Chapter 2 described Ridgeview High School and gave an inside look on this school’s viewpoint of being a wireless school. I chose the picture of a locked laptop because that is basically what Ridgeview is doing with their laptop program. They are allowing the girls to bring them but only use them for “normal” tasks: note-taking, emailing, etc. If the teachers are Ridgeview do allow the students to use them laptops, they want them to stay on the school’s intranet, or only visit pre-approved websites. The author referred to this as a type of virtual kindergarten. They are severely limiting the potential that these laptops bring to the students. This staff doesn’t realize what an amazing opportunity they have, and they are wasting it by trying to revert back to a “normal” classroom.
This chapter makes it clear that teaching students should
involve the new literacies that are available. It tells me that teachers should
step outside their comfort zone and engage the students with the curriculum as well as use programs and websites the students are familiar with. I feel this chapter could be
applied to my content area if all of my students had laptops. An opportunity
like that should not go to waste!
Great post Lara! I saw where this article was written in 2006 and I think a lot of schools were worried about kids logging on to the internet. I'm wondering if they are using any of the new literacies available now or if they are still worried they are corrupting their girls. I feel schools have provided security and measures to prevent kids from getting on the wrong sites. But, they are smart..and they will find a way around it I'm sure. I do feel like we need to use all the new literacies but limit the amount of time. Kids need conversations and face-to-face interactions.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! I was lucky enough to intern at a school where every student had a Mac. We used this type of literacy to our advantage. Teachers had to learn new and innovative ways to teach using the computer and allowing the kids to be safe but independent on the computers. I think every school should have this type of program if resources were available.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Lara! This school was over the top! In my blog I discussed how amusing it was to me that this school had so many advantages and were not using them to their full capacity. Nice post!
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