I’ve just read the article, “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom”, by Ashley Hinck and I have to say it was an interesting read.
Check out this link for a quick infographic on my summary of the article and a few of my thoughts.
I think the main idea behind the article is a sort of tension that Ashley has noticed between the previous/ current model of education and creativity. She clearly sees how this negatively impacts the way students in her digital classroom want to interact with digital platforms. So in a sense, the education system is very teacher-centred, and students just follow a set of directions (prescribed by the teacher) to arrive at a satisfactory finished product which they are then marked on. This causes them to want the same procedure to be followed in making digital media. They want templates and a series of steps to follow. She calls these the digital ghosts in today’s classrooms. I imagine this is very frustrating, because digital technology is the “new frontier“ of creativity so why would everyone follow the same old procedures? According to Ashley, a way to combat this, at least in her classroom is to allow students to experiment with open platforms where they can make mistakes and make their visions come to life. Also, they need to be able to critically examine whatever platform they are using and consider the affordances of that platform and whether it allows them to create a digital artefact the way they envision it. This can also be applied to education in the broader sense, where, within any content area, students should have room for creativity and making mistakes should be a part of the success.
I had never really thought to critically examine the way we have been taught in school and higher education until I got to teacher’s college. I definitely agree with Ashley on the fact that a lot of education is very teacher-centered. This applies to digital education as well. But I don’t know if I agree with the fact that to be creative you must use open platforms. Now, as someone who doesn’t dabble in the digital media world aside from consuming it, short-cut platforms are great. It allows me to participate in many-to-many communication using a digital/visual medium. I think for someone just starting out, short-cut platforms can be a great introduction to the digital-media creating world. If I had to do the same but write code instead, to get my message out there, I probably wouldn’t get very far because I don’t know anything about it. Now, that does not mean that I will not try to learn how to do it. But that takes time! So I think it is important to look at whether you are creating a digital resource/ website to show your creativity or to make art or whether you are just using the digital medium as a vehicle for the knowledge you want to share. In the latter case, maybe a template platform would be a better idea.
As an emerging teacher, I realize that this opinion means I am still at the Enhancement stages of the SAMR model and not yet the Transformation stages. But as I learn more and more about these template/ shortcut platforms, I am increasingly interested to learn how to design and create my own resources. Maybe even from scratch!
I used Piktochart to make the infographic for this article summary and really enjoyed it. It was my first time creating anything digital and while I was initially really nervous about it, I ended up having a lot of fun playing around with colours and graphics. I did have a few moments of frustration and I can see where Ashley is coming from because there were certain instances where I couldn’t do something I wanted to do because of the template I was working with. Even considering this, I would 100% use Piktochart again and look forward to using it with my students in my teaching career.
Thanks for reading! Post some of your thoughts below!
Bharti Mor