Thank you, Mike, for passing on the blogging baton. Your post related to an article I read a few days ago, in the latest issue of Edutopia Magazine, that arrives via email and that I've been reading for a while. You may think the name Edutopia is kind of goony, but it is a pretty cool online publication (and Website) on education funded by George Lucas—and it's free; just sign up. And no lightsabers.
So, we've gotten from class and from all the posts and comments that, beyond reading and writing, there are specialized literacies for each of our disciplines. And then there's digital literacy.
This article, by Marc Prensky, is called "Programming: The New Literacy." I almost didn't read it, since from many failed attempts I know I am not good at code. But Prensky is talking about the same things we are in class. He writes: "I believe the single skill that will, above all others, distinguish a literate person is programming literacy, the ability to make digital technology do whatever, within the possible, one wants it to do—to bend digital technology to one's needs, purposes, and will, just as in the present we bend words and images. Some call this skill human-machine interaction; some call it procedural literacy. Others just call it programming."
Prensky goes on to give lots of examples of how simple programming is accessible to everyone and, like other authors we have read, points out that" "Today's kids already see their parents and teachers as the illiterate ones." Looking to the future, Prensky says: "Literacy will belong to those who can master not words, nor even multimedia, but a variety of powerful, expressive, human machine interactions."
If he's right, then I will have figure out some code. Yikes.
What do you think?
Oh, and he recommends Flash, a software from Adobe/Macromedia, and Scratch, a programming language from MIT, as ways to get into programming ourselves. And the Edutopia Website has some related links, including this one about video games that teach.
May the Force be with us!
And, I nominate Laura to be the next sherpa blogger.
Anita
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11 comments:
Thanks for posting that very informative video and article by Marc Prensky. They both tie in perfectly with the Alvermann article's points about digital literacy. In the video, I thought the use of digital technology as a medical teaching tool was very interesting, "revealing hidden worlds," as one person in the video said. The video mentions the Federation of American Scientists' promotion of digital media: you can learn more about their Digital Human Project here: http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?formAction=297&contentId=68.
The section of the video about McKinley Tech was also very informative, and demonstrated how powerful digital media can be in the classroom. We are living in a time of such extraordinary, rapid change.
Thanks Laura - you are also putting up some very interesting websites - there's some interesting stuff on that FAS website, including the training for terror material. Of course, this software doesn't make it easy to have a working link when we're commenting, just when we're posting. Sigh - perhaps we do have to learn HTML.
I've been resisting learning how to program -- my VCR, DVR, or certainly anything having to do with computers... I've been in the Yogi Berra frame of mind -- why try to remember something that's unnecessary (to my mind) when "you could look it up," or as Prensky says, one could hire a scribe. I am beginning to realize what a troglodyte this makes me. What's the solution for a digital illiterate? Someone suggested a computer programming course at the "local community college". So, WCC offers "Intro to Computing Concepts" or "Computer Programming 101"... Is that the way to go? I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet, but not sure how.
I’m doing this why? First and foremost, to not be seen as a digital illiterate and therefore to not be disrespected by future students.
A distant second is “so I can do it myself” instead of hiring a “scribe” – although honestly hiring a scribe sounds like a good idea to me.
I chose to print this article because I detest reading from a computer screen. I laughed while I was doing it because like Jill, I too care nothing for furthering my knowledge when it comes to these sort of advances. Reading literature from a computer bothers me to no end.
Certainly the job market will open up as "geeks" throughout the land will have their place to shine, and guess what I will hire them if I need them. The issue, and a massive one at that is: how much are we gaining from all of these advances? I still want chalk on my clothes when I retire and at the same time I may very well show "Romeo and Juilet" as opposed to reading it. Here lies the balance.
I do not think that "tomorrow's highly literate person" will NOT still be one who enjoys a novel on a train. People who read now, will read then. Old school souls don't vanish and too many people think they are leaving us in the dust. The joke will be on them.
I thought the article by Prensky was interesting. However, it's important to realize that the desire to incorporate technology, specifically computer programming, into the classroom is not something new. Research has been conducted since the 1960's on ways to use computers to enhance children's learning experiences.
Seymour Papert (http://www.papert.org/), while at MIT, developed a programming language called Logo (http://el.media.mit.edu/Logo-foundation/logo/programming.html). This language was highly interactive and introduced a programming concept called "turtle graphics”. Papert’s belief was children learned best by building objects in an interactive and graphical environment.
A more recent effort to make computer technology available and relevant to students is the "One Laptop Per Child" project (http://laptop.org/vision/index.shtml). This project is the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte (http://web.media.mit.edu/~nicholas/). The goal is to provide children in developing nations with specially designed, low-cost laptop computers, along with Internet connectivity.
This is an interesting thread of conversation going on here. I share some of Jill's and Eric's hesitations about technology. I consider myself a closet Luddite sometimes ... very sketptical that that technology is more than just show but I'm working hard to push myself out of my comfort zone because I've been watching technology be used as an effective tool in some teacher's classrooms and I've been reading some stuff about literacy and technology and the adolescent brain in all of this. Al is great to bring up Papert's work. For me, the shift in education technology we are seeing if from technology being used as a presentation tool (Powerpoint, some uses of Smart Board) and an information retrieval tool (internet research) to the use of technology to support the construction of new knowledge (all the social networking spaces, bloggin, googledocs, wikis, digital media, etc.) I think that's a shift worth paying attention to ... My motivation is not so much to learn this stuff so some kid somewhere respects me for it but because, like you do, I desire to help all kids learn ... and maybe there are some who might utilize this technology in important ways to learn something new. Just some thoughts on your excellent thread here.
Response to Jill
HI Jill - I agree with everything you say - remember, I have tried and failed to learn code. I just wanted to tell you that there are shorter courses available through BOCES. (Assume you are familiar with them?) They have a technology service called "lhric" which stands for Lower Hudson Regional Information Center and is actually pronounced "lie- rick." Anyway, it is a technology training resource serving all the Westchester and Putnam school districts. If you go to their Website, www.lhric.org, you'll see that they have short workshops on various topics - easier and cheaper than a credit course.
Cheers, Anita
I read an article in today's Journal News (Mon. 2/11/08) that discusses the importance of having teenagers maintain personal journals using the old-fashined print medium. Here is the link to the article: http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/LIFESTYLE01/802110307/1030/lifestyle&template=printart
The premise of the article is that privacy is surrendered when teenagers use the Internet or other digital media to express their intimate thoughts. Writing your thoughts in a paper-based journal reduces the likelihood of strangers gaining access to personal information.
Anita, great post! I think the word programming alone scares most people from taking on and learning technological advances that can be greatly beneficial to us not only as teachers, but as "digital natives" of our society. I remember being in school and thinkin I had such an upper hand on my teachers because they were so naive of what the students were capable of doing beyond the classroom and the text. A teacher should be as closely up to speed with his/her students as possible to close the generation gap and be able to reach students in different forms. If in one class teachers are using different forms of media and technology with their lesson plan, and then they walk into their next class where all there is is a chalk board and maybe a few colored chalks, they're expectations of what a class can consist has much higher standards than the simplistic traditional class.
I, like Eric, am completely uncapable of fully understanding something read off of the computer screen (which may be why it is so difficult to comprehend all the great things you guys have to say in these blog posts half the time). I print out every article on e-reserve becuase I like to decorate my pages with annotations, highlighter, and sometimes coffee stains.
Unfortunately, I have been overshadowed by the next generation. When I used to be able to rub into my parent's face that they knew nothing about technology (my mom still struggles with turning the computer ON, let alone getting to the internet), I am now mocked by my younger cousins who can create websites, modify programs, and fix viruses in an instant...the future "Geek Squad". Last semester our methods class used the SmartBoard a few times to deliver our lessons, but not many of us actually succeeded in getting along with the awkward piece of machinery. Although I used to consider myself a "Digital Native", as time goes on I find myself getting deported further and further away into "Digital Immigrant" land.
I definately do not think the technology will take over old fashioned, classic, print...unless we're in the Matrix. I do think it will arise moreso in the classrooms and the workplace (most jobs require you to take a course with computer programs if you are unfamiliar with them.
However, computers do not last forever. Where an computer can last maybe three years without giving you migraine-inducing feelings every other day, a bound book can last years. Not only is this cheaper, but a lot less frustrating when you don't have to reboot your notes on a monthly basis (thank you very much Dell).
In essence, I do not think that actual print will ever become extinct. It is far too safe and less complicated to replace so quickly by a electronic pain-in-the-computer.
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