CURR 501: Digital Media Literacy

                                      Dr. Michael Wesch is an anthropologist who talks about action research implemented with his own class in his TED Talk presentation " What Baby George Taught Me about Learning ."   He starts by stating four notions that have been instilled in education; anything outside the classroom is the real world, classrooms are places in which students must be in a fixed seat and should get information dumped on, students are always thinking of how to get by and not actually experiencing the learning, and once a course is completed there is no reason to revisit it. His action research begins by obtaining data and he begins asking students what they thought of their education, and in his findings, Dr. Wesch discovered there was a sense of disconnection between students and their education. Dr. Wesch’s main point is about learning being a "fundamental human trait” ...

Prensky (2001) who popularized the term “digital native and digital immigrant” believes children born into a digital world are more advanced with technology than the “immigrants”, who did not have technology easily disposable at their hands. In contrast, Boyd (2014) believes “digital natives” are not as knowledgeable or skilled with technology as everyone believes to be. As an educator, one of our goals is to implement action research that will enable long-lasting learning experiences and technology is one of the tools to do so. Education and technology go hand-in-hand, it is something both students and teachers must learn the ins-and-outs and it is not something you inherit. Boyd affirms this by stating, “Rather than focusing on coarse generational categories, it makes more sense to focus on the skills and knowledge that are necessary to make sense of a mediated world. Both youth and adults have a lot to learn” (p. 194). We are all lifelong learners and we can all become literate in t...

                                              My name is Roberto Vargas, I am a recent certified Elementary teacher. I am currently working towards completing a Masters in Education: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. My 2021 summer has kicked off to busy mode: I will be taking two summer courses and at the same time will be working a part-time job. Basically, when I am not in class I will be working on papers and coordinating a high school mentoring program. Also, I will be applying to elementary jobs teaching English Langauge Learners across the state. During my free time, I look forward to swimming in the ocean,  eating ice cream, having some corn on the cob, and maybe a lobster or two.  Below are some hyperlinks related to education that can help to rewrite the status quo! dianeravitch    rethinkingschools education next