Portal to Media Literacy
Creating a ‘platform for participation’ in the classroom or
the virtual learning community is a teaching philosophy that isn’t really new
to the 21st Century so much as it’s a revolutionary idea for
learning in the information rich environment of the 21st
Century. Technology provides a new
frontier for teachers and students to collaborate in learning by shifting the
onus of knowledge away from the teacher to the student. Students’ want to be engaged in
meaningful learning that is deeply significant and valuable.
Dr. Wesch presents an anthropology lesson he designed along
with his students in a large lecture style
class using technology to engage all students. It was imaginative and creative
and engaging. I also posit that it
takes courage and guts for many teachers to take the digital leap! As I watched
Dr. Wesch’s presentation, I wondered what the thinning, white haired men in the
front were thinking. Hmm? As today’s teachers begin to experience the digital shift,
the definition of literacy begins to broaden to include more than just reading,
writing, thinking, and listening, but also to include visual, technological,
social, and environmental literacy to name a few. Listen as teachers discuss
what it means to be literate in the 21st Century? Students need to be more than
knowledgeable, they need to be knowledge-able.
After watching several of the Digital Portraits – Dylan,Virginia, Cameron - I feel compelled to become better at preparing students for the
future and be a better teacher and take those digital leaps. I don’t accept that technology is the
only way for students to be engaged or to gain knowledge in the classroom and I
don’t accept that all students are digitally savvy, but I also don’t accept
that it’s okay for students to be bored in the classroom. Today my students asked if I would try
something I’m learning in this class in the classroom. They’re hungry to try learning and
showing what they know in new ways and my challenge is to provide the platform. This You Tube video, You can’t be my teacher, definitely hits a teacher nerve with me!
Sooo, did you show the kids anything you've learned from this class? Funny, just today I had a group of students say, "why does school have to be soooo boring". I tried to dig a little deeper, and what I gathered from this group was that there were a number of hands-on learners that felt they were doing too much book/writing work.... That's a funny video you posted, with the kid shouting, "That's your job"! It's almost impossible for us to imagine what it's like to be a kid in this digital age, but we certainly do have to do our best to stay right there with them if we're going to be effective teachers!
ReplyDelete" I also posit that it takes courage and guts for many teachers to take the digital leap! As I watched Dr. Wesch’s presentation, I wondered what the thinning, white haired men in the front were thinking. Hmm? " I agree. It takes courage to try new things. Even if it is just one small lesson that you try one technology tool, you are doing great! You will see how engaged your students are and will want to try more. Of course the lessons do not always go as planned, so as long as you are prepared, it will be better each time you try it.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for "geeking out" a bit when you mention the concept of technology providing a "new frontier" (my mind immediately jumps to the bridge of the USS Enterprise) but I have to ask: does it provide a "new" frontier from the perspective of the students? Sure from the eyes of the seasoned teacher, it seems pretty new but the students have grown up in a world where they don't know any different. I worry that we're constantly playing catch-up with our students to the end that we're not preparing them, we're preparing OURSELVES. Maybe I'm off base here but it's beginning to seem like the roles of teacher and student are becoming reversed...
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