Justification for using technology to augment pedagogy:
The use of technology, specifically Web 2.0 tools, in ELA pedagogy has many
dynamic possibilities for exploring critical thinking on issues as well as for
enhancing traditional elements of the English classroom. Not only does such
technology make concepts more accessible to students, it also brings the subject
matter in question into a realm that is easily recognizable and engaging to
students, as they have been immersed in multi-modal forms of communication for
most of their lives. (This may be a stark contrast to many adults who, in a term
coined by Marc Prensky, are Digital Immigrants; having moved from an analogue
world focused on pen and paper, (and, for dinosaurs like myself, arduous hours
spent at the library), to one where information is digital and readily available
and easily shared with the click of a
button.
This unit, therefore, is an example of
how to focus on the integration of digital resources to augment ELA pedagogy as
well as provide students with media literacy. The latter, known also as
multimodal literacy, is critical in a world where students are saturated with
audio and visual stimulation at a near constant frequency. My intention is that
this unit is broad enough that it can be adapted to several different areas of
study from topics such as propaganda, advertising manipulation, or ideological
subversion in mainstream or alternative media sources, to deeper ponderings on
how to apply critical theories to literature or even a discussion of the
socratic method for critical thinking.
Most of these themes are closely
related and there is significant overlap in any examination of them. It is my
contention that using Web 2.0 to explore these topics provides today's students
with a much more rich and immersive atmosphere than simply relying on
traditional "analogue" methodologies that offer little in the way of engagement
for the student that is constantly "plugged in".
dynamic possibilities for exploring critical thinking on issues as well as for
enhancing traditional elements of the English classroom. Not only does such
technology make concepts more accessible to students, it also brings the subject
matter in question into a realm that is easily recognizable and engaging to
students, as they have been immersed in multi-modal forms of communication for
most of their lives. (This may be a stark contrast to many adults who, in a term
coined by Marc Prensky, are Digital Immigrants; having moved from an analogue
world focused on pen and paper, (and, for dinosaurs like myself, arduous hours
spent at the library), to one where information is digital and readily available
and easily shared with the click of a
button.
This unit, therefore, is an example of
how to focus on the integration of digital resources to augment ELA pedagogy as
well as provide students with media literacy. The latter, known also as
multimodal literacy, is critical in a world where students are saturated with
audio and visual stimulation at a near constant frequency. My intention is that
this unit is broad enough that it can be adapted to several different areas of
study from topics such as propaganda, advertising manipulation, or ideological
subversion in mainstream or alternative media sources, to deeper ponderings on
how to apply critical theories to literature or even a discussion of the
socratic method for critical thinking.
Most of these themes are closely
related and there is significant overlap in any examination of them. It is my
contention that using Web 2.0 to explore these topics provides today's students
with a much more rich and immersive atmosphere than simply relying on
traditional "analogue" methodologies that offer little in the way of engagement
for the student that is constantly "plugged in".