Hey everyone,
I hope you are ready for a parody because that is exactly what you will find below. The first half of the song is more of a summary of the article we read for class which was titled “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom“. The concept of the article was that students have lost their ability to be creative and are not as willing to accept failure. I think Ashley Hinck’s concept in her article is captured when she says “The assumption that digital media making has linear, standardized steps also affects students’ perceptions of the process of making itself. It turns any problems students encounter into failures, and each success just a predictable step toward the more important final product. ” I think this was the main concept Hinck was trying to convey when she talked about template websites causing students to feel like they are failing.
The second half of the song is my reply to the article. I agreed with some of the ideas surrounding the main point, but ultimately disagree. I don’t think the template style websites are the reason students are afraid to fail. Students have been afraid to fail for longer then the template websites have been around. I also think that students can take the pre-made templates and make them their own. I did try to enhance my understanding of Hinck’s view by using a template website. I used IMovie and YouTube for this video. I was able to take the templates and completely make the video my own. I did come across challenges as well such as synchronizing my singing with the video. Although I hit some road blocks I was never afraid to fail, which is more of a reflection on the way I have been taught rather than types of digital technologies I have tried. I never felt hindered in my creativity from selecting to use a template website as defined by Hinck. I don’t believe there is lack of creativity solely because of template websites.
In my classroom I hope to facilitate exploration through digital technologies and analog technologies. I want to be able to encourage my students to try and use new tools without pressure of being right or wrong. I hope that in my classroom students feel excited about learning new tools and feel encouraged to be creative.
Steph