As educators, we can’t ignore the fact that our students are “reading” more and more varied texts these days, and yet, if you are like me, much of what we “read” in our classrooms are still very much traditional books and articles. Words on paper. At the start of the school year, I used a read-aloud story with my sixth graders as an opportunity to mix in video as a form of text, and then I opened up the classes to discussions about the way they prefer to experience stories.
The results are shared in the reflective webcomic below, but what stood out for me most of all is that while a majority of students might prefer video, the significant number who still prefer books were the most declarative and argumentative on the power of traditional texts, and made such valid claims about the lure of books that some other students began to change their minds as our discussions moved on. These kinds of classroom talks are valuable for me, as a teacher, but also for them, as it gave them a reflective space from which to really think — maybe for the first time — about how they experiences stories across media platforms and what strengths and weaknesses bubble up the surface as a result.
Kevin Hodgson blogs at Kevin’s Meandering Mind (http://dogtrax.edublogs.org) and tweets as @dogtrax.
I’ll have to revamp my beginning year project to something similar to Kevin’s. I never thought of the video end of it. I had students on the first day ask if they could use an e-reader. We are seeing more and more of this in schools. Only one has asked to use is ipod for audio books. I checked out his site and will definitely follow it as he has some awesome ideas.
Thanks, Sandar.
Do you let them use the ereader? I say yes, even though our district still frowns on it.
Kevin
Oops … Sandra .. sorry about the extra letter!
A great reminder of our continually changing generation of learners. Wonderful ideas!
Things are changing, aren’t they? With more & more students able to access different delivery methods, I think it’s a discussion that has to be done, & perhaps one that teachers must address in teaching students how to approach the different kinds of texts. Thanks, Kevin.
The discussions are key to understanding the shifts. Thanks for taking the time to comment, Linda
Kevin, this is fascinating! And just the sort of thing I’d love to highlight on my Teacher Tuesday feature on my blog. Would you be game to participate? Email me at kirby@kirbylarson.com for more information. Thank you!
I love this, Kevin. We can’t ignore the technologies that kids take for granted. It was cool to see that many of them still prefer books, though. I decide if I am going to use movies on a book by book basis. I think many of my students would say they prefer to see a movie after reading, too. I don’t think many of them have tried audio books.
Thanks, Maria. I wonder about audio books and I was surprised by how many like them — because it allows them to do other things. Then I thought: are they really listening?
I can attest to the fact that at least my kid is listening when he is playing or doing something else while his audiobook plays. We have paused it and suggested that we take a break unless he can tell us what’s going on – and he can. I have seen this with my ninth graders as well. I often can do other things while listening to an audiobook, so I suppose it’s not all that outrageous.