"Life Writing"

This article by Clive Thompson from Wired magazine offers an interesting perspective on literacy. Many have bemoaned the lack of writing skills in "today's youth" but the Stanford Study of Writing found that students write more than ever. The study, conducted by Andrea Lundsford, a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University, says writing has increased,

"... because so much socializing takes place online, and it almost always involves text. Of all the writing that the Stanford students did, a stunning 38 percent of it took place out of the classroom—life writing, as Lunsford calls it."

Here's the MILI connection, as stated by Thompson,

"The fact that students today almost always write for an audience (something virtually no one in my generation did) gives them a different sense of what constitutes good writing."

That should sound familiar from our discussions of authentic, global audiences that students can reach through blogging, video production, and more. As Thompson points out, good teaching matters. Teachers and media specialists are the guides for students as they create their content in a reliable, responsible manner.

I really like that phrase "life writing."

Edutopia

Edutopia is a good resource for teachers and media specialists interested in "What Works in Education," as their description says. It is the Web site of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. It has articles, multiple blogs, and much other information. Definitely worth adding to Delicious.

You can subscribe to its free online newsletter or join for a nominal fee and receive access to free webinars and a print magazine. I just joined; I will let you know what I think. In the meantime, here is a blog post that supports several of the MILI concepts on teaching and learning together--Five Ways to Enrich Your Teaching Life by Heather Wolpert-Gowan.

Downloading YouTube Videos

YouTube does not support downloading of videos, which can inhibit teachers' use of YouTube if it is blocked in your school. Here is a list of sites that help you download YouTube videos. Post in your blog if you use any of them and how they work.

And You Thought Wikipedia Was Bad

This post on ReadWriteWeb describes a casual conversation about a nine year old boy who accesses the Web through YouTube. The kid's dad says that when the kid wants information, he goes to YouTube and types in a search term. The kid then watches the videos. No Google, no other Web sites, no further searching, no other information source at all.

The author of the post does his own experiment using various terms to test YouTube as search engine. Read the post to see his conclusions.

Now admittedly, what the original kid was looking for was not "research"--he was looking for Pokemon characters or Donkey from Shrek. But what does this mean for us as teachers and librarians trying to teach research and information literacy skills? Will we face a a whole generation of kids growing up and learning about the world through YouTube? Only YouTube?

We do keep hearing that people no longer read, kids use their electronic tools for all things from communication to games, etc. People are seeking information, but through less traditional ways than print. Doug Johnson of Blue Skunk Blog has an interesting post on Libraries for a Post-Literate Society. Doug is Media Director at Mankato Schools.

Note that I love YouTube--I have spent a lot of time watching stuff like this or this. During the campaign, I looked for the speeches, debate clips--and SNL sketches. And it looks like soon we will be able to watch full-length Hollywood movies on YouTube. I have to say, though, YouTube as search engine does not thrill me. What do you think?