The question that the
readings were trying to answer this week was how can teachers support critical
approaches to literacy that engage in social justice work with texts. Because many
of us will eventually become teachers in the Chicago Public Schools or other
urban settings, understanding how to work social justice into our teaching is exceptionally
important. Chicago is an area where there is an uneven distribution of wealth
and there can be a drastic change in culture from one neighborhood to another.
It is extremely important for us as teachers to expose our students to the idea
of social justice and to expose them to other cultures and people in Chicago and
around the world.
One way to bring social justice and different cultures into
the classroom is through the use of critical digital literacies. The Avila and
Padya article explains the benefits of this strategy well. From other readings
in this class and others, I have learned that one of the most important things
a teach must do is to make sure students are engaged. In my opinion, the use of
technology is a great way to do this. As Avila and Padya theorized, “critical
digital literacies have the potential to reach learners who might be otherwise
reluctant to engage in print based critical literacies work (Avila 3).” If we
can engage students through digital means, then I believe they should be implemented.
Using technology also can expose
students to a multitude of culture much easier than traditional print texts
can. At the click of a mouse, students can be exposed to culture and social
justice issues in their own neighborhoods and all around the world. Vila and
Padya also stated that “critical digital literacies provide opportunities for
students to critique the cultural worlds they inhabit (Gainer, 2010) and to
expand their understanding of culture (Avila 3).” In this current political
climate, I think it is more important than ever for students to learn about the
many different culture of the Chicago area.
The use of critical digital literacies also allows students
from many different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds to interact with one
another. This is one thing I do not think that print literacies are as capable
of. They allow the “privileged” to “interact alongside the less privileged
(Avila 5)” exposing them to the social economic injustices that exist in our
culture. Avila and Padya also quoted Dyson 2010 stating “classrooms too should
be defined by such participatory culture where there is not a linguistically proper
“us” and an improper “them” to be fixed. Rather, there is a “we” that embodies
distinctive linguistic and social cultural histories that intersect to open a
classroom world to the larger society (Avila 4). I really like the way this was put and I think
this is very important in order to prepare students for their next steps.
Overall I think the use of critical digital literacies is a
great way for teachers to expose students to many different cultures around Chicago
and the entire world. Through the use of blogs, I pads and other technology
devices teachers are able to show students a cultural world that was not
available as easily a decade ago.
The authors began the article describing the mentioning of technology and digital literacies and how it contributed more than ever to travel farther and faster with anyone around the world at any time therefore this new era of learning has “changed who is considered literate and what counts as text” because as educators it is important to empower student to learn what it means to study formal and informal environments. This would help them to learn that they are capable to learn what is critical and crucial when learning as the authors described “literacy travelers.” I don’t have teaching experience, but when I was doing my school observation hours I notice something very interesting in class. The students were motivated to read their books and practice citation, but when the teacher order the students to take out their electronical lab tabs, the students reacted with joy about this activity, it seems that they were waiting for that specific moment. For example, the authors describe the effect of a “Norwegian teacher’s blogging on her student’s development of critical digital literacies… the students felt an increased sense of community, were strongly motivated… and saw blogging in class as a serious and meaningful technology of thought.” When reading this paragraph, it describes exactly what I thought about the student’s that I was observing. I total agree with you John,digital literacies is the modern way of teaching students how read and write in this new era of technology but at the same time connect them to different cultures around the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that teachers need to understand social justice and know how to integrate different cultures in their classrooms. Integration of different cultures would really engage and motivate diverse learners. It also would teach students tolerance and acceptance of others’ different cultures. The use of technology is one of the means that teachers would incorporate to achieve these objectives. We live in the information age where the use of technology has become part of our daily lives, so it is important for students to learn critical digital literacies in the classroom. I think the use of technology is one of the means that would really engage those students who feel culturally disconnected from the materials being taught, the teacher, and other students. These students would find digitals literacies as a way to establish the connection with other students and expand their understanding of different cultures.
ReplyDeleteHello John,
ReplyDeleteI greatly enjoyed your article and feel that you did an excellent job in analyzing the text. As you mentioned, i too believe these text have become more and more necessary in classrooms because we do live in a time where technolgy provides us with so much information at the press of a button. When i was growing up using technology sources was not desired because they may have been inaccurate, but today we rely more and more on technology to help us understand the world better. This being said, with a bigger and clearear access to the world i agree that it is important that we as teachers do teach students an understanding of social justice. With countries and communites being so inter-connected we need to guide students on how to look at these differences in cultures with a different kind of mindset than the one they are used too, especially with the kind of enviornmet we are currently experiencing (politically) today. By having them interact with sommething they already know so well, technology, we can get students more and more interestead to observe more than what they have been used to observing in their own culture and show them the kinds of cultures that they can be be a part of themselves.
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you articulate the importance of incorporating social justice into teaching. Like you said, considering many of us will be in CPS or other urban schools, it is necessary to understand what is happening in our communities.
Critical digital literacies are a great way to open the door to understanding social justice issues for students. I agree, that by using this means of instruction, kids will be more engaged. Without engagement, students would never take interest in any of the presented issues, so maintaining this is crucial.
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you articulate the importance of incorporating social justice into teaching. Like you said, considering many of us will be in CPS or other urban schools, it is necessary to understand what is happening in our communities.
Critical digital literacies are a great way to open the door to understanding social justice issues for students. I agree, that by using this means of instruction, kids will be more engaged. Without engagement, students would never take interest in any of the presented issues, so maintaining this is crucial.
John:
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog and you have brought up many important issues. Bringing the world to our students is certainly important, and students need to be made aware of this. Often, students have access to technology in one form or another, but in my observations, they limit themselves in social media to what is going on in the school and their community and hardly ever expand to see what is beyond that. Just as important, there seems to be a misuse on the part of many students to enflame or create drama that carries over into the classroom or the hallways. While access to digital media is ripe with many benefits, there is also the potential of many abuses and petty behavior. How we we as educators help students avoid such abuses and steer them towards using digital media in a more positive manner that can expand their horizons and knowledge of a world beyond their school and community?
Another thing we have to consider is that not all students have access to cellphone, iPads or tablets, a computer, or, if they do, access to internet when they need it. How do we expand digital literacy into our classroom when this is an issue. In addition, some underfunded schools (like mine) do not have the luxury of providing iPads to every student, and what few computer labs we have are taken up by English or math classes for standardized testing and related activities. Thanks to the inequity of funding in our education system and some of our students socioeconomic background, what can we do? Unless this changes, we will never be able to bring digital literacy into our classrooms the way we would like to, and I feel (once again) our students will be at a loss.
Chris,
DeleteThanks for the comment. I definitely agree that when we introduce social media or technology into the classroom there is a chance it can have a negative effect on students through misuse. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of experience do this but would like to hear any suggestions you have to limit the negative outcomes.
Also you bring up a good point that teachers can not necessarily assume that there school will provide them with i pads, computers, etc for every student. However I think that is up to the teacher to determine what resources they have available to them and create ways to incorporate digital literacy with the resources they do have.
As teachers we have the opportunity to shape the world through our students. Thus, I definitely agree with you and believe that incorporating social justice into our teaching is important. A great way to bring social justice into our classroom is by using critical digital literacies skills. This is due to the fact that students can use technology to easily obtain information about social issues that might affect them directly or indirectly. By doing so, they can not only make their own meaning about these issues, but they can also develop an understanding of their own identity in the world. However, students should also realize that understanding the issues is not enough. Students need the confidence to communicate with others about their thoughts in order to hear other perspectives and create solutions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post, John. Your attention to the importance of CDL's capacity to make knowledge not only accessible to students, but also interactive and generative is astute. I agree that technology enables a degree of cultural awareness and dialogue around salient issues in one's world that is not possible within the (often) unidirectional mode of print texts. Avila and Pandya reference the presence of Foucauldian and Marxist influences on CDL, and I think the latter is particularly useful for conceptualizing how it enables Social Justice Pedagogy, as defined by Moje. In essence, CDL allows students and teachers both to obtain "means" of production of knowledge, rather than being mere consumers of knowledge. Whether one subscribes to the cognitive, epistemological, or linguistic bend of Social Justice Pedagogy that Moje describes, he or she is espousing this idea that students should be able to understand and reproduce the mechanism through which knowledge is created. Of course, technology goes a long way to closing the gap between the novice and the expert; everyone is able to access more documents and "speak" in more spaces through the use of blogs and social media. It affords a space where students can practice their disciplinary skills, which I think is indispensable to the process of acquiring a new "literacy."
ReplyDeletePBS uses the tag "WTTW," in other words, "window to the world" and now the signature "www." of internet URLs seems like it could fit the same meaning. Thanks for highlighting the fact that with the click of a mouse, students can see whole new cultural perspectives much more readily and quicker than ever before. That is seemingly the most powerful aspect of CDLs.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that, as you mention, simply by expanding our use of critical digital literacies, students are able to engage in a global classroom. However, I do agree with Christopher when he expresses his concerns about the students in underfunded schools who do not have access to the technology that is quickly becoming available to all the students in other schools. So instead of a global classroom where there is no "us" and "them," but instead a "we," the "we" in this case would only consist of students in more affluent schools that can afford to supply their students with ipads and laptops. And although there would still be a certain amount of sharing and understanding of different cultures and perspectives, there would still be a whole class of students left on the wayside.
ReplyDeleteI think that bringing technology to the classroom in order to help students is great. However, to those students who live in poverty stricken areas or schools who do not have the funds lag behind everyone else. Its almost as if with the introduction of technology we are leaving students exponentially farther away from the rest of the students with easy access to information. There are always bigger underlying issues whenever an attempt is made to incorporate something new to teaching. It seems like there will always be an underlying problem that keeps a certain group of students from achieving in school. Unless problems like inequity are addressed students will always be at a disadvantage when compared to their more affluent counterparts.
ReplyDeleteHey John,
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology allows us the extraordinary ability to connect students of different social, cultural, and economic backgrounds and we should use that to the best of our ability as teachers. I believe part of our job is to bring new, vastly different ideas to the classrooms that will challenge their current ideals and make them question what and why they are learning in school. Technology can be one of our greatest assets as teacher if we can invite our students to join a multicultral discussion.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. I too agree that technology offers a freedom of discovery for students across cultures and social backgrounds. I think it is a crucial tool to use in the classroom. I often times incorporate technology to support language or explore historical concepts. Even though my students are fairly young, they still explore issues of social justice especially topics in American history.