Week 2 Blog 4 - Teaching Literacy

Schools are not teaching literacy.  Yes we as teachers teach how to read and write, but according to Jenkins (2006) we are failing to teach students how to survive in the media rich society that they live in.   In some schools students have computer class in elementary school, but does 45 minutes or an hour a week teach students all they need to know?  I argue that because schools and teachers are unwilling to use technology in their classrooms that students are forced to learn technological skills on their own. 

I first start with my own students.  I have student in my science classes that do not know how to attach a file to an email, make an active link in a Microsoft Word document, or how to search the Internet effectively.  Most adults would be shocked to know that the generation that is essentially growing up with the technology wave is media illiterate. 

It is easy to forgive people in the baby-boomer generation for not knowing how to fix their computer or even run one, but for students born after 1980 people must wonder why they can’t perform even the simplest computer tasks.  The next logical question is “why are these students media illiterate?”  This question is followed by “Why aren’t students learning this in schools?”

The answer is that for the most part, students are being taught by media illiterate teachers.  And the teachers willing to use and teach technology do not have the resources to teach the technology.  My suggestion is to use the technology that students have in their pockets – Let’s use student cell phones and iPods in the classroom.  As teachers let’s use the resources that students already have! 




Resources

"Technology Fear Factor In Education" Created by A. Davis & Posted November 1, 2007 to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxf5Iv2YhM0&feature=fvw

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.