[Air-L] Your Opinion

[Scott Swigart]

" 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"

Not all technology is created equal.  This assumes that the technology is
designed to be usable, discoverable, and intuitive.   Some of the most
academically challenged people figured out how to use their iPhones just
fine.  The designers of the 747, on the other hand, had no requirement that
pilots simply be able to figure it out on their own.

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Nick Lalone
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 11:17 AM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-L] Your Opinion

I believe that this line or argument would be akin to agreeing with the
message while not agreeing with the method. You seem to be pointing at
trying to awaken consciousness through teaching critical thinking. I don't
know that what you want to see is something that can really be done on a
massive scale. Tailoring learning to meet the need for each student's
blossoming consciousness would be staggeringly difficult given the current
resources we use for education. I've always felt that general literacy
learning (and the unintended things it tries to teach), despite it's
problems, would be the best answer to the general problem of conscious
behavior. I'm not saying I disagree with you; just that I want to see a
solution that can be implemented without a radical overhaul of a complex
system.

Nick

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 11:24 AM, jeremy hunsinger <jhuns at vt.edu> wrote:

> 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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>
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-- 
Nick LaLone
512.633.0207
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