Response #3

 

As an educator, I have both an interest in teaching and in learning as well. I love dispensing knowledge as much as I love taking it in. It is easy to see that technology is becoming more accessible for and more understood by today’s youth. Many times, even more so than for adults. In this week’s reading, it was brought out in regards a school project in Oslo, some “of the students were reasonably familiar with programming, knowing more than their teacher” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2013, pg. 49). It can be challenging for teachers who are not as “tech-savvy” to keep up with changing media and how to roll with it in the classroom. But it would be a shame for teachers to close their minds to the new avenues of credible and relevant literacies digital media can offer. If educators explored these media outlets provided online, they could create curriculum engaging and enriching to students and pave the way for a deeper connection with them.

Chapter One showed me how Multimodal Play can be very beneficial as a teacher and a student. In a particular class where the students can express themselves through blogging assignments (sounds familiar!), a teacher sat down with a student to observe her work and her thought process. At one point, she said to the student, “This would help me with my dissertation. Can I take notes?” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2013, pg. 15). This interaction proved very educational for both parties. Technology brought the pair together as they shared thoughts on their assignments and how to use the digital tools. Do not be afraid—or too proud—to learn from your students. My students teach me almost as much as I teach them every day!

Remixing, highlighted in Chapter 2, is shown as another promising new concept in emerging literacy. One of the ways it is explained in the book is “the way media production is done through different people creating different media pieces, which are then reworked by other people through new steps of media production in a complex remixing trajectory” (Lankshear & Knobel 2013, pg. 45). For example, in a study between a Western and an Eastern school focusing on their differences, “students combined different content they found on the internet with their own content, either written texts through collaborative writings or audio- and video” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2013 pg. 50). Even though they went to different schools, both groups of students engaged in this practice of remixing. The result was a “very intense and creative process” that fascinated and opened the eyes of many. (Lankshear & Knobel, 2013, pg. 50). Teachers cannot deny that digital literacy aided in a very valuable way of enlightening learners, and they can definitely take away a valuable lesson about approaches to cultural issues among young people. 

Education involves scaffolding: building off of what students already know. Scaffolding happens for teachers as well. Using the internet is an opportunity to instill your lessons and ideas by using technology today’s students are very familiar with, making it easier for them to retain the information. As the reading puts it, “institutional spaces… might more effectively engage the digital knowledge and practices in which young people are already proficient” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2013, pg. 22).

Teachers who don’t embrace this new technology—at least to some extent—are missing out an a promising opportunity. The book brings out: “From the perspective of young people, learning takes place in many different contexts, and in taking experiences from one context over to another” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2013, pg. 54). The readings this week have provided evidence that if new literacies are welcome into the classroom by educators, rather than dismissed as some sort of fad that has to be deprogrammed from the minds of learners, both parties can benefit greatly. I personally am inspired to familiarize myself with internet programs so they can be more easily accessible to build curriculum off of in the future of my educational career.

 

References:

Lankshear & Knobel (2013). A New Literacies Reader: Educational Perspectives. Peter Lang Publishing, Inc: New York.

Comments

  1. Sam BranionFebruary 6, 2023 at 4:17 PM

    Joe, I too am fascinated by the amount of knowledge that I soak up but also share with my students and colleagues. Even though I am only 24, there are moments in which my elementary students are able to navigate a website or even a Chromebook better than I am able to. I am more than willing to learn with them and from them, but I can also see the frustration that some of the veteran teachers in my building feel about technology.
    I found remixing to be quite interesting in a literacy sense, and I appreciate the information you shared surrounding this topic. New media and digital literacy are going to be present in our professional lives for the time being, so we should celebrate it and learn as much as we can. As educators, I truly believe we never stop learning and that is one of my favorite parts of this profession. Thank you for sharing!
    Sam

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