Jimmy – News article
A Response to the article How to teach kids “digital literacy”? Build a private social network playground for them. Published online at Forbes, October 13, 2011.
Introduction
When reading the article How to teach kids “digital literacy”? Build a private social network playground for them it is hard to ignore the point that “fluency in the use of social networks are necessary life skills” (Hill, 2011, para. 1). It is interesting that The School at Columbia University has acknowledged the ubiquitous presence of social media and is doing something about it. They have created a kind of trial genre for social media and subsequently are preparing students for life.
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| Bringing Education to Life. Retrieved from http://theschool.columbia.edu/about |
Creating a “Walled Garden”
This “walled garden” they have created provides students with an opportunity to not only become fluent in digital technologies, but to realise the detrimental effects using the technology can have (Hill, 2011, para. 2). By creating a game, The School at Colombia University has successfully engaged students in a way that is more inclined toward what 21st Century adolescents are interested in. Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison and Weigel (2006) state ordinary textbooks no longer engage students. By using games such as The Sims, real life consequences can be taught while moving through “a compelling world” (Jenkins et al, p.23). Lewis and Petrone (2010, p. 403) takes this further, stating that adolescents can connect better with characters in texts that they view as “real”. What better way for engaging adolescents than to use the students themselves as characters in a text?
Of course, this security blanket does not always work. The School at Colombia University are the first to admit this. However, they tell students “if you’re going to make a mistake, do it here” (Hill, 2011, para. 5). But without the help and guidance toward socially acceptable use of the Internet, students may have repercussions when they mature and enter the workforce. One way, as per the Google CEO Eric Schmidt, is to delete your digital account. The other, as used by the school and endorsed by parents, involves engaging pedagogy. Which would you decide?
Jimmy Cassidy
Reference List
Hill, K. (2011). How to teach kids “Digital Literacy”? Build a private social network playground for them. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/10/13/how-to-teach-kids-digital-literacy-build-a-private-social-network-playground-for-them/
Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Macarthur Foundation. Retrieved from: http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/
Lewis, M., & Petrone, R. (2010). “Although adolescence need not be violent…”: Preservice teachers’ connections between “adolescence” and literacy curriculum. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(5), 398-407. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.53.5.5
Response by Debbie.
ReplyDeleteThe ‘walled garden’ concept is one that I also discovered when I started thinking about innovative pedagogies. I agree that it is a safe way for students, particularly younger ones, to become familiar with social networking without the real life dangers associated with the open world of Facebook and the like. In my searching I discovered was Twiducate, which seems like only one of many options to create this safe experience for 21st century learners. This method of teaching digital literacy is one that provides genuine experiences for students.
I really like the idea that a student’s digital footprint can be erased so that they are able to enter adulthood with a ‘clean slate’, after all when we were growing up we didn’t need to live with our mistakes being recorded for the entire world to find and for the rest of our lives. We were able to make mistakes and only have those physically around us know about them. Now students that use these programs also have that opportunity, too. I especially like how The School at Columbia University chose to deal with the inappropriate posts by students. It was a great opportunity to teach ethical online behaviour in an authentic setting without permanent record of the interaction being out in the cyber world forever.
By Debbie.