Teaching Students Not Skills

Although Morell’s chapters were pretty tough to read through, Morell’s chapter 6 about cyberactivism has made me think about several things: I thought about how Morell made a valid point when he said “with each of these uses came evidence of academic and critical literacy development.” (153) Morell was referring to all of the various ways the internet is used for like “social, academic, and activist-oriented purposes.” (153) I agree that all of the ways in which the internet is used has enhanced literacy. I think about my personal experience with the internet and how much material I read a day. Whether I am reading the latest celebrity gossip or local news, I am constantly reading.  Also not to mention all of the information that is accessible on the internet. People have access to almost every bit of information in the palm of their hands.  With the advancement of technology we have access to all kinds of literature now that expand the knowledge of those that are not able to get educated the traditional way. (School/college) All of the literature online has also helped professors with being able to analyze old text of which physical copies are hard to obtain.

Also the technology of email and things like google drive help students all across the country share ideas and documents with each other. On the other hand, I have heard of classrooms as low as second graders using computer and technology to teach and engage students in the classroom. I am torn in between agreeing and disagreeing with having such advanced technology in such low classroom grades. I think of all the low income schools and kids who have technology requirements from their teacher and cannot afford one or get to a computer. That leaves the upper class kids yet another skill to have that lower class kids will not have. I remember growing up, in my high school there were only a certain amount of computers available to us, and so we might have lacked in skills and knowledge about computers that other kids did in Rhode Island. But I do think that it is a good thing for kids to practice at such a young age so that they are ready for college. Besides having all of the distractions with social media and games there are plenty of tools and websites that enhance a student’s experience of learning.