I read the article Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom by Ashley Hinck. I chose to summarize this text in the form of a Twitter essay, as I have been an active member of the Twitter community throughout my youth. Ashley Hinck attempts to define the term ‘Critical Digital Pedagogy’ in this article, and makes mention that students lack true understanding of digital media making. This is due, in part, to commonly used template/shortcut platforms, which Hinck refers to as ‘Digital Ghosts’.
I found it particularly interesting to read that the reason Hinck refers to such platforms as ghosts is because even after the discarding of such technologies within classrooms, student learning is still affected by their existence.
As a student, there was always the typical ‘format’ for assignments: size 12 font, Times New Roman, double spaced, etc. There were a limited number of times in my education when a teacher gave us students the freedom to complete an assignment in any which way we preferred. Even when given the chance to choose between various platform options, there were always limitations. As students, we were always working within a narrow tunnel to produce an artifact our teachers deemed acceptable. Little authority does a pre-determined template application provide.
Can we even blame students for thinking easier is better and that by following a series of steps, they will be successful? Not really. As Ashley Hinck argues, student assumptions regarding digital media making exist because the ideas reflect what students have been taught throughout education: that only one right answer exist. This is something that I have personally come across in my experience of tutoring students, particularly in Math. There are multiple ways of achieving an answer to a math problem, much like how there are many forms of digital media making. Yet, students are taught by their teachers that there is only one way to achieve such an answer. This reflects a portion of the message that I believe Hinck is trying to stress; Shortcut/template platforms promote the idea that there is only one way to produce an artifact. And that, is just simply wrong.
Overall, Ashley Hinck’s article challenges teacher candidates, like myself, to recognize these digital ghosts and realize how they affect student learning. As educators, we should be encouraging our students to be creative in their own unique way! In order to do so, we must become GHOSTBUSTERS *shouts lyric*!
You can read my whole Twitter essay regarding this article here.