Gordie's Teaching Blog

 Participatory Culture: What is it?     Participatory Culture is a very important addition to learning in classrooms. It allows students to express their artistic desires to produce the learning experience they want. Jenkins describes Participatory Culture as the following: Relatively low barrier to artistic expression and civic engagement Strong support for creating and sharing one's creations with others Has some type of informal mentorship that passes knowledge from the most experienced to the novices Members believe that their contributions matter Members feel some degree of social connection with one another Of all of these defining points, I believe the most important is the second one. The foundation of participatory culture revolves around the group aspect, so sharing creations with each other is crucial How can it be embraced in classrooms?     Participatory Culture has an important role in classrooms if utilized correctly. Teachers can separate student...

  What Do We Know About Children And Technology?      The article "What Do We Know About Children And Technology" provides a deep dive into the current resources we have that detail the effects of technology on children. The article seeks to answer the question of "What are the impacts of technology on children, and how can screens impact their growth and development?"    The Goldilocks Effect      One of the main concepts this article talks about is the "Goldilocks effect". The Goldilocks Effect proposes that there is a "right" amount of technology for children to use. In the graph below, you will see that mental well-being increases to a peak at 1 hour of daily digital-screen engagement, and then decreases from there. This shows that a Goldilocks Effect is quite real, and more research should be done on various parts of technology to find that sweet spot.      Video Games and Children     Video games have gone throu...

 Ordinary Experience      An ordinary experience is something that is a part of our mundane everyday life. In these ordinary experiences, participants are just going through the motions and not fully engaged in the activity they are doing. It is easy to become complacent in these experiences and not get a truly fulfilling learning experience.  "An" Experience      "An" experience is something that is truly different from the everyday routine. "An" experience has the potential to be transformative and completely change the way someone learns. This can be extremely useful to someone that is struggling with their current way of learning.  "An" Example      One example of "an" experience that I've had the fortune of going through is High School Band Day. Western Michigan University Bronco Marching Band hosts an event every year called "High School Band Day". This is an event where any high school can send their students to par...