Writing, Technology and Teens

In 2008, the Pew Internet Trust released a report titled, Writing, Technology and Teens.  While the study is a few years old, I was pleased to see that “93% of teens say they write for their own pleasure.”  They also have a great graphic about writing done outside of school.

Here’s the list of their findings:

The full report can be found here.  This really got me thinking about my Writing Workshop block and am I doing enough authentic writing.

Teaching in the 21st Century: Digital Media

How do we use technology to change (improve?) teaching and learning?  First, we must recognize that our students are social and learn collaboratively.  They are used to creating content online, not just consuming content.  How do we use this to our advantage in the classroom?  And more importantly how do we focus on the content and not the technology?  The technology should be invisible.

A few summers ago I had an opportunity to attend a workshop by Sara Kajder and she always put the majority of the instruction on the content/product and let students figure out the technology to get there.  For example, if students are creating a digital story.  They spend 3-5 days drafting and creating their story.  They spend one day finding the images and creating the final digital product.  That way the focus is on process, not product.

This video was quite interesting:

Watch the full episode. See more Digital Media - New Learners Of The 21st Century.

I want to allow options for students to work together and share their thinking and learning while using technology – to be producers of content.  Maybe this is a wiki, or a blog, or a podcast…it could work with practically any technology.  I just want the focus to be on collaborating and sharing their learning.  By working together, individual expertise becomes collective expertise through interaction with peers and/or community members.  Digital media allows guided, real-time experiences like location/placed-based learning.

“Digital media is changing the ecology of reading and writing.” – James Gee

What are some ways you do this in your classroom?

Increase in kids' time spent using entertainment media

A recent research report by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that the time young people (8-18 years old) spend using entertainment media has risen dramatically. These kids average seven hours 38 minutes per day. Read the full report here: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm

I am glad to see that although digital usage is on the rise, time spent reading books has remained pretty steady. However, I don’t think twelve minutes per day is enough, I wonder if the study took into consideration the amount of reading young people do in digital formats.

Web 2.0 and you (and your students)

I sit on my school and district’s technology committee and see a clear divide between those who want to regulate (read: clamp down on) technology and those who want to use technology as a teaching and learning tool. As you can guess, I fall into the second camp. I want to empower students to use web 2.0 tools for learning, as a way of expressing themselves, as an outlet for authentic audiences. I believe it is an educator’s responsibility to teach students to use these tools responsibly and appropriately and become good digital citizens.

Have you and your students thought about your digital footprint on the web? What trail are you leaving for others to follow? Do your students have an academic presence online? Are they posting and commenting on blogs of an academic nature? If a college admissions officer Googles your student, what will he find? Speaking of which, have you Googled yourself?!

So in this New Year, I ask you, where do you live on the web and where do you visit? When you look at the answer to that question, does it show your interests, priorities and passions?