Okay so here in ENGL 516 we have been going back and forth between this idea all semester of what technology is doing to our culture, if it is a bad thing, are people spending way too much time with technology, and so on. But one thing we are forgeting is that people control the technology and so therefore it is not technologies fault if it is being abused. We make choices about what we do with technology, not the other way around. I mean we can allow it to control us—but that is the key here–we ALLOW it. We have choices here about our use of technology here. But even more so as educators it is OUR job to teach others about the technology we use everyday. I mean we cant just put a cell phone in the hands of a kid and say “here use this” without any instructions at all, they are going to use the way the person next to them does or what they have seen in the media and that is our fault. We owe it to them to show them how to be responsible with the technology if we wan the to use it effectively. And what that means is WE have to become educated about this same technology. We cannnot bury our heads in the sand and say it is someone else’s job to do this…..IT IS OUR JOB! Yes I feel stronly about this idea. We owe it to them. When we want them to recycle we show them, when we want them to learn to do anything we show them and how to best use technology we need to show them. We need to stop assuming that because it is all around them they know how to use it.
March 25, 2010
RESEARCH TOPIC: Technology, Jourmalism and the classroom
What I am seeing in the research I have done is the idea that Journalists need to be up to date on all the new technology that is out there, but the practices in the classroom (those getting a degree) dont match up with the expectations. So what I am looking at is the idea of how can the classroom better prepare journalism students for a career in the field by using all the technology or why dont programs use the technology that we are taking about here in class to better prepare journalism students for theri future career. One interesting thing I did find in my reading so far is that a big number of students who get degrees in journalism dont plan on being journalists, which I found to be odd. But the reason they gave was they wanted the skills and tools that were offered in that program to use in a field they might go into in the future. Some were going into Public Relations (some what realted) or Communications of some sort, or some other area, but felt that a degree in Journalism would benefit them. What many students wanted more of were classes in the use of the technology that were being used in the field by journalists currently. There seems to be a communication breakdown between what is expected of journalists in the field and what is being taught in the classroom. This is creating an issue because practical application is so important and if students want to be hired when they are done with school they need to tools for the job. There are some schools who are creating programs that incorporate technology but they are few and far between as well as they seem to be getting flack from the administration to make the classess still words in a row type of classes. What is essential is that those who are teaching listen to those that are hiring. If you want to work in a bank you need to know how to add, but also need people skills, how to write, etc. What to be a journalist you need to know how write but also how to use the technology to reach your audience. Twitter, SNS, hand camera, the web, blogging, vlogging, podcasting, and anything I have missed. Make it revlent.
FB and the high school teacher
So I have a FB page and so does my sister who teaches high school. I didnt get mine until I was already teaching college so I didnt run into this issue. On day I went to post something on her page about buying cookies from my sons fundraiser and I noticed there was nothing on her page. I was taken aback by that and asked her about it. Her responce was that she deleated everything from her wall. I asked her why and all she said was she just did. I dont know if she has any students on her friends list (I know I do) but I wonder if it has anything to do with the article we read about teachers and the issues surrounding being on FB. I dont know because I didnt get that from her but it now makes me wonder. I know that I dont post anything that I would care if my students read, nothing really personal and all that and she never had anything that could be considered an issue. However, I am just wondering how much of being a high school teacher played in her deleating what her other friends had posted. I know my other sister (we are not FB friends now, long story) who now teaches elementary school took a lot off her page when she was looking for a job. Fb is a great tool but again we do have to be careful what we post, it is out there for the world to see.
Titter and Tweeting
After watching the video of the teacher who has her students tweet in class I think its a really cool idea. I dont know how it could be used in a writing class, but in a lit class it would be really a great tool. What was so good about it was that she was showing what people were tweeting as the class was going so that people could see in the class. I have found that so many students do want to raise their hand and contribute but are willing to do this and so they are being active in the class while doing something they like to do. I keep saying this but if we dont teach them how to use all this technology to their advantage it will be used in ways that we dont want them to use it. I have way too many students who think what is on the web is for them to use and if we dont show them it is not they will use it that way. This is the same thing that Twitter needs to be used for. I dont think that telling use what someone had for breakfast is essential but the sports scores or what some politican is doing is goood.
Convergence Culture
After reading Henry Jenkins book Convergence Culture I can see much more clearly why reality TV is such a big deal. I am not talking about all the shows that are out there but shows that have big followings like American Idol and Survivor. They do more than just allow people to watch someone sing well or win a challenge. But they are about allowing the audience to interact with the media they are viewing in very different ways then we have had in the past, or is it in ways that we did in the past? What he discusses is the idea that the viewing public does not just want to watch but be active participants in the media in their lives. He uses the term “participaritory” culture. We want to be able to pick the next Idol, or be in the know as to who will win Survivor, or have cross over genres that link our favorite movie with a vidoe game, comic, fan fiction and so forth like the Matirx and Harry Potter series does. He also mentions how the fans of Star Wars, who not only love the films want to also emulate George Lucas as well. The whole idea is that as a nation we have all this technology at our finger tips, old and new, and so we want to be able to use them for our own purpose and in ways we need to use them to feel connected to our shows, films, books and so forth. Harry Potter fans want to be able to write about stories that have Harry, Ron and Hermine doing things they dont do in the books. This is a good thing becasue it means people care about what they are reading and doing, they are connected. One way he mentions that people are trying to become more conneted, that has been an on going issue, is with politics. During the last presidental election those in charge of the debates offered up to the public to post questions, at this time for the democratic canidates, to be chosen by the modirators and given to the canidates to answer. This seems like a great idea for the most part. There were some who didnt take it seriously and posted some bad questions, but there were a lot of those who did post worthwhile questions. The way it worked was that the modirates picked the questions, but they were all posted on youtube.com for all to see non the less. This was the first time that questions from the public have been used in this way and while it didnt have the complete desired impact that was desired it is a step in the direction that the public would like to see. We as a people, as Jenkins points out, want to be active in our viewing habits, reading, gaming, film making, and on the internet. We need to feel connected to others. There is the argument that as a society we are becoming more anit-social and the internet is to blame, but the truth is that it is allowing us to connect to others across the country and the world in ways that we have not before now. We might be on the computer more now than ever but that does not mean we are not interacting, just in ways that are different from generations before the internet. We want to be connected to the world, we are just doing it in ways that people have never imagined. I know there are some draws backs to all this, as with every new technology, but there are good and bad with all things we do. It is all about how we interact and with who.
