It is an era when technology increasingly develop and cultural
increasingly participatory. So we need to bring digital literacies into our
classroom (Alvermann, 2010; Alvermann, Moon, & Hagood, 1999; Jenkins,
Purushotma, Weigel, Clinton, & Robison, 2009; Paris, 2010; Rance-Roney,
2010; Robin, 2008), which offer students more opportunity to learn knowledge
outside the classroom.
(Why digital literacy matters)
The question is how we can monitor the students’ learning procedure and
how we protect our students from bad things on the internet. Besides, engaging
with learners in digital activities result in a constant shifting of the
position of expect at the apex. It is true that traditional teachers in China, especially
those in primary and secondary education, give students less opportunity to
express their own ideas in order to emphasize teachers’ power. Under this kind
of guidance and education, some Chinese students just recite and repeat what
they have learned which leads to their ability viewing an issue critically
gradually weakening.
So how to maintain teachers' authority without sacrificing
students’ critical thinking ability? You know, teachers make the need to students in middle school or even high
school are easy to lose control.
As a educator, on the one hand, we have to develop students thinking in
critical way. “Critical digital literacies, then are those skills and practices
that lead to the creation of digital texts that interrogate the world; they
also allow and foster the interrogation of digital, multimedia texts.” (p.3) On
the other hand, we should keep pace with the time and be continuous to study in
order to make the content and method of teaching advance with time.
There are many digital media can be applied into teaching, including the
use of blogs (Nygard), iPod and mobile media (Garcia), videos (Lewis,
Doerr-Stevens, Dockter Tierney, & Scharber; Schmier) and digital
storytelling (Nixon; Salter; Smith & Hull). I think the blog what we are
constructing now is a good example. Every week, I can further understand the
required article be blog posts and responses.
Develop socially just subject-matter instruction, particularly in
secondary school settings. On the one hand, we have to provide
equitable learning opportunities. Equity is not a stable function whose
parameters can be decided a priori but is rather a function of what people
bring to an activity and the kinds of resources the activity can provide. That is
so say, we have realize students’ diversity, including their backgrounds,
skills and interests. It reminds me an educational
philosophy put forward by Confucius that “teaching students in accordance of
their(original text: 因材施教).” The following is the concept map of his educational philosophy draw
by myself.
In your blog post you ask, how teachers can maintain their authority while engaging students in critical literacy practices. To this I am going to ask you why you think teachers need to maintain their authority? Is this in the context of the Chinese model where the institutional structures of education will prevent implementation of pedagogical practices that may seem non-authoritarian or is this because teachers must maintain authority to educate? If it is the former, then the emphasis is on an appearance of authority rather than authority itself and if it is the latter then maybe we must examine our own 'funds of knowledge' and experiences and analyze the environments in which we learn best. Is learning best achieved under authoritarian settings or is it best achieved through experience? This may also push us to reflect upon the purposes of education. Why do we educate? Do different state structures educate for different purposes? What are those purposes that states want to achieve? Are they in the best interests of our students etc. etc.? I think perhaps an approach towards socially just pedagogy must engender a critical assessment of our own beliefs and practices.
ReplyDeleteHi. Why teachers have to maintain his or her authority? Because I found that students, especial adolescents, tend to lose control easily then cannot “come back to the class”. In this case, I think that a teacher without authority is unable to control the class.
DeleteI think a major part of classroom management is the engagement of students. Most adults have that discipline to respect others and follow directions because they have fully developed brain. I notice that when students are board, this is the time that they are more likely misbehave.
DeleteHave digital literacies in the classroom give students a choice to read about topics that they are interested in. If they are excited and engaged in their school work, then they will be less likely to act out.
I’m sorry but what does “students are board” mean? I cannot understand what the “board” means here even after looking up it in the dictionary.
DeleteI think he meant to type "bored" as in not interested and not "board." :)
Deleteoh,now I can understand.😂
DeleteHi Jiabo!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I totally agree with you that teachers bring digital literacies into the classroom could provide students with more opportunity to learn knowledge outside the classroom. Nowadays, there are many kinds of digital teaching methods we could use, and students spend significantly more time on technology than a decade ago. While it broadens the eyesight of the students, it is vitally important to monitor the learning content and protect the students from the inappropriate information of the Internet. Moreover, when it comes to the question, I think critical thinking is important, and if educators focus more on interacting with their students, it will better maintain teachers’ authority rather than sacrificing students’ critical thinking or even lose control of the students.
Yeah, interacting with students is a good way to attract their attention. So teachers have to engage students in the learning procedure.
DeleteMaintaining the authority of the teacher is important especially with the implementation of digital literacy. Despite their numerous positives, they do provide a potential drawback with the mismanagement of these resources by both students and teachers. I have witnessed it in many classrooms where teachers can not stop students from engaging in non-class material and misusing their technology. This could open the students and teacher up to a whole host of issues that should be addressed with proper regulation by professionals.
ReplyDeleteYeah, teachnoloy is a double-edge sword. Teachers and students should make best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages.
DeleteYou asked an really important question Jiabo, “how do teachers maintain their authority while letting students express their critical thinking skills”. I think this important especially when it comes to technology use in the classroom. In this modern era, technology is being incorporated to students’ learning, and teachers are allowing them to experiment how they use that important resource to learn. Yet, some students may abuse that oppprtunity and become distracted with unrelated computer programs or websites. I believe that with proper monitoring, technology in the classroom will lead to great educational advancement. By regulating and monitoring what websites the students can visit, as long as they are appropriate, the teachers can still asset their position in the classroom without limiting to students’ learning.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSound solid. Some apps could be applied in the monitoring and regulating procedure.
DeleteThanks for you post this week. I totally agree with what your opinion that at bringing digital literacy into our classroom "offers students more opportunity to learn knowledge outside the classroom". As a Chinese old saying goes, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I think the ultimate goal of education should be cultivate students' ability of life-long learning by themselves and digital technology just provides an opportunity to make it easier to let students learn by themselves. Digital literacy in the classroom let students can hear not only the voices in the classroom from their teachers and classmates, but also the voices around the world. It may be helpful to students to find out what they are interested in and also helpful to teachers to convey the information and promote their communication with students and among students themselves. However, how to use the technology in an appropriate way to avoid the negative consequences of using it in the classroom may be a challenge that teachers need to overcome.
ReplyDeleteYeah, let students hear various voices which will allow them know things in different perspectives. It is beneficial for their critical thinking.
DeleteHello! Thank you for sharing. I do believe that teachers who do not bring in technology are hindering the students' education. The internet and techology are a valuable tool for students to research beyond the classroom and to do the material faster which allows them to learn more material.
ReplyDeleteAlso I really liked your concept map; you're a great artist!
Thank you.
DeleteThanks for your post! I thought it was interesting that you mentioned "protecting students from bad things on the internet" because Avila and Pandya seemed very sarcastic when making that point about why some administrators are hesitant to embrace technology at school. They phrase it as "Who will 'protect' students from the potential monsters on an unregulated Internet?" The fact that they put protect in quotation marks shows how dangerous they think this way of thinking can be if taken to the extreme. When only those who are privileged have access to participatory communities on the internet, those that do not miss out on an avenue to think creatively and critically and to hear voices that might be powerful to them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your analyzing. And only use internet critically can students go far in their future life.
Deletethank you for sharing! I definitely think technology is very important for students to engage with. Not allowing them to is, i think, a huge disadvantage to them. Avila and Pandya talk about digital literacies in the reading. "Through critical digital literacies, we can reach out and help empower traditionally disenfranchised learners" (Avila and Pandya).
ReplyDeleteAgree.
DeleteThanks for the post! Most of the previous comments are addressing the issue of how teachers should "maintain authority" in a digitally literate classroom, when it's an area that students may have more expertise in. I'd echo our peers' feelings that maintaining authority shouldn't necessarily be the goal, but maybe we should replace the word "authority" with "respect." Looking at it in this light, there are a number of ways teachers can maintain students' respect for them, even when they might not have the most expertise. If anything, the teacher's acknowledgment that digital literacy will be a learning experience for them too can strengthen the classroom culture.
ReplyDeleteI'm really interested in what you've said about critical thinking and how the approach you've seen taken in China can lead to students just reciting what they've been told. Critical reading is an important skill for students not just from the angle of social justice, but also because critical thinking is the very foundation of all scientific literacy.
The word “respect” makes much of sense!
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