[Air-L] Your Opinion

[jeremy hunsinger]

I tend to think that the whole...  literacy issue is actually not what  
we need.  Literacy is to make people 'literate' and from my  
perspective being literate in any given set of technology is not  
really what we need for the future, we need people who have the skills  
to achieve literacy on their own on any given new technology or old  
technology they are confronted with, and to after they achieve  
literacy, which we might equate with apprentice level skill, they  
should be able to move through higher levels of skills until they  
become masters.   Literacy, to me, has always been problematic as it  
become the goal instead of the goal being adaptable learners that can  
become literate should they need to be.   Here I tend to say that  
instead of literacy we need to develop judgment in our students and in  
relation to judgment what Aristotle termed practical wisdom, which is  
related to the performance of skills, but as it is developed is  
translated into other things.   Other people describe what i'm talking  
about as a form of creativity and adaptability, here is a fun talk  
about it http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
On Apr 15, 2009, at 11:40 AM, Pam Brewer wrote:

> Elaine and all--
>
> I, too, think that digital literacy is of primary importance for  
> K-12 but with emphasis on "literacy."  I would also add critical  
> thinking with regards to digital literacy.
> As to the discussion of individual vs. group pedagogy, I will speak  
> to my own experience as a teacher.  In the classroom, I have found  
> that I have to teach to the group in order to accomplish goals, but  
> the classroom is not the beginning and end of teaching; the  
> individual student is.  In order to be truly effective, I have to  
> open channels of communication with individuals, and the challenges  
> to doing this are different when the contact is digital rather than  
> face to face.  Recognizing the roles of group and individual  
> experience, I think, are the greatest challenge to great teaching.   
> I'm still working on it.
>
> Best!
> P
>
> Pamela Estes Brewer
> Assistant Professor
> Department of English
> Appalachian State University
> phone 828-262-2351
> fax  828-262-2133
> email  brewerpe at appstate.edu
>
>
>
> Elaine Studnicki wrote:
>> Colleagues,
>> I have hovered in the background for quite some time reading your  
>> extremely
>> rich and diverse areas of interest/research. As a K-12 educator/ 
>> doctoral
>> student I am interested in the connections between higher ed.  
>> research and
>> the daily classroom instruction/environment that composes our  
>> national
>> educational system.  I am compelled to ask this question:
>>
>> In your opinion what do you currently think is the most important  
>> area of
>> research or perhaps the most important area "needing" research for  
>> our K-12
>> educational system?
>>
>> Thank you for your help and time,
>>
>> Elaine
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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