Social
media, an internet -based platform, enables its users to communicate with
others around the world by sharing images, videos, and other content. It has a
major impact on society because of its prevalence and will gain power as
technological advances continue and its users increase. What does this mean for
21st century students and educators? Many teachers will have to change
their mindset regarding the way they teach writing, and students will have to
become digital citizens with a purpose for writing.
The
video I have chosen is a TEDx Teen video. “Forget What You Know”, Jacob
Barnett. In the video, Jacob, an eleven -year old, discusses his journey as an
autistic student. His use of digital storytelling captivates his intended
audience. According to Hicks (2013), “Digital storytelling-combining one’s own
narration with images, music, sound, and sometimes video footage-has become an
incredibly popular way to engage students in the digital writing process. As
previously stated, teachers will have to realize digital writing, such as
story-telling, covers each part of the writing process. An introduction must be
created to gain the audience attention and set the tone. A clearly developed
main idea, along with details and examples must follow ending with an
appropriate conclusion. Throughout this process, students will brainstorm,
edit, make revisions, and publish their digital writing. Hicks (2013) states
that MAPS heuristic requires us to help students think about how, when, and why
they are producing messages for different audiences.
For
students to be successful digital writers, they must be taught how to be
mindful readers and writers. Turner and Hicks (2017) concludes, “To build
students’ mindfulness in social media spaces, we first need to help them see
their participation in those networks as real reading and writing.
Additionally, we must help assist students by nurturing their passions. According to Rozzo (2016), “A Passion Project
is essentially any task-based activity that is centered around the students’
interests. Students are more likely to remain engaged when class materials are
applicable to their lives.
My second video is from Ethan Gamer, a popular kid-gamer. Throughout his video, he provides a visual and descriptions as he plays a version of Roblox. Many kids watch his videos to learn different tips and tricks. As an educator, I see the writing process written all over his video. Again, this goes back to changing one’s mindset. Ethan has a passion for games, so channel that passion and structure his thinking to create “how-to” videos. Social media has opened the doors of possibilities for 21st century teaching and learning; we must embrace it.
Turner, K.H., &
Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to
read and write digital texts: Argument in the real world. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann
My second video is from Ethan Gamer, a popular kid-gamer. Throughout his video, he provides a visual and descriptions as he plays a version of Roblox. Many kids watch his videos to learn different tips and tricks. As an educator, I see the writing process written all over his video. Again, this goes back to changing one’s mindset. Ethan has a passion for games, so channel that passion and structure his thinking to create “how-to” videos. Social media has opened the doors of possibilities for 21st century teaching and learning; we must embrace it.
References
Hicks,
T. (2013) Crafting digital writing:
Composing text across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rozzo,
A. (2016) Student YouTube channels for any level. Retrieved from https://edtech.worlded.org/student-youtube-channels-level/.
My own kids love ROBLOX and have probably viewed that video. When I was at the Thompson Sixth Grade Center, we asked the students what they wanted to be when they grew up. To my surprise, many of them wanted to be YouTubers when they grow up. This shows how times are chaning. You mentioned that Turner and HIcks (2017) stated that many kids don’t see themselves as digital readers and writers even though they are participating and engaging with this daily. As educators, we must inform our studnents that they are actually participating and engaging with digital content.
ReplyDeleteLisa, the idea that students with disabilities can use social networking to engage with their peers is a great concept. Teachers can use audio and video storytelling to include all students in the classroom. Also, Turner and Hick’s (2017) idea that teachers must teach their students that social media is true reading and writing is brilliant. Students need to understand that even the “short text” such as updates, tweets, and text they read and write daily have an impact.
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