Carmen Luke’s article “Pedagogy, Connectivity, Multimodality, and Interdisciplinary” informs the reader about how much technology influences us, and specifically how much technology has changed learning.
Luke first highlights the negatives that comes with technology. He states, “Many teachers and parents are concerned about children’s engagements with contemporary media culture.” He goes on to suggest that children are easy targets which is valid. However, I think he does a good job in assuring the reader that all of the exposure that children are getting from the internet can also be good for them once they start school. For example, they have some background knowledge about social relations and the world outside their community or family.
Additionally, technology has changed the way teachers teach. Luke explains that “Literacy and technology… are no longer mutually exclusive but have merged in a combined vocabulary evident in most current educational debates and policy discourses.” Literacy and technology aren’t two unrelated things anymore. I believe he’s trying to inform the reader that there is a need to change the way we teach in light of new technologies. When reading the article, you get the idea that all of the new information available at our fingertips can actually be beneficial to us and more specifically, to students. An example of this can be new collaborative electronic tools, more digital form texts, and so on.
Furthermore, new technologies are making way for lateral thinking which Luke defines as “The very creative, critical, and aesthetic practices many educators are actually ‘inventing’ in classrooms and curriculum.” When students play video games or interact on social media there is a cross-cultural information flow that they are being introduced or exposed to. This leads to curiosity, questioning, and new ideas which could be beneficial if also used in the classroom. Essentially, students can think more outside of the box in relation to their text or their studies because of their experiences with technology outside of school.
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