Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Pay attention!
The title is a hyperlink to a video I came across on Teachertube. It's long, but interesting. It is a good argument for using technolgy to engage our learners. I do wonder about funding for wider technology use in the classroom. We'll just have to wait and see.
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re: the video, rb@u
ReplyDeleteru serious!? the 3 r's? im rme rotflmao. c'mon rtfm!
(just having some fun)
HI Daner,
ReplyDeletethanks for the info. I did pay attention.
I think I know what you're saying (being new to this tech stuff- I can't be 100%). I do get the gist. However, I never said that the texts should be used as a writing assignment, only as a tool to gather data to be used in some other context. I think as limited users of this medium we still want to use them in conventional ways. We want our students to think outside of the box, but we're still in it.
ReplyDeletei'm not really sure i know what i'm saying most of the time. but, i have had 'discussions' with colleagues (i.e. teachers) about the impact of text language, written text language, on learning. is spelling that important if the message and meaning comes across? spelling has been changing forever. webster, of dictionary fame, is an interesting character in american history and was a huge advocate of language, spelling included, as a work in progress.
ReplyDeletehow else would he sell more books and make a living?
Texting is taking the (depending on your point of view) unnecessary elements of our very confusing language and whittling it away to basic understandable characters. It's almost like turning it into German- taking away all those silly spaces and unattached adjectives and giving your the bare bones.
ReplyDeleteHonestly though I do feel that we should look at the underlying facets of what the students are trying to say. I do think that there has to be rules, but if we don't accept things as a work in progress, will students stop trying to give us the simplest form and not the juicy details?
Again, I am not suggesting that we start using texting language as the basis for our writing assignments. It's a tool, but all you need to do is look up a word in an etymology dictionary to understand that all language is fluid, changing and moveable.
couldn't we almost consider txtg another language or dialect?
ReplyDeletejust looking back over the brief history of the usa can show us how drastically one language can change. try reading through some colonial primary source documents. the structure of the language and the style of penmanship can almost seem foreign!
i wonder what the common folk thought of the telephone when it was first introduced.
tv introduced to the radio world
we humans seem to be conflicted. we struggle to change our means and style of communicating and at the same time we fight the changes.
perhaps teachers have always been caught in the conflict between what "should" or "must" be taught and what students find relevant.
our world has changed enormously in the last half century.
we can travel from london to boston in 8 hours. in colonial times, travelers knew that it would take a minimum of 26 days.
colonial folks did not need a very high level of formal education to make a life for themselves.
people who graduated from high school in the 40s & 50s knew they would be able to find a job and support themselves and a family
can you even get an interview w/o a degree these days?
what we teach and how we teach it should (must) match the needs and demands of the world that awaits our students
do you find yourself going offsite to check your facts every now and then? i do. like right now, i feel like i need to watch that video again to see how far afield we've gone here. (although this is 1dRfL)
ReplyDeletebut, i'm also feeling a little exhausted from working on this new trick. (see V. middle passage, paragraph 2)
of course that's from africa. depending upon your vessel, the boston-london trip could vary greatly according to the experts.