Evolution of English
I stumbled across this video through a post by a Columbia professor (former Bowdoin professor). The video was created by the chair of the Rutgers University English Department, Richard Miller. He makes a compelling argument about how the study of English has to evolve with the read/write world. In it he says of the study of English in the networked world:
(the study of English) excels in human expression and in the study of human culture related to human expression - we should be the place that’s at the very cutting edge of education for students in these areas.
Watch it and see what you think.
I love the term “collaboratory.” Can we get one of those? Funny. He keeps saying “newhumanities” in reference to instilling creativity into the academic rigor of reading and writing (moving away from simply critiquing what has been created). Why is this somehow “new”? I agree fully. We should move away from the ossified judgment of what is “good” or “right” in literature, but how is this intrinsically technologically based? Seems to me like it is essentially a return to the original idea of the study of humanities-gaining a better appreciation and understanding of what makes us human. I would love to play in that Collaboratory with a class, but it still sounds like a fundraising pitch for the humanities department. Why should science always get the cool labs anyway?
oh yeah, and kudos for coming up with that clever picture of the final piece of the wikipedia puzzle as the academic world embodied. If we can’t crush wikipedia with our upturned noses, then we should insist on being essential to the fulfillment of its being. Hey, we are the experts after all. You have to let us play.
Has anyone even read wikipedia? I bet Lowell even has an entry. If he doesn’t, I am going to write one for him.
On the heels of this post, I found that the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) has just adopted this statement concerning 21st century literacies: http://www.ncte.org/about/gov/129117.htm Here’s a quote, “Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies - from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms - are multiple, dynamic, and malleable.” It’s significant that the NCTE (and other organizations) acknowledge that our teaching must change to address these changing technologies and we can’t rely on teaching the way we have always taught.
I am not fighting the idea of technology in the classroom. What exactly is “the intensity and complexity of literate environments”? I mean, I teach English and I am not exactly sure what is meant by “literate environments.” Is that another name for books? So, because we have virtual ways of connecting to one another, the nature of reading and writing has changed? I don’t buy it.
I am a huge fan of YouTube, iTunes, blogs, skype, wikipedia and Amazon.com. That being said, my students voted to hand in their papers by hand rather than virtually because they were so sick of electronic media. Their was actual relief on their part to have the opportunity to deal in paper.
The nature of reading and writing may not be changing but how we do it has changed dramatically with the new tools. I think now more than ever we have the ability to make learning more authentic and more meaningful for students. Just yesterday, I watch (streamed video) an english class in Colorado as they had a Skyped conversation with an author about his book. You can watch an archived version of that conversation here (http://karlfisch.wikispaces.com/AWNM_Ustream_Videos).
That conversation was part of a ninth grade english project described here (http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2008/01/think-pink-whole-new-learning.html). I encourage you to visit the class blog - it’s fascinating on so many levels. They blogged and had discussions with people from all over. They brought parents, superintendents, and other educators into their conversations. I think projects like this transform the students’ learning beyond traditional 5 paragraph essays.
This is so interesting to me. I just wrote about how my eight year old is changing language in our home and how technology is impacting her. Related to that are the socio-economic differences that are evolving because of kids (lack of) exposure to tech. See what you think: http://www.jencarole.blogspot.com. I would love to hear from educators on this subject.