Growing up digital

Fun vs. Engagement: The Case of the Great Zoombinis by Henry Jenkins (2006) was an interesting article...nothing wrong with fun in the classroom in order to engage students and encourage learning! Some teachers have the “old” mentality of what learning is - very structured, rote, lecture styled teaching/learning, not realizing that we can all learn while having fun. 

The little red light, in the Fresh Air interview with Sherry Turtle, points out how we all want to be wanted. Teens often sleep with their phones next to them, waiting for any kind of contact with others. Children who have cellular phones are getting younger and find it harder to be alone; they must always be connected with someone, somewhere. 

I interviewed a teen who has a cellphone and also an Instagram and Facebook account. He uses his cellphone to access his social networking accounts and, at times, emails; however, he does not always have wifi at home and is oft times unable to check any online data. There is a desktop computer at home, but he shared that his mother broke it “playing too many games”. When this student is allowed access to the computer in class, he is constantly being redirected to stay on task and log off of sites with games, sneakers, or celebrity pictures on them. When I recently assigned a homework assignment using the Internet for research and then school-based email addresses to email me the assignment, this student felt very uncomfortable with being able to complete the assignment. After sharing with me that his computer at home was not working and that he did not have access to wifi, I suggested he go to the local library to complete the assignment. Unfortunately, he shared with me that he has been banned from the library because of a past fight with other students. I am concerned with this student’s accessibility to technology and that he will fall behind in classwork as well as in his knowledge of using technology successfully. 

self assessment

Challenging, but worth it! This is how I best sum up the course, New Media, New Literacy. Because of a very busy work schedule - teaching 7th and 8th grade ELA in a revamped, previously failing school - I wasn’t able to really devote the time I wanted to and needed to in order to be more successful in this course. I never thought that I’d actually have a blog (and enjoy it) or learn how to use some of the other technology that we have been introduced to, but I am grateful to have learned it and will continue to use them in order to make learning more engaging - for my students and me.

Learning Henry Jenkins’ concepts and ideas from the text, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (Jenkins, 2006) and the videos on participatory culture was very helpful in understanding the dynamics of students and technology, especially since I have always only considered traditional literacy skills as an ELA teacher; I am now well aware that new media literacy skills should be a great part of students’ learning. Jenkins readings were interesting and not as complex as some of the other texts assigned (Networked Publics was a lot to digest). I used one of his audio presentations, Combating the Participation Gap: Why new media literacy matters from Berkley for a powerpoint, and I was generally engaged and interested in his presentations.

I really enjoyed Literacy Debate: Online. R U Really Reading? (2008) by Motoko Rich. The article was a nice segue to all that we were introduced to in the course, laying a good foundation between technology and its influence on students and literacy. There are so many layers to new media literacy that I feel, at times, that learning new concepts and ideas about new media literacy just exposes more problems and issues with education in general! SIGH!!! Something as simple as incorporating technology in classrooms reveals the bigger issue of limited, if any at all, access to technology or outdated technology. I suppose someone has to be willing to work to bring our schools up-to-date…I guess that's me! 

Information literacy guide

https://www.dropbox.com/s/htnr9y54tf6t7ll/Information%20Literacy%20Guide.pdf

Please click (or copy and paste) the link to view the information literacy guide. I created a brochure/guide as if introducing the concept to parents or fellow educators. Feel free to share your thoughts and/or suggestions to help me improve. Thanks! 

Deconstructing An Advertisement

I chose to deconstruct a print ad for Opi nail polish, which suggests using the product allows the consumer to be sexy, young, alluring, seductive and ageless. The ad appeals to women by using pictures of sexy women, four Caucasian and one African American, who are sexy and confident. The advertisement illustrates confidence not only through the close up pictures and revealing clothing, but through the connection to the James Bond movies over the years; the connection of the nail polish to the James Bond characters connotes that women who are strong, confident and sexy use products that enhance these qualities.  

The advertisement uses pictures of the models from the eye-level of each, and the colors used in the photos compliment the nail polish color assigned to the model. Opi is advertising “50 years” of theme colors, using the longevity and success of James Bond movies to its product to. While most of the models appear to pose in natural lighting, the possibility of the pictures taken on movie sets makes one question the authenticity of the lighting. The text in the advertisement varies depicting the color of the polish and the era the character represents from the movie. The large text says, “The Bond Girls” and the smaller text in all capital letters has the description of each nail polish, with the font color matching the clothing and nail polish color.

        The purpose of the advertisement is clearly to sell the Opi nail polish, as it appeals to women and the various colors that are available. The target audience, although directed towards women, is more specific to adult women between the ages of their twenties to sixties easily. The advertisement suggests that, like the beautiful women from the James Bond movies, Opi nail polish remains strong, sexy and appealing and those who use the product can be a part of a legacy. This advertisement caught my eye because of Halle Berry, who is attractive and was the only African American pictured, and drew my attention to the product and the other women. The assumption made for Halle Berry in this advertisement is that she is seen in society as beautiful and sexy, and is therefore not a misrepresentation of minority women. It is uncertain if other minority women would be considered for this advertisement (or for a role in a James Bond movie) as Halle Berry is fair-skinned, beautiful and a mainstreamed actress; her beauty and talent as an entertainer clearly helps her to be accepted as a model, but one must question if she is an exception in the entertainment industry or if she is truly accepted for her beauty and ability as an actress. 

The advertisement makes the assumption that women are sexy and using Opi nail polish enhances their sex appeal and beauty. Interestingly enough, the models nails are not even shown in the ad; however, their clothing, make-up, and hair pulls the consumer in enough to at least make one consider purchasing the product when it’s seen in the store. The message in the advertisement is not unrealistic in that it does not suggest that using the nail polish will make the consumer look like a James Bond actress, but their remains the use of sex appeal to at least catch the attention of consumers. 

Thinking of oneself primarily as a citizen and not a consumer has to be a conscious and consistent effort. Marketing agencies work diligently to find innovative ways to draw in consumers of every age. Commercials, print ads, and videos send subliminal messages that entice consumers to purchase and desire items that are not always of a necessity. As citizens, the responsibility to control what is produced and consumed is powerful, but something that is often not even considered. In a society that overspends, overeats, and over-indulges there must be an awareness of advertising and its goal to promote products that ultimately dictate to consumers our faults and how they can fix them. Jean Kilbourne’s video, Killing Us Softly 3, points out problems with advertising that has become so common and normal to consumers that we often fail to see the obvious. From young girls being portrayed as passive and boys as aggressive or women as objects to minority children as submissive and minority women as animals, marketing is blatantly sending consumers messages that if aware of, consumers would in fact be citizens first. Of course the use of sexism in the Opi nail polish advertisement shows many of Kilbourne’s points, in particular, that we need other enhancements to make us more beautiful. One can be both a citizen and a consumer by controlling what and why he consumes in a responsible and conscious way.

Challenges in Participatory Culture

After reading Jenkins, I most identified with the Participation Gap section found on page 12 outlining the three core problems of participatory culture. It's interesting that Jenkins discusses this participatory culture as if all young people are engaging wholeheartedly in media and all its advancements, yet there are still a large number of students who have inadequate access (if any access at all) to new media technologies. 

I think this struck me most because I co-teach a computer class with 7th graders and, with technology seemingly available to all, I was amazed at how many students did not know a lot about computers, even some of the most basic skills. Not until reading about the participation gap did it dawn on me that many of our students simply don't have access to technology. Since smartphones, IPad's, tablets and the like are commonplace in our society, I mistakenly assumed that the majority of our students had access at their fingertips, or at the very least, had experience with technology.

And so in realizing this, I can now see the lack of the new skills being utilized like distributed cognition or networking especially since the new skills actually build on the foundations of literacy, research and technical skills and critical analysis; skills that may not be sharpened; skills that may already be limited.

In Green's model, the operational, cultural and critical dimensions are definitely affected negatively as students' lack of access to technology determines how competent they will be in literacy. Competency in how to handle written language, how to grasp meanings within practices and how to both transform and perform literacy is then compromised when all students are learning at different levels, not because of the inability of some to learn, but because of the lack of access for some. 

Jenkins' writing points out that access to outdated technology at a public venue is no comparison to what one is able to achieve with technology in their home with the ability to access data, Internet, etc.  My biggest question is how do we effectively make changes for our students? Researchers and educators, like Jenkins and Green, have identified ways in which new media and literacies can positively aid in youth learning, as well as what hinders all youth from learning at the same pace or in the same capacity. I just feel frustrated that if educators can identify the problem and the solution, why are so many of our children still struggling to succeed.

Literacy...what really counts?

“what counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape,” and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online (Jenkins, 2009).  

       What counts as literacy? This is a  seemingly simple, yet complicated question that often arises in today’s technology saturated society. Many who are perhaps over forty, would say literacy consists of reading printed texts such as books, newspapers, magazines, etc. However, those who are younger and who have been raised in the throws of technology literally available in every aspect of their lives, could rid their literacy lists of most printed texts and refer to literacy as only what is read on websites, through text messaging on cellular phones, instructions on video games or any text on social media sites. While I am included in the “over forty” age group, as an educator I have found that there is great value in the reading in which younger generations participate; however, I do question at what level reading comprehension exists for most readers. 

With regard to how literacy changes with the new media landscape, children and adults alike must be willing to assist in establishing a cohesive collaboration of the old and new ideals of what constitutes literacy. Hunter Gaudet, a student featured in the article, shared his difficulties with reading. Placed in special education classes after diagnosed with dyslexia, he believes that books are more challenging to read since they have a lot more unnecessary details and reading online simply gives the main details. I believe a lot of students, with or without learning disabilities, benefit greatly from new literacy in media simply because technology is integrated in every aspect of their lives.

As in the case with Nadia, her love for reading anime and visiting social websites does not seem to have lessened her level of literacy as she receives A’s and B’s in school. Therefore, we must ascribe some degree of value to new forms of communication that emerge online. We cannot neglect the intricacies of the instructions given to successfully playing challenging video games that take place in other countries, with multiple weapons, against different people in other cities, states or countries!  Nor can we neglect the emergence of various blogs (by youth as young as twelve years old), apps, or social media venues. In other words, just because the avenue is via the Internet does not mean that there is no value in the literacy. While I will never devalue printed texts, especially as an English teacher, as educators we must evolve our teaching and learning strategies with the new literacies with which our society is faced. After watching the cartoon The Jetson’s years ago, as children we only dreamed wildly of talking on a phone while seeing the caller’s face, or having robots in our homes to assist us in cooking and cleaning. Those dreams have since become a reality; they are an integral part of our everyday lives, and we have adjusted - quite nicely might I add. And so it is with literacy. We must then, as a society of learners, adjust to the emergence of what is qualified as literacy. 

Approach to Literacy...

"The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives" (Gillen and Barton, 2010, p. 9). 

Please discuss what you do with various texts, how you make sense of them and how you use them to further your own learning.

Even in completing the reading required for this post, I realized how “dated” and perhaps “old-fashioned” I am in how I manipulate and make sense of a text. While some are able to read, take notes and respond to text completely on a computer, I still find myself printing a text in order to make notes which is, in my own way, one of the ways to best handle a text. With this I am better able to define unknown vocabulary, refer to the text in the future with ease, and, when necessary, use terminology and ideas from a given text which is a valid gauge of my own learning. The use of visuals - charts, graphs and illustrations - are helpful in understanding some of the verbiage that is lofty and challenging to understand. I also don’t always read every written word in a text, as some seem to repeat concepts in just different, more confusing wording.