ST: New Literacies in Practice
Chapter 2: Social Networking in a Low-Tech Environment
The chapter opens with a confession that perhaps the professor is not "walking the walk." How do we keep up with current trends? Talking to other teachers who constantly grow, looking online, going to workshops, talking to students, participating in professional development . . . we definitely try to stay on top of what new tools and learning practices are available, but it can be a challenge.
Chapter 2 also discusses our course's Multigenre Literacy Autobiography. The purpose is to show how literacy comprises of texts on the page and on the screen. As we reflect, we look at literacy processes and milestones, and sometimes sadly remember that our students may lack many of them. Kist's text mentions how "addicting" the assignment is as hours of time are happily lost creating and students will go back to add content because another student's work has triggered their memory (17).
This is a great example of Thornburg's
caves experience.
Campfires in Cyberspace:Primordial Metaphors for Learning in the 21st Century Thornburg looks at our history and realizes that at our heart humans are storytellers. We gathered around campfires to hear the 'experts' speak. To learn, be amazed, be scared, be entertained. We were a community. As tribes traveled, they visited the
watering hole, where different tribes gathered and shared information. But humans still had their "vision quests" and time alone in woods or
caves in order to process, reflect, and interact with knowledge on a personal level. Thornburg's article illustrates how we see these different interactions at a conference-- campfires being the presentations, the watering holes the exhibit hall and people gathering between sessions, and cave time at the end of the day or through reflections. He also gives examples of when this need of these spaces is ignored. He then connects these spaces into our cyber-world.
Think about how classes are conducted. How long do teachers talk or teach before allowing students to talk and interact with those ideas? We probably ask students (from 1st grade to grad school) to sit for 1.5- 4 hours generally in the campfire mode absorbing information. However, as any of us have felt, after a while that new information cannot settle in. We need to talk to others about it, and see what they think. We need the personal reflection time to digest what we've heard. No wonder the halls of school are so loud in those 5 mins. between class!
This sort of assignment allows a student to be reflective, which is one of the areas I feel we do not focus on enough. We share expertise a lot. We collaborate and talk together quite a bit. How often do students look for personal connections to what they are reading or studying? How often to they look to interpret information in a way important to them? How often do they think about how they learn and what they have learned?
Looking at Middle Schoolers, I can see why they would like the autobiography project. First, they love customizing and making things unique. Some students change their
Firefox Skin or Persona daily to fit their interests and moods. They would love that this is about their personal life, and it gives them an opportunity to share information with their classmates. One project I do with students is an end of the year "scrapbook" through Power Point. There is not a sound in the room as students look for images, customize color and text, and reflect on their Middle School years.
We definitely need more cave experiences for students to get lost in using the information they've learned in a personal way and reflecting on their experiences.
