Ch. 3: Multiliterate Youth in the time of Scientific Reading Instruction

          This chapter got me thinking a lot. I had heard about using the internet to enhance

learning, however I have never heard of using video games… until now. With the type of schools I

would like to teach in, I feel like this is a very interesting option to help with literacy problems in low

-income schools where many of the students are illiterate. Having grown up as a “Digital Native,” I

am very much inclined to using technology in my classrooms. I also happen to really like playing

video games as a means of relaxing after a long day, especially since so much of my school work

involves reading that my eyes and brain become tired by the time I’m done with my homework.

Since video games are typically a past-time, it seems that they could be another way to “trick”

students into learning. If I have certain students that are not particularly keen on reading a book, I

may actually try this method of helping them become more literate.

                As I was reading, I also began to think about the issue that was first presented in the beginning of this chapter. Why is it that our definition of actual reading is so different now than the culture of our students? As was mentioned in the chapter, I certainly agree that it has to do with the time period of those in charge. The people that are currently in positions such as district supervisor and those even higher up on the “education totem pole” grew up in an era where the most important resource for learning was through reading books. As the author mentioned, the technology we have today was not around when those people were in school, and so they do not know how to learn using technology. This causes an educational generation gap that can only be fixed by us, the future teachers of America, who have grown up with enough technology to bridge that gap.