Most importantly we feel that youth were able to creatively insert themselves and their interests into their media artwork. In the case of Brandy’s artwork, her personal style and the inspiration for the work reflected Brandy’s interest in cartoons and her personal connection to the Clubhouse mentor. Opportunities such as the ones presented in this paper, are particularly important for urban youth who are often seen as pushing new adaptations and transformations of media but are also perceived as standing on the sidelines of technology development and production.
Explanation:
I enlarged the font of the standout parts of this quote. Educators often are afraid to try anything such as this with their "special ed" students as they assume it will be too difficult. I know that I am guilty of not doing a particular technology assignment/creation with a particular group based off of their poor literacy skills. I think it is important to note that reading literacy and media literacy are two different things and it is possible for a child weak in one area, but strong in another. I know that I have had students that have a weakness in the classroom, but excel when it comes to creating a PowerPoint or doing a TechSteps lesson in Excel. It is important for teachers to realize and incorporate technological opportunities that can help students (possibly struggling students like Brandy) express themselves.
Additional Resource:
This article is possibly controversial as it makes the statement: "The bottom line? If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer as a child, you'll probably increase your chances of getting a job in the future. But you may not be nearly as literate or good at math as you might have been had you read more books or played more chess."
However it makes some points that I agree with (and some that I'm "iffy" on). I was looking for an article to examine how a child can have strengths in technology and weaknesses in core subject; I found this article instead(not exactly what I was looking for) and found it an interesting read I would share: Are Computers Really Bad for Kids?
Sarah -
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the sentiment behind the article. I often get on my soapbox about not ignoring basic communication skills in favor of technology. I would also reinforce your comments that some students can do well with technology enhanced coursework when they are deficit in core subjects. Just this weekend I had a conversation with an educator about technology creating a new type of learner. Teachers are now faced with auditory, visual, and technology learners and well as the various interactions between the three.
Interesting article! I do agree with what the article is trying to say about the connection between computer skills and the job market. I believe that having knowledge and skills of technology can make you a bigger asset to employers. Almost all jobs now require some kind of technology skills; whether you are working in an office or behind a cash register. Having those skills could help you if you are going up against another candidate who doesn't have them.
ReplyDeleteThis article raises an interesting question for your final project which will be a literature review of scholarly articles. I love the Huffington Post and it's progressive take on the world. Although the article you referred did cite a scholarly study, it was done by economists and not educational psychologist or experts in curriculum and instruction.
ReplyDeleteFor your literature review you should think about answering the question
What are the cognitive benefits of playing video games?