Throughout my high school years, I checked out a total of zero books from my library. The materials I needed to succeed in my own educational experience were available to me, but in limited forms. From time-sensitive check out times, to limited quantity of items, the literary resources I needed to better myself in the physical format were not always attainable. Noticing that a majority of students weren’t utilizing the resource of the library, our (rather rural) school district made a change to implement digital resources. Starting with online versions of textbooks, close-reading materials, and photo-copied uploads, students started to gather the resources needed for success in class in a new digital format. However, the technology implemented didn’t stop at uploading materials to the internet…and student engagement showed a dramatic increase within the digital addition. Students who were able to utilize digital sources, whether that be within the access of materials, the use of technology to further knowledge, or the use of trans-media outlets to craft creative-based collections of knowledge for evaluation, showed a rapid turn-around in engagement within classroom practices.
The internet and its digital uses have widened the net of accessible literary and informational experiences. We live in a society that grasps an ever-changing, rapid-developing use of digital resources, which bleeds into the instructional flexibility required to set students up for success for a future society. Within technology, there are copious amounts of resources digitally that embody literacy in non-traditional formats. Multi-modal educational opportunities within literacy allows for students to re-engage with English-Language Arts in ways that allow them to take initiative in their own learning experience by being creators. Professors and Literary Researchers Marcelle Haddix & Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz respond to this ideology within their journal, “Cultivating Digital and Popular Literacies as Empowering and Emancipatory Acts Among Urban Youth" through the argument that students become empowered when given the opportunity to be producers and creators of curriculum and knowledge in the classroom (190). Educators have noticed great educational value in students who feel involved in both their projection of knowledge and their intentional use of digital resources within the classroom to extend their previous knowledge on the curriculum. In addition, Henry Jenkins notes in his journal on Pop Culture and Media Education in the classroom that, "While formal education is often conservative, the informal learning within popular culture is often experimental. While formal education is static, the informal learning within popular culture is innovative" (9). Formal education, as referenced by Jenkins finds itself to be repetitive within student engagement. To set students up for a rather successful classroom experience, we must allow ourselves as educators to be flexible in instruction, creating opportunities for growth in our ever-changing digital and media-based society.
Students are exposed to a critical view of civic engagement and an opportunity for social justice acknowledgement when interacting with online materials. Tiffany DeJaynes and Christopher Curmi-Hall acknowledged a specific use of literacy in collective youth resistance within their journal, "Transforming School Hallways Through Critical Inquiry: Multimodal Literacies for Civic Engagement" in which students used multi-modal implementation to speak against and understand issues in creative based intellectual practices. The students studied within the journal were found to find intense satisfaction within using literacy as a platform for social justice as they projected issues rooted in representation, stereotypes, racial and gender-based biases within media formats, and discrimination amongst groups of marginalized status. Discourse surrounding such social issues allows students to acknowledge these issues in a collaborative way. As noted by DeJaynes and Hall, “The team’s hands, voices, faces, and creative impulses interwove in organic ways as they collaborated and published in multiple modes" (6). Multi-modal communications require students to develop a deeper understanding of literary materials in non-traditional ways like books and essays, which embraces new attention to the full intent of the language communications and curriculum attached to literacy.
Digital Resources have heightened student engagement and understandings of literary curriculum through many different outlets whether it be creative liberty, social justice, school-to-home connections, and more, but what if students and their communities are not able to attain and sustain this resource? Jenkins references the Participation Gap, which highlights the unequal access to materials and opportunities of the 21st century, whether it be digital or not, (3). Students who may not have access to internet, computers, or digital literacy and training (that being, what technology users would consider to be not "technology-savvy" in some way), requires extra stress on students to get work done. This is why we as educators should create what are referenced as "Affinity Spaces" in the classroom that provide opportunity for growth and development within new media experiences (Jenkins 6). Being able to navigate digital and media experiences is a new skill that will continue to be required for students to acquire to live within our technological society, and combining it with literary and curriculum practices is a great way to unite both engaging experiences referencing Pop Culture and real life encounters, and the skills students are expected to have moving forward in society. Haddix and Sealey-Ruiz also raise concerns within digital literacy as they question why many digital engagement experiences are used in alternative schooling situations: if technology is a great way to reach students, why are we only using it when students have shown below-average performances within the classroom? By viewing all educational practices with a critical viewpoint, educators can implement strategies that are curated specifically for the needs of their students' educational and personal needs for a successful schooling experience.
Though peers in my graduation were exposed to digital resources later in our high school career, there was still a heavy achievement gap between our class's graduation rate. We had access to computers, to the internet, to project-based learning, to multi-modal communications of ideas, and still had a decrease in people who completed high school. My freshman year of high school, we had 403 people in my graduating class. When I graduated, there were 238 people who got diplomas. It makes me wonder how many students could have achieved a well-rounded and achievable educational experience if these resources were implanted sooner...or even if they were never implemented. Would my peers be able to reach better understandings of curriculum if we discussed more references to what they already knew? Did the technology hinder them from grasping it? Was it just a luck of the draw? I may never not know that, but I can sure try to find out through further educational research.
Hi Mackenzie.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post! Digital literacy in classrooms is such an important topic. It's so interesting how you brought up the graduation rates at your high school. That's very intriguing and brings up many questions on how media in classrooms can help but also can be negative for students. I think balance is key, and of course, being flexible with instruction as you said. When teachers can adapt to students' needs, students succeed.
Also, zines are such a cool concept! I have never heard of those before, but it seems like a great activity for learning! Thanks for introducing me to this concept!
Hi Mackenzie,
ReplyDeleteWhat an insightful post! I right away can relate to your library experiences in school. I can count on my hands the amount of times I accessed my school library. Everything I needed was at my fingertips digitally. Your graduation stats also stood out to me! I think your questions are valid based on what you experienced, and I wonder what would've happened with that gap if technology was addressed in a way that access was equal to everyone
Hey Mackenzie,
ReplyDeleteAmazing post, I loved your examples from the readings and how they all coincide with one another. I love how you mentioned zines as your multimodal tool that rocks. A point that I think more teachers need to touch on are affinity spaces. A place where people with similar interests and common endeavors can communicate and form bridges with one another. I think if I knew of this in high school, my experience would have been a lot different. I wonder if what you asked is true in any capacity about online textbooks if we went totally online, would more students read them?
Mackenzie, your provide a thorough review of the readings with creative and nimble connections to multimodal texts such as videos and zines.
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