Participating in
the chats this week was definitely an adventure that tested my courage! As one
of those people who always felt that someone else always has something more
important to say in a digital space, the thought of contributing to the chat
was daunting to say the least!
The first chat I
entered was the #engchat. The topic of conversation was WOD, which is writing
on demand. I think the use of the acronym was intimidating for me because I was
not immediately clear on what the acronym stood for. This automatically made me
feel under qualified to participate in the chat. It is interesting how acronyms
in digital spaces can set up power hierarchies inadvertently, and this may
leave people out. Thankfully, soon someone defined WOD and I felt like I had a
better sense of the discourse everyone was engaging in. I decided that I was
going to use this chat to “get my feet wet,” instead of totally jumping in.
Replying to other people’s tweets seemed like the perfect way to this. So, when
the topic of conversation shifted to discussing how WOD can become more
authentic and meaningful to students, I replied to two people’s chats that
posed this question. I suggested that giving students agency over their writing
prompts will help them take ownership and make more meaning in their work. I
also replied to someone and told them that I agreed with their emphasis on
authentic prompts. I also added that it is up to teachers to engage students in
this real world writing practice, as this will be most motivating for them.
It felt good to respond
to tweets, but it also felt a bit less effective than the people posting tweets
to the actual board. This is because I noticed that these people were getting
plenty of responses and no one seemed to notice or address my responses. I
think that this is because most people used the main board to respond to
people’s tweets, and I believe that this made the responses more noticeable and
part of the main conversation.
With this in
mind, I went into the #literacies chat with a goal to become more active in the
chat. I was very interested in the subject and, thanks to our digital
literacies class, I felt that I could effectively add to the conversation. I
raised a few points in the main chat section about ways to most effectively
implement teaching digital literacies to students. I felt that our class conversation
regarding transmediation was relevant, and mentioned that the goal is not just
regurgitation of material but to take it and make it something dynamic and new
(transmediate). In addition to our class conversations and activities, I was
also inspired by our readings and got the idea about using our students’ social
digital literacies practices in academic realms. I explained that we can learn
from the way students collaborate information through social media and use this
digital discourse in academic realms. I felt positive about these contributions
and began feeling more comfortable with the conversation.
At one point I
tweeted about asking students to connect via Twitter to discussions/communities
relevant to their lives. I became intimidated when someone responded: I worry that the power structures of
academic realms would sour the practices borrowed from social media. This immediately
intimidated me because I am really not all that familiar with the discourse
culture on Twitter. I was not sure if the person making the comment was
inviting me to ponder my statement in a reflective way, or was looking for an
intellectual debate. I am not really comfortable with going back and forth on
Twitter because the fact that it is not in person takes away from the tone of
the debate. I value respecting others’ opinions, and I make that clear in
person by my tone of voice and gestures. I was nervous that I could not convey
that respect on Twitter and I did not wish for our comments to seem defensive
in any way. Because of this concern, I chose not to respond, a choice that I am
also unsure of its Twitter culture appropriateness.
All in all, I am
really happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone to participate in these
chats. I realized from the last experience where someone questioned my tweet,
that it would be really helpful to gain a clearer understanding of the Twitter
culture to gauge how people interact and to ensure that I come off positively
and respectfully, and nothing is misinterpreted.
Archives:
#literacies
http://literacieschat.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/literacies-in-school-out-of-school-and-online/
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