Bill

This post is in response to the article Getting the "Indian" Out of the Cupboard: Using Information Literacy to Promote Critical Thinking". I will try to identify the question that I believe the author is trying to answer. "Is the portrayal of Native Americans in American education stereotypical and problematic, and if so, how can modern educators work toward righting the direction of the topic of Native American culture in education?".

The most recent article that I read for class was "The Mother of All Search Functions" by David Pogue. This was a very brief article about Google. Because I use Google as my default search engine, I know it pretty well. I did learn that you can type "define" and any word and you will get the definintion. I also learned that you can ask questions of Google via text. I already knew that Google is the most widely used search engine. After reading the article, I wonder if any other search function will be able to eclipse Google. They seem like Microsoft for operating systems or Apple for mp3 players. Because this article is somewhat dated, I really did not find a wow factor as I read it.

For this assignment, I interviewed my son. I enjoyed interviewing him because it gave me a chance to talk about things we never talk about. Most of the information was what I expected to hear, yet the answer to the question "What do you worry about?" surprised me. My son gets good grades, but I never thought that he is that concerned with his achievement. I am surrounded by digital natives every day, so I think this is something I have a pretty good handle on. I did do some questioning among my students as a whole today and was very surprised to find out that the vast majority of them read magazines by choice as a recreational activity. I would have bet heavily against this. I guess we learn something new every day!
 * What is their age/grade? Will's age is 12. He is currently in grade 6.


 * What do they do in their free time? In Will's free time he enjoys fishing and playing with the other kids in his neighborhood. Will enjoys playing many sports including football and street hockey. He enjoys playing video games on his Wii as well as many pc based web applications.


 * What do they read? In school? On their own? In school, Will reads whatever he is assigned. He prefers non-fiction. He just finished reading a book on Houdini for a book report. Outside of school, Will enjoys reading magazines related to his interests and books on topics he enjoys such as the Guiness Book of World Records.


 * Where do they shop? Will shops at Game Stop and Bass Pro Shops. He likes his clothes from Old Navy.


 * What do they worry about? Will worries about getting good grades. This is the only thing he worries about.


 * How do they get their information? Online? Off line? Will gets most of his information on-line, but does get information from magazines, television or catalogs as well. Books are another source of information when mandated.


 * What do they do to relax? To relax, Will plays his Wii, goes fishing and boating, and plays with neighborhood kids. Bike riding and sports top the list of activities.


 * What games do they play? Wii games are driving and sports based. Other games include football, baskeball and hockey.


 * What is the most significant event that has happened in their life The most significant event Will reports is the birth of his sister.

In addition, please ask questions about their engagement in school, for example

 * ======What experiences in school really engaged you? Will really enjoys active learning. Will loves science and math classes that use manipulatives. He loved when his learning involved logos in science class.======
 * ======How did you use technology in school as opposed to outside of school? Will uses Mac at school, but has both PC and Mac at home. Technology is balanced at home between fun and work, while school-based technology is less fun.======
 * ======What are your pet peeves? Will really does not like to read novels or "chapter books". Will likes his free time and does not like having to do homework when a fun opportunity arrises.======