Why would you want your classroom to function in this way?
As noted throughout blog #3, my dream classroom would have a class set of iPads, some general computer use, an overhead projector, and possibly a SMART Board. As we are moving through the 21st century, it is important for students to use a wide range of technology, mixed in with other non-technology times throughout the day. We frequently talk in our Media and Digital Literacy 4000 class about why it is so important for all people to be media literate in today’s world. Media Smarts discusses the importance of media education, which is defined as “the process through which individuals become media literate- able to critically understand the nature, techniques and impacts of media messages and productions” (MediaSmarts, 2015). In order for students to become media literate, they must be able to have exposure to a variety of media forms. By having iPads, computers, overhead projectors, and SMART Boards available in classrooms, teachers are able to foster this media education in a very positive way for their students.
A video produced by members of the research team at Project New Media Literacies outlines the vast advantages to using technology within the classroom. Such advantages include improvements in judgment, negotiation, appropriation, play, simulation, collective intelligence, performance, distributed cognition, visualization, and multitasking. They describe play as being “the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving” (Project New Media Literacies, 2015). Many people see play as “goofing around” or just “keeping busy”, but this team of researchers see it is a form of problem-solving that can help students experiment and, most importantly, make sense of their surroundings. It is important to note, however, that teachers must be aware of the right amount of technology to be using throughout the school days and to be monitoring that technology use as well. As noted in blog #3, students must first be educated on how to use technology in appropriate and beneficial ways, and be aware of the consequences if the rules and guidelines are not followed.
The Project New Media Literacies research group also stresses on their website that having students being part of a participatory culture is of the most importance. “We are living through a moment of media change, during which more and more, seemingly “average” people are becoming authors and publishing their work to wide, appreciative audiences. They are creating videos and circulating them on YouTube. They are writing fan fiction and exchanging it on the web. They are sampling and remixing music. They are writing blogs or recording their experiences in LiveJournal. And young people–the students in your class, sometimes even the students who are sitting in the back of your class and not saying anything–are at the cutting edge of this shift towards a more participatory culture” (Project New Media Literacies, 2015). By schools having these resources available to their students, the students are better able to become creators and makers of things that they may not have otherwise been able to create.
MediaSmarts. (2015). Media Literacy Fundamentals. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/media-literacy-fundamentals
Project New Media Literacies. (2015). Retrieved February 1, 2015, from https://www.newmedialiteracies.org/
As noted throughout blog #3, my dream classroom would have a class set of iPads, some general computer use, an overhead projector, and possibly a SMART Board. As we are moving through the 21st century, it is important for students to use a wide range of technology, mixed in with other non-technology times throughout the day. We frequently talk in our Media and Digital Literacy 4000 class about why it is so important for all people to be media literate in today’s world. Media Smarts discusses the importance of media education, which is defined as “the process through which individuals become media literate- able to critically understand the nature, techniques and impacts of media messages and productions” (MediaSmarts, 2015). In order for students to become media literate, they must be able to have exposure to a variety of media forms. By having iPads, computers, overhead projectors, and SMART Boards available in classrooms, teachers are able to foster this media education in a very positive way for their students.
A video produced by members of the research team at Project New Media Literacies outlines the vast advantages to using technology within the classroom. Such advantages include improvements in judgment, negotiation, appropriation, play, simulation, collective intelligence, performance, distributed cognition, visualization, and multitasking. They describe play as being “the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving” (Project New Media Literacies, 2015). Many people see play as “goofing around” or just “keeping busy”, but this team of researchers see it is a form of problem-solving that can help students experiment and, most importantly, make sense of their surroundings. It is important to note, however, that teachers must be aware of the right amount of technology to be using throughout the school days and to be monitoring that technology use as well. As noted in blog #3, students must first be educated on how to use technology in appropriate and beneficial ways, and be aware of the consequences if the rules and guidelines are not followed.
The Project New Media Literacies research group also stresses on their website that having students being part of a participatory culture is of the most importance. “We are living through a moment of media change, during which more and more, seemingly “average” people are becoming authors and publishing their work to wide, appreciative audiences. They are creating videos and circulating them on YouTube. They are writing fan fiction and exchanging it on the web. They are sampling and remixing music. They are writing blogs or recording their experiences in LiveJournal. And young people–the students in your class, sometimes even the students who are sitting in the back of your class and not saying anything–are at the cutting edge of this shift towards a more participatory culture” (Project New Media Literacies, 2015). By schools having these resources available to their students, the students are better able to become creators and makers of things that they may not have otherwise been able to create.
MediaSmarts. (2015). Media Literacy Fundamentals. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/media-literacy-fundamentals
Project New Media Literacies. (2015). Retrieved February 1, 2015, from https://www.newmedialiteracies.org/