What r-u-w8ing-4

What r u w8ing 4?Using Taboo Technologies to Engage Student Writers

Used at the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference 2009

Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants“I’ve coined the term digital native to refer to today'sstudents (2001). They are native speakers of technology,fluent in the digital language of computers, video games,and the Internet. I refer to those of us who were not borninto the digital world as digital immigrants. We haveadopted many aspects of the technology, but just likethose who learn another language later in life, we retainan "accent" because we still have one foot in the past.We will read a manual, for example, to understand aprogram before we think to let the program teach itself.Our accent from the predigital world often makes it difficultfor us to effectively communicate with our students.“(Prensky, “Listen to the Natives” 9).

Meet the 21st Century Family…

John – Baby BoomerDigital Immigrant

Pam – Baby BoomerDigital Immigrant

Alex – Gen Y Digital Native

Abby – Gen YDigital Native

Givi – Gen YDigital Native

Geoff – Gen YDigital Native

The 21st century homeplace

Family Member Uses for technology

Favorite tools Wow moment

John immigrant

Work (word processing, desktop publishing, email); Pleasure (music, communication)

iPod, mobile phone, desktop computer

“I can fit my entire collection of record albums on my iPod. We’re talking hundreds of albums.”

Pam immigrant

Work (word processing, desktop publishing, email); Social Networking

Facebook, Twitter, Live Journal, Skype

I don’t have the skill of multitasking. My kids remind me quite often.

Alex native

Everything! Ebooks, school, Social Networking, Around Me (GPS), Podcasts of favorite radio shows

*iPhone, netbook, World of Warcraft online gaming

Alex manages an online gaming guild with 123 members from across the East coast.

Abby native

Communication, school Skype and VOIP phone service; Facebook

Abby was able to take the family on a tour of her new home, 9000 miles away in Oceania.

Givi native

Ebooks, entertainment (movies and TV), digital art, word processing, school

iPod, laptop, Wacom Bamboo tablet

Nothing about technology surprises her. “I have high expectations, but I’m not wowed by the tools.”

Geoff native

Communication, Online Gaming

Mobile phone for texting, Turtle Beach wireless headset for Xbox, Xbox live

“I can play Modern Warfare II with kids from across the globe. Plus, I can play games with Robert [his brother-in-law in Guam] on my team.”

I sent and received over 4300 text

messages last month

A conversation between a digital Immigrant and a digital native

Me: What is your favorite technology?Alex: I’d have to say pencil and paper, and the

remote control.Me: (no words, puzzled look…)Alex: Technology by definition is anything that

makes life easier.Me: Oh.

Proof positive that we do not think about things the

same way…

Oh… and you thought I was exaggerating?

4346 text msgs+ 53 mm msgs 4399 messages

Geoff’s phone usage

summary for one month

Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

Digital Learners Digital Immigrants

•Have no memory of life before the internet•Have grown up with computers, the Internet, mobile phones, video games, and mp3 players•“They are web savvy multitaskers, able watch TV, surf the web, listen to music, and talk or text on their phones, often performing several of these things at the same time.” (Perez).

•Have learned to use technologies as they have been introduced•Share a skepticism of the value and necessity of the technology. They look at the technologies as gadgets – more as amusements than tools.•Have an accent – that is, “they maintain one foot in the past while stepping into the present.” (Prensky, “Listen to the Natives 9).

What types of learners do you know?

• Scroll through the phone book on your mobile phone. Choose one person to be your subject.

• Write a description of how you think this person uses technology.

• Bonus points: quote your subject using words from an archived text message.

Learn to be concise…

Now, condense your description. Write it Twitter-style. You are limited to 140 characters.

How can you use Twitter in your classroom?Announce good newsReminders for assignmentsTechnology tips/homework hints

What does this digital divide have to do with us as teachers?

“As educators, we must take our cues from our students‘ 21st century innovations and behaviors, abandoning, in many cases, our own predigital instincts and comfort zones. Teachers must practice putting engagement before content when teaching. They need to laugh at their own digital immigrant accents, pay attention to how their students learn, and value and honor what their students know.” (Prensky, “Listen to the Natives” 10)

And…

Is there a better way to engage students than to allow them to learn while

using the tools they know best?

So, we ask the experts the hard questions…

1. What do you think about the restrictions we place on cell phones, iPods, and other handhelds at school?

2. How do we ensure that taboo technologies are used for academic purposes?

3. Do messaging media cause students to become careless writers?

“What I don’t get is how you want us to be resourceful and find out things for ourselves, but then you won’t let us use the stuff we know best to get those answers.”

Eighth grader Scott B. on using taboo technologies in the classroom

“When I was in kindergarten, I poked Scott really hard with a pencil…once. I quickly learned not to use that pencil like that again. If teachers teach kids how to use the tools the right way from the beginning, there won’t be a problem.” Eighth grader Lily B. on using taboo technologies in the classroom.

Note to self:

Teach netiquette.Students should know how to write emails for various audiences, the rules for writing and responding to blogs, and expectations for using web-based devices.

“We don’t have a problem switching genres. It is just like they way we behave differently with our grandparents than we do with our friends. I know the difference between SMS and SEAE. Sure, sometimes I might slip up and spell your with two letters, but that is because I am in a hurry… or maybe just because I know it will get on a teacher’s nerves.”

Eighth grader Madison S. on if all of this texting is having a negative impact on writing skills.

Cell phone iPod or other handheld (PSP, Nintendo DSi, etc.)

Social Networking Site(Facebook, Twitter, MySpace)

What (academic task) can you do with a(n)… You have two

minutes…

“From computers to calculators to MP3 players to camera phones, these tools are like extensions of their brains. Educating or evaluating students without these tools makes no more sense to them than educating or evaluating a plumber without his or herwrench.”

(Prensky, “Listen to the Natives” 12).

“…the digital environment builds on the interests and needs of students. With ready access to computers and a wide range of mobile devices, many students already are familiar with available technology tools and use them all the time, particularly for entertainment purposes.”

(Dessoff 40).

What (academic task) can you do with a(n)…

Cell phone iPod or other handheld (PSP, Nintendo DSi, etc.)

Social Networking Site(Facebook, Twitter, MySpace)

1. Text message... notes,assignments, summaries,directions, links to websites2. Google for answers, maps, or

images3. Look up words4. Watch video clips5. Film videos, take pictures,

send pictures and videos to friends or teachers

6. Store pictures and video7. Send email8. Quick research on Wikipedia,

Encarta, or World Book9. Look up current events10. Find locations (GPS)11. Network with people from

around the globe12. Practice communication skills13. Calculate (calculator app)

1. 2-12 in cell phone list (see left column)

2. Transport files (like a flash drive)

1. 1,4,6,9 , 11, and 12 in cell phone list (see left column)

2. Send or save longer text selections (Facebook, My Space) or shorter ones (Twitter)

3. Establish/maintain a family history

What do we need to do as teachers?

• Give students the opportunity to use technology In school.

• Find out how students want to be taught• Connect students to the world.• Understand where kids are going—that is, into

the future—and help them get there.

(Prensky, “Turning on the Lights” 45).

“Our schools should be teaching kids how to program, filter knowledge, and maximize the features and connectivity of their tools.”

(Prensky, “Listen to the Natives” 13).

Let’s try thinking like digital natives…

Using your cell phone…

Give me a synonym for each highlighted word.Bonus points to anyone who can explain how knowledge of word parts or related words could increase understanding.

“Pragmatically, our 21st century kids‘ education is quickly bifurcating. The formal half, "school," is becoming an increasingly moribund and irrelevant institution.” (Prensky , “Listen to the Natives”13).


Tell us what made the headlines of the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today.


What made the headlines in France, Kenya, and Japan?

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/news.html

5-minute Quick Write

Think about the headlines from the various papers. Which of these issues is of greatest concern to you? Why? Write about it.

Bonus points: Send your response as an email to a classmate and Cc: the teacher.


Go to this news site: http://www.theonion.com/

Would you use this site for your research paper? Why or why not?

What concerns do you have about living in the information age? Are you ever fearful that you will be misled or misinformed?

Your ticket out the door:Receive a text message summarizing the needs of digital learners. Show it to the teacher.

Using your cell or iPod as a camera

Use pictures as story starters or as a part of the publication process with a memoir.

Using your cell or iPod as a camera

Create videos…

digital postcardsscreen plays or skitspublic service announcementsadvertisementsPhotoStoriesmajor motion pictures

Review Your Poetic Devices

1. Scroll through your iPod (or choose a ring tone from your phone).

2. Transcribe the first stanza of the song you chose.

3. If you are not in agreement on the words, look them up using your mobile device.

4. Identify and label poetic devices present in the stanza.

Poetic Devices

In your song lyrics, do the following:• Underline examples of imagery.• Circle uses of figurative language (simile,

metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, etc.)• Identify the rhyme scheme, if one is present.• Characterize the piece. Examine the number of

lines in the piece and the style of the piece. (For example, is it a ballad written in quatrains?)

• What can you tell you us about meter?

“American Girl” by Tom Petty

Well she was an American girlRaised on promisesShe couldn't help thinkin' that thereWas a little more to lifeSomewhere elseAfter all it was a great big worldWith lots of places to run toYeah, and if she had to dieTryin' sheHad one little promise she was gonna keep

Extra credit:Enter your song lyrics into www.wordle.net and show us your product.

Follow up activity:Shoot a music video of your song and edit in annotations about the use of poetic devices.

Other ideas for using iPods and cell phones for writing

• Use a text message as a story starter.• Practice writing dialogue by transcribing text messages

between you and someone else. Move from SMS to SEAE, and use proper punctuation strategies.

• Write a parody of one of your songs.• Take the first (or last) word in each line of a song and

use them to create a new poem.• Take the first word of each song in your playlist and

use them in a piece of writing – poetry or prose.• Create a piece where the dialogue between your

characters is derived from lines in a song.

What about social networking sites? Do they have educational value?

• Use them for posting reminders• Use them as homework help networks

(Hey, can anybody explain #4 on the math homework to me? If so, text me. Thanks!)

• Use them to stir up trouble. (see “The Saga of Martin Gecko”)

Who is listening?From www.rockdalecitizen.com on May 3, 2010CONYERS — Some Rockdale County classes are getting new language textbooks next school

year, but officials at Rockdale County Public Schools are still watching the budget.

The Rockdale County Board of Education unanimously approved last week the adoption of three textbooks for middle and high school students. The item was part of a consent agenda during the board’s regular monthly meeting. Board member Jeff Dugan was absent from the meeting.

RCPS Superintendent Samuel King said the $506,358 textbooks are the only ones the board will approve this year, which is less than what it normally is presented, as RCPS officials expect a drop in revenue next school year. He added that these texts are needed for students, as, unlike the current books, they are in line with the new Georgia Performance Standards curriculum.

…

This textbook adoption could be one of the last for the school board. King said he and This textbook adoption could be one of the last for the school board. King said he and his cabinet members are in discussions about how to phase out textbooks and his cabinet members are in discussions about how to phase out textbooks and instead use ebooks, which are used online and on computers.instead use ebooks, which are used online and on computers.

““Not tomorrow,” King said, adding that this process could take some time and the Not tomorrow,” King said, adding that this process could take some time and the costs would need to be considered. “That’s the norm now. You know how quickly costs would need to be considered. “That’s the norm now. You know how quickly information changes. There are some huge potential benefits.”information changes. There are some huge potential benefits.”

From www.rockdalecitizen.com on June 16, 2010

CONYERS — Officials at Rockdale County Public Schools have changed the Student Behavior Code to include more sanctions for inappropriate cell phone usage at schools, and more changes could come later.

At the Rockdale County Board of Education work session last week, Garrett Brundage, executive director of Support Services at RCPS, informed the board of he updated code to include rules and regulations regarding cyber bullying and using cell phones to spread obscene actions.

Brundage said students have been known to send inappropriate text messages and pictures using cell phones, and schools also have experienced bullyingover the Internet and with cell phones.“That created a need for us as a school system to respond,” he said....Gene Baker, assistant superintendent in the Office of School Improvement at RCPS, said students have access to computers in all of the schools but software blocks many sites that cause such problems.“But that doesn’t prevent it,” he said.

Brundage and RCPS Superintendent Samuel King told board members that students are allowed to bring Brundage and RCPS Superintendent Samuel King told board members that students are allowed to bring their cell phones inside the school building, but they must be off during the school day and stored in their their cell phones inside the school building, but they must be off during the school day and stored in their backpacks or lockers. That could change in the future, King said.backpacks or lockers. That could change in the future, King said.

“This is the first step to update our regulation,” he said.

School board member Darlene Hotchkiss said she appreciated RCPS officials for reviewing policies like this from time to time.“Doing something like thisgives us the opportunity to look ahead and not necessarily let us be caught in the middle,” she said.

Who is talking about it?• Popular blogs like ReadWriteWeb.• Popular magazines like Newsweek.• Education consortiums like the Southern Regional Education

Board. They say that use of technology for learning is a key practice for improving student achievement.

• “Provide opportunities for middle grades students and teachers to explore and use technology, such as word processing, electronic presentations and Web design skills, for improving knowledge and skills in English/language arts, reading, mathematics, science, social studies, and exploratory courses through the use of research-based instructional practices.” (SREB, “Making Middle Grades Work”).

Who is still not listening?

• The Partnership for 21st Century Skills advocates the teaching of three Rs and four Cs (critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, communication and creativity and innovation).

• They support the development of the Common Core State Standards and have partnered with 14 states to fuse the 21st century skills with the CCSS. Unfortunately, Georgia is not one of these fourteen states.

One final question…

Have you been paying attention?

Bibliography

Dessoff, Alan. “ Reteaching Digital Natives on Their Terms.” District Administration. 46.4. (2010): 36-42. Web. 20 June 2010.

Patten, Kathryn and Dorothy Valcarcel Craig. “iPods and English-language learners: a great combination.” Teacher Librarian. 34.5. (2007): 40-44. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 June 2010.

Prensky, Marc. “Listen to the Natives.” Educational Leadership. 63.4. (2005-2006): 8-13. Web. 16 June 2010.

Prensky, Marc. “Turning on the Lights.” Educational Leadership. 65.6. (2008): 40-45. Web. 18 June 2010.