The Internet is the defining text of this generation. We use it as a space to read, write, communicate, socialize, and participate globally. This technology facilitates access to an unlimited amount of online information in a participatory learning space. Literacy means many different things to different people. For me, literacy involves the knowledge, skills, and…
The Internet is the dominant text of our generation. Millions of individuals globally use it to read, write, communicate, and participate with others. Yet, in an online space that regularly serves up spin, fake news, and shades of fiction, it’s easier than ever to consume falsehoods and spout them as fact. That’s why critical media…
Part of the learning process involves a certain amount of failure. Individuals have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and use them as a source for understanding. Learning from, and overcoming mistakes also provides opportunities to improve motivation and self-esteem of the learner. The possibility of suffering defeat or failure in making a mistake…
This past year was a tough one for a variety of reasons. Many personal and professional things happened behind the scenes that seemed to ratchet up the stress and anxiety level to ten. Some of this may be due to our second child turning three as well. 🙂 One specific series of events sent me…
Educators must prepare students to be the multiliterate individuals that they will need to be successful in their futures. Schools are ultimately responsible for preparing students to be critical users of available technologies (Damarin, 2000; Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004), problem solvers, and good communicators in networked civic spaces (Mishra & Kereluik, 2011; Binkley…
A 21st century educational system must educate all students in the effective and authentic use of the technologies that permeate society to prepare them for the future. In the past, our educational system emphasized the use of traditional tools such as textbooks, chalkboards, overhead projectors, ring binders, and composition books. Now however, our culture has…
We often hear the tired trope that “if you’re not paying for something, you’re the product.” This most often applies to the digital spaces and tools that we use on a regular basis, and never pay for. The truth of this is that in many ways we are paying a great deal. We’re paying for…
To behaviorists, the mind is a “black box.” In science and engineering, the term black box refers to any complex device for which we know the inputs and outputs, but not the inner workings. For example, to many of us, our mobile devices are a black box. We push the buttons on the phone, select the app…
If you recognize the name B.F. Skinner, you most likely associate him with behaviorism, a theoretical perspective that focuses on human behaviors a primarily responses to stimuli. This approach assumes that all behaviors are responses to stimuli from the outside world, either rewards or punishment. This system of rewards and/or punishment is known as operant…
If you interact online, chances are you have witnessed trolling and trolling behaviors. You may also have been targeted by these behaviors as they show up in comment sections and social media platforms. A 2016 poll of over 1000 Americans reported that 25% of respondents were victims of online harassment or knew someone who was. Of the…