Dustin Anderson Blog Response

Dustin Anderson Blog Response

 "Simply put, we can’t keep preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist. We can’t keep ignoring the formidable cognitive skills they’re developing on their own. And above all, we must stop disparaging digital prowess just because some of us over 40 don’t happen to possess it. An institutional grudge match with the young can sabotage an entire culture."

Digital natives will be taking over the world way sooner than digital immigrants may be able to fathom.  The youth filled generation is becoming more digitally literate at younger ages and we must stop trying to stray them away for the "new way" of learning and human interactions for human sake.

I agree completely with Dustin Anderson's statement above. Before we know it my generation (digital natives will soon b taking over the world.  As the baby boomer generation begins to enter their second half of life the next generation up is using technology more.  The world we live in today is changing at a drastic pace as well.  Before the internet, smart phones, tablets, and eBooks were invented they way students learned was through reading physical texts, and long hours of research in the library.  That was so 30 years ago.  In this day in age students have access to more knowledge than ever before at a fraction of the time needed than before.  Students are now more digitally literate and it needs to be embraced by the older generation.  That means education in general needs to be tailored to todays youth, meaning that classrooms need to become more up to date, more online assignments need to be given, more things need to become digitized. Times are changing and people are changing.  New Borns of todays generation may never know what the dewey decimal system was and thats perfectly acceptable, because they may know how to navigate the internet for information found in books with the click of a mouse.  Teachers need to stop using chalkboards and use smart boards.  What the digital immigrants need to understand simply is that technology isn't our enemy it is our friend and peer.  We need technology as much as technology needs us to improve it.  Teachers need to embrace sites such as google and wikipedia, knowledge is power and since students have knowledge readily available with the advances in the internet and other technologies, if education adapts to this new generations style of learning they should be able to learn at a more rapid rate.

Superman & Me Response

Superman and Me

Superman & Me is the tale on how an Indian man named Sherman Alexie learned to read using the Superman Comic strip.  Sherman was a boy that came from an Indian Reservation in Wellinit, Washington.  His story on figuring out how to read was quite inspirational.  He began reading at 3 years old which is sooner than most people can say they learned to read.  What was so interesting about Sherman's story was how he would figure out hat words meant by looking at the picture that the words were describing.  The story was also inspiring because Sherman was never pushed to excel in reading, it was something that he learned on his own. His will and passion for reading was something he got from his father since he loved to read but he did it all on his own.  Even after becoming a successful writer Sherman came back to his reservation to teach the new youth how to read and write to try and spark the minds of other children that are in the current position that he used to be in.

Literacy was so important to Sherman because he was smart and he knew it.  He did not let his financial circumstances as a child negatively affect his future.  Instead he took the tools he had (the books his father purchased from pawn shops) and began reading all the texts that he could physically get his hands on.   I agree with the way that Sherman became literate.  I am a firm believer that life is exactly what you make of it, and in my eyes Sherman had the will and desire to learn to read as well as write, and know he makes a living off of making his words and wisdom flow.

Hourihan Blog

To me a blog is a personal point of view by a writer or a group of writers.  In blogs I feel like the authors do not have to be politically correct in the content that they post.  Versus in a newspaper they must be politically correct and show different points of view.

Hourihan feels that blogs are a communication revolution because more and more people are writing on online sources rather than using paper and pencil.  With websites like bloodspot, and twitter peoples personal feelings can be viewed world wide for anybody with internet access to see.

I feel like keeping a blog in this class with be very advantageous for learning.  I think it will be beneficial because it allows students to write in their own "style" of writing.

To me when you publish something it is viewed by an editor and has multiple rough drafts, as opposed to a blog you can just straight state your opinion of something and submit it for the world to see instantly.

Writing Is Essential

Writing is an essential part of life as well as communication.  I am planning on becoming a business major and I feel that writing is important for that subject as well.  In business I feel that I will need to write to put my plans and thoughts in words for my employees and or boss.  If there is something new that I want my company to try I need to have vivid writing skills in order to thoroughly explain the message that I want to get across. I will need to know how to write short persuasive essays, short memos, and business letters. As of right now I feel that I am a decent writer that is good at descriptively getting my points and views across, I just need to improve a little bit on my grammar, word choice, and run-on sentences.