After reading the information about "Digital Denizens" on the website, I decided that I think the "digital native" category best suits me. I feel like while we have gone throug most of (or at least part of) school, using technology, we are nothing like the students who we will be teaching who have been exposed to it from the beginning. I was partially considering "digital addict" after reading the quiz questions - so it really makes me wish the calculator part worked. I realized that I would have to answer 'agree' to the statements about using email and word processor, and that (especially today with this storm) I would go crazy if the internet went out and I couldnt check things like my email. Thinking about that, made me realize though, that I was not like that at all until college. However, even though I rely so much on technology, I do not do well with change. I rarely try to explore new technologies. I think that taking CEP 416 over the summer was one of the best choices for me because it exposed me to many different technologies that I didn't feel comfortable with before.
All of this made me realize, though, that there are a lot of things that have influenced my use of technology. I'm not sure what other schools were like, but my elementar school did not have any computers. We first had one at home when I was in the first grade, but I just had a few games that I would play on it. I didn't use computers in school until learning how to type in middle school. High school was an interesting experience when it comes to technology. I went to two different schools: the high school in the morning (for English, Spanish, and History) and the Academy around the corner in the afternoon (for honors classes in math, science, research, and technology). Being at the Academy, I had expereinces making movied on iMovie, we had a robotics class, and a computer programming class.
I thought chapter 4 in the New Literacies book refreshed the ideas of concepts of print, phonological awareness, and sound-letter relationships really well for me. Tompkins talks aobut emergent literacy for children with the perspective that young children (preschool) "have demondstrated that they could recognize signs and other environmental print, retell stories, scribble letters, invent printlike writing, and listen to stories read aloud" (pg 111). Tompkins explains different signs that students show and the process in which they usually grow. I thought the suggestions on page 131 were really interesting of ways to incorporate 'New Literacies' for students. Looking at the different suggestions, I realized some connections between emergent digital literacy and the way Tompkins talks about emergent literacy. Interactive books provide children with opportunities with practice with pronunciation and gives additional effects such as animations and expressions.
I feel that with the way technology is advancing, everyone could be considered "emergent" since there is always so much to learn. So, for my own digital literacy, the term "emergent" does apply. While I feel comfortable with technology, I am only comfortable with what I know. There is so much out there for me to learn still in order to enhance my student's learning. It is as if for some things I am still learning "which way to hold the book." Just as I still need some push and assistance with my own digital learning, ELLs have the same type of literacy learning needs. For ELL students, there are many things that they still have not been exposed to and so we have to take that into consideration when teaching - that they are coming with different background knowledge than other students. I really liked (on page 14) in the Gibbons book, she wrote that ELLs "learn language and learn through language." Thinking about my digital literacy, the same applies. Also, sometimes it is important for "clear and explicit instructions" to be provided. Finally, stage 1 in chapter 3 i think is also important to mention - letting students experiment. Just as it is important for us to experiment with technology in order to become more comfortable, ELLs need to experiment and learn their way around the English language.
After reading the article and looking at all the options, I decided that I was probably a digital immigrant, which the article described as a person who has willingly traveled to the land of technology. Although unfamiliar with the full potential of various electronic tools, she holds an underlying belief that technology can be a useful tool, especially for repetitive tasks. She may have grown up with technology or may have adopted technology as an adult. I have grown up with technology in my home, however I never really cared much about it until high school when instant messaging started getting popular and typed papers were required for class.
ReplyDeleteWhile technology is important to me and I find it a necessity for many of everyday things from looking up movie times to reading articles for class to checking facebook to keep up with old friends, I can’t relate to you, Kristina, about feeling addicted to it. I was so excited for summer break last year because it meant that I could close my lap top for a few weeks and wouldn’t have to read anymore online articles or type anymore papers. I can’t see myself going crazy during a power outage and if paper wasn’t the result of killing trees, I could see myself printing off everything so I could see it all, hold it all, and highlight with a tangible marker.
I agree with you about thinking of everyone as emergent because there is so much to learn. I feel that this will never not be the case because of the exponential technological growth world wide and the constant new editions, better versions, and competition between companies. Technology will always be changing and we will always be trying to keep up with the newest and better things.
With technology there are definitely benefits to language learners and to students who need to improve in aspects of literature. There are recourses online and with programs that provide students with the opportunities to practice and, like you said, experiement.
I think it is really cool that you consider yourself a digital native, Kristina. To be honest, I feel like I’m somewhere between a digital immigrant and a digital native. I agreed with almost everything that was said about a digital native, except that I do not feel like I readily adapt to changes in the tools I use. I am not quite where you are, Kayla, because it would really bother me to not be able to access my computer for a day, but I do prefer reading paper to reading off of a computer screen.
ReplyDeleteLike Kristina, I do not like change very much. Every time I get new computer software, it confuses me for a while. When I first got Microsoft Office, I got really frustrated because I could not figure out how to get to the page setup option. It took me a while to figure all the different tabs out. Also, every time facebook changes its layout, it takes me a couple weeks to figure out how to use it. I guess I just do not have the time or the drive to explore all the functions of the technology that I own.
Like you (Kristina), when I think about my past and technology, it is mostly grounded in school. My elementary school differed from yours because it did have a couple computer labs. I actually had typing class throughout the older grades of elementary school. I liked it because it was basically like playing video games, but it did help a lot because that is how I learned to type. I’ve never heard of iMovie before, but it sounds interesting. Maybe you could show it to me sometime? I have never had a computer programming class, though in high school we had a computer class that taught us to use Word, Excel, and Access. I still never use Access.
I agree with both of you that there are so many technologies out there that none of us can claim to be fluent in all of them. We all really are emergent.
Kristina, I like your comment about ELLs from page 14 of Gibbons. The beginning of chapter 2 by Gibbons also talked about the fact that students need an opportunity to produce language themselves in order to learn it. I feel that this is also true of technology. We can have someone describe to us how it works, but we will not be able to do it ourselves unless we practice with it. Just thinking how hard it would be to use computer software after someone just told you how it works without showing you how to use it and letting you play around with it frustrates me. I think that might be what it is like for ELL’s as they are learning a new language. Maybe trying to use technologies that we are unfamiliar with can help us relate to ELL’s better?