As I was thinking about what I have learned from this New
Literacies class, I took a stroll through my previous blog posts. I must say, it was particularly interesting
for me to read my own post about the Millennials. Here’s a recap: The thesis of Mark Bauerlein’s book, The Dumbest Generation, is that when
habits and leisure time of the Millennial Generation are traced, it seems that
there is a decline in intellectual habits and intellectual pursuits during
their free time, even though this generation has many advantages over the
generations that have come before them to acquire knowledge and skills. Basically, the Millennials are reading much
less, and yet they spend an exorbitant amount of time social networking. Neil Howe cites evidence that the Millennials
are getting smarter, but Bauerlein dismisses this evidence saying about 10% of
the Millennial generation are superkids, and that Howe is merely citing their
data…not the data of the majority.
Two questions that I asked in my Millennials blog still lurk
in my mind:
1. How
can we help students develop an internal gratification from learning?
2. Do
teachers give students enough meaningful assignments to complete on the
computer so they understand HOW they can use this tool for something other than
Facebook?
So, this class hasn’t helped me answer my first question,
but don’t feel bad, Sterg, because this class wasn’t really designed to answer
that question…other than the fact that some students will become more motivated
simply because of the integration of the New Literacies into the curriculum. The answer to my second question, in short,
is “no,” but fear not, I will expound on that.
First of all, teachers teach the best way they know how
Teachers naturally teach anything they themselves know how to do, but many teachers have no idea how to use their computers for anything other than Microsoft Word, email, and Google search. They are often so congratulatory to themselves if they have figured that out. Deeming themselves computer literate, they often stop there. However, some teachers do move on to what they consider the advanced track and learn how to make a PowerPoint, and they feel particularly “hip” if they are on Facebook.
I’m hoping that as I integrate these New Literacies into my own classroom, I can share these ideas with my colleagues. Teachers, too, need motivation, but first I think we have to just feed them with the finished product. For instance, I can give them the link to myXtranormal video that uses foreign words and phrases since grades 9-12 have these words in the English curriculum. Perhaps, at one point, these teachers will decide they, too, want to make a video and come to me and ask how I did it. Then, I can show them how easy and fun it is. :D
Teachers naturally teach anything they themselves know how to do, but many teachers have no idea how to use their computers for anything other than Microsoft Word, email, and Google search. They are often so congratulatory to themselves if they have figured that out. Deeming themselves computer literate, they often stop there. However, some teachers do move on to what they consider the advanced track and learn how to make a PowerPoint, and they feel particularly “hip” if they are on Facebook.
I’m hoping that as I integrate these New Literacies into my own classroom, I can share these ideas with my colleagues. Teachers, too, need motivation, but first I think we have to just feed them with the finished product. For instance, I can give them the link to myXtranormal video that uses foreign words and phrases since grades 9-12 have these words in the English curriculum. Perhaps, at one point, these teachers will decide they, too, want to make a video and come to me and ask how I did it. Then, I can show them how easy and fun it is. :D
This class has provided me with several arrows in my quiver
which I will, of course, shoot at the students. ;) In
particular, these “arrows” are: quality, interactive websites; teacher and student blogging;
writing, reading, and critiquing fan fiction; analyzing and possibly creating memes;
and, as I mentioned earlier, making movies with sites like Xtranormal. I would add to that quiver, my willingness to
continually search for and introduce literacies that can be fostered with stuff
other than the typical flat text, as well as, my willingness to share this
knowledge with my colleagues.
Even with this beginning knowledge of New Literacies, I must
be very careful. I feel like one of the
most telling chapters from this New
Literacies Sampler was chapter 2: “Wired Bodies in the Wireless Classroom”
by Kevin M. Leander. I fear I once tended
to sway toward the stereotypical teacher population that wants to allow the use
of computers in the classroom, but hasn’t yet truly thought out HOW that can be
done. It’s not as simple as just
bringing in new computers or iPads. I
don’t want to bring in a new tool, and make students use it in an old way. It’s like giving students an electric drill,
but providing no energy that will allow the bit to turn—no battery or
electricity. I have begun to think about
how I can use aspects of these New Literacies, and I am much more open-minded
now. However, so much of how I teach has
to change: my instruction, my assignments, and my assessments. Also, I’ll have to be prepared to protect myself
from the possible legal glitches that can accompany students’ online
publications.
Sterg, because the nature of your assignments—the website
reviews, texts sets, and media project—I feel like you’ve allowed us to really begin to
contemplate how we can use these new literacies in our classrooms, and now we
already have some things ready for the coming school year. I’m even more proficient in my own ability to
blog. Before this class, I was using my
blog as a publishing tool, but my text was still flat. I had no hyperlinks, except for the ones that
Blogger automatically added as my older posts were archived. I can see myself now, keeping up a blog much
like you did as an instructor, using it as a place to communicate with the
students—adding information that will help students with particular
assignments, modeling, and even posing random questions here and there that
still match the content of the course, but are essentially “extras.” My blog will now be alive with links, images,
and videos—something that I just hadn’t had the time to really get into before…and
now I realize how easy it was and feel silly. ;)
However, I still find myself going back to my first
question: How can we help students develop an internal gratification from
learning? These new arrows in my quiver
will, no doubt, foster student motivation ; however, I am very aware that this
information is not a magic bullet. (I hope I’m not sounding too hostile towards
to the students with these metaphors of arrows and bullets, but as we know, they
ARE moving targets…and much of my summer has been taken up with graduate
classes so this angst hasn’t had an outlet.)
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And just for fun....
