Jonathan Doram

Dr. Vernon
COMM 450
November 18, 2016
Video Analysis
1. What is the profile of the digital learner?
a. The digital learner is the digital native, someone who has grown
up with familiarity to digital media and technologies. As one of
the teachers noted in the familiar, this has even affected our
definitions of literacy to include the ability to critique digital
media. Part of the digital learners identities are now being
shaped and crafted by how they engage with digital
technologies such as phones and social media networks. As the
film noted, in order to be successful in this new digital age, new
skills are being pushed and emphasized, such as creativity,
collaboration, and a love of embracing change.
b. Perhaps most importantly, the digital learner is not just learning
content, but also actually learning the skills and know-how of
how to create new content. In the 21st century, digital learners
are just consumers, they are active creators and participators.
In order to fully appreciate this paradigm shift, schools and
education institutions must adapt so that students are leaning
the skills they need to be successful. An example from the film is
the Smithsonian Institution: they are not just having students

passively consume and memorize the copious amounts of

information available in the museum, but rather having them
actively create new material and engage with the museum
artifacts in an innovative way.
2. Play/ Tinkering is considered an essential skill for 21st century
learners. Given your chosen grade level /course content, what game
or place-based learning activity could you create to replace, amplify or
transform a traditional classroom experience?
a. As the Quest to Learn: School for Digital Learners school
demonstrated, game-based learning activities tackle one of the
fundamental aspects of learning: problem-solving. This systemsbased thinking provides the student with a student of problems
they have to solve in order to win, or in their case, in order to
create the game. As John Seely Brown commented in the film,
tinkering brings thought and action together in a way that is
like to produce epiphanies and lifelong learning moments for
the students. All of this falls underneath the recent push in
education and other fields towards gamification, or the using
game/design elements in interaction with non-game problems or
settings. I have a conflicted view of gamification. For example,
one of the highlights mentioned in the film is how competition
can bring about motivation. In an article titled, Jury out on
Zamzee: other forms of gamification, James Temple noted that
Another common misconception is that sparking competition -

by using things like workplace leader boards to increase

productivity - leads to long-term improvements. In fact, interest
tends to trail off quickly, particularly for those who realize
they're not in the running to win (Temple). With this in mind, I
am definitely not against gamification (for I plan to use it in my
class), but Im also hesitant to readily adopt it into my classroom
without critically thinking over the possible impact.
b. The game-based activities that I have found useful are the
following: 1) Jeopardy as review before tests because its an
easy way to systemize what information they need to know in an
engaging way, 2) Kahoot! and Quizlet in stead of the normal
paper quizzes because with these online games you can more
easily work in teams and use special features, 3) and any form
of role-playing simulation in which students have to take on
certain identities and characters (whereby they can better
understand and empathize with the course material on a deeper
level).
3. How should we teach these learners?
a. In the film, Al Doyle recommended stealth learning, which
basically means learning while having fun (Digital Media). In
this way, students are enjoying their assignments because
theyre intrinsically rewarding, but are also learning and
growing in their intellectual, social, and emotional competencies
at the same time. Importantly, the Digital Youth Media Network
in NYC still uses a standards-based curriculum with rigorous

assessments, but in their case learning and assessments are

now happening simultaneously and the entire schools structure
is wholly aligned with their values. These and other innovators
are incorporating mobile learning because instead of viewing
cell phones just as negative distractions, they are realizing the
many benefits: cell phones give you immediate access to the
Internet and you have them with you basically 24/7.
b. We must teach in a way where students have to take ownership
of their own learning, in where they have to figure out pieces of
the puzzle in order to complete the picture. That means using
place-based, inquiry-based, problem-based, project-based,
game-based, and other X-based learning activities that allow the
learner to be an active participant in the construction of their
learning journey. In these models, teachers act more as a guide
on the side rather than a sage on the stage because the students
take the helm of their individual learning experience.
4. According to Christopher Lehmann, schools today are built on an
Industrial model, and operate like an assembly line: Eight-period day,
45-75 minutes of class, etc. Society has evolved but schools havent.
Based on your schooling experience, what did you like and or dislike
with the Industrial model? Would you like it to change? If so, how?
a. To be honest, I think the bigger problem than the simple
structure of the school day was the way in which the individual
class periods were operated like an Industrial model. Teachers
gave long lectures in which I was expected to consume and then

regurgitate facts later for the test. This does not helpfully
prepare me for the real world, in which creativity and
innovation are necessary for success, not just amassing tons of
didactic information. I would not mind having a set number of
periods (between 4-7) and time lengths (45-75 minutes) if the
classes themselves were engaging and helped me to grow. But
unfortunately, too many of my teachers have run their classes
like an assembly line in which the unique personalities and
individualities of the students were ignored or not allowed to
come through.
b. I would change it in the following way: if we are supposedly
wanting to develop creativity, collaboration, and innovation with
our students, then we should prize those same skills in the
teachers. Teachers should be rewarded not if they have helped
students to memorize long lists of facts for standardized tests,
but if they have thought through their curriculum in a critically
deep way, collaborated with other teachers (both from and
outside their discipline), and generated creative ways to engage
students. These values would be demonstrated through how
teachers are evaluated and how much time they are given to
prepare comprehensive lessons for their classes. This would
require a systemic change of values in each school all the way
from the administration down.
5. What should we teach?

a. I resonate with the Quest to Learns rebranding of different

subjects, like Math as Codeworlds and Social Studies as BSP:
Being, Space, and Place, because I think it reflects their
innovative conceptual framing of the courses. These titles are
not in name only but signal a deep reconfiguration and approach
to teaching the various disciplines. While I do not believe
everyone has to now go change all the course titles, I do think
creative conceptual frameworks should be employed. The same
basic disciplines can and should remain, but we can re-imagine
what it means to teach math or english or music. Like someone
noted in the film, digital media is not destroying reading and
writing, its just changing the ecology of reading and writing
(how we approach reading and writing). We can use the
traditional forms of literacy (shapes, color, writing, reading) but
for new products (digital graphic design or music).
6. According to the video, students need to have a deep passion.
According to Parker Palmer, teachers need to be passionate about the
subjects they teach. What is your deep passion, how did you discover
it and how will you assist your students in discovering their own?
a. My deep passion is helping other people grow, whether that
means academically, socially, spiritually, musically, and/or
emotionally. I realized my passion for education my last year of
high school while performing the lead role of Horton the
Elephant in Seussical the Musical. My school produced the

musical for a low-income, inner-city elementary school devoid of

a music program. Experiencing the students joy and seeing
them light up to the music truly transformed me. While on
stage, I internally committed myself to a lifelong quest to
helping students discover the potential and joy they had within
them. That is what motivates me to be a better teacher.
b. In his book Small Teaching, James Lang notes that to motivate
students, we have to tap into their emotions and connect with
them goals. Interestingly enough, the best kinds of goals for
motivation are not ones for our own self-interest, but those that
are self-transcendent (ones that will help others). In order to
connect your discipline to these self-transcendent goals, we can
have an open discussion where we pose the various questions:
What are the problems we are seeing in our communities
(whether local, national, or global)? How can we use what we
are learning in class to help people? If we put opportunities in
front of our students in which they can use their skills to make
products or learn valuable trades, then the fact that they can
help other people with their learning will be a natural motivator.
As Diana Rhoten noted in the film, Every kid has an interest
the responsibility of libraries, museums, schools, after-school
programsthe type of institutions we work inis to help kids
identify interests, and then progress through their interest
become more advanced (Digital Media). In this vein, we can

help students realize how their interests can help humanity in

general, and therefore connect their skills to a wider purpose
than just themselves.

Works Cited
Cooper, D. (Director). (2011, February 13). Digital Media: New Learners in
the 21st Century [Video file]. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
Temple, J. (2012, February 26). Jury out on Zamzee, other forms of
'gamification.' Retrieved November 17, 2016, from
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Jury-out-on-Zamzee-otherforms-of-gamification-3361081.php