Readings:

Barr, Robert B., and John Tagg. "From Teaching to Learning - A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education." Change Dec. 1995: 13-25. Www.ius.edu. Web. 1 Sept. 2014.

This reading caused a huge fight between myself and my husband.  :)  I shared the article with him because I was interested in his thoughts (his teaching-style is definitely that of a traditional lecturer).  A fierce debate ensued and now I'm less interested in discussing this reading.  But I will.  I like the idea of measuring student learning, rather than time logged by students and teachers.  That said, standardized testing in order to measure student outcomes has its limitations and often has the effect of encouraging teachers to teach to a test and students to study only what is relevant to that test.  The article almost suggests some "common core" type of benchmark and the college level.

I was surprised to discover that the article that is entitled, "From Teaching to Learning -A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education"was originally published in 1995.  This is, of course, early in the development of technology and the internet as we know it today.  It seems like the goals of this article could be more easily accomplished given today's technological tools, and yet, the paradigm has not shifted for many, if not most, professors and classrooms (apparently my husband included).

This reading reminds me of Dr Michael Wesch’s work from several years ago. He is a cultural anthropologist and Digital Ethnographer from Kansas State University.  Here is a short youtube video that makes you think about students and technology:

Jenkins, Henry. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009. Www.macfound.org. Web. 1 Sept. 2014.

I was intrigued by the idea of "Affinity Spaces" in this article (9).  This idea that communities learn from each other while pursuing a common goal is interesting.  I'm vaguely familiar with the idea of fan fiction, but it had never occurred to me that readers are building a community as well as improving each other's writing through a collaborative editorial process.

I was also interested in the discussion that the negative effects of screen time on children are overemphasized without any consideration of the potential benefits.  I am a parent of 9-year-old and 4-year-old girls and I have always limited their "screen time."  Jenkins would have me reconsider the learning that could be taking place during their screen time (11).

During our class discussion, I had concerns about student access.  I now have a term for what I was thinking: it is what Jenkins calls the "participation gap." [Note to self: page 14]  The "Transparency Problem" discussion outlines the difficulty in reading a game or technology as a "text."  Admittedly, this is difficult for me even as an adult because I'm not a "gamer" and still struggle to legitimize games as texts.  The "Transparency Problem," I think, is not just a problem with young people, but also with adults.  There seem to be a great number of adults who still trust whatever they read on the internet, and who have not learned to distinguish between blogs and journal articles.  Indeed, someone will tell you that they "have done the research" as a reference to something found in a googled wiki instead of in some peer-reviewed resource.

"The Ethics Challenge" is the most interesting concept to me.  I can't help but wonder how a technology and how students taking a digital course, using Scalar for example, redefines or undermines "social skills."  I completely agree that digital culture is a social one.  Facebook, Skype, and match.com are just a few examples of ways that technology encourages relationship building; but I do wonder if face-to-face courtesies will be eliminated or at least adjusted over time?  If Jenkins is correct about the prevalence of "participatory cultures" and teenagers, what are the socio-behavioral implications?  It seems like this relates to Jenkins's "The Ethics Challenge."  For example, folks seem to be comfortable posting inflammatory comments on a news article or on a friend's Facebook page; are they learning that this is unacceptable?  It shocks me that there are consultants to help folks "professionalize" their personal Facebook page?  Isn't it obvious that it is a bad idea to post photos of yourself getting drunk and acting foolish when your employer can access it?!  [Note to self: page 32]  

One of the suggestions in this article (to help engage students used to handling multiple screens) is to have a teaching assistant blogging in real-time during a class so that students are encouraged to listen to the lecturer and also engage in simultaneously enhancing information (36).  Any ODU Lit student who has taken a class with Megan Mize and accessed her google doc notes has already had the benefit of such assistance! [Shout out to Megan Mize: whoop whoop!]

Here is another short youtube video by Dr Michael Wesch that makes you think about "participatory cultures":

Skim Websites:

I could not get the Intel Education link to work?

ACSD 21st Century Skills: Here I discovered the term "Screenagers," which I find fantastic!  It makes me think of the following image...

Image from:  http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/igeneration-iphone-typing-3g-zaw2.png