FInal Project Written Assignment

I chose to create a class website. As I mentioned, I dabbled in creating a class website a couple of summers ago, but the school year began and it went onto the proverbial back burner. So, when Dr. Bogad assigned this project, it gave me a chance to revisit this. The first article that we read, "The Old Revolution," by Mike Wesch was a bit of an inspiration as to the reason I decided to try to create a class website. His counterargument to Jay Mathews' "The Latest Doomed Pedagogical Fad" sparked an idea to rather than ignore technology, I needed to find a way to blend traditional and modern learning through technology without compromising content. So, I created a class website through googlesites.

Throughout my years at Rhode Island College, two quotes remained in my mind: "Be a Lifelong Learner" and "A Teacher Needs to Have With-It-Ness." As a digital immigrant teaching digital natives, I feel that if I completely ignored technology, then both of the aforementioned quotes would become defunct in my practice. Then, when Susan Patterson came to speak with our class, she spoke of we being in the midst of a "Cultural Shift," that rivals the societal impact of only the Printing Press, and the Industrial Revolution. So, I asked myself, "If students are learning differently today, than ever before, how can I implement the technological learning styles of today's students into the necessary curriculum content that needs to be taught?" In other words, I need to bridge the gap.
 
Three of our course themes that my creation of a class website incorporate are:

1. Digital Natives(my students) versus Digital Immigrants(me, the teacher)

2. Critical Pedagogy in Today's Public Education (Integrating Traditional and Modernized methods of teaching. Meeting resistance in an ever changing world)

3. Media as an Ideology (Looking at concepts, issues, and/or text through a digital lens in an attempt to learn/analyze).

Not only with my particular project, but with this Media course in general, I was able to charter new waters. Not only did I create a website that I otherwise would not have been able to do, but I was able to build a foundation for both me, as an educator as well as my students as learners. In other words, I learned how to close the gap between me as a digital immigrant and my students as digital natives through the creation of this website. I was given the time to gather digital resources that will be fun and educational for my students, but perhaps more importantly, they can get a sense of what I, as a student in this course was able to get, and that is a chance to be a digital learner in the 21st Century. No matter what age, looking at something through a multidimensional lens is always beneficial as a learner. It allows one to avoid the relationship of Teacher as Know-er and Student as Not Knowing to a more collaborative one.

Hey everyone,

Here is my "finished" product. You will all be looking at it and then participating in the second page, titled "Persuasive Essay." I also need someone to help me turn my docs into PDFs?

Thanks
https://sites.google.com/site/mrdesimoneswebpage/

A Failure to Communicate

Yeah, just go to Google and type in the title, "The Flight From Conversation."

As far as this article, I feel that Turkle does challenge Wesch because Wesch seems to embrace technology while Turkle rejects it. Wesch says that the technological movement is NOT a fad and takes on the attitude, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Turkle says, "Beat 'em." Wesch views technology as an opportunity. Turkle views it as a deterrent. Wesch would subscribe to,"Let's make a class blog." Turkle would say "Get in groups and discuss." Wesch also seems to write about the technology/education relationship whereas Turkle leans toward the technology/communication pair.

 In describing this article, Turkle does echo many of the same sentiments that I feel regarding the issue of communication today. I feel that there is a contradiction in our society right now in that we have so many ways to communicate, yet we rarely talk. It's like, we email, we text, we blog, we Facebook, we post, we update, we cut, we paste, we forward, but we rarely call, we rarely meet, we rarely speak, we rarely discuss. As Turkle sums it up, our existence today is one of "I share, therefore I am.” Maybe we are producers after all? By the way, did you know that Grocking was the first form of Facebooking?

Take a look at this scene from Silver Spoons (yes, another '80s tv reference). You can skip the theme song if you'd like, but if you can, watch minutes 1 through 3. Who knew that chatting online existed in 1986? And yes, that is Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel Air with him:)

Oh, and I failed to copy some meaningful clips from the Media Ed site:

Generation M: Misogyny and the Media

The Bro Code


 Dream World 3

Basically, these are a few clips portraying men as womanizers (not exactly helping my cause, huh?)

"Let's Hear It For the Boys": Analysis of the Media Ed Website

Amazing. Disturbing. Sad. True. Ashamed. Scary. Innovative. Eye-Opening. Unbelievable. Believable. Active. Misogynist. Violent. Groundbreaking. Divisive. Unifying. Digital. Producers. Media. Powerful.

These are just some of the words that I felt while spending time on the Media Ed Website. I basically viewed almost all of the "Mini-Clips" and was just so impressed by the power of image in them. It's funny because I am: 1. A straight guy. 2. Sports Fan 3. Consumer which was basically the punching bag for most of the videos, yet I loved it! I loved it because I am 1. Real. 2. Open minded. 3. Guilty.. As far as the Course Anchors, this site related to all three as it was: 1. Digitally new-aged in presentation 2. Innovative teaching and learning through the scope of social justice 3. Media not as entertainment but as a means of educating.

Number three was most striking to me. From protests, to sexual images, to misogynist behavior, to the galvanizing force of sports, politics, and society. It made me think of things like, "Why do we want Tiger Woods to win again despite his deplorable behavior?" or "Why did millions(including myself) tune in to hear Lebron James' DECISION on July 8, 2010?" Or "Why is it cool for a guy to have sex with multiple girls, but a girl who has multiple partners is labeled a whore or slut?" I guess these questions can all be answered, "Because guys say so."

OK class, from who's perspective is the following clip? 

Freedom Writers: White Teacher to the Rescue

I read "Freedom Writers: White Teacher to the Rescue" on pages 226-229. I chose this one because I've seen the movie a handful of times and as a teacher in Providence, can relate to it. In case you haven't seen the movie, it is similar to "Dangerous Minds (1995)" with a first year, female, white teacher, Ms. Gruwell (Hillary Swank) teaching a low-performing, mixed race, at-risk, gang-filled, L.A. English classroom in the Post-Rodney King Riot Era. As you might expect, similar to Michelle Phiffer in "Dangerous Minds," Ms. Gruwell shows the non-Caucasians the right path to overcoming their oppression, to rise above the prejudice that apparently has been the main reason for their academic failures to this point in their lives(insert sarcasm here). The thesis that Chela Delgado seems to be expressing in this article is "Seemingly all education-based movies are centered around individualized solutions to structural problems" (p.226). In other words, issues such as parent absenteeism, low socioeconomic status, social hierarchy, discrimination, gang wars, lack of funding, and so-on can all be solved by "The White Savior" which Delgado refers to as "White Privilege." Take a look at these two clips below. One is from Freedom Writers and one is from a show called The White Shadow, which ran in the mid-late 1970's. I feel these two visuals are a couple of good examples of what Chela Delgado is getting at in this chapter.

A Whole New World...

As an older brother of my sister (notice I have to preface this- see Maleness, Straightness), my experience with Disney is pretty vast compared to some guys. Off the top of my head, I can think of Bambi, 101 Dalmations, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and I'm sure there are more that I just can't recall at this moment. At the time of viewing these films, I simply thought they were fun, fast paced, good-story lined films. Honestly, I still believe they are well-written and well done.

However, the first time I remember thinking anything negative about Disney was when I went to Disney World in 1997. I was 18 years old (my sis was 14), and I had already experienced a year of college, so I think it was because of this that I was able to "analyze" Disney rather than wait, eyes wide open, in a 95-degree-laden, 45-minute-excitement-filled line to ride on Magic Mountain! When I went with my parents and sister to "Magic Kingdom" there was the 25th Anniversary Parade (Magic Kingdom opened in '71 and they were having a year-long celebration from Oct. of '96-'Oct of '97) filled with a myriad of characters from movies past and present, led by Snow White singing songs like, "When You Wish Up On A Star," "A Magical World," and "Dreams Come True" on their way to Cinderella's Castle, I remember thinking to myself, "There are regular people under those costumes" and "This is really just a park and outside of this "Magic Kingdom" are cars, stores, and possible criminals." I guess I wasn't "kid"enough to be sucked into this "Magic World" where somehow me, a 17-year-old guy from Rhode Island, who just finished his freshman year at RIC, and was in Craig Lee less than 72 hours earlier taking my final exam, had magic and wonder waiting for me at Cinderella's Castle:)

Christiansen's claims make a lot of sense. Not only Disney, but she mentions many cartoons as well-such as Duck Tales, Popeye, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I just wonder how many kids, boys or girls, truly had these messages absorbed into their respective heads to a point of defining their ideologies about all of the concepts, themes, and stereotypes from these movies and/or cartoons as adults today? I guess the same could be asked of the "Barbie Doll Generation" and the effects on baby boomers today?

Take a look at this link about the Nine Most Racist Characters in Disney! 

Wesch and the 21st Century Student

To me, Wesch's claim about 21st Century students is that they learn differently today than generations past. He believes that, unlike educational reform in the past, where many changes were based on political and theoretical "fads", the reform in today's educational institution is an inevitable technological and cultural shift one will be unable to ignore. Although this shift seems to bring to surface the adage, "Out with the old, in with the new," Wesch believes all is not lost for Traditionalists as he describes this on page two of "The Old Revolution":

 "The tools that enable us to experiment with new modes of education are mostly free, and they can be implemented in many diverse bits and pieces without the need for large-scale top-down planning or intervention. And perhaps most importantly, [this revolution] is driven by what one might call a “rethinking the basics” movement, in which educators everywhere cannot help but see a disconnect between their traditional modes of teaching and the world in which we all now live."

So, the second question is "Do I Buy It?" Yes. As a teacher for the past seven years, and an admitted Digital Immigrant teaching Digital Natives, with each passing year, it has become more and more apparent that the Technological Gap between me and my students is getting wider and wider. I think much of the hesitancy to teach through a technological lens is fear of the unknown. I know structure in my classroom. I know papers in my hand to correct. I know the opening books. I know written essays. I know paper. I know pens. I know desks. But, I also know the importance of relating concepts I teach in my classroom to my students' lives outside of it. So, as G.I. Joe used to say, "Knowing is Half the Battle." Now I need to deal with the other half...not knowing:)

Let's Get Digital, Digital

I am not a Digital Native. I would have to say that I am "Emerging." I mean, it will never be second nature to me, but if I think back to when I first got the Internet in 1995 and realize all the different things I have done in the world of technology since then, it is pretty amazing how much I have learned. Here are five links that best represent me and my interests

 My Work
My Leisure
 My Interest
My hobby
 My Sick Day

 I found this YouTube Clip to be relevant to this class.

All About Ron

Ok, So, I am a Leo. I like long walks in the park:) I am a middle school English teacher in Providence. I've been teaching for seven years. As far as what I like to do when I'm not in class:

1. Sleep 
2. Eat 
3. Watch/Play sports. Still waiting for the Red Sox to show up this season. 
4. Hang out with friends/gf 
5. Going to movies(especially on Thursday afternoons at Providence Place Mall)
6. YouTube things from the '80s/early '90s