Screen Shot Analysis: Digital Scholarship Within Classrooms
As an education major, I have been exposed to many different ways of teaching a variety of topics to insure that each student within my classroom will have access to an understanding of the material. In a recent trip to the Illinois Association for Teachers of English (I.A.T.E) I was lucky enough to stand in on a technology based presentation. These teachers had come prepared with many different websites and ways to get students using technology in an effective way within the classroom. From that day forward I have been interested in ways of implementing such a thing into my future classroom.
In browsing for ways teachers who are actually already in the classroom do this, I stumbled upon a website: http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/censorshipofnonprint. This website discusses the guidelines teachers SHOULD follow in using digital media in their classroom. The main ordeal seems to be that in not allowing students to browse through the internet and seeing what is available to them, we, as teachers, are doing them a huge disservice. In allowing them, while guiding them as to what is safe and efficient, students are able to explore valuable information that is not available in generic print form. It is implied throughout the article and specifically mentioned early on that media literacy in crucial and should be central to all students’ education. Within the site: http://weblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/bees/, a English teacher allows his students to post according to the novel, Secret Life of Bees.
As you can see, Mr. Ginty has set up a blog that his students can sum up their views of a certain topic in regards to the novel they have been assigned in a way that he can see and their fellow students can discuss. This is allowing students to use the internet in a way that benefits them in a safe and efficient manner.
It is also discussed within the NCTE website that teachers have to risk bringing in controversial material into their classrooms considering the unedited nature of the majority of materials posted on the internet. The freedom of posting is just that, authors are free to say and do what they want via the internet, in turn, we are taking a risk in our students stumbling upon an inappropriate website when they are researching this history of breast cancer. But, in posing filters we are again censoring what the world has to offer to these students. Mr. Ginty has supplied websites in which students can locate reviews of the novel they are reading by age group in which they live. In doing this, he is allowing students to explore what is out there while keeping them focused on the goal at hand.
It is stressed several times that students must be aware through out their learning of new media that it is essential to keep in mind the following: academic integrity, legal responsibility, and personal safety. In supplying a route in which students can go while allowing students to present and find things on their own, Mr. Ginty is guiding in an effective and logical way.
Within an article titled, “Blogging from the Classroom, Teachers Seek Influence, Risk Trouble,” posted at: http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/k-12/2008/09/19/in-search-of-support-teachers-turn-to-blogging.html?PageNr=2, blogging is seen as a way to allow an inside look into what is really going on within the classroom, that is, past the factual information released to the public. For example, as parents are researching what is occurring in their children’s classrooms, they look for statistical proof of success in standardized test scores. Yet, their child may be above or below that average performance level. As teachers, it is our job to keep parents informed. In using blogging, we are allowing just that. In Mr. Ginty’s website, he allows parents to see their student’s progression in assigning summaries and discussion questions that students must post on.
Within the teacher blogging article is stated that, “If done well, blogs can shape public opinion and, in some cases, galvanize people to action.” Within this article, they are discussing blogs done by teachers on their private time. This means they can be discussing a hard day in the classroom or a good night out with their friends. Yet, if we stand back and see what this is suggesting, we will realize that Mr. Ginty’s blog can be capable of doing something similar. In allowing parents, administrators, colleagues, and other students to see this classroom blog it is running on an open door policy. Through blogging, Mr. Ginty is taking responsibility for the things getting or not getting accomplished within his classroom. This will allow for less parents on the doorstep, confrontations that often occur in being an educator, and allow students a new way of expressing themselves in regards to literature.
cheryl said
Hi Kate,
I’m glad you found a topic that motivates you; I can tell you are excited about it through your writing. Although the embedded screenshots are too small to read (which kinda makes me wonder whether you need them at all — iow, how are they contributing to your argument in content, not just form?), your nascent points about the uses of blogging, access to the Internet, and state guidelines is well taken, and I hope you are able to explore it more in this or other classes. These are certainly issues at the forefront of K-12 educators (as well as those in higher ed) these days.
I’m leary of where your argument goes about Mr. Ginty following state standards in the last paragraph, however. It too speculative (and since Mr Ginty blogs himself, he might find THIS blog and question your argument
But what if you took that idea and changed it slighty to ask something like this: How does Mr. Ginty (as one example using his class blog), or any teacher for that matter, meet state standards when using a class blog? (And how can you use that blog to point out examples?)
Another question might be: What are the consequences/issues that need to be addressed regarding the public nature of blogs and the privacy of students? what role does the teacher play in educating students about their Internet rights? what role does that digital literacy education play in a 10th-grade English class? etc. These are some larger-issue questions you might pose to reach a broader audience, esp in relation to your upcoming pitch proposal. Lots of ideas here; several directions it could go in.