So after reading through his comments in the roundtable discussion, does anyone else feel like Marc Prensky and Eisenstein would get along? At least in the sense that they both seem to be pretty firmly convinced of the superiority of their own approach to anything.

I actually found Mr. Prensky's critique of the format of the program really interesting, particularly in light of some of the criticisms raised about the possible detrimental effects of the digital lifestyle. I was really interested in the idea that multitasking has changed the way students write, that they struggle with writing papers that contain a connecting thread, instead they bounce from idea to idea in each paragraph. Mr. Prensky criticized the program for not laying out their arguments in a sort of issue, pro/con and then new issue format. To me, that seems like a much more old school way of organizing an argument, conversely the more loose organizational style the documentary actually used seems to be more in line with the way multitaskers think, jumping from idea to idea and then back and assuming that everyone is following the logical leaps. Of course, I suppose you could also argue that by breaking the issues up into smaller chunks of pro positions, con positions and then you move on you are also creating something that is more in line with the attention span of the multitasking generation. I also found it interesting because it breaks what is clearly a complex issue into a binary of positive and negative. I think that goes against everything we've discussed about multiliteracy and media literacy and the value that it has for students.

Over the course of the last year, I've become increasingly convinced that media and technology and the behaviors that accompany the use of them are neither bad nor good, it merely is. It is our responsibility as educators to find ways to use it in positive ways and to help students to become aware of the ways they interact with media. We should educate them so that they can make informed decisions about their media choices. This fits rather conveniently into our discussion of the necessary elements of multiliteracy education. We must provide students with opportunities to practice and transform knowledge but we need to make sure we are giving them the critical framing and overt instruction, without all four elements the strategy is much weaker.