Given this, I read the first chapters of Tap, Click, Read with a skeptic’s eye as well as, I hope, a literacy educator’s open mind. The little girls on the cover poring over a screen made me smile…and wince.
It really helped that one author, Michael Levine, has deep roots in Children’s Television Workshop. At 52, I’m from the generation Sesame Street was designed to reach in toddlerhood. I proudly trace my heritage to all the good folks and odd critters of Sesame Street. I was (am?) a groupie (I have an autographed vinyl record album from the early 1970s to prove it!). Ok, then, I thought: If someone from CTW thinks it’s urgent for us to understand more about technology, reading, and early literacy development – if he is taking the lead in doing this – then I’d better get up to speed.
It didn’t take reading too far in to Part I to realize I’d been pegged. Guernsey and Levine cite many studies early on that have to do with the need for better, more creative ways to level the digital divide. Kids from non-elite backgrounds need the same access to, and opportunities to learn to use, high-quality media that privileged kids have. I say I was pegged because my mind sometimes fixes on the idea that kids + technology = kids passively watching screens and not kids actively reading (print). The authors challenge the idea that passive vs. active has to do with the media source rather than the context…and they go on to provide example after example of kids and adults in all sorts of situations who find in their shared activities with technology a multitude of new ways to gain knowledge, express ideas, reinforce connections and build new ones, etc etc.
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I was floored by the early
elementary kids in Virginia who took a critical look at ‘the weather song’ and
ended up producing a multimedia alternative for their school that reflected
their experience and let them learn a lot more about science. Guernsey & Levine offer us a very
different stance than the ‘passive screen v active print’ literacy ideal I’ve
clung to. I’m willing to take it up: Readia:
Media in service of reading and reading
that includes media. Readia,
they say, requires “a new ecosystem of support for children’s learning and
literacy in the Digital Age” (20).
How about you? Where do you fall on the ‘readia’ spectrum, and what roles do you see yourself playing as a co-learner with kids who are grappling with everything their tech-saturated worlds have to offer?
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you were making a connection to passive and active use of technology. Learning is going to occur when students are participating and engaging with their lessons. With that in mind, one thing that stood out to me in particular while reading about their idea of “Readialand” was their idea to create opportunities for the students to use technology to create things to be used in hands-on activities. I believe this will teach students how to use technology as a tool and a resource. I read an article for another class that talked about one computer program that was designed by teachers and researches to combine both hands-on activities with computer activities in order to further emergent literacy skills. The students who completed this curriculum made significant literacy gains compared to students in the same grade who did not use the program. The article is old, but I thought it pointed out some key factors for success when integrating technology into the classroom. I have attached a link to the article.
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11423-011-9208-3.pdf
Considering technology as a "tool and a resource" is a great way to describe it. Technology can often be viewed negatively, but it is very beneficial when used in a way to improve academic skills. We need to teach students how to navigate the use of technology to assist their learning.
DeleteIt is important to understand that media is not replacing print books or social interactions. When used appropriately, media is a tool to enhance learning and social interactions. Children’s tablets are equipped with features to download eBooks and educational apps to enhance their literacy skills. Technology is only going to continue advancing as children in Elementary schools today get closer to high school and graduation. Therefore, we need to prepare them to excel in a media rich society. While we need to promote technology enhanced learning for children, we also need to understand the fine line between technology being beneficial verses hurtful to children’s education. When children are using technology appropriately to explore educational apps and eBooks, we see positive results. When children are using technology to spend too much time engaging in non-educational activities we are missing opportunities to enhance their literacy skills and social development. There has been question whether social interactions are being limited as people become more engaged in media devices. In my opinion, this depends on the situation. For example, when the text describes Redialand, it is discussed how a Kindergarten student uses Skype to interact with his grandparents. Without the use of technology this interaction would not have taken place, providing the idea that technology promotes more social interaction. As educators we need to model positive uses of technology for students to enhance their learning.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
DeleteI couldn't agree more with your point regarding educating our children properly on technology. Whether we as educators agree with it or not, technology is progressing and students are going to be exposed to it no matter what opinion we have on the topic. Wouldn't we rather get out in front of it and teach them the proper way to use it? They may not see any educational benefit from technology unless we teach them. If they only view technology as entertainment and fun, they may never reap the benefits of the learning portion. We as educators can at least provide them with that knowledge, and hope that they are able to take that with them going into the future.
I agree with everything related to the passive and active of technology, as well as technology not replaced print books or social interactions. What section struck out most to me, especially when considering technologies role in literacy education, was chapter 3, "How Reading Happens". In my role as a literacy specialist, I often find young children struggle most with the process of reading, not the simple tasks of sounding out the word C-A-T (the example the text used). If students cannot grasp the process of reading, they will forever struggle, in every content area. As Emily E stated, media cannot replace print books or social interactions. Social interactions are crucial when it comes to teaching the process, or the act of reading. Technology can help kids with the different aspects of phonics for example, but what about the process of reading? What is technologies role when it comes to teaching students the process of reading?
ReplyDeleteWe can't let technology replace the social interactions required to teach the process of reading. What we can do is use technology to assist in the process and actively engage students. I found a great article that shares ideas on how to incorporate technology and hands on activities while teaching early literacy skills. The article is called "8 Engaging Early Literacy Activities that Use Technology AND Hands-On Learning," by Elizabeth Mulvahill https://www.weareteachers.com/early-literacy-activities-technology/
DeleteMulvahill provides examples that address a variety of learning styles including visual, kinesthetic, auditory, social, and verbal.
I like to think I have a healthy skepticism of most things, including technology. I grew up in an interesting time and experience a lot of the transition into the technology that we have today. When I was a kid the best technology was color tv, basic computing, and the Atari video game console. In my later years of elementary school we had a Macintosh computer lab where we used the new user interface system and a mouse! We learned basic computer skills and used software for basic content area lessons and played educational games. The first time I used the internet was in my senior year of high school. I had to sign up and wait for an available time, on our one library computer with internet, to dial into the server. I was also one of the first people in my family to have a cell phone. I was in college at the time and everyone in my family thought I was crazy. At the time my major thought was how I wished I could use my cell phone to dial into the college's dial up network so I had mobile internet for my computer. That type of thing didn't exist back then.
ReplyDeleteI've always been willing to adapt to new technology but I have also tried to be realistic about how I use it and what effects it my be having on myself and others. I don't always follow the trends that look silly but I also don't believe all of the negative ideas and conspiracy theories about technology use. My students at the college have varying levels of technical ability. I have to drag some students into using technology and others I have to hold back and try to instill some discipline in their use. I like to show the students who don't use technology the benefits of using it to learn more about their field of study. For the students that do use technology, I try to introduce them to constructive uses. There can be a lot of misinformation in online forums and videos. I discuss with the students how to differentiate the good from the bad. Usually if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. I also encourage them so find several sources and go with the ideas that come up most often while still putting them through the filter of, does it make sense.
I really liked how you said that you make students look at what they find on the internet through a “does this make sense filter”. Looking back at our first reading assignment, students did not think Wikipedia was a reliable source of information but they had no idea why. If our goal as teachers is to get students to be able to use technology as a tool, then we do need to teach them how to determine if something is accurate. I think a part of that is being able to acknowledge that there are different perspectives that people could be writing from. We teach perspectives and point of view as a part of literacy so it makes sense that we would teach it when we are looking through digital literacy as well.
DeleteA lot of what you mentioned in your post got me thinking about "technology" classes at the elementary level. There are two forms of "technology", computer class and old school tech. While I was growing up, technology class consisted of designing something on a web-based program and then building it out of wood and supplies in the classroom. At computers, we completed typing programs and learned how to type on the computer. However, I feel with all of the technology available at students finger tips, we need a technology teacher, similar to what is instructed at the collegiate level. You said you educate your students on the good from the bad, and instill discipline in regards to technology. Elementary students need the instruction you are explaining. Whole class teachers do not have enough time allotted in their schedule to go in depth on some of these matters. Maybe the education needs to rethink how to use computer time wisely and modernize the instruction/qualifications of computer teachers.
DeleteAmara,
DeleteReally like the idea of having a tech teacher at the elementary level. If we are going to be putting so much emphasis on students learning on these 1:1 devices, it only makes sense to provide them with a staff member that can properly educate them to do so. It does not seem out of the question that learning through to use of technology could be just as useful as a speech class, AIS reading, or OT/PT. The direction of society is going will have created a job field where having a technology background may be necessary. Why not start these students as early as possible with a tech teacher in the elementary school?
On page 21 of the text it talks about a little boy that is interested in a video about planes ans trains. Within the app he sees that there are different buttons you can push to bring you to other places within the app. He learns how to highlight important details, pause videos, look at other e-books, etc. I love how he is able to hold a book at their nearest library so he can read it. This is a great way to allow students to use technology but also allows them to stay in contact with printed books. Moving away from printed books is a huge problem with technology in literacy. Many people think that if a child is introduced to technology too early it will have serious effects on the child's literacy skills and social skills. I agree to a certain extent. I believe that using technology in literacy is great, when it is implemented correctly. I think that there are amazing resources that can be used with technology, however I believe that both technology and books both have great benefits. As for the social aspect, I do think that technology is affecting peoples social skills. People are very much drawn to their phones, laptops, tablets, etc, that they are not taking the time to have an actual conversation with someone. Readialand talks about great ideas to stop this from happening!
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I think it falls under our job title to expose our students to technology that we feel can make them better learners. If we find material that we believe is beneficial the students, we should be sharing it with them as well as educating them how and why they should be using it. Explaining the why often goes over looked in education but it can provide the students with a better understanding of the topic.
ReplyDeleteNot having any children of my own, i'm a great critic of the way my sister parents her children. I often complain they spend to much time on their I-pads and watching tv for a 3 and 5 year old. However, I catch myself seeing some educational aspects of shows or apps they watch and play with. Recently I saw one of the shows they were watching and it was explaining the different forces on an airplane in a child's cartoon. After the episode was over I asked the oldest daughter what the episode was about and she could recall the four forces on an airplane and we talked a bit about them. I believe it's important that if children are spending time watching educational shows or playing with educational apps that a parent or adult checks for understanding or has a conversation about the topic to see what the child took away from it.
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