Where I stand in the digital world

After watching Mike Wesch's video "The Machine is Us/ing Us", I felt a sense of simultaneous awe and dismay at how much we are able to do with technology.  As Wesch flew from phrase to link to HTML in the course of four intense minutes, I watched with admiration of the process, but with a sense of foreboding that I am unable to race from screen to screen, understand embedded language, and manipulate web pages with such ease and grace so as to quickly reformat information in my own blog.  Prensky would likely point out that Wesch's video is attuned to the mind of the digital native who multitasks, no longer reads linearly, and is easily bored by the traditional "lecture"/textbook format that is not relevant to their lives. While watching Wesch's video, I instantly thought of the "techies" in my life, NONE of whom are my students.  I pictured two math teachers, a debate coach, and my professor, Dr. Rudolf Krauss, from last semester.  I picture Wesch as an adult; a middle-aged white male, even though I've never seen him.  After reading chapter 7 of Danah Boyd's It's Complicated, I began to think even more about the term "digital native" and its implications on today's youth.

I wholeheartedly agree with Boyd's thorough dissection and analysis of the digital native- the term used for young people raised in a technological world and are often assumed to be able to navigate the technology at their fingertips.  Boyd points out that technological savvy may vary greatly from teen to teen; not all teens are necessarily proficient with technology and even fewer truly understand how to navigate the internet while being aware of biases.  First and foremost, technical proficiency depends on access, and not all students have the same level of access to computers and laptops.  If access is limited to public places like schools and libraries, how is that a level playing field compared to students with unlimited access to the internet in their own homes?  How can a student with no home computer in an impoverished school district be compared to a student in a wealthy district where every student is issued an iPad at the beginning of the year, as has been in Weston and Dover Massachusetts?

Boyd shows just why it is important for us as educators to help guide our students.  She writes that some students knowingly go on "forbidden" websites to cite information that they know their teachers will likely not check. Boyd uses the example of the oft-reviled Wikopedia as a teacher-labeled "untrustworthy" source of information because it can be edited.

I actually was reprimanded by my own students this year in Spanish 2 for using Wikopedia to provide background information on Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.  I was thinking that everything seemed valid, however, I cross-referenced all of my information with other websites just to ensure I was providing accurate information.  I was actually impressed with Wikopedia's explanation of Kahlo's volatile marraige and bisexuality- it was valid.  Boyd shows that the admonition of Wikopedia may be premature; in fact, the site provides multifaceted view of historical events which are direct critiques of traditional textbook renditions.  It is both stides of the coin verses one side, and it is and evolving document. Wikopedia has an edit page containing histories and explanations behind edits.  Furthermore, they post their most common hoaxes.  Boyd demonstrates that Google, teachers' "trustworthy" search engine, is often skewed based on your search history.  I imagine a liberal college debate student being led to liberal websites that resemble past searches. Similarly, a staunch republican college debate student may be led to different sites based on his or her previous searches.  In other words, it is a manipulation of what Google thinks we want to read; it also can be biased.

Whether we are talking about the teenagers we teach or the colleagues with whom we work, it is imperative that we not only use the media wisely, but help to navigate our students and colleagues through sites while understanding and keeping in mind the hidden messages in the media.  Just because our students may use Facebook, Twitter, Vine, and Instagram like pros does not mean that they are computer experts who know how to find and even produce relevant information.  But as Prensky points out, our students want information easily and are used to acquiring it quickly via the internet, a quick Google search, and through the instant gratification of accessing friends online 24/7.  The assumption that students are "digital natives" is often oversimplified; they are born into a world of technology, yes; but does that give them a "native" instinct as to how to use it?  In my mind, the answer is no.  Again, the "digital natives" I picture happen to be middle-aged white men who work with computers as part of their livings.  Maybe these men are "immigrants", but they've mastered the native language as well if not better than most "natives" I know.  I would hate to be an imperialistic immigrant who squelches the culture of my digitally native students.

I am a digital immigrant



"I love using the Tweet!"

I am certain that I am a digital immigrant in spite of trying to be "cool" with technology. (Clearly, I am totally outdated, but I try!!!) I find that the more I try to use technology, the more it backfires, but since I have some nice new updates with our recent renovations at Norton High School, I've taken on more than ever this year.  We now have Smartboards in all of our classrooms, and once I got past reaching for my whiteboard markers instead of my digital marker, it started to go uphill.  For starters, my students signed me up for Twitter, and now I am obsessed.  I have the kids tweet me their favorite Spanish songs, links to latino authors and artists, and provide feedback about their homework.  The problem is that I tweet all day and all night long, much to the chagrin of my husband and two boys.  Just a couple of weeks ago, I got my first iPhone, and now I have other exciting social media outlets like Vine and Instagram.  I try to take one picture and end up holding down my camera's button too hard, snapping at least 36 pictures at a time.  It takes me forever to post on Instagram, but I've managed to put up a smattering of pictures of flowers and my family.  The nice thing about being an immigrant and teaching in a high school is that the kids really help me with all things digital.  They also keep me posted on the necessary lingo, such as thot (that hoe over there), sus (suspicious), and being huud.   I find that it's nice to be an immigrant; I don't really want my passport into the full technology world.  It's a lot of pressure and very time consuming, as "using the Facebook, the Tweet, the Instagram, and the Vine" have shown me.  I like being an "InstaGrandma."  When I was driving a former NHS student- our most spirited graduate- home from the senior play this year, unbeknownst to me, he recorded me for his nightly YouTube video.  (Well, you hear my voice.)  That's about all the publicity I can handle at this point.  I can't seem to link in that particular video, so here's another one instead of our famous weather magician, Peter.



SED 501 Summer 2014

Hello!  My name is Amy Mahoney and I am excited to be taking this Media Literacy course with Dr. Bogad.  I majored in journalism and Spanish at UMass Amherst, and I love learning about anything media-centered.  I'm an avid "tweeter" on Twitter; it's a fun way to connect with my students outside of class, and it's actually encouraged by my administrators at Norton High School, where I teach Spanish.  This is my first every summer graduate course; I'm in the ASTL program with the Fall 2013 cohort, a.k.a. #TheCohort.   In fact, Dr. Bogad was my first professor here at RIC; I am taking this course because I had an amazing and eye-opening experience with her already.   I hope to be spending all of my "down" time in Narragansett with my family, but I'm taking another week-long class in Norton in late July.