Oh, technology. How we love you, hate you, love to hate you, and hate to love you. And yet, of course, you are not going away any time soon. Lanier's book was extremist, disjointed, and often extremely difficult to follow, but his warnings about the dangers and the negatives of our open internet culture had some merit. Lanier actually says some profound, thought-provoking things in between complaining about the state of the music industry and spouting some techno-babble that only very computer savvy people can even understand. As I mentioned in discussion, his comparison of Facebook to No Child Left Behind was especially interesting as a teacher, and backs up my own feelings about the problems with that particular law. To recap: Both are just a bunch of information within a computer, and we act as though this database of information can reflect human reality which, at least presently, it cannot do. However, as a teacher, I find it difficult to agree with him entirely on many of his points, if only because of how important technology is becoming to the teaching profession. He may not like the way open culture has played out--hell, I may not like the way open culture has played out--but it is the way things are, and kids seemingly more than anyone are completely engrossed in it, and if we are to succeed in grabbing their attention and holding it while still giving them a valuable education, we have to adapt to use it.
For one of our discussion questions, we asked if there are any other areas where technology may be having unintended, adverse effects. A very obvious answer to this question for Grammar Nazis everywhere is grammar and spelling. Though due to job applications and professional writings that still need to be typed properly, spelling and grammar have not completely been destroyed, but as we continue to text and shoot quick emails to each other and text speak continues to infiltrate our spoken language, those of us who enjoy the intricacies and flow of proper, written English are saddened. Some students feel that grammar is pointless because of these new ways of communicating, (case in point: http://failbook.failblog.org/2012/06/07/funny-facebook-fails-school-is-obsolete/?fb_ref=newcontenthole) and I have even had a parent ask my former directing teacher why he counts spelling on his vocabulary tests, (and bonus: she's a teacher herself. Of elementary school. Where you learn to spell). Is this the end of the world? No. But it makes my compulsion to correct improper grammar all the more obvious, since I seem to be doing it all the time, even to people my own age and older.
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI had not really thought about grammar until reading your post. I do think that it is really sad that many students will probably not develop such an important skill. I do though, catch myself not really thinking about how to spell certain thing because I know spell check will do it for me. Since I do catch myself doing this I can only image what the future will hold, we now allow calculators to be used on formal test when I remember that being a huge “no, no” when I was in school. Maybe next spell check on computerized test!
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on the spelling/grammar effects of technology. I was completely shocked in my internship when Honors students just could not write proper sentences. I don't think it is all because of technology. It also must be an effect of students schooling as well. Sentence structure and overall essay structure was completely lacking. Misspelling on in class work is not as important to me, but when students use acronyms and other words that are typical of texting it is very frustrating. As teachers, we must make students aware of the time and place for certain types of writing. And like we're always told, all teachers are reading teachers. I suppose we will all have to be writing teachers as well.
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the current uses of technology and open sharing are not going to be the end of the world. I think it is only going to make learning better because we have more access to other peoples ideas...if the are accepting to share them back...
I found your discussion question response rather interesting as well. The fact that a teacher asked another teacher why spelling mattered on a vocabular quiz is nuts! Blew my mind on that one. I do think that spelling is still important, and I am not a good speller at all. It is handy to have auto correct, and spell check, but sometimes if you cannot spell the word close enough it will autocorrect or spell check to the wrong word that looks similar. Therefore, students may find themselves in trouble when writing a paper and write defiantly instead of definitely.