Chapter 1 comes by way of the closing paragraph..."In addressing the digital literacy skills and the evolution of new forms of pedagogy, educators have to be wary of adopting conveniently dichotomized modes of thinking" (Thomas, pg 9) This quote contains an entire post in itself, but I'll offer this tidbit, which goes back to a theme I have been voicing for some time in that... sound educational practices and pedagogy is not changed on a whim and tools and strategies are just that tools and strategies, Not pedagogical practices. Understanding that trends or fads are, well, trends and fads, technology is a tool and like all tools it requires learning how to use it. Reading is a learned skill, teaching students how to read is the pedagogical practice of teaching students how to use various tools and strategies in order to become a reader. The key here is learn "how to" the same is true of technology and the "Digital Natives," they must learn how to use the tools just like the "Digital Immigrants."
In Chapter 2 the author wants to offer the intent of coining the phrase that was taken so literal that the intent was lost and even morphed into a beast that has grown to epic proportions. When reflecting on this reading, I thought about the monk that coined the terms BC and AD, which how now become the universal BCE and CE (for political correctness). While he wasn't searching for a metaphor to name a phenomenon, he was searching for a way to discern the old and the new as a break in time. Such is the case here, but with a different reaction... in that with the BC and AD no presumptive power was automatically given to the new ADers, they were still the same people they now living in a new era. So it goes, with the "Digital Natives," they are Not born with the innate skills required to use technology, but their exposure to new technology lends itself to learning it at a much earlier age... even the "Speak n Say" is more sophisticated today than 25 years ago when I bought my son his, which is far beyond mine... my mother reading a "Golden Rule" book that went like this... "The cow says, moooooo" and she made the sounds. The quote, "I'm shocked at how many supposedly well-educated, thinking people just "can't take a metaphor."" (Prensky, pg 15)
Chapter 3 caught me in the "Collaborative Learning" subtitled section in that I just read a article about what students think about collaborative learning... Student Led Discussions and Learning
Which is one side of the narrative, but also points back to the theme I explored in Chapter 1, just because it's trendy does mean that the classroom facilitator can sit back and push the proverbial "GO" button and students will engage in deep and meaningful conversations that lead to a greater DOK. No what it means it that facilitator must plan more carefully, outline learning goals, objectives more comprehensively, and then interact with the learning groups providing the support each group needs, which means some groups will need different strategies and tools, but all groups need the primary information and tools. The quote, "The traditional method of teaching suggested in this contrast with collaboration was the direct transfer of knowledge from the tutor or lecturer by a largely one-way transmission,"(Jones, pg 35) which when coupled with my constructivist approach leads me to... students learning how to think about what they are learning by questioning and collaborating with others learners.

Student led presentations with various tech tools available to support their presentation, note the pens and "Post-it" notes as well as the poster sheets taped to the table with student created visuals... a treu MultiModal Presentation??? Imagine that..

 Thomas, M. (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology, and the new literacies. New York: Routledge. 

Txt and MXmodal

I have watched and shared this assignment Ted Talk many times to others. Many of the different things I have learned from talks this are more like conformation for my own thoughts or conversations about educational philosophy I have had with others. John McWhorter goes into great deal explaining the developments of texting as a spoken language that happens to appear in the form of written symbols, but it is Not writing. This all ties very well with the readings this week as well in that reading is reading and writing today has some of the same problems that have existed since writing was created. To me the only people that are really have a problem with the changes are the people that hold themselves in the power elite... as a way of denying access to the common person. As if to say that you aren't really reading if what you are reading isn't recognized as a classic novel or other approved academic resource. This would apply to writing (or texting) if you do Not use the adopted formal constructs then you are ruining the written language. Fact is MLA didn't even exist until the 1980's and APA formatting in the 1970's, so who's rules were you to follow before that? I think it easy for those that do Not fully understand something to condemn it and or blame for ruining something. There are still people that rip wikipedia as an un-trusted source, yet its proven to be as reliable as Britannica. I guess, what I'm really trying to say is ... change is always occurring... morphing, growing, evolving... sometimes good and sometimes Not, but it should be understood for what it truly is before it is judged... which leads me to my true problem... most of the people that should know better are the very ones judging the harshest... shame on you!

The Written Word

An opening quote to help ponder the question... Is digital technology ruining the art of writing?... Now the quote...“There never was a golden age where everybody could write well,” says Lunsford. “Writing is hard.”(Karp, 2010).  Writing is the hardest thing students have to learn how to do, in my opinion, because so much happens between the time the thought leaves the brain and tries to come out the pencil or keyboard. When you are speaking, even when choosing your words carefully, you don't worry if they are spelled correctly... you just say them and if you say it wrong you just correct yourself or clarify. Yet when you are writing the grammar rules and spelling rules are a constant clamor, all while you are trying to think of clever things to say, since you will Not have the chance for instant clarification. Having the conversation in your head and trying to think about all the possible word choices, their usage, and proper spelling and then forcing them down to the end of a pencil can be an exhausting task for many students. So, formal writing takes practice on that we all agree... almost all of us agree that finding better and quicker ways to accomplish the task of practicing is good for students too. For those of you that disagree with me about that consider this thought... are you reading this post on an electronic device? If you reply will you do so using a keyboard? If you answered yes (and you most likely did) then you are using an updated method that is supposedly ruining writing...Hell let's go back to quill and ink to write on parchment if we feel like we must maintain writing in its purity... untainted form the likes of advancements... and yes that means throwing Shakespeare's work out too because he invented words, used nouns as verbs and vice versa. Ridiculous Right????  It like demanding handwriting be taught, but not keyboarding... I learned handwriting when I was in elementary, but sure wish I had better typing skills now. Education has changed! The way we communicate has changed! The arrogance of some educators thinking that teaching from a purist point of view ill prepares students for the world they will live in beyond school. We do Not need to fix the current education system... we need to build a new system that adequately prepares students for the world they will live in, Not the world of the 20th Century, but the 21st Century and beyond!

The second article yielded this quote..."Books aren't out the picture, but they're only one way of experiencing information in the world today"... This says it all to me... in a world that many want to see as only this way or that, (black or white), or I'm right and you're wrong... books have their place, but so does every other form of media. I could expound upon this idea and thought for hours and even add the ideas of Zachary Sims as he relates his understanding of this topic, but I would rather ask this question and know the answer before I proceed. Because the answer to the question will have a great deal of bearing on the direction I would take the conversation... Answers to this question will provide the fodder for an up-dated post.

What do think is a person's most valuable resource?

References:

Karp, J. (2010, January 01). Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writiers. Retrieved May/June, 2016, from http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/does-digital-media-make-us-bad-writers

Rich, Motoko. "Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading." June-July 2008. Web. May-June 2016.

Just Call Me Ish.... I Mean Rafe

By way of introduction... My Name is Raphael "Rafe" Snell. I currently teach for Harrison County Schools in the Option Pathways Program. I currently hold a WV Teaching Certification in the following: 5-Adult... English, General Science, and Social Studies, as well as K-Adult MI/BD, and an Option Pathways endorsement. I'm originally from Petersburg, WV, but now call Shinnston, home. I will complete my Digital Media New Literacies and Learning, Master's this summer. I always look forward to the diverse ideas and thoughts others have to share when reading and learning basically the same material... new and refined insight that leads to greater understanding is my primary goal for this class.




The image I chose has a similar type of view;

References:

Published on Oct 17, 2014

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Jesse is the founder ofhttps://www.schoolofthought.org an online fully immersive learning environment that will be free for students, teachers and universities all over the world. He believes the key to engaging future generations is to 

teach them how, and not what, to think.

Google Images

Disruption: Visualizing the Future... No Text Needed?

Hologram or Holographic images was my first thought because the idea of having an image that speaks is... well like the coolest thing ever... in that stories (Books) could be told by the author with all the inflection the author originally intended. Then I read the passage and begin think there is some much more than a thousand words contained in a single image that when used in context needs No explanation. I have to reflect on the past as I look forward and assess modern communication as they might offer a glimpse into what communication will be like tomorrow... The SyFy (new) or Sci-Fi (old) has always offered that fanciful look into what the world will look like tomorrow, but even more fascinating than that are the words of Nikola Tesla, about wireless communication in 1926...

"When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket."

This idea of communication led me to connecting why the written word was developed to begin with... as an economic device in a universal language, which is easy enough to "see" that images are in fact fairly universal. Then symbols became more complex and further developed into alphabets, which quickly morphed into sophisticated languages as specific forms of communication. These new forms of communication require(d) extensive learning, encoding, and decoding skills in order to understand... the simple universal trade language had been replaced in just a few hundreds years. So the rest of my post will rely on visual communication only... if you have questions or need clarification leave a comment.

Possibilities?

"What's more, there are no language barriers with images."

References:

Bilton, N. (2013, June 30). Disruptions: Social Media Images Form a New Language Online. Retrieved May 23, 2016, from New York Times: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/disruptions-social-media-images-form-a-new-language-online/?_r=1

Clever Prototypes LLC. (2016, January 1). Photos for Class. Retrieved May 23, 2016, from Photos for Class: http://www.photosforclass.com/  (Each Photo has a Specific Citation Attached)

Novak, M. (2015, January 5). Nikola Tesla's Incredible Predictions For Our Connected World. Retrieved May 25, 2016, from Paleofuture: http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/nikola-teslas-incredible-predictions-for-our-connected-1661107313

New Literacies

When confronted with the ideas of literacy many people have their go to definition of what that means... so if you add the word "new" what or how do you now define literacy?
I have over the course of the past 20 years been slowly introduced into the educational system... that is to say... when my son first began kindergarten I like most parents started to get involved in school organizations like PTA and met with teachers during parent teacher conferences. Because I can be a little opinionated (I'm sure an understatement according to some) i soon became involved in the Local School Improvement Council (LSIC) and because my son was diagnosed with a Learning Disability (LD) I soon found myself on the Special Education Advising Council (which later became the SPED Steering Committee), which all led to a 4-year term on the County Board of Education. It was not long after that term that I really began to think about education differently... and nearly 13 years after it began I found my self in a college classroom in pursuit of an education degree. The goal of earning a degree was realized so the natural progression was to earn a Master's... A bit unsure of what I exactly wanted in a Master's led me down a road where if I didn't know exactly where I was going it would at least be comforting in going with people I already knew. The people I knew came by way of professors I had undergrad classes and were teaching Master's classes... it was a connection to a passage I read in my 75-hr clinical class and book assigned by a professor, Dr. Lindstrom, called Digital and Media Literacy, by Renee Hobbs, that I began to really understand my new working definition of literacy. Along that 13 year journey, when I did Not have formal education credentials, many of my ideas and opinions about education were dismissed by those in education or those possessing degrees. Not in an open or derogatory fashion, but dismissed none the less, as well as many times being told about how sites like wikipedia was ruining research paper writing.  And how texting and removing required handwriting classes was ruining the generation's of today ability to write properly. Which all turns out to be more about the ability to recognize and support new literacies than this or that ruining education... because many of these past educators only see things the way they were taught to see them... and when they became the "power class" they condemn what they do Not understand. A willingness to recognize and seeking to understand new literacies as new generations add to their own understandings and interactions with the world in which they live is what I would call... "wisdom at work!" I include this TedTalk by John McWhorter as an example of understanding New Literacies



Connecting learning to practice!

Mixing the Remix

The very idea of remix sounds like taking a good idea and making it better or taking someone else's idea and making it your own. This thought just kept circling in my mind the entire I was reading this chapter, which led to this quote as my chapter quote..."Whenever we comment on a film or a book and discuss it with others we are taking the original author's creativity and remixing it in our own life, using it extend our own ideas or to produce a criticism." (Chapter 15, Page 312) What a deep and profound statement when you compare it to the rest of the chapter and what others are saying about borrowing or stealing intellectual property... this quote would propose the ideology that unless you are having an original thought then you are borrowing or stealing someone else's intellectual property... ridiculous right??? Yet under further scrutiny and processing of information, that is to say, comprehension we are indeed by the very nature of it remixing on a constant and continuous basis. The fact that I am writing an original blog post about this topic of this specific chapter, fifteen, is remixing the author's remixed ideas of other authors, yet is in No way the first time that has been done nor the last... fact is this chapter will be remixed and remixed as many times as it read because as Lankshear and Knobel point out at the end of each chapter by assigning credit to the other authors in the "End Notes" they is writing their thoughts about other's work as it relates to their's... original part "mix" understanding  of other's work, "remix." While leaving room for still more others (readers) to formulate their understandings... mixing the remix???

Chapter Sixteen understanding research literacy from the DIY perspective, but as soon as I read the word, Newfoundland, I was immediately transported back to that bitter cold island nation where I spent a year while serving in the US Navy. It was easy for me to understand the idea that the participants would have grouped themselves in that homogeneous grouping based on where they were from... though a not so larger island its regions were very different and in some cases so remote they were only accessible by float plane or boat. Then I thought how most people are like that too, while in some cases we will venture out to meet new people when we are tasked with learning and working together we prefer to work with people we know or have worked with before. There is this certain feeling or familiarity that people like to have when yoked with others... team building... this holds true when we are engaged in building that deeper understanding that Lankshear and Knobel cite Gee talking about... I know that when I am trying to understand a new concept or searching for that deeper understanding I seek out individuals that I trust... and that trust come from past interactions... and by way of integrating information from chapter 15... when remixing thoughts that might become your new understanding it needs to come from a trusted source. Gee and Rogers seem to align very close on this idea ... "...it is necessary to move beyond "learning about" and, instead, to focus more on "learning to be"... deep learning requires that learners be "willing and able to take on a new identity in the world..." (Chapter Sixteen, Page 335) I think both would agree that this task requires courage, trust, and desire for deeper understanding... that employs authentic literacy.

Lankshear, Colin, and Michele Knobel. Literacies: Social, cultural and historical perspectives. Peter Lang, 2011.

Ratings, Reviews and Changes in Consumer Literacy?

Even after reading the chapter and thinking about the implications and ideas put forth, I come back to what is written in the beginning paragraphs prior to the Introduction. It is also fair to say and worth noting here that I have a "healthy dose" of extreme curiosity in epistemology, meaning I really want to know how others (and myself) really come to know what they believe in and value. While I can fully support the reliable research findings that many scholars and others have put forth as it relates to this subject of epistemology citing culture, geography, and formal education as key factors I am equally confronted with the "Nature VS. Nurture" argument. This puts this quote right on target for me... "... with the idea of "digital epistemologies" - ways in which, and the extent to which, phenomena like hits and ratings come to constitute indices of "truth" and "value" alongside, or in some cases in place of, more conventional epistemological criteria." (Chapter Thirteen, Page 262) This says to me as I apply it the chapter content as well as content previously discussed in Chapters 11 & 12, the consumer has developed, through various modes of input, a new literacy skill to meet the demand for attention. This new literacy skill relies heavily on the information supplied by unknown individuals that offer their opinion that certainly contain bias with or without malice. That is to say a review filled with complete or near complete satisfaction will be based solely on that experience and is likely to be free of any underlying motive (No malice), but an unpleasant experience will likely yield a malicious tone and both of these types experiences are viewed as if they did in fact occur without any needed proof by the "third party" consumer. This lay the basis that I find to be the most interesting and goes directly back to my quote... how does this new literacy have so much instant acceptance and credibility in the market community, but Not the "wiki" community. Consider this thought... many people will make a purchase based on what someone they have never met has said about a product, but will not use information from a wiki because an unknown and un-trusted individual may placed unproven information on the wiki site, in both cases the persons meet the same anonymous criteria, yet one is deemed credible and other Not. The chapter goes on to offer a scoring system that applies to both the product and the reviewer as a potential way to build consumer confidence, while also effectively creating a quick marketing tool that the consumer uses to assign attention capital. As mentioned previously... in the information market the demand is for attention... and that attention in this consumer model is based on number of reviews (positive and negative) and the credibility of those reviews; understanding that some instant credibility will be assigned to website... IE "Ebay" and "Amazon" enjoy a certain amount of instant credibility based solely on name recognition and reputation that have grown those brand names into synonymous usage like Band-Aid or Kleenex, which defy definition to the point that even children are taught to blow their nose with a Kleenex and put a Band-Aid on a scratch. This ratings game has as described by Knobel and Lankshear also offers a model for understanding how to effect change in institutional systems, in that, through attention deficit demands, quality information can be easily identified based on predetermined criteria, not just word recognition algorithms.

Wiki...  "How" "Pedia" "Media" "Leaks" the fastest changing prefix in the modern English language. (pun intended), but has simple roots and a story rooted in Hawaii. The story and background speak less to name and more to the intent of its creator... quick collaboration with the emphasis on the latter... Collaboration... a word that abounds in the modern classroom vernacular. Wikis  representing the new evolution in the web-based technologies from static to interactive pages or 2.0 technology also changes the sociocultural constructs or at the very least create a lateral "in-group" that exists crossculturally in my opinion. In that as identified social groups acknowledge certain literacies within the group as norms, this new interactive collaboration provides a venue for a global "in-group," which really isn't that new when considering online gaming.  This led me to my particular interest in how the elements of these new literacies interact within a set of defined parameters from the cultural perspective. The quote from this chapter is more the entire sub-titled sections "(a) "Let's see" Research,  (b) "Try it on" Research,  (c) "Educationally Applicable" Research, and (d) "A Research Program Orientation" (Chapter 14, Page 295-298), which may seem like a cop out to choosing a more concise quote, but this area of the chapter is filled with information that resonates with me as I think about culturally responsive teaching. In that all of this additional learning (graduate classes) has very little, if any, meaning if it cannot not be reflected back into the classroom... my education has always been predicated on the primary functions that seem to follow this analogy... if I cannot touch it, taste it, smell it, see it, or interact with it then it has very little value to me. The value is Not the same for everyone, but for me it becomes a new tool or new understanding that helps me become a better learner. The old adage of "working smarter Not harder" in No way implies that you should be lazy, but rather finding better ways to use your tools. The graphic representation I chose represents that idea because it is a more useful way to collaborate... working smarter... another goal of education!

Lankshear, Colin, and Michele Knobel. Literacies: Social, cultural and historical perspectives. Peter Lang, 2011.


Cartoonstock.com: mbcn3164

I'm So Poor I Can't Even Pay Attention

The title is just a catchy phrase that I have been waiting years to work into a conversation. Yet, on some levels it catches your attention and draws you into the conversation, both Lankshear and Knobel use the Title of Chapter 11 as a way to remind the reader that attention to content and details can be overlooked when you are not actively engaged. Rushkoff, in his book... "Program or be Programmed"...calls for a period of time when the individual turns off and tunes out... as way to recharge and step away from the constant bombardment and clamoring from those things seeking our attention. In an electronic age where constant interaction has become the norm it would be easy for many to become desensitized to number of interactions needing our attention. I am not a single thought individual, in that I'm regularly thinking and attending to any number of things at one time... that is unless I'm doing something that requires focus or at least the majority of my primary attention. Even while writing this blog post I'm considering all the parts of the reading I want to incorporate, while also reflecting on my past experiences with that content information, add the thoughts of future use of this new mix of information is also part of the cognitive process, which often leads to skipped or misspelled words... and sometimes these errors even go unnoticed in the proof reading because they were in my mind (my silent unspoken voice) when I am writing and therefore automatically superimposed into the reading when prooofing... it is Not until I re-read maybe days later that I pick up the errors that others may see on the first reading.   "Attention, unlike information, is inherently scarce." (Chapter Eleven, Page 213). Understanding the basic principles of economics is Not usually a topic that seems relevant in a digital literacy class, yet the correlation to defining and building a better understanding of scarcity and the "supply and demand" models are reflective of the marketing approach to information produced vs. information consumed. The student population that I have in the classroom is there for various reasons, but failing multiple classes is right up near the top of the list, Not failing because they lack ability or understanding, but failing because of attention. When I say failing due to attention I'm Not directly referencing ADD/ADHD, though some of my students have from mild to severe cases, but rather failing because they have Not learned how to prioritize their needs. Many of these students want to graduate high school, but have not learned how to make that their #1 priority. This issue even crosses into adult lives in that... we make time to do the things that are most important to us.... Believe me when I say "I'm Not judging," but if something is that important you will find a way to make it happen even against extraordinary odds. When something catches our attention or draws our attention away from the goal; then the questions that should arise are: Why is that earning my attention? or Why am I so easily distracted? The idea of "stars" and "fans" reminds me of the "doers" and the "watchers" or in this case those that create and those that consume... Andy Rooney spoke about an individual's "fifteen minutes of fame" a term that is now referred to as"going viral"... which has often caused me to ask myself this question... Why this and Why now? which takes you right back into the economics classroom, "demand" after all the secret to success is finding a product that consumers want and the ability to provide it to them when they want it. And they usually want NOW!

Chapter Twelve: two old school lessons and one slightly new lesson... the old lesson was that this little  folded paper book that was published by a very small independent preacher from near Terra Alta, WV (I think) filled with anecdotes and parables, which I would say fully meets the definition of a Zine. While his publications were cut, folded, and stabled the second old lesson reminded me of middle school fold-able called a "pop" booklet, which leads to the slightly new fold-able that I have students make that requires about six to ten sheets of paper and makes a nice little journal or lexicon. When I read and later re-read trying to decide what quote to use for the blog I was led to this rather unassuming sentence... "They very often subvert the cash nexus: zine purchasing currency is frequently a zine in trade or postage stamps." (Chapter Twelve, Page 237) Out of all that is said in chapter eleven and twelve, the recurring thought that kept banging around in my head was the human need to create and or be creative... Zines were never meant to be profitable they were intended to share a creative work... student want, dare I say Need, authentic and relevant interactions with subject content and a way to share their understanding of those interactions. Yes, sometimes those demonstrations of understanding will be tests or quizzes, but even those interactions need to have multiple ways for students show their DOK. Giving students the opportunities to use technology tools and some very basic parameters with the challenge of creating something original will lead to higher level thinking and far greater future success in problem solving. Cyberzines, Vines, Snapchat video, Instagram, Youtube Capture, GoPro, Twitter, and many more are a small sampling of ways for students create and demonstrate knowledge, which in some cases requires 10 second precision.

 







Lankshear, Colin, and Michele Knobel. Literacies: Social, cultural and historical perspectives. Peter Lang, 2011.

Case Study #2: When Technology Fails?

This Case Study depicts my interactions with two required course in my Graduate Studies, while pursuing a Master's in a Digital Media and New Learning Literacy. It is Not my intention to slander or defame the instructors or the Institution of Higher Education where these two course were offered. It is my intent to explore what I believe to be the errors of the Institution and those instructors for those courses. It would be fair to say that I do Not feel like I was treated poorly nor singled out for punishment or discipline, quite the contrary, I received good final grades, so this is NOT a vendetta or coming from a position of scorn.

Introduction:

In my case, the pursuit of my Master's coincided with teaching obligations as is the case with most educators pursuing a Master's degree. I didn't do a great deal of research on what type of Master's to pursue or where I want to get said Master's from, but I knew I wanted to enhance my understanding of the seemingly new mandate form state departments all of the country..."teachers must integrate technology into their lessons." This was enough for me to want to better understand the role digital literacy plays in the modern classroom and how I can best use this new understanding to help the learners in my classroom. Both the classes were "supposedly" designed around using new technologies in classroom; specifically multimedia design, web-based formats, opportunities to apply online technology tools. My usual approach to learning is building an idea of what I think the learning will be, reading the course syllabus (outcome goals), and then transitioning into my constructionist understanding of meeting the outcome goals as I understand them. This approach is generally filled with excitement, which is some combination of looking forward to learning coupled with a dose of fear of failure to understand and meeting the learning goals. The term many professionals are starting to use more fluently is "good anxiety," since anxiety by itself has such a negative connotation. It's very similar to the term "Flow," which is that dynamic of just the right amount of struggle to produce the determination and rewards of success vs. a struggle that produces too much frustration that ultimately leads to failure or quitting. Since both of these classes fall into the same category (my categorization) I will speak about them as if they we basically the same class and not make any real distinctions between the two, which in my opinion also has the instructors in the same category.

The Beginning:
As a "New" teacher, I am always looking for ways to improve, work smarter Not harder, and reflect on my classroom practices. I was very excited to take these classes as they seemed to offer what could be some very useful information and tech tools to use use in the modern classroom. I was starting the year as long-term substitute in the JROTC program and as a Veteran I was looking forward to that experience, but before the first week of school was even over I was being moved by the administration to a more permanent long-term position in a self-contained BD/MI classroom, which was going to give a greater opportunity to work with students in a more academic setting. I was finally going to have my own classroom where I would be able to implement my ideas of classroom management and was going to teach three sections of math and two sections of science. Being a social studies teacher I was a little more than just apprehensive about the math, so the idea of having some graduate classes with exposure to technology tools and how to better integrate them into the everyday classroom was something I was really looking forward to, because I felt that's what I needed most to compensate for my perceived short-comings in math. At the same time college classes are starting and I'm beginning to build relationships with my high school students, I was made aware that my current position was going to be re-posted and there were a few candidates that if they applied would likely get the position ahead of me due to my "out-of-field" certification. This prompted me to prepare for certification in SPED MI/BD as well as apply for other jobs currently posted in county and surrounding counties, which I did. I interviewed and landed the position I currently hold. I also continued the certification process for SPED MI/BD, which I now have as part of WV Teacher Certification. A lot changed in those beginning weeks of the school year except for the technology courses, which I needed more than ever because my new job required teaching all four core high school subjects 9-12. To me this meant a greater need to have the use of technology tools to engage me as learner, while helping the learners in my classes.

The Classes:
The very first thing that would become even more annoying over the course of the semester was the instant navigation problems that existed with the content delivery. In that, the instructor had set up the entire course on the university's class access system, I'll call "ChalkBoard," which can and does have its own brand of problems. The system itself has many features that could be useful to learners, but can only be accessed through a single portal, which can become clogged if too many users are trying to access the portal at the same time. The other issues around the access system, centers around ease of use by both the instructor and the student, which generally translates into one of my main issues. If the instructor only know one way of setting up the course then the students are forced to access the entire course step by step every time they access the system.
Example One: begin the course by accessing "module one" by clicking on the course content form the
Main Menu > Module One > section one > section two > section three > Module Readings > Module Discussion > Module Assignments >
This sample of navigation is simple enough right? Easy to follow right? So. what's the problem?
The problem was that the way the instructor set the navigation was that every previous step had to be opened before the next step would open... after finishing with section one and moving on to section two, if you ended a session and came back you had to re-open all of section one before you could re-open section two, which just seems a little time consuming and petty on my part right?, but an online course that had multiple modules and multiple sections per module with an archaic navigation system caused a great deal of my excitement for learning to shift to questioning instructor competence. It would be fair to question that maybe that's just the way the navigation had to be set-up because of limitations of the ChalkBoard system... and that's a fair question, except I had previously taught classes using the ChalkBoard system, so I knew it was an instructor issue Not a system issue. This question of competence on the part of the instructors now becomes a barrier to learning (for me), which only gets worse. This brought me back to the quote I chose for an earlier post... "In the beginning was the text; to the New Critics is was wholly within the text that the meaning was located, and the teacher was the privileged holder of this meaning (Thomason, 1984;Probst, 1986)" (Knobel, Chapter 4, page 63). I guess at this point I was counting on the instructors to be the more experienced learners, yet they were Not and worse yet they still held all the power.

The second example comes by way of course design and change, or lack there of, in that as technologies changed it seems prudent that the course material would change or at least be updated, but in the case of these two instructors, which created their course content and set the deadline dates for the course modules the only thing that changed was the dates and in many cases the dates were not fully updated. When the expectation is updated learning on new technology tools or new learning for new technology tools the minor problem of navigation is easily overlooked if those expectations are met, but when they further question competence it becomes harder to overlook even  minor details.
Example Two:
Since a shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 had come about due to technology advancements the promise of interacting with these new tools and teaching new learners how to interact with new tools was exciting. The problem was that the ChalkBoard platform could not accommodate these new interactive interactions, so the instructors chose to continue to use ChalkBoard instead of choosing a different course platform. This was accomplished by having the students create Web 2.0 work and then "screen shot" that work to upload on an assignment page in the modules. To further illustrate this point consider this project assignment: Step 1, Create a wiki based on any topic that you would use in a classroom as an assignment to your students. Step 2, Submit a screen shot of the wiki in the assignment / discussion box of the module. Step 3, Comment or suggest changes to at least three of your peers' wiki submissions as a reply to their wiki submission. Step 4, Respond to suggestions made to your wiki submission by your peers. This caused me a great deal frustration almost to the point of quitting, Not because I was unable to perform the task, but because the task had become worthless. My expectations of learning and interacting with the "New" technology tools had been rendered worthless, yet the cost to me in time, effort, and money was substantial. In the quote the author is planting the idea that the teacher shouldn't be the only keeper of the knowledge, yet there is this certain expectation that the teacher should be creating opportunities for furthering knowledge Not stifling knowledge theirs or their students'.  It would also be worth mentioning here that I was called out by one of the instructors for a portion of work I submitted as part of an assignment that required a grading rubric, in which the rubric I submitted was a rubric I created for similar type activities and knew it would be a great assessment tool for this assignment, so I included a link to the rubric. I knew the rubric had a creation date / last updated time stamp and because I did Not update the rubric (No changes needed) and it was something I had created months before this particular assignment the instructor accused me of Not putting the effort necessary for a good grade by just submitting previously used material. What a hypocrisy! Something I created and used for a previous activity, very similar to the current, assignment, which I thought was a good use of known and proven resources was suddenly dubbed lazy and unacceptable by an instructor that had not changed their entire course for more than 5 years, 10 semesters, and static submissions of interactive material... REALLY??? I nearly lost my mind with the overwhelming grip of frustration... then coupled with the comment that I had Not adequately responded to the suggested changes of my wiki screen shot... comments that were made in the last hours prior to the deadline... REALLY??? I would have setup alerts to posts if I had known I needed too, but wait... there is No way to set up an alert for those sections of ChalkBoard. My faith in the instructors was now dismal at best... please note that is Not to say I think these individuals are bad people, I'm sure they are quite lovely in their own pretentious ways... make No mistake about it I definitely knew I had to conform to their will and understanding because like I said, "they had all the power."

The third example comes by way of open ended instructions for an assignment, the final assignment of the course.
Example 3:
Create an assignment on anything that you could use in a future classroom even if that is Not the classroom setting you are currently in because some of you may Not be in a full-time position. So, this assignment should be something you can and should use in the future. This assignment will have a peer review component prior to final submission and your peer will assigned to you after you submit your draft to ChalkBoard. Note to peers... please be constructive with your comments and suggestions so your review can be used to help make the necessary modifications or changes if needed. I chose a social studies world cultures activity based on written language development, which also included a look at how modern cultures are still shaping and changing modern written forms of text. Remember I said the instructions were open ended and should be for any future classroom you might have... My peer, reviewing the proposed activity wanted me to send them a full copy of the finished product so they would have it to use because as a historian they loved the idea of early forms of writing, symbols and graphics, as they compare to modern forms of writing. In that this is a great way to connect students to they past and the present. I included in the list of activities for students a simple form of program coding called, "Scratch" where students would create a simple "Scratch" video. The instructor felt that this component of the activity was more for a computer programming class Not a social studies class and further more I listed in my class introduction profile that I was teaching high school and this seemed like a middle school activity, which it was, the instructor further commented that this activity did Not seem suitable for an online course... REALLY??? When was this course changed to "learning how to teach online courses"??? What? Did I miss something?

My frustration was beyond anything I had really had to deal with thus far in my academic pursuits and the biggest part of that was not simply with the instructors or the issues with navigating their outdated courses it was that I felt that I had been cheated out learning. Learning I so desperately wanted and felt I needed in order to be better prepared for my classroom. To me technology tools will work and fail in a classroom daily, but when learners show up at the door eager to learn and you fail them because you are not prepared, that cost is far greater than a few tuition dollars. The learning in the non-examples I received from those classes was good, but the learning of how complacency can kill a learner was priceless. Standing still is the same as moving backwards in this ever changing global environment and it is time experienced learners set about the job of helping other learners be the more experienced learners of tomorrow! I wonder how many students feel cheated out of their education by their "so called" teachers... turn to page 129, read the section and answer the review questions... REALLY?

My pics of the week:

Lankshear, Colin, and Michele Knobel. Literacies: Social, cultural and historical perspectives. Peter Lang, 2011.