MVP 7
Passage: “Online is a place of words and pictures, signs and symbols that help to express the fragility of our existence and the brilliance of our human bonds. “
Kirkland, D. E. (2009). Researching and teaching in the digital dimension. Research in the Teaching of English, 44(1), 8-22.
Digital Classroom
I totally agree with this passage because now is a digital era. Online is a magic place. Sometimes, it connects people tightly, but sometimes it estranges people from each other. For example, everyone has cell phone in these days. The benefits of cell phone makes every one can be easily to find others in anytime everywhere; however, because of the popularity of cell phone, some people might only make a call instead of visiting each other, which reveals people’s “fragility of existence”.
To extend the technology in the classroom, this class, the Adolescent learners in Urban Context, gives us a wonderful example. Professor Doucet uses blog to engage everyone in class discussion, especially for those “silent students”. It aids to bridge the tight bonds between teachers and students; students and students. Also, I read an article about the idea of digital classroom. It shows that many students are not interested in English class at first. But since the teachers use blog to present the class ideas, they start to use technology (the blog) to accomplish worksheet, they take more time on practicing. Then more time they spend on the blog, more practices they do and more efficient and productive they are. Therefore, the teachers consider that bring the technology into class helps to keep kids focus on task and thus improve their understanding to the structure and function of English. Based on these examples, I believe the digital experiences help “silent students” be more actively in class participation, and leads teachers to know more about their students’ needs.
Kay, I think you are completely correct in all of your points; we live in a technologically advanced society where digital communication is preferred, and I think it does lead to an estrangement of ourselves from face-to-face social interactions. The benefits of this digital age, however, allow us to prepare ourselves for social interaction, especially those “silent students” you mention who are not so comfortable with face-to-face communication, and I think it is really noteworthy of you to exemplify such preparation via our own digital classroom with this course. Our act of blogging MVPs based on the weekly readings allows us to allow the material to marinate in our minds, while also allowing us to critically analyze it and prepare a basis for discussion for our next class. The blog space is a jumping off point for discourse, starting digitally, but continuing into the in-person classroom realm; the silent student is given the materials to control his or her voice and feel comfortable in navigating discourse, while also clearly participating in conversations (both online and in person). I also think the digital realm allows for more active involvement because it gives students the opportunity to actually enjoy education in that third space. Technology in the digital classroom opens up many doors for opportunity, allowing students agency to assess themselves or access learning material in ways that they want to learn. For example, they don’t just have to write an essay in various drafts and revisions to model the writing process, but rather they can use their cell phones, which they so covet, to be actively engaged in filming a 1-minute long video (pertaining to whatever they may be learning) to model the writing process and simultaneously produce a product that they are proud of.