Right off the bat in this article, I like how it compares and contrasts the two different activities Ms. Doyle implemented in her classroom. Looking at the way the activities were carried out and the resources used, I can understand why scenario two would be the best way to go. With 21st century skills being on the forefront of education today, it is important that teachers learn and understand how to use a variety of technologies to implement and use in their classrooms, and potentially have their students use. The following quote sums up this statement very well: “in order to be literate in this technological age, students must learn to make meaning not only out of text but also out of the vast amount of visual information conveyed to them through images (pg 571).” I think that using a variety of technology, such as the digital cameras versus non digital cameras, in the classroom is beneficial to all students, including the bilingual students as featured in this article. Whenever technology is used in the classroom, especially using the Internet to look up websites for information, it is important that a teacher screens websites before presenting them to the students, as Ms. Doyle did. “By prescreening information resources, she ensured that her students were presented with only those that were appropriate to their ages and the task at hand (pg 572).” I definitely think that the Internet and other technologies, when used correctly, can help each other as well as other members of the community collaborate and learn from each other, as stated in this article. Using technology not only helps students within the classroom, but can also provide more opportunities to learn so much more outside the classroom. The students and other community members can use this knowledge in the future, providing so much room for growth.
Acquisition of Information Online
This article was a little tough to follow, especially when it came to the study of how having prior knowledge of a subject associated with their navigation of a Website to find out more information about that subject. I think what is stated in the article was true: “Users with higher prior knowledge within a domain tend to constrain their navigational selections to specific topics within a hypertexts system, explore these topics in greater detail, and move in a more nonlinear manner though the information space (pg 292).” I definitely think that when a person has more prior knowledge on a subject and would like to know more about something pertaining to that subject, they will know just what to search for and read closer on a Website to find out more information. I also think they will be more focused and less distracted than users who do not have prior knowledge on a subject and navigation skills. With so much emphasis on 21st century skills nowadays, “twenty-first century readers must not only know how to decode and comprehend texts that they are reading as they have in the past. They are now responsible for efficiently finding and evaluating these texts, apprehending information across multiple modalities simultaneously, and orchestrating dynamic strategies that facilitate learning in these complex environments (pg 291).” I think these two sentences are very important in how we access information on the Internet, not only having prior knowledge about a certain subject but how to navigate through different links and texts to find out what we need.
I totally agree with you that this article was hard to follow! I had to read through it multiple times to pull information out of it that would be useful.
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