Generation “Like”

Hello everyone,

We were asked to watch an online segment from Frontline called Generation Like. It shows today’s generation of kids and their use of social media. Through the video, one gets a sense for how important social media is for these kids as they try to constantly validate themselves by getting “liked” by their peers on their personal sites.

As teachers, it is good for us to see something like this so that we can, firstly, get a better understanding of our students’ mindsets. It offers us a better sense of the world in which our students live. These sites — facebook, twitter, instagram — are what our students have grown up with and use daily. Because of this, many of our students see their profiles as their identities and yearn for the approval of those around them. With this knowledge, we can open their eyes to other ways to use technology. It doesn’t have to be the way their view themselves, but something they utilize to find new opportunities and engage with their interests in new and exciting ways.

Secondly, I think it is also our duty, as teachers, to show our students how these social media sites work. Essentially, companies have found a way to use young people to advertise their products. Do our students realize that? Do they know what they are doing each time they post something? I think technology can be really great for our students, but I believe that we need to help them shift their vision about what technology’s best uses are. If this generation continues to let technology define them, they may miss out on a true sense of self, which is vital to have as you grow into an adult. Our student may use technology and these sites, but that doesn’t mean they are educated about what actually happens on the internet. I think that must become another topic in our classroom.

Bringing technology into our classrooms and letting the students use it to create unique projects will show them the possibilities that exist in this technological world other than “likes.”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/ — Link to the video!

Standard of Learning Inspiration

As a student in Marymount’s secondary education — English program, I want to look at standards for high school students. For this class, I will be focusing on a standard for ninth grade English. I will look at standard 9.2 under Communication: Speaking, Listening, Media Literacy. It states: the students will produce, analyze, and evaluate auditory, visual, and written media messages. I have been worried about standards like this one that require students to use and understand technology because I feel that I am not knowledgeable about ways to teach it. Therefore, I would like to use this class as my opportunity to learn how I will address this standard and standards like it as a future teacher.

In relation to the 4 C’s, I think this will be a great standard to work with because it allows for many opportunities for students to work together to create projects. I can have my students collaborate with each other to produce their own media including advertisements or news stories. They can work together to find information sources and create well thought out pieces. This will also allow them to use their creativity. They can use a variety of mediums to produce their media depending on what inspires them.

As they evaluate their own media and the media of others, they can communicate their opinions about its effectiveness and the purpose of media in our society in class presentations. As we delve into the purpose of media, students will need to think critically about its current role in our world and how that role has changed over the years. We can look at different sources of media including that from television, the internet, and film and compare and contrast the differences between them.

This standard allows students to evaluate things that they see each day and create their own pieces of creative media. I think it will be a great standard for a technology course because media is becoming increasingly reliant on new technology. The standard is also a great platform for collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. I think it will be something that interests and excites students especially if I can use innovative ways to teach it.

“Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century”

This video was very eye-opening because of the extent to which it showed how technology can and will be used in the classroom. However, I was especially inspired by the project the students were working on in Middleton, Wisconsin. The students were participating in location-based learning and their assignment included an augmented reality game. As they walked around downtown Middleton, the things that they were asked to do allowed them to engage in each of the 4 C’s.

First of all, the students worked in groups and needed to communicate with each other in order to complete the assignment. They communicated  as they tried to solve some of the city’s problems and hypothesize about the changes that were made over the years. They also needed to communicate those ideas to experts within the city. They talked to businesspeople as well as residents to ask for information and opinions. They also met with the city planner to interview her about the history of the city and the changes that have gone on throughout the years.

In a similar way, students needed to collaborate within their teams as they followed clues on their GPS systems. They needed to search for different places in the community and use items to learn new things. They bounced ideas off each other and came together to find areas of the city to which they were prompted. In seeing the physical locations of different building sites and historical places, the students collaborated with each other to draw conclusions.

This assignment also required a great deal of creativity. Students had to look at the city as it is now and imagine what it would have looked like in different time periods. They would receive photos or clips about different city sites, and then envision those media items as they stood in the actual location. The students also took on different roles as geographers, photographers, etc., and they had to jump into those roles and figure out how to act those parts.

Finally, students showed immense critical thinking as they compared the different neighborhoods and searched for reasons why there were those differences. They thought about why some areas were booming with business while others were empty. They took pictures to document their findings and offered ideas of new ways to improve the local community. They literally interacted with community professionals and had to be ready with well-thought out questions and responses for these experts.

I would really love to do a project like this with my students because I think it is very important that they are involved in their community, and that they interact with members of society. They not only learn how to act professionally, but they might also learn about potential careers. The fact that this assignment included the 4 C’s added to its richness and the innovative learning that took place.

Blog Review

I chose to read Vicki Davis’ blog called The Cool Cat Teacher. I was drawn to it at first just because of the title of the blog, but as I began reading, I was very impressed by the content she included in each of her posts. First of all, Vicki almost always includes a link to another source of information like a webinar or a podcast, so that the reader can listen to or watch the things that are being discussed in the blog post. I think this is a great way to keep her readers (many of them educators) linked to the world of information and offer them easy access to sources that they can use for their teaching skills.

My favorite posts was one in which she includes a picture of the following saying: “So often you find that the students you’re trying to inspire are the ones that end up inspiring you.” Vicki points out that the quote was retweeted over 60 times after she had shared it on her own twitter page, which just goes to show how relevant it is for teachers everywhere. It also speaks to this class in the fact that teachers are becoming more and more connected via online media. We now have a way to share ideas with teachers around the world.

Another post I enjoyed was called “10 Ways to Stay Motivated at School.” Vicki spoke so honestly about how difficult the last two months of school can be, not only for the students, but for the teachers. She gives advice about how to deal with the stress of the coming months like keeping your tank full of gas, listening to good music, and, of course, to not procrastinate. Her writing has a strong voice, and I appreciated the truthfulness of her post. I think that this is probably the same for most people — they appreciate the personal tone of blogging.

Speaking of stress, she also had a great post about the effects of stress on teachers, comparing life in the classroom to a thunderstorm. She offers teachers a variety of ways to reduce stress and categorizes these methods as physical, mental, relational, spiritual, etc. She reminds teachers of such things as making time for their family and friends, allowing for their faith to grow, and even unplugging from all technology an hour before bed! Her blog is not only a source for information, but also an advocate for the quality of life of teachers.