CURR 550: Summer 2017

I enjoyed Boyd thoughts and position on the “digital native” because it not only discussed important key points, but I believe that it also helped me understand why I couldn’t commit to being “digital native” or “digital immigrant” in my previous post. According to Prensky I fall into the “digital native” category being born after 1980, but I still don’t feel that way. Yes I can easily navigate the web, prefer graphics to standard simple text,  and grew up in the ‘right’ decade, but  I still believe that I straddle both digital labels because despite all my tech fluency I still do not understand HOW my computer actually works. That is why I go running to the school IT teacher when I click too fast and accidentally download something that I believe to be detrimental to my computer (OMG! Is it a virus!?!). Boyd said,“[t]echnical skills are increasingly important. Few teens have a basic understanding of how the computer systems they use every day work.” If teens are the d...

The words 'native' and 'immigrant' are not new to my lexicon, but when a third familiar word 'digital' falls in front of them I had to do my research. After learning about theses new terms, I couldn't help but instantly categorize my parents as "digital immigrants". When my father received his first iPod Touch as an early Christmas gift about 10 years ago it was my job to show him hope to download and put music on it from "the iTunes". The first time I showed him, he took specific and thorough notes on his yellow legal pad. We added an array of musical titles from Bing Crosby Christmas to  his entire library of the Beatles. Long story short, despite his notes and my numerous tutorials, ten years later (yes his iPod Touch is still kickin'!) my father still has his seasonal music pop up in his shuffle while at the gym. This is not because he is some sort of Christmas fanatic it is simply because he has just found it easier to skip th...

Welcome to my CURR 550 blog! My name is Leah, I am a high school English- ESL teacher at Cranston High School East.  I enjoy Martha Stewart, early 90's West Coast hip-hop,  Vegetable gardening,  and living vicariously through PBS's Rick Steves.  I am looking forward to the next two weeks and hope to find new and engaging ways to incorporate digital media literacy into my high school classroom.