I’m doing a little programming and listening to some back episodes (Episode #63) of EdTechTalk, and they are talking about, at the suggestion of someone in the chat room, getting students more involved in efforts to defeat the DOPA legislation. I’ve thought about this as well, and have been surprised that they haven’t.
But I suspect that the reason is simply. It doesn’t really impact them very well, because their school life simply isn’t real enough. They are fully satisfied with their online social experience and what they are learning there. They would fight if they perceived that there was something to lose.Â
I suspect that there is a pretty wide disconnect between the classrooms of many our our students, and the real learning environment that they interact with in their personal time.
technorati tags:education, students, dopa, stupidlaw, warlick
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Actually, several of my students have blogged over the summer about DOPA. One of them is so eloquent, I have asked and contacted some people about how she can reach our senators in DC.
I think perhaps that students are objecting, but if you look at the savemyspace campaign that the fearmongering of the myspace supporters combined with the inability of students to express themselves and disagee in meaningful, “adult” ways online has limited their effectiveness.
Because of the lack of instruction, many student voices online go unheard. They sound more like a 1st grader stomping their foot on the playground with a little profanity mixed in rather than the meaningful, logical discussions that would make a difference.
These students are for lack of a better word, “kids.” They often disagree as they are taught. If they are not taught, then they are immature and inneffective because that is what most novices are.
I also believe that the fact that many of these discussions are only held on the vocational track and college prep has been largely unaffected by the computer that we also do not hear voices.
There are students out there. I know that my student, Kyli, has been ready for some time to go to Washington if she had a way to tell her story about how she has used a wiki to organize her AP English notes (to save them for the test her senior year) and how she collaborated on projects. She is just one example of many of the transformational power of the new Internet.
Yes, I agree with you that we should be hearing more students. I wonder if they are enclosed in walled gardens and cannot get out.