Thursday, September 25th, 2008...10:27 am
Task #4
I found an article called “Innovate, or Die.” What struck me about the article was the assertion that the current generation of students are geared to be producers of media. They expect to create and share, almost instantaneously. What does that do to levels of discernment? I can create and post, but does that mean that the quality level of what I am creating or posting warrant the results. From reading online journals, I see oodles of bad poetry, poorly edited writing. While there is a place for that in the process of being a learner or a student, does the process have to be broadcast to the world? Is there still the freedom to make mistakes when the audience is the worldwide web instead of the confines of the classroom?
I see some kids who are geared toward the create and share mindset rise to the occasion because they have an audience, but I see others who share and never look back, never assess or attempt to improve or grow…because the sharing is seen as the goal, rather than reflection. Reflection has always been part of my role as a teacher, but fighting the “post and run” mentality adds another layer to work through with a kid. As a teacher, I’m also acutely aware of how the quality of what is shared reflects, as well, back on me. How does one balance the process and the product? Once something is online, there’s no going back.
2 Comments
October 14th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Yes, there is a whole lot of crap out there, isn’t there? Teachers are definitely going to have to start teaching not only how to find what’s valid and valuable, but also what’s post-worthy. I hope that having things posted on the net will help all kids kick their products up a notch. There are some kids that don’t care how things look for whomever they are presenting to, whether it is their class or the whole world. However, I feel like/hope most kids will reflect a bit more knowing their creation will be viewed by others outside the classroom walls. Maybe we need to involve families more now to help with giving feedback???
November 10th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I am appalled by the amount of junk out there, and teaching kids how to wend their way through it is a daunting task. Teaching kids to be mindful in their public writing adds another layer — I love the phrase”post and run” ; it is the counterpart to the copy/paste/print research paper. Maybe if we show them embarrassing posts (bad poetry, poorly edited writing, or overly-revealing blogs), they will think twice. I know they love the bad websites I use.
(Thank you for responding to my first posting. I am still finding this process a little intimidating.)
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