12 years ago
Innovative Pedagogies: Twittering From Kindergarten Munchkins To Cool High School Dudes
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The proliferation of new technologies and the internet have provided access to an enormous range of materials. Children and youth experience many new technologies in their day to day lives – mobile phones, ipods, computers, TV - to name a few. Dezuani (2010) says if we don’t respond to this and bring some of these experiences into the classroom, we are doing students a disservice because we’re not connecting with their lives outside school or making use of effective learnings available through new technologies.
In this post I will be considering a couple of the many examples of innovative pedagogies with new technologies through the medium of the internet – focusing particularly on an inspiring example with kindergarten children.
There are many examples of using new technologies in education depicted in videos which have been uploaded on YouTube. In this example the University of Minnesota YouTube video (2009), "Twitter in the classroom?", describes a partnership program called “Dig Me” which is being used in Roosevelt High School to raise engagement and academic achievement of students. To do this the teacher and high school students are shown weaving the social website twitter, which most of the students use outside of school, into traditional English courses. Both the teacher and students attest to its popularity and effectiveness. This is a good example of the importance of connected pedagogies advocated by Dezuani (2010) and referred to above.
As well as connecting pedagogies to the cultural and technological experiences young people are involved in, both Dezuani (2010) and Buckingham (2007) argue for the need to use creative and productive pedagogies, and to learn critical reflection of the media. Buckingham says while much emphasis has been placed on students’ access to the media in schools, more is needed in teaching and facilitating the many uses of it.
In this assignment we were asked to write about things we’d do differently in our own practice. As I am not a practicing teacher, I can’t do that, so instead will write about an innovative pedagogy I have found which I would like to be part of, should I get the chance to work in a classroom on a program such as this one.
In her blog, Miss Night's Marbles: I heard them say, love is the way, Miss Night (2011) describes an innovative and very exciting program whereby a class of 20 kindergarten children in Canada are partnered with a class in Indonesia and communicate with Twitter. The children exchange questions and answers about their own lives, and from these exchanges the teacher crafts learning opportunities: e.g., about weather and time differences, how to use maps, orang-utans, and tsunamis. The children increase their literacy by making drawings in their journals, dictating texts to go with them, then copying the texts. They expand their knowledge of using media technologies as well as twitter by working on a Prezi presentation to share learning with parents and other classes, and making a video to send to their Indonesian friends (teaching them about snow and how to dress for it).
These children are teachers and learners – they teach their partner school children, and learn from them. They then seek information about what they have learnt. The children are highly engaged and highly motivated as they direct some of the learning. Buckingham (2007) comments on the strong sense of autonomy and authority as learners which extensive use of new media at home gives to children (p.116). This is often denied in schools he says, but not is this case. Not only are these children consumers of this medium, they are producers (journals and video). They learn about representing themselves and construct their identities by describing their lives and comparing them with the differences of those of their partners. They have a voice – beautifully illustrated in by their comments about the Indonesian children facing a tsunami: “They are our friends. We can take care of them. They will be safe with us. We have room”.
Using the Circuit of Culture model (Dezuani, 2010) referred to in our other blog posts here, we can see the richness of using the cultural phenomenon of the internet in Miss Night’s blog post. The interplay between the different aspects of production, consumption, representation and identity support the usefulness of this media in education. Regulation of the internet prohibiting its use, or the use of the needed technologies to provide twitter feeds in the school, would have prevented this very valuable learning. Of course some regulation would have taken place – e.g., the teacher supervising how the internet was being used.
Not only does this blog provide details of an inspiring and innovative use of the internet in education, it connects to another blog site which enables other classes and schools to join in this kind of program (see: http://kinderchat-kinderchat.blogspot.com/). The program is well described, and written in a manner which gives no doubt about the affection and dedication this teacher has for her students. So if you’re at all interested in the use of twitter in the classroom, and want some inspiration, take a look at these great examples!
References
Buckingham, D. (2007): Media education goes digital: an introduction. Learning, Media and Technology, 32, 111-119. doi: 10.1080/17439880701343006
Dezuani, M. (2010). CLN647 The ‘Circuit of Culture’ in New Media Contexts: Lecture 6 [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_75617_1%26url%3D
Dezuani, M. (2010). CLN647 Innovative pedagogies, transforming institutions and mapping future directions. Lecture 11 [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_75617_1%26url%3D
Miss Night (2011, March 11). I heard them say, love is the way [blog].
Retrieved from http://missnightmutters.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html
University of Minnesota (2009, March 25) University of Minnesota – Twitter in the classroom? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4OxIz_3o3O0
Posted by Paula
Paula, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be involved in such transformative practice! The notion of allowing students to access online tools, such as Twitter, for English classes is a very positive thing for student learning. Interestingly, my experience has suggested that, of all the faculties, English can be one of the most difficult to convince about the benefits of online tools. Perhaps this reluctance stems from the notion that texting and online communication is ‘killing’ the English language (It's ok how we communic8, 2009). Despite this, many researchers suggest that digital interactions are actually encouraging student literacy as never before as young people need to be able to read and write to interact with their social network. Incorporating online tools into the Senior English classroom shows students the importance of literacy in an engaging way that relates to their out-of-school life.
On the other end of the age scale, I love the idea of allowing Preppies access to online tools to enhance their learning. In my mind, the benefits are immense not only in terms of global learning, but in encouraging a healthy sense of digital citizenship and media literacy from a very early age.
Of course, some schools and educational systems remain hesitant about students connecting with online tools, blocking sites such as Twitter and Facebook from their network completely. This over-cautious censorship prevents wonderful learning opportunities, such as those you’ve outlined, but also means students have no educational guidance in their online interactions.
Student learning can be enhanced by online interactions from Prep right through to Senior High School. Allowing students to use tools in the classroom that they may already be familiar with at home is not just educationally sound, but common sense.
Ref:
It's ok how we communic8. (2009). Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au