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as incorporating technology in classrooms reveals the bigger issue of limited, if any at all, access to technology or outdated technology.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!