Reading Review 1
A main interest that I see arising in my career in the near future is the use of technology to share student initiatives relating to social responsibility. I am interested in how students can best use technology whether it’s social media or a particular program, to research and understand a topic or issue they are passionate about; then, use some form of technology to create and share their work to initiate change.
The curriculum related to this interest is greatly present within the “social responsibility competency” of the new B.C. curriculum. Within that curriculum the questions are asked: Can students take purposeful actions to support others and their environment? Can they initiate positive and sustainable change? Can they support diversity and defend human rights? (B.C. Curriculum, https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies/social-responsibility) These examples represent a few of the many competencies of social responsibility we want our students to engage in. I see a MAJOR need for technology to guide students in initiating this change. Whether they become environmental stewards or human rights activists, I am interested in how they can use technology to assist them.
Pedagogy related to this interest that would foster engagement would include inquiry based learning, collaboration, and digital literacy. Students would be the leaders in their learning, choosing an issue they are passionate about. Students would collaborate with each other and their community during their learning process, and students would develop digital literacy.
In the ebook “Why School”, by Will Richardson, some literacies identified by the National Council of Teachers of English, include skills such as sharing information for global communities and attending to ethical responsibilities. In order to foster/equip students with the tools and skills necessary to complete these goals, I see an issue arising in terms of teachers not being proficient enough themselves to really engage in this area of education. So while I am greatly interested in pursuing the above ideas surrounding social responsibility linked to technology, I am also focused on the need to educating myself, in order to educate others.
Keywords:
Digital literacy
Social responsibility
Inquiry based learning
Excellent post. Your topic and research goals are centered around a solid plan of action. You have correctly identified the need to address and learn these topics yourself first before supporting others. I hope this class is the vehicle for you to make this happen. You shared your rationale well and your keywords will produce a great amount of useful resources, websites, articles and books. I look forward to following along in your research!
Hi Bronagh,
Using ICT and other technology has certainly made it much easier for social activists to work together to accomplish amazing goals in recent years.
I’ve been wondering if there is some sort of social activism incorporating technology that I could do with grade 6 classes in conjunction with learning about the rights of the child and so on I n the social studies curriculum…
I’ll be interested to hear more about your focus and see if it gives me any ideas along the way.