Chapter 1: Media
Ecologies in Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out
1. What findings in
the Media Ecologies: Quantitative Perspectives surprised you the most? How does
the finding change the way you think about young people, technology and
learning?
The most surprising quantitative
perspective that I read: According to
Ito (2010) “ Yet while new media have increased in popularity, they have not,
according to the Kaiser report, displaced other types of media, nor have they
led to an increase in the overall amount of time teens spend with media.”(p.
32-33) This really shocks me because if
you listen to testimony from teachers and parents you often hear: “My kid no
longer picks up a book or magazine”, “My students never want to participate in
recess”, “My kids spend all their time on the internet”. I suppose that I will keep this data
handy! Also this statement surprises me
as well: “Rather those who engaged in high
amounts of media reported spending more time on average with family,
hobbies, and physical activity (Rideout, Roberts, and Foehr 2005). So, is this suggesting that participating in
new media activities doesn’t lead to isolation and poor socialization skills?
2. What are the
benefits to a genre-based approach to understanding
youth engagement with digital media over a categorical-based approach? The genre based approach views social and
cultural categories as overlapping with media engagement and emphasizes modes
of participation, not categories of individuals. I believe that if we truly want to understand
“youth engagement with digital media” then we have to look at how digital media
is used in specific contexts and situations, and allowing for the possibilities
of change in relation to using “new” forms of media. I view the categorical approach as,
distinctly choosing a boundary, and trying to match users of digital media to
specific categories. The
categorical-based approach doesn’t seem to lend itself to gathering information
and viewing the total picture.
3. What aspects of
Michelle's (Box 1.2) computer use at home have implications for computer use at
school? Michelle’s computer use at home is heavily
monitored, and is limited to specific uses. But, it seems as if Michelle has
learned how to use digital media and help her mother too. So, possibly in school, it can be very
frustrating for Michelle if she is expected to follow a strict teacher driven
assignment. I believe that Michelle
needs choice and to use her modes of learning in completing projects.
4. As you read about
Clarissa (Box 1.3) consider the affordances of digital technologies that help Clarissa shape her identity and the role they
play in literacy engagement. Do you think there are positive implications
for these affordances in school-based literacy instruction? If so, what are
they. If not, what are your concerns? Yes, I feel that such affordances of digital technologies can
play a valuable role in school-based literacy instruction. How often do we
allow students to make new friends outside of their school network, to be
creative, play and be respected for their individual talents. I’ve often said, “ I wish that we would stop
looking at standardized test scores, and grades to categorize our
students. For example, maybe a student
doesn’t score the highest in the class on a test, but could be one of the best
decorators/designers. We don’t give
students enough opportunities to express these talents.
5. In the section
titled Messing Around we read about the sophisticated and
creative technology practices young people are developing on their own outside
of school. Do you think it is important for teachers to know about and
understand these practices? Why?
I find the connection between making predictions in text, and looking around
online fascinating. This is a new
concept for me to think about. Messing
around can actually lead students to garnering a great deal of information
without setting a specific goal.
Skimming, scanning, and synthesizing
information leads to students taking ownership of learning and not
necessarily having prior knowledge of a topic.
Experimenting and play allows students to become real experts with new
media and teach others. I feel that it
is extremely important to understand the skills and knowledge students bring
into the classroom. If we don’t
understand how students are already
using digital media, how can we effectively make assignments to enhance these
skills? I think educators, like parents are quick to make judgements when it
comes to students/kids “messing around” and regarding it as a time waster and
not staying on task. But, in defense of
educators and parents, we need educated and provided with the data and
strategies to make us feel comfortable.
6. Should schools
support students' in "geeking out"? What are the educational and
ethical implications of "geeking out"? The educational implications seem to be correlated to
differentiated instruction. Interest-driven projects motivate students,
and allows the connection of experts on a particular topic. The ethical implications causes me to pause
for thought. I would not feel
comfortable in a school setting allowing students to freely voice the need to
look for illegal ways of meeting digital media wants/needs during the school
day.
7. The young people
studied for this book lived in urban settings in California or New York City.
Do you think young people in West Virginia behave in similar ways and
develop the same kinds of digital literacies? Provide examples from your
own experiences with young people in West Virginia. First, I will make comparisons of my own son, now 17 yrs. old, then show how 5th grade students of
WV are very much like the youth in urban settings. My
son fits hanging out, messing around and geeking out in some ways. We live in a rural area without neighbors his
age. His form of hanging out is through
texting and tweeting. The landline is
not used to make arrangements for golf outings, movies, dinner, or just hanging
out. Of course, before he received his
license, it was just texting for a feeling of proximity. Because of our rural setting, we must use
satellite service for our internet(no high speed here, don’t get me started J) so, he couldn’t connect for online xbox
gaming, but he could look up “cheats” on the internet for games, and post
scores in comparison to others. He
eventually wanted the connection of competition online, so my husband taught
him to play chess. He played numerous
chess board games with my husband, read several books and watched online video
instructions. He quickly established an
online identity in the chess world, and welcomed the interest driven
games. Even without a high speed
connection, he could play online chess and feel part of a social
community. As for 5th grade students, either
they have digital media access from home, visit the local library, go to a
friend’s house, or get as much as possible from school. Some students will open up and talk about the
games, etc… they participate in online, and others feel as if they can’t make
the connection with an adult. Therefore,
I do feel as if the youth of WV are experiencing “digital media” in very
similar situations as youth across America.
