Set in Stone or Set in Motion?
Bolter (1991) wrote, “The shift to the computer will make writing more flexible, but it will also threaten the definitions of good writing and careful reading that have been fostered by the technique of printing” (p. 2).
Oh Bolter....It's like looking into a crystal ball from the vantage point of 1991. I worry about this myself when I have students write blog posts and create Facebook pages for characters. I find myself feeling that good literacy is dying and that just writing something now allows for people to feel that that writing is automatically of quality. The other half of the time, I feel myself complaining about the music these kids listen to and how low they wear their pants and screaming at the little trollymogs to get off my lawn.
Yet the question remains, how do we properly utilize technology in the classroom and foster a system of new literacy while not necessarily sacrificing the beauty of print and the importance that it has when teaching literacy?
The solution is by no means to pull technology from the equation. To not use computers in the classroom is like sitting on a platinum mine and refusing to dig because some of the platinum might be tarnished. Obviously multimedia offers students a different set of skills and the web is something children would much rather by using than gazing at a printed text. However, how can we as educators assure that standards are upheld while still teaching students that different contexts call for different types of literacies? Should things such as traditional essays be tossed out for "life maps" and "visual essays?" How do we blend this?
Again, I fluctuate about how to properly use technology and this article only tossed me deeper into the maze.
Bolter (1991) wrote, “The shift to the computer will make writing more flexible, but it will also threaten the definitions of good writing and careful reading that have been fostered by the technique of printing” (p. 2).
Oh Bolter....It's like looking into a crystal ball from the vantage point of 1991. I worry about this myself when I have students write blog posts and create Facebook pages for characters. I find myself feeling that good literacy is dying and that just writing something now allows for people to feel that that writing is automatically of quality. The other half of the time, I feel myself complaining about the music these kids listen to and how low they wear their pants and screaming at the little trollymogs to get off my lawn.
Yet the question remains, how do we properly utilize technology in the classroom and foster a system of new literacy while not necessarily sacrificing the beauty of print and the importance that it has when teaching literacy?
The solution is by no means to pull technology from the equation. To not use computers in the classroom is like sitting on a platinum mine and refusing to dig because some of the platinum might be tarnished. Obviously multimedia offers students a different set of skills and the web is something children would much rather by using than gazing at a printed text. However, how can we as educators assure that standards are upheld while still teaching students that different contexts call for different types of literacies? Should things such as traditional essays be tossed out for "life maps" and "visual essays?" How do we blend this?
Again, I fluctuate about how to properly use technology and this article only tossed me deeper into the maze.
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