The DREAM Act was something that I wasn't too familiar with until a student asked me to write a letter of recommendation. I don't know what became of it and to be honest, I wasn't sure what it was at the time. I was so used to writing letters of recommendation for my seniors that it was just another one. Around the same time, my school formed a club for students who were fighting on behalf of their undocumented peers. I never attended a meeting but I remember thinking how ballsy the advisor of the club was for taking on such an issue. My district is primarily hispanic, so there wasn't a shortage of students who volunteered to be a part of it, but the staff is mostly caucasian. Older caucasians.
Many of my co-workers did not view this as a student run organization with any validity. Instead they just saw young people protesting just to make noise, even though it directly impacted most of them. This is exactly the type of activism that Jenkins mentioned youth getting involved in, and it was not taken seriously by the adults who were supposed to encourage them.
Mimi mentions World of Warcraft as a way to get youth involved politically and civically. I used to play the game, not to a great degree, but I joined a guild and tried my best to participate. I din't understand at first that a regular player was in charge of the guild; I always just assumed it was someone who worked at Blizzard. So in that sense, if a younger person were to become a guild master, they could learn quite a bit about running an organization. boyd mentions that World of Warcraft is a good place to develop agency. It is true that there are numerous choices for a player to make in regards to his or her character and game style, and false steps could have serious consequences. Don't participate regularly and contribute to the guild? You can be booted and replaced in favor of another player who isn't seen as a moocher.
On the subject of fandom and activism, Jenkins mentions a letter-writing campaign to get an LGBT character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I found it odd since the original Star Trek was praised as having a diverse cast and really breaking ground in that area. Now we have groups who are lobbying for representation. Imagine, creatively, being forced to introduce a character because a group, who don't really have to watch the show, want it. You couldn't have an LGBT character come out and then not address his/her sexuality. It would have to be a plot point, otherwise why make the character gay? I would say that if someone wants to see a space opera with specific characters, maybe he or she should create it. Produce something new instead of making everything change for your benefit.
The sense of entitlement goes a bit further when Jenkins mentions the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and how some fans can't ride the rides because they are too big. Jenkins refers to these people as being "locked out" because of their size. Seriously? There are safety precautions to consider. Also, financially the rides need to be a certain size to accommodate enough people to make it a worthwhile attraction. If they could only fit two seats in a row as opposed to four because of seat size, you just doubled everyone's time in line. How can you design a seat that will fit both a four hundred pound person and a one hundred pound person? There have been complaints about heavier people needing to buy two seats on an airplane because of what we'll call "spill over". Think of it in terms of physical space. I paid x amount for the space around my seat. If you "spill over" into someone else's space, you need to purchase more space. Sorry for the rant, but Jenkins made it sound as if the park was purposely shaming bigger people. Not everything is a cause for protest.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Participatory Culture in a Networked Era: Chapters 4 & 5
I think it's excellent the number of "positive deviants" we have thanks to the Internet. One of my students mentioned what school in Korea was like, and it turned into a huge conversation involving most of the class. This particular student absolutely refuses to participate (I assigned him a tiny role in Romeo and Juliet and he suddenly came down with a stomach ache, requiring a class-long trip to the nurse.) But he was suddenly an authority on something and was spewing forth incredible details about what the school day is like compared to ours. When someone asked him why he knows this, he just replied that it interested him. Like Ito points out, had he been assigned such a topic he may have dreaded it.
I also worry that if students become used to only studying what they are interested in, they won't become as well-rounded as they should. I understand that the authors are discussing interests outside of school, but I see firsthand how kids will refuse to do something that they don't like. Much of this stems from schools catering to the students' interests instead of forcing (I realize that sounds terrible) the students to study general items. I had a liberal supervisor one time who told us that if kids didn't like the novel we were teaching, just pick another one. If that sounds ridiculous to you, it should.
Managing media consumption is a growing problem in the classroom. When we use technology in class, the students are always given what our intention is supposed to be. The problem is maintaining their focus. Students will rush through a diagnostic test so they can watch Youtube videos of basketball. Or they want to listen to music as they type up a final draft of a paper, then spend a majority of the time choosing what songs they want to hear.
The cell phones, which should be a valuable tool, aren't used appropriately. If a student encounters a word unknown to them, they don't use a free dictionary app or even google it to determine the meaning. And if they try to type a paper on their phones (which sounds like torture) they are distracted by the barrage of texts or status updates, leaving the work unfinished.
I know what you may be saying, confiscate the phones. Students are very rarely willing to hand their phones over, leading to a power struggle. Security gets called, class is disrupted, and the student hates you and can only take it out on you by not doing any work. Then he or she will get the phone back the next period anyway. Sorry to make it sound like I think phones are the devil, but I think it illustrates the fact that students need guidance on how to control their impulses when it comes to 24/7 connectivity.
Commercial culture reminds me of Uber drivers. Sure it's an established business model, as taxi drivers will tell you, but it utilizes technology to improve the process. If anything, it makes the market more competitive and should help the consumer. It seems more reliable (and cleaner) than most taxis. But I confess, I have never used either Uber or a taxi.
I think Twitter is irresponsible for allowing such anonymity among its members. I realize that makes me sound old and out of touch, but if you can anonymously act like a fool and post nonsense without fear of people knowing who you are, I find that to be dangerous. I also realize that the majority are responsible and cordial, but my gut reaction is what Ito condemned- take it all away. And I know that's unreasonable.
But when we hear about the case of the girl who used Periscope to broadcast her friend's rape, I seriously wonder if more regulations are needed. What is to stop underage girls from posing nude? If you rely on someone reporting any offenses, just remember that way more people "liked" the rape than reported it. I don't like those chances. To be clear, I'm not calling for a ban on these tools, just more safeguards.
I also worry that if students become used to only studying what they are interested in, they won't become as well-rounded as they should. I understand that the authors are discussing interests outside of school, but I see firsthand how kids will refuse to do something that they don't like. Much of this stems from schools catering to the students' interests instead of forcing (I realize that sounds terrible) the students to study general items. I had a liberal supervisor one time who told us that if kids didn't like the novel we were teaching, just pick another one. If that sounds ridiculous to you, it should.
Managing media consumption is a growing problem in the classroom. When we use technology in class, the students are always given what our intention is supposed to be. The problem is maintaining their focus. Students will rush through a diagnostic test so they can watch Youtube videos of basketball. Or they want to listen to music as they type up a final draft of a paper, then spend a majority of the time choosing what songs they want to hear.
The cell phones, which should be a valuable tool, aren't used appropriately. If a student encounters a word unknown to them, they don't use a free dictionary app or even google it to determine the meaning. And if they try to type a paper on their phones (which sounds like torture) they are distracted by the barrage of texts or status updates, leaving the work unfinished.
I know what you may be saying, confiscate the phones. Students are very rarely willing to hand their phones over, leading to a power struggle. Security gets called, class is disrupted, and the student hates you and can only take it out on you by not doing any work. Then he or she will get the phone back the next period anyway. Sorry to make it sound like I think phones are the devil, but I think it illustrates the fact that students need guidance on how to control their impulses when it comes to 24/7 connectivity.
Commercial culture reminds me of Uber drivers. Sure it's an established business model, as taxi drivers will tell you, but it utilizes technology to improve the process. If anything, it makes the market more competitive and should help the consumer. It seems more reliable (and cleaner) than most taxis. But I confess, I have never used either Uber or a taxi.
I think Twitter is irresponsible for allowing such anonymity among its members. I realize that makes me sound old and out of touch, but if you can anonymously act like a fool and post nonsense without fear of people knowing who you are, I find that to be dangerous. I also realize that the majority are responsible and cordial, but my gut reaction is what Ito condemned- take it all away. And I know that's unreasonable.
But when we hear about the case of the girl who used Periscope to broadcast her friend's rape, I seriously wonder if more regulations are needed. What is to stop underage girls from posing nude? If you rely on someone reporting any offenses, just remember that way more people "liked" the rape than reported it. I don't like those chances. To be clear, I'm not calling for a ban on these tools, just more safeguards.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
"Participatory Culture in a Networked Era" Chapters 2 & 3
While reading through the chapters, I couldn't help but compare the youth the authors were discussing with the youth that I interact with everyday. The authors maintain a very positive outlook on how the youth utilize technology, but I have a harder time seeing things the same way they do. I'm aware that some teenagers are using the latest technology in a positive way, but I have a hard time remembering that after what I see in school.
boyd points out that "adults scapegoat technology" (44), but who is giving the teenagers access to the technology? The kids are not the ones who are purchasing iPads or smart phones for themselves, and they aren't going to Verizon and opening up a line for themselves with unlimited text and data. A lack of moderation has led many of the students in my school to believe constant use of technology is acceptable. Students will come to school with their phones and chargers, but without a pen or pencil. Priorities.
I, much like the authors, dislike the idea of referring to teens as "digital natives." Not because of the connotations of the word native, but simply because most teens don't know how a computer functions. Outside of messaging, social media, and youtube, teens don't understand the inner workings of a computer that the image of a "digital native" conjures in my head. I don't mean to sound negative about the youth and technology, I just don't feel we're at the point yet to consider them accomplished.
Consider that the PARCC is a computer based test. I have already used three class periods guiding my classes through the mock test. It's pretty rudimentary as far as features go. For these students to be considered fluent in the technology, I would have expected them to pick it up by the second run-through (especially since they took the test last year).
I enjoyed the walk down memory lane that Ito provided in the form of the edutainment games I remember playing in grade school (61). Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego were nice diversions from the rigorous work set forth by our third grade overseers. I was vaguely aware at the time that they were educational, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you why. It's fairly obvious now and I admire how informative they were while being so fun at the same time. The enjoyment I received from moving up from Gumshoe in Carmen Sandiego was the same feeling I would get from unlocking an achievement on Xbox 20 years later.
T-Mobile's Sidekick also brings back memories because that was the device of choice during my first few years of teaching. The sound of the screen rotating up so that students could text in class was unmistakeable. It was also so cumbersome to use with a tiny screen; it's quite amazing it took off the way it did. The students thought it was so great. They couldn't imagine phones getting any better.
I hope that someday it levels out and the technology doesn't act as a distraction for a majority of the students. After introducing sonnets today, I made the comment that Shakespeare was able to write them all without the Internet. With all the resources available to the them, I would hope they could at least attempt one. Here's hoping.
boyd points out that "adults scapegoat technology" (44), but who is giving the teenagers access to the technology? The kids are not the ones who are purchasing iPads or smart phones for themselves, and they aren't going to Verizon and opening up a line for themselves with unlimited text and data. A lack of moderation has led many of the students in my school to believe constant use of technology is acceptable. Students will come to school with their phones and chargers, but without a pen or pencil. Priorities.
I, much like the authors, dislike the idea of referring to teens as "digital natives." Not because of the connotations of the word native, but simply because most teens don't know how a computer functions. Outside of messaging, social media, and youtube, teens don't understand the inner workings of a computer that the image of a "digital native" conjures in my head. I don't mean to sound negative about the youth and technology, I just don't feel we're at the point yet to consider them accomplished.
Consider that the PARCC is a computer based test. I have already used three class periods guiding my classes through the mock test. It's pretty rudimentary as far as features go. For these students to be considered fluent in the technology, I would have expected them to pick it up by the second run-through (especially since they took the test last year).
I enjoyed the walk down memory lane that Ito provided in the form of the edutainment games I remember playing in grade school (61). Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego were nice diversions from the rigorous work set forth by our third grade overseers. I was vaguely aware at the time that they were educational, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you why. It's fairly obvious now and I admire how informative they were while being so fun at the same time. The enjoyment I received from moving up from Gumshoe in Carmen Sandiego was the same feeling I would get from unlocking an achievement on Xbox 20 years later.
T-Mobile's Sidekick also brings back memories because that was the device of choice during my first few years of teaching. The sound of the screen rotating up so that students could text in class was unmistakeable. It was also so cumbersome to use with a tiny screen; it's quite amazing it took off the way it did. The students thought it was so great. They couldn't imagine phones getting any better.
I hope that someday it levels out and the technology doesn't act as a distraction for a majority of the students. After introducing sonnets today, I made the comment that Shakespeare was able to write them all without the Internet. With all the resources available to the them, I would hope they could at least attempt one. Here's hoping.
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