I find it so amusing that when most of our teachers from elementary school and grade school were becoming teachers, they probably didn't even have an Instructional Technology class dedicated to teaching ways to incorporate technology into instruction, how to use it, the pros and cons, etc. There wasn't much technology to incorporate back then. Now we have multiple classes in our major dedicated to just that, and even still, once we become teachers our students will be progressively more advanced and tech-savy than we are as technology continues to abound with improvements and updates.
One part that I found really interesting and ironic as I was reading was the bit about having to teach students to read differently than left-to-right and up-and-down because text on technology can be formatted in so many ways. Just before this, I was literally trying to figure out where one section of text ended and where it picked up again. Even though I know how to read books and I read things on the internet, this problem still comes up every once in a while when the format of an article or web page is slightly confusing or different than we've ever seen.
I also think it's so important that we stress instruction of teaching student's how to read and comprehend dense and complicated text and really read for content because with so many articles online with hyperlinks and headings, it's very easy to skim and get the bear minimum. I know that I am very guilty of this in classes that seemed uninteresting to me, or the article was just too long. It's easy for students to read too quickly and not thoroughly enough to learn from what's being read.
Although it has its cons, transliteracy is a fascinating new movement in education and as the article mentioned, it's important to change and progress with the times. Students aren't going to be interested in dusty old books and newspapers when they know that their friends in another classroom get to learn all the same things from a shiny, new and fast computer or iPad. We must stay up to date in order to make learning relevant and fun for our students!
Rachel~
ReplyDeleteI like the view point you took on the article because I agree with you completely. I never knew that being a part of this major we would have to enroll in technology classes but seeing all the new websites, apps, and all the goodies we can incorporate in our classrooms is really exciting. I am scared that we rely too much on technology but you made a great point, just like we are most likely more tech-savy than our parents, our students will be more tech-savy than us. We have to be prepared for the new wave of technologies.
Katelynn
I agree with your viewpoint completely pertaining to this article. I feel like if I were to introduce an assignment or text to my students, the first thing they would ask is if they could find it online. Before entering Woodring, I never would have thought that I would be exposed to so much technology. But the times are changing and the only way that we will be able to effectively communicate with our students is through being transliterate. Although there are pros and cons to technology, it can offer so much more information to our students. The challenge comes in knowing when and when not to use technology, and how to allow technology to become an adequate foundation of learning within the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI like your stand about "having to teach students to read differently than left-to-right and up-and-down" It is crazy how many differnt formats we can find across the web. I like how you transitioned from that to talk about how students need to read dense and complicated text. Because students are good at skiming and not reading the passage full. In a generation of fast paced lifes and limited time studens rush through everything and don't thoroughly learn from whats being read.
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