This is the whole thing about engaging students, the teacher has to make the students come back to see what's new in the class. When using digital media tools and planning lessons, the tools that are used have t be used in a way that engages the students and makes them ant to come back to the classroom to see what fun way they can learn material. In other words, the have to enjoy coming to class. Using technology in this engaging way can be difficult and the teacher will not get it perfect with every tool, especially the first time it is used, but the students can generally tell what was being aimed for and will give the teacher notes on what caused the downfall. This is also why professional development comes into play. Learning how to use these tools in an engaging way is key because it helps the teacher see how it is meant to be used and does not have to dream up some way that it might work. Let your classroom be the "space" to which students "return" to see what the teacher is up to.
Chapter 12: "The role of education in relation to personal development has been massively complicated during the past two decades."
I'm going to start this response off by saying, no one uses Zines anymore. I know there has been a chapter about this already, but I finally remembered where I had heard the term before. There was a show on Nickelodeon called Rocket Power where one of the characters put out a Zine that she spread around town. This show aired in 1999, now this might not seem like a long time ago, but that was 17 years ago and typical teenager has moved far beyond that; just think about how much technology has changed in that amount of time. The concepts in this chapter are still good because they deal with the personal development of students and how the can express themselves. Even today Blogs are not the most popular way that teens write about their feelings and problems, though there definitely still a lot that do. The main venue for personal development these days is, unfortunately, Facebook. It is public and nearly everyone has it, it is like a blog that you and your few hundred or thousand friends tell each other your opinions. Back to the quote, the state of education and personal development has been thwarted a bit because of Facebook being the main source of it for teens. It makes most of the other methods not as enticing as they once were. If we decide to use Facebook it can end in disaster, there are so many cases of cyber bullying through Facebook and it can be fatal for some students. Personal development in education is a complicated thing and there is no clear answer to the best way to handle it. Maybe it is blogging along with some private journaling that only the teacher can see. Maybe it is creating a heavily monitored Facebook group, or maybe it's something else. In any of these cases, students need a way to express themselves with digital media and it is a tough lock to pick.
Zines were definitely never a big deal in rural Appalachia, but they are still pretty hot in larger metropolitan areas, and still have a thriving subculture. One interesting zine someone handed me a few years back was CrimethInc. The CrimethInc people have since grown into using Podcasts and other media in addition to print. I think being in the black hole that is WV, literally decades out of step with the rest of America, has a big effect on our overall perceptions of subcultures and innovations. There are those who believe FB is already on its way out with the youth as other social media platforms keep developing and popping up (Ello, Tsu, etc). Incorporating personal development into any curriculum can definitely be a tall order.
ReplyDeleteI think the negative aspects of Facebook and other SNS or overplayed in the media. Bullying is a problem; and always has been. The benefit of FAcebook is now there is a public record of the bullying which making it seem like it happens more often when it is just of case of adults becoming more aware of the bullying thanks to the public nature of SNS. Research has documented the value of Facebook in helping disadvantaged students in building social capital as they meet friends of friends online to obtain information about college life admittance and summer jobs. Check out: The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites
ReplyDeleteInteresting article about the popularity of Zines in Time Magazine September 3, 2011
ReplyDeleteAnatomy of a Zine: When Magazines Go Indie
http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2091194,00.html
I can identify with your stance that teachers have to engage students and make them excited about what is coming next in class as Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher. Many of my classes are optional and it is up to the student if they want to take them. I had not thought of sales as a part of my teaching job but I have said before, "Everything is sales!". I cannot be the mean math math teacher everyone has to put up with because they need a math credit. I have to have the cool and exciting class that will give them the edge over all others or... be an easy blow off class. That is my problem at times. I want my classes to challenge my students so they can create work they are proud of. If they feel like they can get an easier A in another class, a lot of students choose the path of least resistance, then enrollment in my program drops and my whole program is in jeopardy of being cut.
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