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.