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Full-Text Articles in Education

What Does Motivated Mean? Re-Presenting Learning, Technology, And Motivation In Middle Schools Via New Ethnographic Writing, Justin Olmanson Oct 2016

What Does Motivated Mean? Re-Presenting Learning, Technology, And Motivation In Middle Schools Via New Ethnographic Writing, Justin Olmanson

Middle Grades Review

This article offers a critique of the way middle schoolers are often positioned as generalizable objects that can be acted upon to produce measurable increases in motivation and learning. The critique invites a reconsideration and cultural analysis of some of the dominant discourses and perceptions of technology, young adolescence, and the study of motivation. The use of New Ethnographic Writing—a method that performs a cultural critique via extended scenes connects to the roles and status of motivation, technology, and educational research methods deployed within public schools. Coupled with weak theory, this approach offers a way to understand young adolescents as …


“Think Bigger About Science”: Using Twitter For Learning In The Middle Grades, Ryan Liss Becker, Penny Bishop Jan 2016

“Think Bigger About Science”: Using Twitter For Learning In The Middle Grades, Ryan Liss Becker, Penny Bishop

Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education Publications

This article examines the use of Twitter as a learning tool in a middle grades science classroom. Relevant research, the direct experience of the teacher leading this unique initiative, and the invaluable perspectives of his middle level students are included to inform interested stakeholders. Following a discussion of open versus closed digital environments, a rationale for why open forms of social media, like Twitter, can be appropriate for middle grades students is explored. The ways in which one author integrates Twitter into his teaching is then described before student outcomes are explained, including the voices and perspectives of students themselves. …