Engaging Students Outside of the Classroom

"The creative practices of youth are a part of their everyday life (Gustavon pg. 102).  This statement means to me that youth spend only a very small part of their day in a classroom, so to find ways to engage them outside of the classroom is essential to their growth and development, especially with activities that they have already expressed an interest in.  The story of "Gil" bought back memories for me of a science teacher I had in the 6th or 7th grade who used "my story" for his thesis on the Bureau of Child Welfare , now known as Administration for Children's Services.  His ability to engage me outside of the classroom had a significant impact on my behavior in the classroom.  Another significant point made by Gustavon is that educators best educate when they lead by example, by modeling behavior and exhibiting   a genuine concern for the welfare of the  youth they serve.  In my opinion educators are first and foremost of service to youth. Teachers need to be working with their students (Gustavon pg. 119.

Engaging Urban Youth through digital story telling struck a chord in me,  Story telling has been a staple in Black communities for centuries.  It was a way to share the family history before the advent of any digital media.  The family history was passed down from generation to generation.  For many of the youth today it's all about digital media, from iphones, ipads, social media and the internet, so using this media to engage youth in meaningful dialogue is perhaps an idea way to go.  Digital story telling has the potential to provide youth with opportunities for new sense making of who they are (Nixon pg 124).  I have worked extensively with  youth, specifically those deemed "at risk" and have found that they are receptive to anything where they feel connected and empowered.

Although Chpater 7 left me with more questions then answers, all of the readings in this module left an impression on me as to the importance of tapping into the natural resources of youth and the significance in engaging them outside of the classroom.

Technology Refusal- SA

After reading chapter 3, I was left with very little understanding of what “technology refusal” actually meant. My first idea was that it meant schools refuse to use the new existing technology except for basic things like research. Then I found an essay written by Steven Hodas in 1993 entitled “Technology Refusal and the Organizational Culture of Schools” where it was defined as a set of behaviors rooted in the increasingly archaic purposes of schooling. Hodas writes "They (schools) are systems for preserving and transmitting information and authority, for inculcating certain values and practices while minimizing or eliminating others . . . " Technologies which support these purposes (intercoms, overhead projectors, chalk boards, CAI and ILSs) are welcomed and embraced while others are shunned, isolated or bent to fit the outmoded purposes (Hodas 1993).

So my next thought was how much has changed since this essay was written in 1993? The case of Ridgeview, where the young ladies was not allowed to use the internet because of access to inappropriate content hardly seems germane today because of all the filter software used by places like the Public Library and even some agencies that disallow access to social media sites as well as sites deemed pornographic in content, so what might be a reason for technology refusal today?? Since I have no formal teaching experience I am at a lost. From the readings, I gather that it's a systemic issue that evolves around the attention span of the students. There was also much written on the “culture of education”. Hodas writes, school practice and teaching structure has remained unchanged for seven hundred years (Hodas 1993). So the present system is based on a structure from the year 1315 or better yet, a structure that started before the United States was born. This to me explains why there is technology refusal. The system of teaching or rather the culture is based on very old ideas and concepts and has yet to catch up to the advantages that technology has brought. Technology is described as a curricular topic, like math or science rather then a set of social practices (Leander pg 61).

Slam Poetry in my opinion is a form of expression much like rap, only without musical accompaniment. Having grown up in the era of the 60's and 70's I dont see it as new. I remember the Last Poet's and Gil Scott Heron. I also remember spoken word contests much like the free style rap of today. I agree with Vasdevan who writes that educational spaces must become spaces that readily accommodate and encourage literacy experimentation, exploration and discovery (Vasdevan 2009).  Technology refusal is an impediment for allowing this.....

Journal post #3

I found this weeks readings very informative and thought provoking. I was struck by several things but was most struck by the passage that read, reading and writing have always been multimodal because it requires the interpretation and design of visual marks, space, color, font, style and other modes of representation and communication ( Jewitt pg. 315). I remember reading as a child and how I was able to interpret the words and form visuals. I was also impressed with the passage that read, a multimodal approach allows educators and researchers to attend to all of the resources involved in composing which educators, caregivers, and policy makers must take seriously the ways in which “new media forms have altered how youth socialize and learn” (Ho et al 2008 pg.2).This to me would be an example of the operational dimension of Green's approach to literacy.

The readings defined Digital Literacy as the the extent to which citizens have necessary competence to take advantage of the possibilities given by new technologies in different settings, yet Livingstone writes of a study conducted that shows youth gain most of their competence in using digital technologies outside of the formal institutions of learning (Livingstone 2002, Buckingham 2003). Yes, this study was cited in 2002 and 2003, but if it holds any validity today, it would be very disheartening because it would infer that there needs to be a shift in the educational paradigm that would include competency in the current digital landscape. Educational spaces must become spaces that readily accommodate and encourage literacy experimentation, exploration and discovery (Vasdevan 2009).

The readings about remixing was at first confusing to me, but after reading it over again, with special attention to Case #2, Challenging Prejudices, it became clearer. I found an article written by Lankshear and Knobel entitled Remix: the Art and Craft of Endless Hybridization where it stated that digital remix provides an educatonally useful lens on culture and cultural production as well as on literacy and literacy education. I believe that Case #2 is a prime illustration of a cultural example of Greens approach to literacy. The fact that students from different cultural backgrounds interpreted and shared information from different perspectives was very interesting.  I agree wholeheartedly that education today must make use of the new digital media and incorporate this into the curriculum because to do otherwise would not, in my opinion, teach to a strength already possessed by our youth, that is the ability to utilize, and navigate the ever emerging technological advances of today...