I went to the New Digital Learnings conference at UTas yesterday.
There were lots of references to multimodal, multi-literacies, multiple platforms, semiotics.... drip filtered down through the coffee percolator that is my brain, what I got from it was ... yadda yadda yadda, there are truly awesome opportunities for engaging all sorts of kids in really deep learning using the technologies that they love to 'play' with (hell, try to get them to stop using those technologies at home!).
[Note: I don't write in a mixture of bold and italics as a practice, this was my way of 'breaking through' massive academic phrases to put it in human speak). Problem seems to be that schools are slow to embrace many of the possibilities, particularly those involving social media, largely out of fear of the potential downsides (the pedophile predator cruising the school blogs for prey; spammers) and fear of the unknown.
A teacher from some northern outpost in England, Mr Martin Waller, is bravely venturing where not many others dare. His grade 2 class tweets ( @classroomtweets ), blogs
He's doing such awesome things with his class - look at this beautiful serendipitous Grade 2 study of the Brer Rabbit stories which were told amongst enslaved Africans and are linked to Native American and African cultures in America. Mr Waller's online presence caught the attention of The Wren's Nest (home of Joel Chandler Harris who published the Brer Rabbit stories).
His grade 2 class ended up enjoying via Skype a retelling of a Brer Rabbit story by 'Akbar', an African American story rambler. As well they spoke with the relatives of Joel Chandler Harris. When those students hear more modern versions of these traditional tales through authors such as Beatrix Potter, how rich and deep will their understandings of the origins and multiple perspectives of these stories be? How engaged with the craft of narrative will those students be?
I would LOVE to be able to weave this into the course I tutor in. It's so relevant, it's what the students should be seeing. Ways of using new technologies to engage students in studying complex and deep historical issues. That's our brief. That's our domain. This is engaging best practice. Wonder if I'm allowed to?....
There were lots of references to multimodal, multi-literacies, multiple platforms, semiotics.... drip filtered down through the coffee percolator that is my brain, what I got from it was ... yadda yadda yadda, there are truly awesome opportunities for engaging all sorts of kids in really deep learning using the technologies that they love to 'play' with (hell, try to get them to stop using those technologies at home!).
[Note: I don't write in a mixture of bold and italics as a practice, this was my way of 'breaking through' massive academic phrases to put it in human speak). Problem seems to be that schools are slow to embrace many of the possibilities, particularly those involving social media, largely out of fear of the potential downsides (the pedophile predator cruising the school blogs for prey; spammers) and fear of the unknown.
A teacher from some northern outpost in England, Mr Martin Waller, is bravely venturing where not many others dare. His grade 2 class tweets ( @classroomtweets ), blogs
He's doing such awesome things with his class - look at this beautiful serendipitous Grade 2 study of the Brer Rabbit stories which were told amongst enslaved Africans and are linked to Native American and African cultures in America. Mr Waller's online presence caught the attention of The Wren's Nest (home of Joel Chandler Harris who published the Brer Rabbit stories).
His grade 2 class ended up enjoying via Skype a retelling of a Brer Rabbit story by 'Akbar', an African American story rambler. As well they spoke with the relatives of Joel Chandler Harris. When those students hear more modern versions of these traditional tales through authors such as Beatrix Potter, how rich and deep will their understandings of the origins and multiple perspectives of these stories be? How engaged with the craft of narrative will those students be?
I would LOVE to be able to weave this into the course I tutor in. It's so relevant, it's what the students should be seeing. Ways of using new technologies to engage students in studying complex and deep historical issues. That's our brief. That's our domain. This is engaging best practice. Wonder if I'm allowed to?....
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