Reading and Discussion #13

"Gronseth et al. (2010) advocate for "maintaining a level of authenticity in technology experiences" as a means of providing real-world context for technology training (p.30)."

This quote stood out to me because there is a lot of talk about the value of a college education.  The cost has increased to much higher than the rate of inflation and it is considered the new high school diploma.  This leaves college graduates with a lot of debt and a sense of value in their abilities that may be as inflated as their student loan payments.  What I am saying is students and their parents are so focused on their child getting a college degree that they overlook the job outlook and the cost of tuition.
As a business education teacher, I work in a career and technical center where we value and encourage students who are working towards a trade.  We believe college isn't the only way to a successful career path.

This is an article that was circulating amongst some of my friends.  There is another article by linked in by Mike Rowe, from the show "Dirty Jobs" and Ford commercials that is also very good.  Rowe has spoken at a conference some business education teachers I work with attended giving the same sentiment there as he did in the article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-stewart-holland/i-might-not-send-my-kids-to-college_b_4219594.html

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/23/mike-rowe-of-dirty-jobs-speaks-about-hard-work-how-many-are-following-the-worst-advice-in-the-history-of-the-world/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ShareButtons&utm_content=buffer5e27a&utm_medium=twitter

Additionally here are a couple images I'd like to share on the topic:-)

(This comic was posted at Randolph Technical Center.  I took a picture of it.)

1.  The authors use the term 'critical digital literacies' "to de-emphasize the relative importance of technology skills, and emphasize the critical understanding of and engagement with functional technology skills within the broader contexts of technology use.  Additionally this term includes not only the functional aspect of digital literacy but the broader digital literacy framework and contexts.

2. I would say it was more literacy based because we didn't focus much on certain tools, even a smart board, but we did make an online education portfolio which helped us incorporate functional skills and the other components of critical digital literacies.

3. I like the TPACK solution which focuses on the intersection of content, pedagogy and technology tools and affordances to best implement critical thinking as it relates to use in school.

4.  At the Randolph Technical Center where I completed my student teaching and where I substitute often, I believe most of the teachers I work with in business and technology classes do give these students all of these rights.  For example, students in the Desktop Publishing class are able to create very unique images and in Web Design class students make very individualized web sites.  Both of these examples shows how students explore and experiment with one's own digital space.

Reading and Discussion #12

"However, despite the flooding of "South Los Angeles" in the media, I have never heard any of my students refer to this community as anything but "South Central.""

This reminds me of being in my late teens (I think) and hearing about riots and other violence in South Central through the news and through hip hop music.  I did not know the media was trying to change the name but my initial reaction is to agree that a name change might improve morale.  Although, the residents might have pride in their neighborhood.  I know I have pride in my little neighborhood even though it wasn't much.  It was still my home.

I also chose this quote because I am interested in what really happen in that area.  Like I said, I was too young to really know for sure.  It is fascinating knowing there are essentially no white students in that school considering the area I live in now has very little diversity besides white people.  My middle school was predominately non-white in Florida but this goes to show white people are not going to be the majority for long (if they even are now!).

http://www.southcentralhistory.com/la-riots.php

This article gives a history of the LA a riots which started in South Central.  That seems like it might be a difficult thing for students to handle knowing about their neighborhood.  I know their elders must mention the riots somewhat regularly considering the widespread damage and publicity it caused.

1. How did Ask Anansi game support critical literacies?
"…the main product of this game is one of problem-posing critical thinking and civic participation…" (p. 113)
2. How did the Ask Anansi game support academic literacies?
"Illustrating the connections between 21st-century literacies and the academic literacies that are most heavily emphasized by standardized curricula, tests, and policies" (p. 113)
3.  How did the Ask Anansi game support digital literacies?
"Alleviating teachers from the strain of a digital participation gap" (p.113)
4. What is meant by the term "reading the word and reading the world and writing the world"?  Give an example from the chapter.
"Later, the digital world, too, was written upon by the class since the students took to the official Wikipedia page for South Central High School Wikipedia." (p. 122)

Addressing the Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

Point of View:
My digital story will likely be from my point of view.  I might try to tell it third person but I'm unsure if it will sound right.  My story's message, and title possibly, is, "Life ain't a track meet, it's a marathon".  It is important to tell people this message so they know they know life goes on and they can improve and also no matter how well they are doing bad decisions can cause them lose their way.  I think my audience could potentially be very broad.  It is an important message for teenagers but people trying to move on from a divorce might also benefit.

Dramatic Question:
"At what point is someone's fate determined?"

Emotional Content:
I will share some of my life experiences that showed I was an at-risk youth who was likely counted out by many teachers.  Then I will share how I changed to become a different person.  I will also include some information about my best friend in high school who had a GPA of 4.3 due to excelling in honors classes.  She became an alcoholic and committed suicide at age 28.

Voice: I like the suggestion of talking as if I'm talking over a cup of coffee.  I will narrate and hope to be able to surprise my viewer throughout the story with twists in the story and changes in inflection.

Soundtrack: I agree instrumental music will likely be best but I may use some music with lyrics briefly.

Economy: I hope the narrated story is full of ups and downs that keep the audience interested.  The pictures and music hopefully will give a fullness to the story that help make words and narration less necessary (i.e. a picture is worth a thousand words).

Pacing:  I hope to have a steady pace to help get to the point of each idea then allow a moment for brief reflection during strong endings of ideas.

Reading and Discussion #11

"One student emphasized how writing for an audience is more exciting than the regular way of writing for the teacher: "...at school, no one else [but the teacher] reads [my texts], so it really doesn't mean that much."

I just thought this was a fascinating quote.  I would like to say I strongly agree because I think everyone works harder when they have to present it to the public or peers.  Although, I feel there are students who have different talents and interests that do not include writing and it may be embarrassing for them to share writing with the public.  I still think I would agree because even if a student is not a strong writer, it would still be nice for them to feel confident in their improvements in writing.  I have always tried to communicate to students that everyone has different talents so I hope they would support each other- the less talented writers complimenting the best writers and the better writers cheering on the struggling writers.

Please open the link to the following article for more information about this topic:

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2013/10/wikipedia-when-college-students-have-audience-does-their-writing-improve

1. "In the essentialist account of technology, interest focuses chiefly on abilities in the medium in itself, without paying attention to the actual settings in which the technologies are used."
The topics here are really fascinating because I had never really formally thought about the difference between how well a specific technology worked in comparison to how it can actually be applied.

2. "They were blogging in a different but related class.", "Students could work on their computers writing their blogs any where they felt natural for them: at their desks, outdoors..." and "Most of what the students did during Anne's classes had to be displayed, depicted, summed up or reflected upon...".

Brainstorming My Digital Story

There are several ideas/events that come to mind after completing this week's assignment.  

The first would be my history in athletics throughout my life.  I have always excelled in gym class and sports as a kid and now as an adult I have completed a triathlon and run marathons regularly.  I also have played softball for almost 25 years and still take it seriously today in my adult leagues.

Another idea could be a history of friends and relationships in my life.  I think I have been very lucky to have the ability to get along well with people and have had a lot of great friends and even great ex-boyfriends in my life.

Unfortunately, I have had and still do have some difficult family problems so I could discuss how I feel that has affected me and how it continues to affect me.  My brother struggles with these family problems, as well.  When talking to him about how he feels, which is ashamed, I have told him about friends I know and students I see everyday who also have difficult family problems.  Maybe in telling about my problems it can help people appreciate or better accept their family situation.