How Teacher Motivations Shape Digital Learning Renee Hobbs Harrington School of Communication and Media University of Rhode Island USA December 11, 2013

ROGER HOBBS Author of Ghostman New York Times Bestselling Author RACHEL HOBBS Grassroots Campaigns Fundraiser

People with creative freedom and professional autonomy bring passion to their work

Harrington School of Communication and Media University of Rhode Island

Media Smart Libraries Children’s Librarians & Children’s Media Professionals In Partnership with the Providence Children’s Film Festival

Summer Institute in Digital Literacy June 13 – 18, 2014 Providence RI USA

July 31 – August 4, 2013 | Providence RI USA

It’s an honor to inspire educators’ creative freedom and professional autonomy in ways that improve student learning

expanding the concept of literacy open access multitasking transmediation curation play data ownership identity representation privacy addiction

ACCESS ANALYZEE CREATE ACT REFLECT ACCESS expanding the concept of literacy

Powerful Voices for Kids is a curriculum and professional development program for digital and media literacy education with primary children.

Educators’ attitudes about media, technology and popular culture shape their work with learners

PRINT VISUAL SOUND DIGITAL Educators’ attitudes about media, technology and popular culture shape their work with learners

LOVEHATE PRINT VISUAL SOUND DIGITAL Educators’ attitudes about media, technology and popular culture shape their work with learners

Protection

Empowerment

How do Teachers Make Sense of Protection & Empowerment? PILOT STUDY Research on attitudes of K-12 teachers in 2 countries Exploring the relationship between teacher attitudes and likelihood to use digital media and technology in the classroom

Motivations for Using Media & Technology in Education 12

TECHIE You’re the educator who loves tablets, apps, programs, plug- ins, widgets, websites, and other types of educational technology because you have a passionate curiosity about new tools. You see much potential to engage students with the technology tools they love and use in their everyday lives. TRENDSETTER You’re tuned into pop culture and curious about kid culture. Maybe your own most-loved popular culture isn’t too far removed from that of your students. You are inquisitive about the trends and hot topics that make up a crucial component of the fabric of your students’ everyday lives. You want school culture to meet kids where they live with the popular culture they know and love.

DEMYSTIFIER As a teacher, you “pull back the curtain” to help students see how various forms of information and knowledge are constructed. You emphasize the practice of critical thinking, helping students ask good “how” and “why” questions. WATCHDOG You are a natural critical thinker, aware of how economic systems and institutions influence our everyday lives, particularly through the media we use. You want your students and your peers to be more mindful of the ways that things are bought and sold. Who owns and controls the media content that we see, hear, read, and play with? You feel responsible for giving your students a “wake-up call” about the economic and institutional inner-workings of the technology and the world that surrounds them.

ACTIVIST As an educator, you want to make society more just and equitable by promoting democratic participation. You use media in the classroom as a catalyst for students to understand how they might have a voice in improving the quality of life in their communities and in the world. TASTEMAKER You want to broaden your students’ horizons. You want them to have exposure to the kinds of media experiences that put them in touch with historical, aesthetic, and critical appreciation. You know that a key component of students’ future interactions will require them to draw from a variety of cultural sources both classical and popular.

ALT You are an inventive, perhaps “DIY,” teacher. You’re always ready to challenge students with alternative ways of finding, using, thinking about, and making media in the classroom. Whether you use open source programs on school computers, encourage students to start alternative clubs or magazines, or introduce students to media that’s “off the beaten path” of mainstream and mass media, you are likely a key proponent of broadening students’ understanding of the many different ways that people can communicate in the world. MOTIVATOR You are an inspiration, a catalyst for your students’ creative energy. Students who have never felt comfortable speaking up in class, participating in activities, or contributing to class dialogue find it easier to speak their mind when you’re leading the classroom. You see your role as helping students be the best they can be.

SPIRIT GUIDE You are a listener. You have a dedication to the social and emotional well-being of your students, and want to make sure that everything you do in the classroom connects to their immediate needs to understand themselves and their lives. Students likely find you trustworthy, and may even confide in you in ways that they do not for other teachers. You know media is just one facet of student life, and you want to engage with it to help them through the highs and lows of life in all of its challenges and opportunities. PROFESSIONAL You have high standards for your students’ work, and you may be seen as the go-to media professional in your school. You know how to push your students to understand and emulate the professional conventions that is important to being taken seriously in the world of media creation. To help students enter the real world of media creation, you bring other authors, professionals, and media-makers into your classroom to enrich the learning experience.

PROFESSOR You balance your interest in media and technology with a clear connection to academic standards. You want to be sure that media and technology are not used in the classroom for their own sake, but to gain content knowledge. Multimedia presentations, engaging websites, and educational technology serve the purpose of helping you deliver the core content and skills students need to master. TEACHER 2.0 You understand that participation in digital media and learning cultures requires flexibility to new formats, modes of expression, and participation in and out of school. You use online or interactive versions of classic literature to explore meaning behind texts. Teacher 2.0 teachers always trying new things in the classroom and finding new ways to connect learning to children’s culture.

Making inferences about teacher motivation using visual evidence

Analyze a YouTube Video

Learn to Code

Learn about Primary Source Materials LINK

Develop a Digital Library Lab

Create a Lip Dub

Create a Public Service Announcement LINK

View and Discuss a Music Video

Why teacher motivations matter

Self-reflection on one’s own motivations may increase personal passion and cultivate shared community values

Respect for diverse teacher motivations may expand the diversity and range of instructional practices

A clear understanding of teacher motivations may contribute to the design of programs that have greater impact

Why teacher motivations really matter

Renee Hobbs Professor and Founding Director Harrington School of Communication and Media University of Rhode Island USA Web: