Sunday, May 25, 2014

Digital Media Effects on Conventional Reading and Writing Practices



Texting a Friend

Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writers

"According to Lunsford, the writing we produce is not getting worse.  Instead, it is simply adapting to the modern world" (Karp, 2010).


A few years ago I would have disagreed with this statement adamantly.  However looking back on this subject now, I'd have to say it was a stagnant belief.  I learned a certain set of rules regarding the English language in grade school and that was it.  No one taught me in school that language is fluid with the time period or as Lunsford stated above - adaptive.  As someone who is in love with the Shakespearian time period it should have occurred to me that language changes over time and just because it does so over my time period here on Earth does not make it wrong.  Technology is adapting the way we think, especially when it comes to communication.  As our language adapts, our writing and literacy skills will follow.  





My Flipboard
Literacy Debate:  Online, R U Really Reading?

"As teenagers’ scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of reading — diminishing literacy, wrecking attention spans and destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books." (Rich, 2008).
I have to be honest, just about the whole article shocked me.  I'm 37 years old and not adverse to digital literacy at all.  It never occurred to me that snippets of literacy online wasn't considered reading to some individuals.  My prize books are Animal Farm, The Great Divorce, Shakespeare's Unabridged Works and Memoirs (1874), Jonathan Livingston Seagull, etc…   I also love my collection of books on my iPad but sitting still long enough to read a whole book or a series of books is hard to do when the Internet provides a plethora of reading material.  I believe discounting snippets of Internet literacy to be a stagnant belief.  We are in the digital age and information literally flows from our fingertips.  I currently have 7 windows open on my MacBook and every few moments I flip through a couple.   I love my Flipboard. I can skip through articles fairly quickly and glancing at the snapshot I just took of my Flipboard makes me want to check out the science article in the bottom left corner.  The problem today is that we don't engage teenagers in the material that they want to read.  I'm a huge advocate for comic books.  They are short, eye catching, and can be read on the Internet.  Not only that but you can make your own at Make Beliefs Comix killing 2 birds with one stone - literacy and writing.  

Web Evangelist vs Traditional Writing
Geoffery Fairchid

I don't feel that digital media is destroying our children's ability to read and write.  I think the problem lies in what we want our students to read and how we are approaching writing.  Neither are innovative.  I look at the stories my kids are reading (the same one I did, excerpts of old stories) and how they are being tested.  I know for a fact that there is some sort of missing link.  I don't know if it is failure to read a story and apply concepts that the pre-prepared test the teacher puts no thought into does.  I've seen the oddest questions come from stories I know my child and I didn't discuss as we reviewed together. 

When it comes to writing my children's teachers use a lot of worksheets to develop grammar skills.  I'm not seeing an innovation in teaching.  I'm not trying to bash on teaching skills in general at my children's school but there is a missing link.  My children use technology at home.  They use kindles to read.  They use YouTube to learn how to make paper Japanese stars and swans.  They use Siri's Text-to-Talk on my iPhone.  They are bombarded at home with technology but not at school.  There is some sort of missing link and I don't think it is the digital technology that should we should be pointing our finger at.  I think we need to find new innovative ways to teach our students to read and write that will intrigue or peek their interest.  We also need to start acknowledging what they are reading and writing and applying this to our teaching.  OR we can acknowledge that as culture changes, writing is going to change as well.  This has been noted in all the readings and the TEDtalk Video as a negative concept which eventually turns into the norm, such as Latin transcending into French (John McWhorter, n.d.).

I also want to point out that I agree heavily with John McWhorter in the TEDtalk Video, "Txting, is killing our language.  JK!!!"  Writing follows our language.  Not vice versa.  

"All communication includes the transfer of information from one person to another, and while the transfer of information is only the first step in the process of understanding a complex phenomenon, it is an important first step.  Writing is a fairly static form of transfer" (Ferraro and Kathryn C. & Palmer).

Intimate Conversation with My Husband
There is obviously a place to write in proper form and a place and time to just communicate.  When I texted my husband this weekend during my karate tournament my messages had to be short and concise.  I did not have time to write a thesis.  My first communication as I quickly put on my sparring gear was, "2nd in kata".   Along with an additional brief comment.  As I ran to my kids' karate rings to see them finish, my fourth text was, "1st in sparring".  I'm not going to include punctuations in the messages as I write this blog because I didn't have time for punctuation during my quick, intimate conversation with my husband (especially at the beginning of the conversation as I found myself a rather nervous wreck).  My husband understood what I meant.  He knows the linguistics of the Japanese word "kata."  He understands the places I was awarded and so he replied, "Derek says NICE!  I say congrats!!"  Short and concise.  Just as John McWhorter points out that texting is a form of language not writing.  

When I first began texting it was new.  I was still use to writing long papers and I felt that my writing should reflect punctuations, proper grammar, etc… How long and laborious that was especially hitting the "2" button three times to type just the letter "C".  It didn't take long to understand why texting required short, concise messages with abbreviated wording such as "BTW, LOL, etc…"  It took an even shorter time period for those words to turn into "btw, lol, etc…"  just because the shift button took more effort than what it was worth.  Before I knew it, it was a part of my personal culture as well as the culture I was embedded into. 

It interesting to note how the texting world is becoming fluid as it develops into its own language.  Obviously it will always be rigid as facial expressions, nonverbal clues, and the human component are absent.  It's not as rigid as writing can be but to add the nonverbal clues and engage the other individual texting is quickly developing ways to do this such as adding visual expressions such as "lol" or as John McWhorter explained the term "slash" as a "new information marker"which further gives us evidence to pull texting away from the category of writing and into language.  

I recommend the TEDTalk series in general




Citations

Ferraro and Kathryn C. , V., & Palmer, K. C. (n.d.).Differences between oral and written 
              communication. Retrieved on May 25 from 
              https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/speech/differences.htm

Karp, J. (2010, Jan 26). Does digital media make us bad writers?. Retrieved on May 23, 2014 from 
              http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/does-digital-media-make-us-bad-writers

Rich, M. N. K. (2008, July 27). The future of reading literacy debate: Online, r u really reading?
              Retrieved on May 23, 2014 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?
              pagewanted=all&_r=0

TEDTalk. (Producer). John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!! [Web Video]. Retrieved from 
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmvOgW6iV2s

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Ahem… Introduction

Boy Scout Jamboree 2013
Introduction
My name is Jaime Ford and I live on the outskirts of Farmington, WV in Katy Village just 7 minutes from Fairmont State University (FSU).  I am the Coordinator and Education Specialist for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) based student programs at NASA's IV&V Educator Resource Center (ERC).  After awhile you get used to all the acronyms when you work with NASA.  How many people knew there was a NASA in Fairmont, WV?  How many thought that IV&V stood for "Building 4 & 5?"  How many people knew there has been a NASA in WV since 1991?  Show of hands….

Challenger Crew 
IV&V is an acronym and stands for Independent Verification & Validation.  After the Challenger tragedy in 1986… I know most of you knew exactly where you were when this happened (I was nine and sitting on a cold gym floor)… NASA shut down the shuttle program until they could figure out the cause of the explosion that ultimately killed seven crew members.  During the debate, NASA declared that if indeed this would have been a software malfunction an independent NASA facility that could verify and validate software may prevent another tragedy in the future.  The Challenger malfunction was a mechanical issue, however NASA's IV&V Facility doors opened in 1991.  Since then the engineers have corrected numerous issues including 5,000 critical errors on the International Space Station and continue to make sure satellites, robots, and rockets function properly in space.  After all who wants the "Blue Screen of Death" during a space mission?  Especially if the space mission is carrying human life.

All Girls FLL Team
How'd I end up at NASA's IV&V Facility?  I have a Bachelor of Science in Animal & Veterinary Science and a background in animal research.  I returned to school in 2010 to obtain a teaching license in biology, general science, and physical science.  I learned my passion was in research and teaching science.  My thought was, "A scientist in the science classroom is what we need in our school system."  I was offered the position at the ERC shortly after I received my teaching license and this position has awed me from the beginning.  Who wouldn't love teaching robotics, aviation, and rocketry?  I also teach Planetary Geology, Living & Working in Space, and the Electro-Magnetic Spectrum.  I've developed a few other classes since I've started that include "Our Solar System" and "Mission to Mars."  I'm also working on a prototype class that utilizes our engineering 3D CAD software and our 3D printer.  I also help with STEM challenges such as FIRST LEGO League (FLL), Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) and the Real World Design Challenge (RWDC).  At the end of the day, I hope that I can show students a field of study in STEM that they didn't realize they could be pursue and continue to live here in WV.

Graduate Studies
I have declared Digital Media as my Masters in Education program at FSU.  I hope to enhance my knowledge base in technology to continue teaching STEM based education in WV.  In the last five months I have taught 750 kids from various counties in WV.  My goal is always to improve my fluid classroom, which means improving myself as well.  I have thus far completed 27 hours of my graduate program which includes:
  • EDUC 6300 Found of Am Ed
  • EDUC 6301 Research in Education
  • EDUC 6304 Diversity & Disability
  • EDUC 6305 Adv Educ Tech and Media
  • EDUC 6814 Game Design & Learning
  • READ 6300 Foundations in Read & Writing
  • READ 6315 Teach Cont Area Literacy
  • ONLR 6808 Tech Tools for Online Learning
  • SPED 6321 Students with Sp Behvr Prob
My Definition of Literacy
Literacy in the 21st Century

I chose this video for a few reasons.  First, I am biased as a STEM educator to make sure my students are exposed to up-to-date technology and have ready access in the ERC.  Second, technology is our future.  It is not slowing down, it is increasing… becoming more readily available… and humankind is evolving around it.  

Repost Wisely
Media Literacy in Education
The nice thing about the digital age is the fact that information is literally at your fingertips.  When I earned my A&VS degree, research was long and laborious.  Now I can bring a quote or statistic to the surface quickly.  It doesn't mean that it is accurate but it's still instantaneous.  Quotes on FB usually set off an alarm.  Finding out if the quote is accurate is more difficult than I thought.  I would love to think that Albert Einstein or Marilyn Monroe said half the things I've read but in the end I may find those quotes are from someone else's imagination.  How disappointing...

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Carter





A little over a month ago, one of the warriors from our Dojo suffered a horrific head trauma.  The experience has been terrifying to watch as both someone who knows this little guy and as a parent of an 11 year old child myself.  This video outlines the gratitude his father wants to express to all the people who have kept Carter in their thoughts, hearts, and prayers through this journey.