I am excited to commence our study into the potential role and value of
new technologies and multimedia in the classroom. At present, I see the increased
use of technology, as observed by Dean (2010) by children as a positive step
forwards as it reflects the rapidly growing digital world that children are
born into. By this I refer to technology being immersed in their social and
economic culture and values, such as through social networking and continuous
access to portable media (Palfrey & Gasser, 2008). I myself can be regarded
as a “digital native”, having been born after 1980 and grown-up alongside the
development of new technologies (from having our family’s first huge desktop
PC, to my own Macbook and Iphone), yet the extent of my digital prowess is
minor compared to that observed in much younger members of society, including
my nine year old sister. For her, being able to access the internet on a
near-hourly basis is an expectation, not a privilege, applying her native
skills with confidence that astounds me, and that’s not even mentioning the already
blossoming knowledge of my 18 month old cousin!
It seems that our increasingly digital society is here to stay and so
the only question is whether statutory guidance will embrace it more thoroughly
in the near future. Literacy in the 21st century is, after all the
ability to understand information, however presented, and it is important for
the curriculum to reflect this more diversely (Lanham, 1995). Regarding the
module itself, I am most looking forward to our teaching experience in the Shirley
Warren school as well as hopefully finding my writing style and content improve
over the next 12 weeks. I have not written a blog entry before, in my personal
or professional capacities but am relatively digitally literate through my
experience of social media such as Twitter.
References
Dean, G. ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in
Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London:Sage
(pdf on LN)
Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital:
Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books.
Lanham (1995) Digital literacy, Scientific American, 273(3): 160-1
I very much agree with you. Children today are born into a 'digital world' so we should be supporting their education with concepts, e.g. technological devices, they are already familiar with. We have easy access to some of these resources, so why not use them to support learning?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how you have written about your experience with twitter. A school I recently visited 'tweet' about their learning and ideas throughout different classes and it seems to really engage and motivate the pupils. This has also allowed them to form partnerships with classes within other schools.