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Digital Technologies |
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Introduction
Digital Technologies Changing Literacies Teacher Training No Technology Methodology Courses &
Workshops |
The first reason why it is necessary to study the nature of TA training with technology is the reality and growing pervasiveness of digital technologies. To understand the impact of digital technologies in TA teacher training, we must understand what digital technologies involve and assess the extent to which digital technologies permeate our lives. Peter Smagorinsky argues that the single most important issue facing teachers and scholars of reading and writing in the new millennium will be the influence of technology on literacy (277-78). Literacy has been reshaped by the rising dominance of new media and the increasing use of new information technologies. For example, "in the fall 2001, 99 percent of public schools in the United States had access to the Internet," but in 1994 only 35 percent of public schools had Internet access (Kleiner n.p.). Schools have been working harder than ever to keep up with technology in the classroom. For instance, "In 2001, the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access in public schools was 5.4 to 1, an improvement from the 12.1 to 1 ratio in 1998, when it was first measured" (Kleiner n.p.). But what exactly then is "digital technology"? Why does it require such extensive preparation to be used effectively in the composition classroom, and why does it evoke such a radical range of responses, from passionate commitment to equally passionate resistance? The fact that digital communication is conducted with such immediacy and sound accuracy is what separates digital communicative technology from the technologies of the pen and pencil. Digital communication tools have also become flexible (and portable), meaning that we can use these tools in our cars, on planes, and in coffee shops. They can be small in size and can be carried in a purse or coat pocket. In addition, digital technologies use the visual to help facilitate immediacy, accuracy, and flexibility. When I use the term "digital technologies" I will be referring to some aspect of electronic communication via the Internet or computer technologies. There is a slight difference between digital products and digital communication as pointed out by Cheryl Geisler, et al. in "ITEXT: Future Directions for Research on the Relationship between Information Technology and Writing." The authors indicate:
Digital technology incorporates electronics in the use of communicating messages. It includes tools such as desktop computers, LCD projectors, DVD players, mobile phones, radios, and televisions. These are also tools that provide us access to the world beyond our immediate communities. Hardware capabilities are going through rapid changes on a daily basis. However, the goal of this hardware is to facilitate communication for a variety of reasons, purposes, and functions. These tools are by nature linked together, meaning that they have the ability to communicate with one another. For example, we can write short "text" messages via cell phones and send them into cyberspace, we can create formal presentations for groups of people and "post" them in cyberspace for others to view, and we can compose letters in the form of email messages that can be sent immediately to another person, thus allowing digital technologies to facilitate communication with one another. In addition, there are multitudes of software that facilitate these kinds of digital communication. For example, Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Macromedia Flash/Director, Adobe, and various Microsoft products all help computer users or users of digital technologies enhance their messages and communications. This software is used in such career fields as corporate businesses, education systems, churches, athletics, social work, community service, and virtually every aspect of life beyond the classroom. Just as important is that these tools are as much a part of popular culture as Coca-Cola™, which means that children and teenagers are increasingly adept at both learning and using these tools for communication and self-expression. For example, Macromedia Flash allows a user to create videos and animation along with text and sound. Microsoft PowerPoint allows users to integrate video into a slide presentation. But more commonly, teenagers and children are using IM, Yahoo Pager, and more recently, cell phone text messaging services to communicate with their friends. They can create/use different fonts, colors, and styles to personalize messages just like traditional letter stationary. They can include pictures and video and audio. The cell phones students own also allow them to communicate via multimedia because they can talk, write text, and send pictures simultaneously. A study assessing TA technology training and teaching is crucial now because of the extent to which digital technologies and ITexts have penetrated our quotidian lives and our classrooms. Digital technology--variously configured--has evolved and spread in the last two decades. When I first entered a computer classroom as a teacher in 1996, I had very little training with technology. I had played with a Commodore 64 and a VIC 20. This was my computer background before I ever entered into graduate work. The situation today is considerably different in both our culture and our classrooms. The pervasiveness of digital technologies requires a new technological sophistication for teachers, especially for those of us teaching in digital classroom environments because our students are entering our classroom technologically savvy. For example, according to a July 2002 PEW Internet and Life project survey "60% of America’s children or 43 million children under age 18 use the Internet. About 78% of those between 12 and 17 (about 18 million pre-teens and teens) use the Internet. In addition, more than 1 in five households with children (23%) have broadband connections through DSL lines or cable modems" (Levin and Arafeh ii). Students now enter our classrooms expecting more and deserving more in the way of technology access and instruction. The phenomenon of digital technology has special appeal for the youth of our culture, which means that by the time students reach our first-year writing courses they, many times, surpass their teachers in terms of their proficiency with digital technologies. Beyond playing with technology, students have been influenced by the digital gateway to information and services; for example, signing up for courses, paying library fines, and registering for parking are all activities that can be performed online rather than face to face. What makes these tools so effective in classrooms and professional settings is that the immediacy with which communication can be performed is almost as quick and accurate as communicating face-to-face. Instant messaging services like Yahoo Pager and IM even offer emoticons to help express emotions in written discourse and in synchronous and asynchronous online discussions. Thus, with the tools readily available in many classrooms, teachers need to be comfortable with hardware and software as well as prepared to use them when teaching and writing. Such sophistication is rapidly becoming a central element in their charge as teachers. Douglas Levin and Susan Arafeh point out that computers in the classroom are simply necessary. They note that
It is not only that we, as teachers, recognize the need for technology assistance for teachers but also that students recognize this need. If teachers are expected to integrate the Internet into the curricula, it only makes sense that we effectively and successfully address this issue. Furthermore, students in the K-12 classrooms are the very ones we will see in our first-year classrooms, and it is imperative that we begin to align teacher training with technology training. Digital technologies, ranging from radios to picture/video-phones, and the pervasiveness of ITexts in both culture and the classroom indicate the significance of a study assessing TA training in technology and teaching. However, digital technologies as material devices are only part of the reason for the importance of studying TA technology training. If the goal of composition courses is to help students extend their repertoire of communication strategies, then we, as professionals, cannot ignore the new ways in which students are writing and communicating in both personal and professional contexts. The degree to which digital technologies have affected our students’ literacies is crucial to our teaching. TA training with technology will serve no long-term purpose unless we also consider the shifts in literacies evoked by the growing role of these technologies in students’ lives. |