The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy
What have we done with innocence? It disappeared with time, it never made much sense. What do Foo Fighters lyrics have to do with new media literacy? Nothing really, but the Monkey Wrench Conspiracy is a topic in Digital Native, Digital Immigrants.
From what I understand the Marc Prensky Digital Native, Digital Immigrants article is one of the seminal texts in the new media literacy in education movement. Prior to engaging with this text, I would often use the terms digital immigrant and digital native in my discussions of entering the media and instructional technology profession.
What Prensky does right is he takes to task the fuddy duddy old profs that dream of yesteryear and that old time literacy. Prensky argues for a new methodology, a new creativity and a new way to engage with information for students and instructors.
My issue with Prensky comes with his tone. Prensky complains that too many "digital immigrant" educators object to new media and interactive gaming in their classroom. Using the example of the Monkey Wrench Conspiracy and a number of other examples, Prensky concludes that educators are "dumb and lazy" if they don't see the benefits.
I am what Prensky defines as a Digital Native, "spend[ing] [my] formative years learning with Sesame Street." And I can tell you this for sure, Big Bird never once called Oscar the Grouch dumb or lazy for not changing his ways.
So maybe there is a connection to the Foo Fighters lyrics. The new media literacy movement is not all gum drops and lollipops. What have we done with innocence? My innocence.
Blogging???
Yes folks, I still have a blog!
Spent some time on vacation in Alaska, and my mind didn't really want to come back from the endless expanse of wilderness. But, sure as death and taxes, another school year begins and I will rejoin the edtech/library hive mind.
My latest efforts are in line with Henry Jenkins "New Media Literacy Syllabus". After scanning most of the readings for the course, my eye was caught on:
Antonio Lopez, "Circling the Cross: Bridging Native America, Education, and Digital Media" in Anna Everett (ed.), Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media (Cambridge: MIT Press/MacArthur Foundation, 2008). pp. 109-126.
Antonio's work with Native communities is fascinating, his substantive responses to pedagogical inquiry is equally fascinating. We have been in touch about resources to develop a community based project to introduce critical media literacy using new digital media tools on a reservation in MN.
The semester is young, yet I still fear I am being overly ambitious. I don't know if this project will ever get off the ground, but I will tell you that the research phase is starting off strong and I am excited about the connections I am making.
Look to my blog over the next few weeks as I will be dropping reflections along the path of my new media literacy journey.
Spent some time on vacation in Alaska, and my mind didn't really want to come back from the endless expanse of wilderness. But, sure as death and taxes, another school year begins and I will rejoin the edtech/library hive mind.
My latest efforts are in line with Henry Jenkins "New Media Literacy Syllabus". After scanning most of the readings for the course, my eye was caught on:
Antonio Lopez, "Circling the Cross: Bridging Native America, Education, and Digital Media" in Anna Everett (ed.), Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media (Cambridge: MIT Press/MacArthur Foundation, 2008). pp. 109-126.
Antonio's work with Native communities is fascinating, his substantive responses to pedagogical inquiry is equally fascinating. We have been in touch about resources to develop a community based project to introduce critical media literacy using new digital media tools on a reservation in MN.
The semester is young, yet I still fear I am being overly ambitious. I don't know if this project will ever get off the ground, but I will tell you that the research phase is starting off strong and I am excited about the connections I am making.
Look to my blog over the next few weeks as I will be dropping reflections along the path of my new media literacy journey.
The skills of which century?
A few days ago I followed a tweet to a post by Diane Ravitch about building 19th century skills. It was a provocation of the alleged unchecked exuberance for 21st century skills. Ravitch listed the 19th century skills as:
a teaching tool that places students as "not just as co-creators of a simulation, but as co-creators of the world itself, and the future is up to us." Wow.
One might think a quote like that would put my mind to rest aboard this 21st century soapbox, but I still have questions. How will this new vision of teaching and learning transfer into the K-12 world? Where will content go, and how will it be remembered? How will the access gap limit participation in this form of learning environment?
I wish I could come to some conclusion. I wish I had some kind of prophetic goggles that could paint a golden path for me. I move forward, knowing that the questions will continue.
The love of learning
The pursuit of knowledge
The ability to think for oneself (individualism)
The ability to work alone (initiative)
...
The next day I turn around and get prompted by Dean Shareski are we text snobs? This question screams "21st Century Skills! 21st Century Skills! 'one more'"! Dean describes the institutions that exist around the written word and suggests we are in the midst of a digital revolution.
I am battling some ideas in my head... Why must these 19th century skills and the 21st century skills be mutually exclusive? And, if they are mutually exclusive, or at least significantly different, who are the stakeholders in this revolution?
In times like these I look to Michael Wesch for inspiration. In his text, From Knowledgable to Knowledge-able: Learning in New Media Environments Wesch describes and presents:
a teaching tool that places students as "not just as co-creators of a simulation, but as co-creators of the world itself, and the future is up to us." Wow.
One might think a quote like that would put my mind to rest aboard this 21st century soapbox, but I still have questions. How will this new vision of teaching and learning transfer into the K-12 world? Where will content go, and how will it be remembered? How will the access gap limit participation in this form of learning environment?
I wish I could come to some conclusion. I wish I had some kind of prophetic goggles that could paint a golden path for me. I move forward, knowing that the questions will continue.
Five Recommended Readings
I begin training this fall as a school library media specialist. Before my formal education begins I would like to be informed on the current changes regarding information media and educational media in the K-12 setting.
So what readings would you recommend to an eager student hoping to become the best educator he can be. Any responses are greatly appreciated. (Am I starting a meme here, thanks to Alec Courous)
So what readings would you recommend to an eager student hoping to become the best educator he can be. Any responses are greatly appreciated. (Am I starting a meme here, thanks to Alec Courous)
The world before technology: an insane vision
Taking a summer school course and reading Digital Storytelling in the Classroom by Jason Ohler. It is a beautifully written book. Jason is an excellent storyteller and I look forward to the rest of the book.
In his first paragraph, Ohler describes how ridiculous our modern technologies would sound to people a mere 25 years ago. Here is a link to a different version of that same story from the perspective of a grade school girl 60 years ago (found here):
Being that I am planning an extensive travel vacation, I have spent some time thinking about what the planning process might have been like 25 years ago. I try to imagine what the world was like before we had cell phones, or turn by turn direction at the click of the button, or turn by turn directions sitting on our dashboard. I actually don't even want to think about all the extra hoops people had to jump through just to plan a trip to meet a friend in a different city. A few hours of planning has turned into a few keystrokes, a click of the mouse and an emergency phone call for a detour.
With respect to my experiences in education new media technologies have been a great experience for me. Since completing my student teaching I have spent a good chunk of time reflecting on my experiences online on my blog. I have also began building a personal learning network of educators on twitter. I have seen my reflections start a wave of interest from people all over the world. This kind of connectivity has the potential to drag teachers out of the water cooler and connect them with the ideas and potential to expand our social networks to places we never would have imagined.
I think students are hungry to tell their stories and they are primed for sharing them in the digital world
In his first paragraph, Ohler describes how ridiculous our modern technologies would sound to people a mere 25 years ago. Here is a link to a different version of that same story from the perspective of a grade school girl 60 years ago (found here):
Being that I am planning an extensive travel vacation, I have spent some time thinking about what the planning process might have been like 25 years ago. I try to imagine what the world was like before we had cell phones, or turn by turn direction at the click of the button, or turn by turn directions sitting on our dashboard. I actually don't even want to think about all the extra hoops people had to jump through just to plan a trip to meet a friend in a different city. A few hours of planning has turned into a few keystrokes, a click of the mouse and an emergency phone call for a detour.
With respect to my experiences in education new media technologies have been a great experience for me. Since completing my student teaching I have spent a good chunk of time reflecting on my experiences online on my blog. I have also began building a personal learning network of educators on twitter. I have seen my reflections start a wave of interest from people all over the world. This kind of connectivity has the potential to drag teachers out of the water cooler and connect them with the ideas and potential to expand our social networks to places we never would have imagined.
I think students are hungry to tell their stories and they are primed for sharing them in the digital world
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