http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te600.htm
When it comes to teaching technology in the classroom, educators begin to cringe. This article examines the real issues educators face when trying to utilize technology effectively into their classrooms. With the growing population of students using the Internet and all its resources, we as educators are falling behind and it's getting harder and harder for us to catch up. Educators are expected to teach today's youth the demands of testing skills, which is already overwhelming. Now, we have to teach and become educated on technology skills as well. It's a far cry from reading, writing and arithmetic. The article states that, “research clearly indicates that the single most important factor in the effective use of technology is the quality of the teacher knowledge of effective technology uses in instruction.” In order for this to happen, schools need to realize the high demands that educators already have before teachers are going to step up and effectively teach technology into their classrooms.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Week 6: Copy and Paste Literacy? and Perils and Pitfalls of Wikipedia
http://www.alicechristie.org/classes/530/copypasteliteracy.pdf
This article discusses the literacy practices in the production of a MySpace profile. Hundreds of people have a MySpace profile. Many are teenagers. Having the ability to create this type of communication page is exciting to most teenagers, especially when they get to create their own "background" and images. To create this type of page, you must use a "copy and paste" theory, which is not new to anyone. This copy and paste idea has been around for years. It's just a new way for people, especially teenagers to use the concept. By creating a profile, it gives teens a sense of creativity and power into how to create a webpage without all of "technical" stuff. Instead of looking down on websites like MySpace, let's embrace it and look at it for what it really does do for teens.
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/the-perils-and-pitfalls-of-wikipedia
Is Wikipedia a creditable source of information? Well according to this article, it depends. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort that relies on community volunteers—not paid fact-checkers—to contribute and validate its information. Anyone can write and edit articles in Wikipedia at any time. When I first heard about Wikipedia I thought it was a great source of information, but after researching and hearing more about it, it makes me wonder just how much of the information is accurate. You would hope that people using Wikipedia would use it to benefit readers, not to just put inaccurate information for people to question. I definitely use Wikipedia less often and look for better, more creditable sources of information.
This article discusses the literacy practices in the production of a MySpace profile. Hundreds of people have a MySpace profile. Many are teenagers. Having the ability to create this type of communication page is exciting to most teenagers, especially when they get to create their own "background" and images. To create this type of page, you must use a "copy and paste" theory, which is not new to anyone. This copy and paste idea has been around for years. It's just a new way for people, especially teenagers to use the concept. By creating a profile, it gives teens a sense of creativity and power into how to create a webpage without all of "technical" stuff. Instead of looking down on websites like MySpace, let's embrace it and look at it for what it really does do for teens.
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/the-perils-and-pitfalls-of-wikipedia
Is Wikipedia a creditable source of information? Well according to this article, it depends. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort that relies on community volunteers—not paid fact-checkers—to contribute and validate its information. Anyone can write and edit articles in Wikipedia at any time. When I first heard about Wikipedia I thought it was a great source of information, but after researching and hearing more about it, it makes me wonder just how much of the information is accurate. You would hope that people using Wikipedia would use it to benefit readers, not to just put inaccurate information for people to question. I definitely use Wikipedia less often and look for better, more creditable sources of information.
Week 5: Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture
http://www.alicechristie.org/classes/530/jenkins.PDF
According to this article, a participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. Some examples of the forms of participatory culture include, online communities like MySpace and Facebook. Working together in teams would include reality gaming and Wikipedia.
The problem with this participatory culture is access to these types of forms. With unequal access to these opportunities that could help prepare students may hurt the youth of tomorrow. With many schools uneducated about these opportunities only hurt the students and their learning. Many of these forms, such as MySpace and Facebook could really help a student's education because it's something that they already know. According to a 2005 study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life project, more than one-half of all American teens--and 57 percent of teens who use the Internet--could be considered media creators. Now that says something about how technology based tools can benefit students.
So how do we as educators ensure that every child has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant in the social, cultural, economic, and political future of our society? Some students are acquiring some of these skills through their own participation in the learning communities. Some teachers are incorporating these into their curriculum and classroom instruction. There are also some after-school programs that are incorporating them. In order to ensure every child has access is a major challenge. The first thing that needs to happen is educating educators. Most online community forms are looked down upon in a negative way because of the way of today's youth. If educators were taught the proper ways to use these forms, then students could benefit greatly.
According to this article, one way that educating youth through participatory culture is negotiation--the ability to travle across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative sets of norms. To accomplish this task, educators can foster negotiation skills when they bring together groups from diverse backgrounds and provide them with resources and processes that insure careful listening and deeper understanding.
According to this article, a participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. Some examples of the forms of participatory culture include, online communities like MySpace and Facebook. Working together in teams would include reality gaming and Wikipedia.
The problem with this participatory culture is access to these types of forms. With unequal access to these opportunities that could help prepare students may hurt the youth of tomorrow. With many schools uneducated about these opportunities only hurt the students and their learning. Many of these forms, such as MySpace and Facebook could really help a student's education because it's something that they already know. According to a 2005 study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life project, more than one-half of all American teens--and 57 percent of teens who use the Internet--could be considered media creators. Now that says something about how technology based tools can benefit students.
So how do we as educators ensure that every child has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant in the social, cultural, economic, and political future of our society? Some students are acquiring some of these skills through their own participation in the learning communities. Some teachers are incorporating these into their curriculum and classroom instruction. There are also some after-school programs that are incorporating them. In order to ensure every child has access is a major challenge. The first thing that needs to happen is educating educators. Most online community forms are looked down upon in a negative way because of the way of today's youth. If educators were taught the proper ways to use these forms, then students could benefit greatly.
According to this article, one way that educating youth through participatory culture is negotiation--the ability to travle across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative sets of norms. To accomplish this task, educators can foster negotiation skills when they bring together groups from diverse backgrounds and provide them with resources and processes that insure careful listening and deeper understanding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)