Dealing in the Digital

After attending Dr. Kjersti Vanslyke-Briggs’s presentation, Dealing in the Digital, I learned several ways and reasons why teachers should integrate technology into the classroom. During this presentation Dr. Vanslyke-Briggs and her mother, Patrice Vanslyke illustrated what it means to be a literate person in this society. Not only do people have to be literate in the sense of reading and writing, but they must be familiar with the technology that is used today.

One aspect that I found interesting about the presentation was the Youtube one of her students created about the book Speak. This was a project that one of Dr. Vanslyke-Briggs’s students did for a college level class. On this youtube, the girl discussed the 10 lies they tell you in high school. For this project, the student has to know extensive information about the book. In the youtube that we watched, the girl exhibited the protagonists expressions. I thought that this was a wonderful idea for a project. I was really impressed. I will definitely use this in my classroom someday.

Furthermore, many of the topics discussed in the presentation coincided with ENG 307. For instance, Dr. Vanslyke-Briggs discussed how we are digitizing everything and that technology is a “natural bridge” to communication. In ENG 307, we have been talking about the flat world and how everyone is able to use the Internet and technology to create, compose, and connect. Another part of this presentation that parallels the topics we are discussing in ENG 307 is the “cha cha cha curriculum.” According to Dr. Vanslyke-Briggs, this occurs when students do not see how information in different classes link together. By integrating technology into the curriculum, we can bridge the information in one class to another. This will help students authentically learn the information that is discussed in classes.