Reading and Discussion #13

Quote from Chapter 7, “Beyond Technology Skills”:

“There is both subtle and overt pressure to focus on teaching technologies as tools, without incorporating an understanding of their uses within the participatory culture, and without integrating technology instruction fully into the pre-service curriculum in ways that result in critical analysis of content or alignment with pedagogy” (Avila & Pandaya, 2013).

This quote sums up how old ideas about technology are perpetuated in the classroom still.  I feel that this was my attitude up until recently.  Those of us who remember what life was like before the internet and the culture it has shaped, are sometimes tempted to lean toward the perspective that technology is superfluous.  However, I can now see how communication technologies have shaped the culture, and vice versa.  It’s hard to imagine 21^st century American culture without cellphones, internet, etc.  So it is no longer an option to consider technology a tool that we can train students in, as if it’s something they can take or leave.  I would liken the entire thing to how the automobile shaped the country.  This first generation to see cars thought they were a danger and a nuisance, and many campaigned to have them banned within city limits of many towns.  Within a generation or two, cars were a huge part of daily life, and they began to reshaped neighborhoods and cities, and greatly affect the commerce between them.  Who can imagine our lives without them now?  They are a part of all we do, and we must give a little time each day to recognize the ethical concerns of using them safely and wisely.  In a lot of ways, this is what the advent of the internet has done to the developed world in the past 20 years.  This really calls for a realignment of attitudes toward technology to match those expressed in this chapter.

Chapter 7 Discussion Questions:

 1. Why do the authors of this chapter chose to use the term "critical digital literacies" rather than just "digital literacies"?

The authors use this term to step away from the “variety of concepts” already represented by the term “digital literacies” and to express a more specific definition that includes “sociocultural perspectives that acknowledge the generative interplay between literacy and the contexts in which literacy occurs” (Avila & Pandaya, 2013).

2. How well did our own teacher education program prepare you to use technology in your teaching practices? Was it more tools based or literacy based?

I received my BA in Education in 2007, and at that time I think many of the classes I taken held the view of technology as tools.  However, since I began taking graduate classes in 2011, I feel that many of the courses have been literacy based.  Perhaps the program has changed over the past five or six years to include a literacy based approach.

3. What should teachers be thinking about when they engage in critical thinking as it relates to technology use in school?

Teachers should be thinking not that students are “digital natives” but “natives of consumer culture.”  We have never known a time without a dominant message that says, “you can fix anything with a purchase.”  We are used to being marketed to, and influenced by feelings of inadequacy.  That said, teachers should also be thinking, “I should introduce students to ways to question this take-for-granted reality.”

4. On page 149, it is stated that students have certain rights with respect to "critical digital literacies." Do students in your teaching context have these rights? Give an example or non-example of at least one of these rights.

I feel convicted to provide these rights.  Recently, I have worked to secure all but one:  “The right to explore or experiment with one’s own digital space” (Avila & Pandaya, 2013) has been difficult to secure at public school.  This is a right that no teacher can safeguard without the permission of parents and of the county and state school boards.  Unfortunately, most of the technology that can help students to do this is blocked out of fear that such exploration and experimentation will bring harm to children or lawsuits to school systems.

Reference

Ávila, J. (2013). Critical digital literacies as social praxis: Intersections and challenges. New York: Peter Lang.