Sep
2017
Lesson 5: Identity and Mobile Devices and Ubiquitous Online Environments
Where do I even start this week? So much to say.
When I think about how these three readings work together, the information that I’m left with it extremely thought-provoking. In Gee’s reading, we learned about the different categories of identity. In Pea, R., et al., we learned in detail about a case study of 8-12-year-old girls and how technology is affecting their identities, and in our final reading, Turkle looked at how technology is always present in our lives and its effect on us.
As I was reading Pea., R., et al’s., excerpt, I couldn’t help but think back to my own experiences with technology in middle and high school, and then from college to now. In middle and high school, I didn’t use technology much for “social networking.” I had AIM, and I messaged some friends, but not too much. I never really got into MySpace. I didn’t even own a personal cell phone until I was a junior and it wasn’t until I started getting crazy overage charges that we added a text plan. (I’m pretty sure I and my current husband had a texting bill that was over $100, I think it was 10 cents a text…). So, while I can’t completely identify with the pressures that pre-teens and teens must now feel, I do, to a certain extent, identify with them today. I feel that smartphones contribute more to that “always on, always on me” feeling, and the way that the girls in Pea., R., et al., answered their questions then my flip phone did. So now with Facebook and my “real friends,” I could ask myself many of the same questions given to the 8-12-year-olds, and as I really stopped to think about it, some of my responses were similar.
As I moved to reading Turkle’s chapter, it reminded me of a time I took a break from Facebook. It was midway through college and it continued for a few years after I graduated. I decided that I need to “unplug.” It.was.wonderful. I use my personal facebook page for a multi-level marketing business, and in the video when Turkle mentioned the exhausting for “performing” I really did identify with her statement! That break was nice, but it was also nice to reconnect with friends and family that were far away, my husband and I moved out of state and that makes keeping in touch, seeing pictures of everyone’s children growing up, much easier. This made me think of the different “identities” social media plays, all four types even. I would have categorized myself as a very open person online, I was in different “groups” (currently really enjoying the mommy groups), I was identified by society with my career highlighted as “teacher,” I’m sure others put me in categories I may not even know about. I’d never thought about the implications of technology playing into one’s identity.
As I rolled all these thoughts and new ways of thinking about technology and identify around in my head, it made me think about my students. Their multitasking (or lack thereof) skills. Their pressures of performing. Of seclusion. Of lacking social skills. There are a very high number of students in our school that have issues with anxiety and depression, I wonder how much our school is actually helping them…
How does all of this tie into education? Into technology? Into this program I’m pursuing?
I think Turkle would argue that technology has a place and a purpose but should be given boundaries. I know for me, working online and taking online classes makes it difficult to “unplug.” I feel that if my students need me, I should get back to them right away (I get emails and texts all throughout the day and night). I silence my phone, but do my students know how to do that? Should I then be teaching them technology “rules” and “etiquette?” One way I work around this issue is silencing my phone after I certain time, and trying to stay as “unplugged” as possible on Sundays.
It’s difficult to see how else I can incorporate it. I literally have to make phone calls each week for students that aren’t on their computers for a certain number of hours. (Read: We won’t get enough funding if they aren’t logging their hours). 5.5 hours a day to be exact. Now, with 5, 45 minute live classes, that should be too hard to meet, you’d think there would be at least 30 minutes of outside of class work given over 5/6 classes…but still, it is healthy for a kindergartener to sit in front of a computer that long? A middle schooler? A high school student? Do they feel the need to check their emails like we do? Their to-do lists? Their grades?
I never asked my teachers for grades. I think it’s extremely rude. But these students constantly see their grades, feedback, when an assignment was due when they turned it in…the rules are different. Contacting their teachers 24/7 is different (I never texted or called my teachers!). I wonder now, how this is affecting their identities, their feelings about social interactions…how does it differs from regular homeschooling, from brick and mortar schooling, from students that have done both / only one? So many questions, I now want to give them all surveys to fill out to get some answers! 🙂
A side note
“The behaviors that get many a poor teenager into special education get many a richer teenager labeled as an intelligent “underachiever” who needs to be challenged,” (Gee 110).
I have to mention this quote from Gee’s reading. When I read this I stopped immediately and thought about my students and what I think about them…and why. I was really disappointed in myself for not only understanding what Gee was getting at with this statement but have done this with my different groups of students multiple more than I care to admit.
I also really stopped and looked at his definition of identity, “Being recognized as a certain “kind of person,” in a given context, is what I mean here by “identity.” In this sense of the term, all people have multiple identities connected not to their “internal states” but to their performances in society,” (99). The word that really stuck out to me here was “performance.” Their performance in society. I wonder what Gee had in mind when he used that word. Was it the same type of performance that Turkle mentioned, that I identified with? Or did he mean what one does in society?
Meme Assignment
This is how I feel everytime I find a fun new website that I could incorporate into my lessons!
And then this is how I feel after I’ve tried using it. For example, commonlit.org is a great website, very interactive, lots of great reading material, etc. I tried to introduce it into my lessons this Unit and it has been such a struggle for some of my students. Losing passwords, confused on what to do, not sure how to submit their work in our LMS. What was a really neat idea, turned out to be more of a headache than I imaged.
I won’t give up though! More and more each year are “getting it” and the 9th-grade teacher and I are on the same page so now they’re starting to use more websites like this in their other classes so it’s becoming more familiar!
Gee, J. P. (2000/2001). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education (pages 99 through 111 and 119-121 [the rest is optional]).
Pea, R., et al. (2012). Media use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking.
Turkle, S. (2008). Always-on/always-on-you: The tethered self. (pages 121 through 137).
6 Comments on Lesson 5: Identity and Mobile Devices and Ubiquitous Online Environments
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Yong Ju Jung
September 26, 2017 at 12:32 am (7 years ago)Hi Megan, your post and meme helped me to think of not only students’ identity but also teachers’ identity. I like your meme which definitely shows the struggles that teachers would have when adopting some new technologies or media into their classes. And I also understand the stress that teachers may feel the pressures of performing or staying tuned all the time. Did this circumstance change or affect your own identity as a teacher or other categories of identity?
Megan Riggers
September 26, 2017 at 7:53 pm (7 years ago)I wish I was joking when I said I got a text from a student today who 1. didn’t know how to access her school gmail account, and 2. didn’t know how to copy and paste the link to her assignment to me…It’s really not the point that they don’t know, it’s more the point that they don’t aks until weeks later (she’s been in school since the middle of August) or try to figure it out themselves.
That’s a great question! I thought of myself as teacher that was creative and did a lot with technology form the very beginning… I had a wonderful student teaching experience…with CP and honors students. I’d never really thought about that. Now, I do have a lot more of my students that are struggling, and it makes me wonder sometimes. I think I would be more worried if I didn’t have such a great support system in the rest of the department and high school wide. Our teachers are all in similar situations, and they are truly wonderful educators.
Thank you, Yong Ju!
Kelly Nicole Grimes
September 25, 2017 at 9:21 pm (7 years ago)Hello,
I enjoyed reading your blog. You definitely covered a lot of what I was thinking as I read the articles. I also did not own a lot of technology growing up, so I definitely don’t know what stress or pressure our students are feeling growing up with all of this technology. In addition to learning the material, they have to learn how to use the technology to complete projects or assignments. Outside of class, as they are trying to interact with friends, they are dealing with issues like cyber bullying or interpreting meanings behind emails, texts and the like. They probably don’t unplug unless their parents make them.
I too am guilty of spending too much time online and have to make sure that I pull myself away from technology. I remember one time my family and I were eating dinner and my children had to remind us of the no technology rule at the dinner table. It was kind of funny that we were being lectured by our children, but they were right. Typically, we don’t use technology while eating dinner because we like to ask our children how their day was, but this may not be how it is in other households.
I almost forget what it is like to not be able to be reached by someone. I also catch myself reaching for my phone when I don’t really need it. It is crazy how quickly everything has changed. Just like you, I did not contact my teachers. I waited until I received a progress report or report card to find out what my actual grades were for the marking period. If there was a problem, my parents called the school. Now, kids and parents can check their grades whenever they want or email us whenever they want. This makes it a little difficult for teachers to pull away because of the need to answer their questions as soon as possible. I wonder what it was like to teach when my parents and I were in school. They probably had more time to themselves.
To answer your questions from above, our school is about the same. Every teacher is trying to find ways to incorporate technology into their lessons, so they are plugged in throughout the day. Then after school they have assignments to complete online. Afterwards, they probably talk to their friends via social media or text. So, I think they really don’t unplug until it’s time to go to bed. I’m not sure about home-schoolers. I would think they don’t feel as much pressure to be online as often. My sister home-schools her children while she travels the country and I think they spend more time exploring then the do online. I guess it really depends on the family.
Do you think you could maybe challenge your students to unplug like you did from Facebook, texting or whatever consumes most of their time for a week and have them document how they felt or what is was like?
Megan Riggers
September 26, 2017 at 8:01 pm (7 years ago)I love that idea, Kelly! I will try to find a way to work that into this Unit, we’re talking about the beginning of drama and how it was their only entertainment – it would fit perfectly! I’ll let you know how it goes 😀
I bet getting that reminder from your kids was something! We had family dinners growing up (still do when we’re home!) and technology was never apart of it. It’s funny – my husband and I don’t currently have a table. Our apartment is tiny and currently taken over by a certain 4 month old. I picture us having family meals…better find a bigger place soon! Dinner in front of the TV isn’t the picture I certainly had of how we would spend our evenings! It does make you wonder about what our students are experiencing at home.
Thanks!
Lydia Keller
September 24, 2017 at 7:11 pm (7 years ago)Megan, there is so much here to chew on. I loved your Memes, and believe me you are not alone with this learning curve. Sometimes I feel like a tech teacher first and an English teacher second. One of my biggest difficulties is the gap in the students’ ability to type. I used NearPod the other day, and waiting for the kids to type in their responses nearly killed me. I wish we still taught keyboarding.
But, I think some of your questions about our complicity as teachers to pigeonhole our kids are really astute. As I read, I knew I had stereotyped students based on their labels, their circumstances, their families and backgrounds. It’s a human thing to do, but we teachers are supposed to be above that. Over the years, do you find yourself fighting your first instincts, trying to give a kid some space to show you who she is? I know I am trying, but it’s hard. Years of preconceived notions and stereotypes are ingrained in me.
So, now that you are a mommy, maybe you could imagine how you would want your daughter to use, or not to use, new media when she gets old enough. Perhaps that is a place to start with your students. I agree that kindergarten is awfully young for 5 hours of screen time. That’s a five-year-old. The American Asociation of Pediatricians recommends no more than an hour. They also suggest that some of that time be interactive like FaceTime with grandma. Anyway, good luck, and know that we are all confused because everything is changing so fast, and we are seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly. That’s why we are taking these courses and trying to understand this more deeply.
Megan Riggers
September 26, 2017 at 8:05 pm (7 years ago)I certainly am thinking about it, Lydia! She shows such an interest too, I’m going to have to be very intentional about what we decide for her about that!
In some ways, it’s nice to know I’m not alone, in others it’s frustrating. When you said, “[s]ometimes I feel like a tech teacher first and an English teacher second,” I was nodding in agreement. I love teaching technology, I’ve requested to teach an intro course for Google Drive, gmail, our LMS…I wish they had a foundation at least. I feel that these are necessary life skills anymore, it would be great if all schools and all grades started teaching it like it was. So we don’t have 10th graders that don’t know how to send an email or copy and paste. -_-
It makes getting to the content tricky sometimes, and that’s hard too. I love technology, but at times it does seem distracting to the main goal…
Thank you!