Media Ecology & Learning Case

• Hanging Out: How did your young person's use of computers reflect friendship driven practices and  facilitate social interaction between their peers? Give concrete examples.

Dominator uses electronics primarily for playing games, one of which is Minecraft and it is inherently social in nature. When he has friends over, they all bring their iPads and play the game together in a group(each with their individual electronic). While his electronic and technology practices are indeed private, they do facilitate social interaction via online communication.

• Messing Around: How did your young person's use of computers provide them with informal learning opportunities to develop tech savvy skill sets? Give concrete examples.

One of Dominator's favorite things to do online is to simply search all kinds of things. He does online searches for pie recipes, various magic spells, and can successfully navigate YouTube at only 8 years old. He understands YouTube's channels system, search engine, and ability to create videos. (Which I'm sure will happen in a matter of time.) These are skills that have resulted simply from recreational time with an electronic, which are quite remarkable given his young age.

• Geeking Out: Has your young person developed a particular interest or highly specialized skill sets  as a result of their use of computers at home and school? Describe?

I would say for certain that the young person I interviewed has further developed interests that wouldn't have been possible without the use of computers at home. He is very interested in magic spells and potions--which I believe initially stemmed from the Harry Potter series. 

He is also very adept at navigating the game of Minecraft, and this is not something you automatically understand after watching for 5 minutes. (I still do not completely grasp it.) Given the fact he has been playing electronic games on iPads and Leapsters since he could talk, he has excellent fine motor skills that have resulted from an increasing amount of technology usage. 

As I observe him, I also see that he can successfully navigate a keyboard and a computer monitor/screen. He fully understands what the space bar, shift keys, and other computer keys mean. When you really think deeply about these skills, you realize that it is pretty remarkable that he has learned all of this at such a young age. There are some children (probably the same age) that do not possess these computer skills, either because they do not have computers at home or these skills are not focused on in the classroom environment. 

• Schooling: Does your young person talk about use of traditional literacy practices like using correct spelling vs text messaging lingo? Reading books over use of the computer? Writing in traditional genres like poetry or essays?  Conducting research for personal or school related purposes? 

Dominator is an avid reader of traditional print books, partly due to the fact that his parents largely support this. During the summer, he and his brother must also write in their journals for 30 minutes once a day, and read a chapter book for 40 minutes every day. 

However, he would much rather be using the computer. In fact, there are many times when he insists that his 40 minutes of reading time can be done on the Kindle (e-reader), because he would rather use it versus a traditional book. 

Quotes to inlcude from course texts

"So great is this threat of destabilization that a number of new technologies are currently excluded from educational settings and we continually attempt to police the online activity of our pupils."

"I believe that current classroom practices which focus mainly on individualized learning need to learn from what I and others (Gee, 2004; Williamson and Facer) have noted about online learning collaboration; that each individual can achieve more by interacting with others."

"Participatory media cultures sometimes include very productive learning environments."

"Groups are an excellent way of structuring activities and, while allowing a whole range of creative responses, provide rules for participation and learning."

"Using the Internet does not automatically guarantee participation in the information society, hence assistance is required in order to engage them in relevant activities."

"The essential nature of traditional skill development for students further indicates that today's students are not so different from previous generation: they still need to learn the same basic skills."

"The criticism centers around the idea that this term overemphasizes differences between generations and undermines diversity within the generation in question."

"In some ways, students today are ahead of their elders. Technology is second nature to them and they accept it without question. Schools lag behind."