Take a digital natives quiz and read information from the website (http://coe.sdsu/eet/articles/digitalnatives/index.htm). Write about the following: Are you a digital native or immigrant? To what extent does the term "emergent" apply to your own digial literacy?
I was able to identify with 4 out of the 6 terms (blogs, massive multiple player online games, instant messaging, wiki's) on the digital natives quiz.
In terms of the digital world and new technologies, I'm not a native. I grew up on a farm where we literally rode on the backs of pigs for fun instead of instant messaging our friends or posting online journals. My family didn't even own a computer until I was in Jr. high. We had no need for one; I used the computers at school whenever I needed to type something and to this day my parents rarely have any interactions between a keyboard and their fingertips.
I was introduced to technology via school, not home. This is a major difference between myself and the students that I work with in my field placement and I believe it is something to capitalize on. If the attraction of multi-media arouses my students then why wouldn't I want to use it?
Too many "experienced" teachers steer away from utilizing technology in their classrooms because they themselves are intimidated by the endless capabilities that are available to them. They don't want to learn new things to teach with; they have their lesson plans that they developed 25 years ago when they first started teaching and other than a few changes in benchmarks and/or district curriculum, those lessons haven't changed.
So I ask myself, am I native or an immigrant? It's clear to me that I moved into the digital world before I entered high school, and because I wasn't born into it, I'm not a native. But the term immigrant doesn't fit me either.
When I think of an immigrant, I think of someone who left where they once were to reach a better place, a place with more options and resources. There was a purpose for their departure fom wherever they were before to where they are now. However, technology was something that I believe just came to me; I didn't necessarily find it. School introduced us, but like a child acquring language, my knowledge of how to operate the digital world soared. I didn't go looking for technology, instead, it was something that emerged.
Since taking CEP 416, Teaching with Technology, here at MSU, my digital literacy has been jumpstarted. I am more eager than ever before to learn about the new technologies that are available for me to utilize. With no previous knowledge of online works, such as blogs, I stepped into the first day of class knowing that "blogging" was the dumbest word I'd ever heard. But really, I had no idea what it was. It was foriegn to me and I wasn't ready, quite yet, to give it a try.
However, after learning that my instructor had his entire class outlined online (via a blog), which made it so much more assessible to me than a paper copy that I may lose, I was ready to learn more.
Now I have experience with podcasting, making webpages, using Skype, creating wiki's, and all other sorts of new technologies that I can't wait to try and bring into my classroom.
One thing that has always been in the back of my mind, and was reiterated to me in the Tompkins chapter is that you have to reach students at their level. Whether you're working with preschoolers or college students, you, as the teacher, have to meet them at their level-and if multimedia stimulates their learning, why not use it?
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4 comments:
I really like the way you deconstructed Culligan's choice of the word "immigrant." When I read the article, this was something that I automatically accepted and never questioned. However, you're right. We (as a generation) have a strange and tenuous relationship with technology. We are not "native" in the sense that today's children are native, but compared to our parents, we are most definitely "natives." And the term immigrant does not apply either, as you quite correctly say here. I'm left wondering if it is really possible to be a technological "native." It seems that as technology spirals faster and faster, it is inevitable that we will be "flung off" at some point. I think the challenge is to recognize that we will never be truly "fluent." There is no final destination of technology and there is never a way to learn everything about it. The minute that one person uses a camera for something other than capturing a moment in time, that technology is forever changed, opened to a new realm of possibility. Thus, we must constantly reinvent the tools that we are given, finding new uses and new solutions; when those tools no longer serve their purpose, we must actively seek or even create new ones to suit our modified goals. This ability is the not only the true mark of a "digital native," it is a reaffirmation of the qualities that mark us as human.
I really like your comment about "experienced" teachers. I think that is a common trend in schools, the older the teacher the less technology is used because they just stick with what they know. I also think that some teachers don't really understand or are intimidated by technology and therefore just avoid it. I feel that as teachers we need to keep up with our students, and technology is a big part of their lives, it surrounds them for sure at school and in various ways at home. Schools are using technology more and more and if students go on to college they will definitely need to have experience with technology. As teachers we work to prepare our students for higher education and the outside world, so it only seems fitting that technology falls in there as well.
I was talking with an instructor in the Deaf Education field yesterday and found out that MSU really tries to avoid placing interns with teachers who have been teaching for more than 15-17 years. Reasong being: they're not "master" teachers.
I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that the amount of time someone spends at a job decreases their mastery of the job; however, with teaching, espeically the placement of interns, the older generation of teachers are very anti-technology and aren't open to new ways of doing things. They teach their students, but they don't let their students teach them anything.
Love your new theme/skin! Looks great! :)
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