Changing Literacies

Chapter 4

"The lengthy apprenticeship in learning to read and write in order to access information is linked, in this view, to maturation and the path to adulthood. In the 1980s, Postman and others expressed deep concern that television's undifferentiated content and broadcast media was eroding the division between adulthood and childhood" (Carrington).

First off, I am not the type of person that believes violence on television causes violent acts in the world. With or without television, there will be darkness and evil and hatred. With that being said, though, I can see what the author means with this quote. I teach middle school, but it has also been just a little over ten years since I have been in middle school myself, and I can definitely say that it is a different world. I overhear my middle schoolers say things and act certain ways that I never would have dreamed of saying or doing. As a matter of fact, some things that I see or overhear I probably did not even hear or see when I was in middle school. Students mature, not in the sense of becoming well-adjusted adults, but in the sense of their knowledge of the good and evil of the world, much earlier these days than they used to.

Chapter 5

"In this most basic sense, a blog can provide an analytical record of learning, or an online learning journal" (Carrington; quoted from Boud 2001).

After reading the multiple sections on blogs, and realizing that this is exactly how our blog is used in this course (as an online learning journal), I instantly had an Aha! moment. Why could I not adapt this exercise into my Library classes? It would be very easy to set up, and it would be a great way for me to measure the understanding of concepts while implementing digital technology. This WILL be on my list of new things to do for next school year.

Chapter 6

"The idea that digital technology might help to motivate reluctant learners and provide more meaningful contexts for literacy has captured the attention of an increasing number of educators" (Carrington; quoted from Merchant 2007b).

Observe any classroom, today, that implements digital technology and this idea becomes pretty clear, at least it does in my classroom. We had something in my classes last year called Wonder Wednesday, where students would be going to Wonderopolis.org, choosing a wonder to read, watching a related video, and answering questions. I had such an easier time getting students excited for Wonder Wednesdays than I did Independent Reading Days. Something about reading on the computers made even the most reluctant students eager to participate.

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