My genesis as a blogger and my concomitant immersion in youth popular culture and texts has involved a rapid onslaught of information processing, inquiry-based learning, critical thinking and reflection for me. Registering for online platforms and social media curation sites, upskilling in presentation apps like Prezi, and overcoming a sense of paralysis by analysis when building my online presence have…
The demise of socialising – my X-Gen moral panic
I’ve watched the movie Wall-E (2008) with my daughter a few years ago and whilst being completely captivated by the lovely little A.I. robot I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The massive piles of rubbish were reminiscent of those found in Mumbai, the chubby, sedentary folk wearing virtual goggles and drinking their…
I’m a digital immigrant – confessions of an X-Gen teacher
One of the wonderful women I work with told me a few days ago, “You know why, don’t you? It’s because we’re digital immigrants!” This is a confessional blog post. I hadn’t heard that term digital immigrant before. Yes, I know I suffer goldfish bowl syndrome. I was absolutely up to date on the whole concept of Digital Natives, I’d…
Adolescence, Identity and Algorithms: Filters are limiting the diversity of online engagement
Adolescents enjoy popular forms of digital media: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, You Tube clips and Google Apps as stages for self-expression, entertainment and communication. Social media usage is pervasive and young people’s online identities are precisely constructed representations which they reconfigure and adjust to gain status with peers. Prolific use of Facebook , Instagram and the extreme popularity of You…
growing digital citizens
A toolkit for the 21st century Teacher-Librarian TOOL #1. GLOBAL DIGITAL CITIZEN FOUNDATION: A WEB SITE TO BUILD AND SHARE UNITS OF PROJECT-BASED OR INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING My students must be able to participate responsibly and ethically in the digital world. I have finally discovered The Global Digital Citizen Foundation which is a not-for-profit organization committed to growing global citizens. It…
The essential teacher librarian
As a newbie to Teacher-Librarianship studies I was shocked to learn of the news article in The Age “Teacher librarians on borrowed time” (Preiss, 2014). I went on to read other news stories pertaining to the role of teacher-librarian and the revelation that some American educational institutions have made this vital role of teacher-librarian redundant (Kachel, 2015) was anathema to…
Navigating the digital natives’ landscape – musings of a Gen-X teacher
As an X-Gen teacher, navigating the world of youth popular culture takes commitment to stay current and connected to my students as they develop as digital natives! In this world of exponential technological potential I feel as though I am caught in a slipstream of scintillating pixels and mash-up sound-bytes! I want to remain steady, to keep my compass pointing…