Claire+McManus+Article

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 * **ARTICLE DUE DATE ****August 1, 2014 ** ||
 * "Write an article __for publication__ that would tell the story of your project so that others could replicate what you did in their own parish or setting." **

Digital Immigrants
==== The immigrant experience is rife with challenges. The stranger in a strange land must negotiate a new language, different laws, cultural expectations and the attitude of the native people. Immigrants are not always welcomed with open arms as they face derision for their lank of language skills, or misunderstanding of the laws and customs. When computer //literati// throw around the term “digital immigrant” to describe those whose skills are not innate to the generation, it is more than a clever cliché. ==== ==== Digital natives collectively roll their eyes as digital immigrants stumble through new software, misuse social network terminology, or resort to nearly extinct forms of communication. Learning and mastering this new technology is not just a pleasant avocation to keep one young and hip; many of us need this knowledge to do our work. We go to countless technology workshops to absorb all the latest innovations, only to go home and stare blankly at the computer as we try to remember how to apply what we learned. Presenters at these workshops make it worse when they offer the condescending advice to get a middle school student to help. ==== ==== An answer to the needs of the digital immigrant came a few years ago when Sr. Caroline Cerveny SSJ created the Digital Discipleship Bootcamp (DDBC) for catechetical leaders, Catholic school teachers, catechists, and youth ministers. Sr. Caroline is founder and president of Interactive Connections, a faith-based educational technology service for catechetical ministries. The world is networked through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, but many of the people running parish programs have scant knowledge of how to harness the power of these tools. Sr. Caroline’s mission is to equip catechetical leaders with the ability to use the media tools that are second nature to the youth and young parents whom they serve. ==== ==== The “boot camp’ approach to learning solves the problem of the post- technology workshop brain freeze. DDBC participants learn one tool at a time by way of an interactive webinar, and then spend the next two weeks accessing the class blog to read about how this tool is being applied in various classroom and ministerial settings. Participants then post responses and assignments to the class wiki to demonstrate that they have grasped the concept and mastered the tool. The use of such tools as webinars, blogs and wikis to deliver the information is all part of the learning strategy employed by DDBC. Those who wish to delve deeper into the tools complete a capstone project to earn a certificate in Pastoral Technology. ==== ==== Very few of the catechetical leaders in our diocese are digital natives, and most are wary of using social media in their ministries. They are serving a generation of parents and catechists that are immersed in the digital age. Catechetical leaders lament that they are unable to engage their catechists in formational opportunities because they are too over-committed in their lives and won’t come to meetings. I wanted to see if I could create a web based tool that could reach across the barrier of real-time formation meetings and engage the catechists directly. As my capstone project I created a Weebly website, a web 2.0 tool that combines website and blog features. This tool is fairly easy to use, and it is also free. The parish catechetical leaders were intrigued by this and very willing to offer a few of their catechists to pilot my project. Forty catechists from across the diocese signed up for the pilot and very willingly offered feedback and corrections ==== ==== The Weebly that I created was designed to be a brief introduction to catechetical methods, and so they began with the six tasks of catechesis. The catechists started the process by completing a brief registration survey using Google Forms, and then worked their way through the site, one task at a time. Each task had its own page, followed by a blog page that offered a way for the catechist to interact with the learning through Youtube videos and other web-based media. They demonstrated their understanding of the lesson with by posting a response to a reflection question. This formation process was not designed to offer an intensive learning experience, but to determine if catechists are willing to engage in formation on their own time. Based on the responses made by catechists in an exit survey, the process worked well for them. ==== ==== Even as we strive to embrace the digital culture, digital immigrants still have their cultured despisers. I had a conversation about technology with two young men, barely forty years old, members of the “Game Boy” and “Civilization” generation. When I mentioned that I had just completed the Digital Discipleship Boot Camp, the two men looked at one another and literally rolled their eyes. “I maintain our Diocesan website and create podcasts, I don’t need to learn how to blog or use Facebook.” Well, good for you. Maybe your next career move will be riding a tricycle around the Google campus. The Digital Discipleship Bootcamp allowed me to demonstrate to the catechetical leaders of our diocese that one of their own is capable of becoming proficient with web 2.0 tools. Together we will immerse ourselves in this new and exciting continent. ====