Module 8: Discussion: Digital Literacy
The Ajayi article (2011) credits Disney videos with a bit of shake-up to the outdated classroom scene described as “lacking motivation, goals and vision” I do think that’s a little harsh, however, factors related to budgets, assessment requirements, school day and curriculum structure, and education policy have all had a hand in ensuring a slow change. Also, as both of this week’s videos suggest, our ever-evolving world and the injection of technology into every part of our day have dramatically altered the educational scene.
If you’ve read anything by Jonathan Haidt (social psychologist and professor at NYU), regardless that technology has taken over and is here to stay, it has virtually run over our young people. And still, we are calling for more and varied teaching tools. Yes, on the upside, this modern technological world will shepherd in “a learner-centered curriculum in the digital age, the emergence of individualized curricula designed by learners and their learning communities, (Hafner, Chik, and Jones, p. 814), something I think all students will benefit from and especially our EB learners. But, on the downside, do we really want interaction with bots and unidentified others to be the tools used to help students “interact in social groups, form values, develop self-identities, and strive to become acceptable members of their community (Gee 2003; Street 1995; Heath 1983) (Ajayi, 2011). There has to be balance.
Related and unrelated, I’m considering the data presented in the two videos and the resulting insurmountable task ahead of teachers. First of all, attention spans. Did you see the mention of the goldfish? OH MY GOSH! So not only do our young people not have long attention spans, but presumably, neither do we. How can we be present with the tasks at hand long enough to also be mindful of the needs, and often trauma, of our EB students? Second, we have created a professional teaching culture that is out of sorts with our attention span and our own culture. Note these facts and I’ll tell you what I take from them:
I endorse student-centered instruction, deliberate funds of knowledge inclusion, and biliteracy efforts, but I think there is nothing that compares to hands-on, minds-on learning, and the more I read about it, the surer I am.
References:
Ajayi, L. (2011). Video "reading" and multimodality: A study of ESL/literacy pupils' interpretation of Cinderella from their socio-historical perspective. The Urban Review, 1-30.
Hafner, C., Chik, A., & Jones, R. (2013). Engaging with digital literacies in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 812-815.
If you’ve read anything by Jonathan Haidt (social psychologist and professor at NYU), regardless that technology has taken over and is here to stay, it has virtually run over our young people. And still, we are calling for more and varied teaching tools. Yes, on the upside, this modern technological world will shepherd in “a learner-centered curriculum in the digital age, the emergence of individualized curricula designed by learners and their learning communities, (Hafner, Chik, and Jones, p. 814), something I think all students will benefit from and especially our EB learners. But, on the downside, do we really want interaction with bots and unidentified others to be the tools used to help students “interact in social groups, form values, develop self-identities, and strive to become acceptable members of their community (Gee 2003; Street 1995; Heath 1983) (Ajayi, 2011). There has to be balance.
Related and unrelated, I’m considering the data presented in the two videos and the resulting insurmountable task ahead of teachers. First of all, attention spans. Did you see the mention of the goldfish? OH MY GOSH! So not only do our young people not have long attention spans, but presumably, neither do we. How can we be present with the tasks at hand long enough to also be mindful of the needs, and often trauma, of our EB students? Second, we have created a professional teaching culture that is out of sorts with our attention span and our own culture. Note these facts and I’ll tell you what I take from them:
- The average person will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38
- 1 in 4 individuals has been at their job less than a year
- 1 in 2 individuals has been at their job less than five years
I endorse student-centered instruction, deliberate funds of knowledge inclusion, and biliteracy efforts, but I think there is nothing that compares to hands-on, minds-on learning, and the more I read about it, the surer I am.
References:
Ajayi, L. (2011). Video "reading" and multimodality: A study of ESL/literacy pupils' interpretation of Cinderella from their socio-historical perspective. The Urban Review, 1-30.
Hafner, C., Chik, A., & Jones, R. (2013). Engaging with digital literacies in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 812-815.