Finding the Cure-All for Education

Many of the topics in the readings for this week have been things that we have discussed before. However, I found myself asking new questions as I was reading them this time. Perhaps that I am now observing an actual classroom and am about to finally be the teacher of a class, I am beginning to think a bit more practically. Whatever the reason is, I’m wondering how these new technologies and ways to approach literacy will actually be implemented in the classroom.

In the Jenkins article, he had a real focus on civic engagement. I’ve read quite a lot of work from Jenkins and his focus seems to be on increasing civic involvement and creating a more educated and active public. While it is certainly true that many citizens are disengaged in politics and the public sphere, I’m wondering what my role is in changing this as a teacher. I think that while getting students involved is important, the most important thing to teach them is how to get involved and why it even matters. I think that students have to realize that their say even matters. This is where Jenkins had me thinking about building a sense of autonomy within students and teaching them that what they do in this world even matters. It is quite easy to feel isolated and small in this society. It is easy to be passive, watching television and spending each day being constrained by the conventions of society. This is where it is important to get students to not just start questioning the systems around them, but to also learn about what they can do if they want to create change or create their own meanings.

So, what can students do? How do you teach students that they have a say? The answer: technology.

This is where I am a bit hesitant. I’m not convinced that blogs will save the world. I can see the idealistic view of them where students feel as though they are being read by the world. But are they? I mean what really is the difference from posting on a blog than having students share their journals? I suppose with a blog they can bring in outside media easier as they find it on the internet. And yes, I do think that students will feel as though the homework they are doing is more connected to what they do at home. But, in reality, nobody else is probably going to read their blog. My class is probably not going to get an email from someone in Kansas about the wiki book that they are creating. So how do I make blogs more than just an easier way for students to respond to each other when they are at home? Or is that enough? It is enough to have students publish some of their work online so their friends and classmates can be more involved in their reading? It is simply an easier way to share ideas, peer review, and perhaps get a sense that it is possible for someone else to read your work?

One technology that I did enjoy being discussed was book trailers. Now, the only benefit that I see of this technology is that it is more fun and artistically-oriented for students than other types of book projects. I think that they are a great way for students to use their own background knowledge and their outside lives about what they see in movie trailer. They have to start thinking about why they choose to go to movies and how a trailer orients them as a reader. They have to become more aware of a process that they are affected by on a daily basis, which is essentially the goal in getting students to be good citizens and questioning members of society, right? While on a much smaller scale, I think that my main goal for students is to get them aware of how they are constructed and affected by society and the media around them.

These projects give students a chance to efficiently pull out the themes and main points of a book so that they can present a clear and accurate book trailer. Doing one of this efficiently can be difficult, as students have to be able to summarize a book without giving too much away in a small amount of space. They also have to entice the reader and form it in a more persuasive model. I have seen students do this and they really seem to enjoy it. Is that a good enough reason to use technology?

Finally, I also liked what Jenkins said about performance. I think that he took it to a greater level than what I have seen many teachers do. Often, I see teachers have their students take on different identities, but they do not let the students really engage and live in this identity. What is key here is that I think students have to deal with changing circumstances. When they take on a persona of another, they have to have a dynamic environment where they have to make decisions as a character and really take on that person’s perspective and life. It does not become real until you enter the real world.

Overall, these readings made me question the line between the idealistic and the practical. Lately, I have found myself wondering how I am truly going to put these theories and ideas into practice. Is there something here that is truly going to work in the classroom? Is there something here that is worth trying? Sometimes you read about how Socratic seminars will solve all the problems in the world, but you wonder how much they are actually going to get done. Sometimes I find myself going back to the basics, and I wonder if I am too afraid to try something new or am I just missing some crucial element of that something new?

Link of the week:
In honor of the idea of technology, I have posted a YouTube clip for my link of the week. This video is coming from students themselves about why they feel that blogs are a great tool for the classroom. It comes from the ultimate source, the students that we are trying to engage!