Teaching the Digital Citizens

 

Teaching the Digital Citizens:

Exciting and Challenging Times for the Digital Immigrants

Maria Theresa H. Alvarez with John Christian A. Sual

 

Globalization and cyber-technology puts us in one of the most exciting and challenging context of education. The learners are now considered digital citizens whose pace and schema are different from those of their educators, in fact, even from their parents. In the era of cloud technology, Wikipedia, tablets, and social media, many educators develop a certain level of technophobia. However, it is preposterous to think that technology could eventually replace the human teacher. As technology becomes more advanced, the greater is the need for good and effective human teacher – most especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The New Generation Science Standards (2013) emphasizes three principles in teaching science – (1) engage prior knowledge, (2) develop competence in an area of interest, and (3) reflect on learning. Furthermore, lessons on health and nutrition are integrated with the basic concepts of one of the four life science disciplinary core ideas with a storyline title “From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes”. So, you might ask, “and how do we reconcile that with the food pyramid?”

 

As a digital immigrant, how do we put such hifalutin standards in our own classroom scenario? As an experimental strategy to direct the attention of the students to the practical application of theories that we discussed in the classroom, I asked them to participate in an on-line survey spearheaded by Dr. Scott Plous, a professor of Social Psychology in Wesleyan University, New York. The survey is linked to the Social Psychology Network website, specifically through the platform of eInterview.org. Students were given two options: (1) to do the on-line survey at home and submit a printed transcript, or (2) fill-up a hardcopy of the survey. Both options come with the required reflection paper that is supposed to answer the four guide questions. The reflection paper actually accomplishes the task of evaluating understanding of basic concepts, reflective exercise on practical application, and a value infusion because the survey also gathers insights from participants about a certain advocacy.

 

The grade 8 students participated in the Diet and Lifestyle Choices Interview.  The eInterview started only as a class requirement but the turn-out was much more than what I expected. I realized that teachers can discover potentials just by reading one student essay. I discovered one budding writer – John Christian A. Sual of grade 8 – Malikhain. You will find at the latter part of this article his unedited essay. Fast-paced technology and availability of downloadable resources may result to laziness and mediocrity which pose a challenge to science teachers. This has to be balanced with the greater demand for better cognition and translation of understanding into concrete evidences as stipulated in the NGSS. Nevertheless, we are living in the most exciting times of science education. I am looking forward to getting my students do more wiki and blogs, participate in quizzes disguised as survey monkeys, taking short courses in MOOCs, simulate experiments using free software and open websites and contributing research data and figures in on-line research agencies, exchange correspondences with their foreign counterparts using social media and explore places using Google Earth. The possibilities are endless and we’ve only just began. Disregarding the usual criteria that I look for in a student essay, JC’s paper is one of the best reflections and his ideas represent the expected outcomes of the Next Generation Standards. Enjoy reading!

 

JC Sual’s “Diet and Lifestyle Choices Interview”

 

My experience while taking the interview is very memorable and also intellectual because it helped me to know some of the practices which were done in the 21^st century and it also made me realize of my unhealthy eating habits. Also while taking the interview it feels like a good realization on how to eat healthy foods and to manage my diet lifestyle and it also feels like a new realization and fresh alternatives on what you are eating most of the time and to find out if it is healthy or not to always eat those foods. And taking this interview you will feel guilty at what you eat which is actually a good thing to be guilty at what you eat and to have a healthy balanced diet and eating good foods. And this is what I actually feel during the majority of taking the interview and also a little bit confused of the terminologies in the interview.

A web interview is actually more nerve-wrecking than the human interview because human interview is just like talking with another person and causes to talk more comfortably while the web interview gives an opportunity to think of answering the questions and to think more precisely of what you are going to answer at the web interview. For me I think it is actually easier to answer at a web interview because it is direct to the point, yes it gives topic on what it is talking about but it is always direct to the point while a human interview will try to know more about you and suddenly asks a question. That’s what difficult for some of us because an interview will know about your whole self while a web interview will only know about your specific interest in a specific topic and will try to evaluate based on the web interview so having a web interview is much more specific at the questions and will make us learn after some time. Taking the interview will help you know more about the topic. Other practices was also mentioned that I would never think even existed and these practices left me to realize that it was really possible to do that for the sake of survival but doing these things that some of them are unhealthy for the animals and it is illegal to violate animal rights.

 

Yes, killing chickens can get our stomachs full but killing overboard (sic)  is out of the question. And killing overboard results to imbalance. I have also realized that even we students can give our best to have better treatment for animals – for the domestic animals that we see everyday. After taking this interview I actually found it surreal to do this in science class as an assignment because this assignment can give a better diet, a healthy lifestyle, and an organized management which applies to our time. So I think this is a helpful interview for someone who has an early sickness and to make good lifestyle is to know the basics of eating proper and to share making a good lifestyle to other people. Besides, what is better than having a good lifestyle in the beginning rather than having a good lifestyle when in the brink of death? I think that this assignment help us to realize the importance of eating and exercising wisely. At first, I was skeptical about his assignment because I didn’t know the purpose but during the process I was able to open my eyes to be aware of what is happening in the world. And also because of this assignment I have decided to what I always eat. Doing the interview can also help you on what diet you should take because a diet depended on your own may bring danger to your body. Not only old people can take this test but even like me – a teenager who is also concerned with health and try my best to change my lifestyle and get active. These are my thoughts on doing the assignment; skeptical at first but refreshing at the end if you are fully committed to the diet.

 

As I conclude my essay I would like to say that answering an interview can help me in eating with healthy foods and having an active body presence with everyone. At first a thought always crossed my mind “what are we going to attain by doing this interview?” then I saw the interview and realized that it’s there to help us in correcting our eating habits. And as the assignment me to print the transcript and reformat in Word1, I was browsing my answers and I really felt guilty with myself at how I eat meaty products and began to wonder is this really healthy for me? That’s when I made a realization that I will begin my healthy lifestyle not tomorrow but today and give my best to at least make a change how I feel with my body. Like running will be faster and be more easier, sweating less and having a good bowel movement, so that’s my realization, I have made as I was taking the interview. And now setting up a goal to have a healthy lifestyle will never be easy but it will definitely be worth it. I would like to encourage teenagers and adults to take the interview and change the lifestyle of others continue this goal. This is how a single interview changed me, yes, it still a little but maybe it will grow in the future and become a good source of healthy lifestyle. I was quite nervous because I have never taken a web interview but it is not only for the assignment but also to fix my health in the future and having a good lifestyle – and it is only because of a web interview. In my opinion, this lifestyle can make you look younger than the cream that women always buy. And as I also made an improvement one week after the interview, I too have weighed less than before this interview. So I would also like to encourage everyone to take the interview for it will have greater effects than the diet pills that some would consider “healthy”. It is okay to start small but it will always grow into an unbreakable promise. That is the importance of a good and healthy lifestyle and its effect will make you feel refreshed. That is the reason why I would like to suggest everyone to take the interview and make a healthy lifestyle.