Revisiting New Literacies Perspective

New Literacies Perspective:

New literacies continue to emerge as new technologies for information and communication continue to develop.  Therefore, new strategies and approaches to teaching new literacies, such as evaluating information between multiple webpages, continue to change with new technologies.  "The ability to linguistically manipulate identity as well as the norms of conversation to fit these new electronic spaces has implications for both the development of language and conceptions of the role of technology"(Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack 2004, p. 1571).  

It is difficult to define new literacies because they are constantly changing, requiring teachers to be knowledgable about new technologies and how they can help improve the literacy skills of their students. The article defines new literacies as, "The new literacies of the Internet and other ICTs include the skills, strategies, and dispositions necessary to successfully use and adapt to the rapidly changing in- formation and communication technologies and contexts that continuously emerge in our world and influence all areas of our personal and professional lives" (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack 2004, p. 1572).  New literacies provide instruction to be student-centered with the teacher explicitly modeling how to critical analyze and participate on the Internet for a greater audience then the classroom provides.  New literacies involve, "participating effectively through email, inferring correctly the information that may be found at a hyperlink on a webpage, evaluating the accuracy and utility of information that is located on a webpage in relation to one’s purpose, and using a search engine effectively to locate information" (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack 2004, p. 1590).

Implications for future teaching:

As a future teacher, I will follow the common core standards, which now include technology standards.   Also, I will stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and how they can improve literacy skills for my students.  I am particularly interested in Assistive Technologies that would benefit students with disabilities.  

Type with Me:

For my final project I created blog with Shanna on Supporting Students with Disabilities.  We incorporated various technologies to help improve the literacy skills for all students and categorized them for students, parents, and teachers.  During our TypewithMe conferencing about our final project we talked with several classmates about our blog and were provided with positive feedback.  Several of our classmates said they will use our blog as a future resource and bookmarked it.  

I looked at my classmates projects and was very impressed with the various topics as well presentation styles.  I chatted with Annie, Jenna, Jennifer, Andrea, and Meg about their final projects and provided positive feedback.  I will definitely use their projects as resources during future teaching!  

Supporting Students with Disabilities Blog

Class Wiki with Final Projects

Skype!

Skyping with Annie 

      Skype in the classroom:   During skyping with Annie earlier this week, we discussed several implications for classroom use.  One of the many ways to use skype in the classroom is to video chat with experts in a certain field. (e.g. scientists, artists, authors).   Skype could also be used to video chat with pen pals from another class.  This would allow students to meet students from other countries as well learn about different cultures.  Students would benefit from interviewing professionals or getting to know the their favorite author.  Our skype session went very well and was an easy way to communicate information.  

      Readings discussed:  Our reading this week by Leu et al focused on new literacies and how they are multimodal and constantly changing.  New literacies are defined as "strategies and dispositions required by the internet that are essential for online reading comprehension" (Leu et al 2007, pg 6).  

This influences the definition of reading because it requires online and offline comprehension.  Examples of such online literacies are identifying important questions, analyzing, navigating information, and synthesizing information.  

Classroom Webpages

       This week I explored classroom webpages as a genre.  Initially I wanted to explore the elementary school that I went to, however their website does not have links to classroom webpages. I went to a small private-catholic elementary school, which did not have many resources, such as technology to explore and continues to struggle with funding. .  Therefore, I googled “classroom webpages” and looked through several examples.  One that I found particularly useful for parents, students, and other teachers was “Mrs. Renz’s Fourth Grade Class” I noticed this webpage was very user friendly, with simple tabs for students, parents, and teachers, to find additional resources on their own page.  Mrs. Renz stated, “Our webpage is updated almost daily, so you can count on work to be up-to-date and accurate!”  This not only benefits students, by having assignments and resources accessible at all times but also provides parent support.  One of the many links on the student page is for a colleague’s page, which focuses on literacy.  There are many fun games students can play that help with vocabulary growth, such as “free rice” and “word within a word.”  

www.freerice.com

Promoting literacy:

www.beverlycleary.com

        “The Internet can be used to support literature-based approaches to literacy instruction in a variety of ways.  Several children’s book authors have their own Websites, and many publishers feature information about children’s book authors”(Baker 2007, p. 6).  This allows readers to connect with the author as well as find additional information about the book that may have not been discussed in class. Beverly Cleary's website allows children to learn more about her as well as the characters she writes about.   

www.storylineonline.net

Storyline: While searching for classroom webpages, I found that several teachers recommended storyline as a way to promote literacy beyond classroom walls.  This website has well-known actors read aloud popular children’s books to a wide audience, as well as providing additional activities.  This would be a good link for the parent pages as well as student pages, for reading at home.  

Visual Literacies

       Visual literacies can have a powerful impact on teaching and student learning.  When learning about historical events, the “full circle process” can be used to engage students through the use of photographs or artwork.  In our society, we are surrounded by visuals and children need to be taught how to interpret the complexities of the images in order to communicate with others. “Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, use, appreciate, and create images and video using both conventional and 21st century media in ways that advance thinking, decision-making, communication, and learning”(ncrel.org). Visual literacies have the potential to transform teaching by providing concrete examples of topics being taught, such as a historical event.   Visual literacy requires students to look at images being presented and analyze and critique them, providing a more authentic learning experience. 

       When studying visual literacies I found several ways to implement them into the classroom.  For example, teachers can provide photographs to teach historical events in an authentic way, allowing students to connect with the time and people involved.  Comics can be used to encourage writing in the classroom as well as provide humor, making it a more enjoyable experience.   McVicker discusses how comics can assist struggling readers when stating, “Comics through the use of visual literacy, can open the door to reading for the challenged student because they offer a visual element for comprehending the text.  In some cases, this may offer a turning point for those struggling readers who have lost the hope for success” (McVicker 2007, p. 87). This type of visual literacy requires students to be critical readers of text as well as the images provided.  One must look at word choice and determine the authors’ reasons for choosing or leaving out particular text.

Visual Tours of History:  Click on the image to learn more about the Immigration in the early 20th century.

   

Cartoon discussing illegal immigrants

Creating comic strips: Pixton

At Pixton.com, students and teachers can easily create and share their own comics.

Click here to go to a current events lesson plan for using political cartoons

Create your own Flickr account here to upload, share, and edit photos.

Internet Workshop, Projects, Inquiry, and WebQuests

Skylar, Higgins, & Boone (2007): Strategies for Adapting WebQuests for Students with Learning Disabilities

       “Research suggests that students with disabilities who use technology are more highly motivated and complete more assignments when using the technology” Sylar et al 2007, p. 3). Therefore WebQuests can be used as a motivational tool for students and can be easily modified to meet the needs of students with disabilities.  In my own classrooms, I would use the graphic organizers when completing WebQuests in order to keep students thoughts organized and on task. 

Sox & Rubinstein-Avila (2009): Webquests for English-Language Learners: Essential Elements for Design

       “One of the main purposes for using Webquests is, after all, to narrow the search to maximize the relevance, comprehensible input, and efficiency of students’ Internet researches” (Sox & Rubinstein-Avila 2009, p. 46).  This helps English Language Learners who have difficultly generating keywords to search.  Also, there are no distracting advertisements surrounding the new information being read. 

Click on the image to go to a WebQuest website for all grade levels.

             

Click on the image to go to a WebQuest specifically for Biomes.

Donald J Leu, PhD provided many examples of how to implement Internet into your curriculum and classroom.  His quick videos can be found at http://ctell.uconn.edu/canter/canter_video.cfm.  I was particularly interested incorporating Internet workshop into my instruction when I have a classroom of my own.  According to Leu, “Internet workshop develops content knowledge, strategies for using network information sources, as well as student collaboration.”  The first step for incorporating Internet workshop is to locate sites.  This can be done by using central directories in your curriculum area or by using pre-screened search engines, such as Yahooligans.com or Askjeeveskids.com. 

Click here to go to yahooligans.com

The second step is to develop your research activity.  When developing your research activity, it is important to focus on your goals.  For example, “To introduce students to a new unit, to develop background knowledge, or to focus on the critical literacies of evaluating information on the Internet."

        

Click here to go to Askjeeveskids.com

         The third step involves having the students complete the activity.  Leu suggests that teachers should allow students to work with a partner for thirty minutes as well asindividually each week.  However, in my own classroom, I would increase Internet workshop to everyday in order to help generalize material learned.  I liked how Leu suggested having Internet journals to reflect on the students previous work completed.  This would become a good starting point for each session. 

         The fourth step of Internet workshop is to share and exchange information.  This can be a short workshop session at the end of the week celebrating the accomplishments of each student.   Leu suggested asking more open-ended questions that require multiple answers and perspectives.  I think this is necessary to have students become critical readers and writers on the Internet.  The literacies involved in Internet workshops are navigating websites, analyzing information, as well as searching topics and comparing multiple perspectives.  

Podcasts and Digital Storytelling

            Podcasts are an excellent way for students to record information and broadcast it to their audience.  Richardson describes podcasts as “the creation and distribution of amateur radio on the web” (Richardson 2010, p. 112).  One of the benefits to using podcasts in the classroom, is that they are easy to make as well as consume. 

            An interesting podcast I looked at this week was from BookWink.  Bookwink.com provides students with book summaries each day through video podcasts.  Students and teachers can easily access the archives and search for books that interest them.  Listening to this educational podcast can help students learn about books as well as model how to create their own book reviews. 

Click on the image to watch a video podcast from  bookwink.com

            Coleycasts is an excellent example of how students can create their own radio shows to broadcast on the web.  It is  updated each day by the students where they discuss what they are learning and can be assessed at anytime.   Podcasts offer opportunities to introduce or reinforce information from the classroom, to remediate students who need additional instruction or access to content discussed in the classroom, or to feature content experts or guest speakers under the guidance of a teacher external to the actual school building” (Putnam & Kingsley 2009, p. 101). 

Click on the image to go to choose a podcast 

         Figg, C. & McCartney, R. (2010). Impacting academic achievement with student learners teaching digital storytelling to others: The ATTTCSE digital video project. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 10(1), 38-79.

        “Using a framework such as The Model of Digital Storytelling (Figg, 2005) provided a scaffolded approach that introduced writing skills and concepts, providing student learners with opportunities to practice these skills within an engaging task” (Figg & McCartney 2010, p. 54). In Figg’s study, digital storytelling was found to motivate student learning as well as build self-esteem for the students.  

The model of digital storytelling: 

Digital storytelling in Plain English:

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Click on the link below to watch digital storytelling from a teacher's perspective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIkJnwD8OxE

Here’s a student’s example of a digital story:

http://www.dtc.scott.k12.ky.us/technology/digitalstorytelling/specialmemories_t1.mov

Wikis and Collaborative Learning

Wikisummaries.org is a wiki I followed this week.  It that provides summaries of books as well as external links to study guides.   It is very user friendly and provides a significant amount of information on each book.  For example, I searched, “Harry Potter” and was taken to a page with a summary of each book in the series.  This would be a great tool to use in the classroom for students as well as teachers.  At the bottom of each book summary page, there are external links to lesson plans and study guides for each book chosen.

Hunt’s article discusses how wikis provide opportunities for the community to become, “reviewers, writers, and editors.”  This can become particularly valuable and motivational for students who want their voice heard by an authentic audience.  The audience is asked to participate, by providing additional information as well as questioning the work, if not authentic.  I think wikis are an excellent tool, providing multiple perspectives as well as audiences.  One concern I would have when using wikis in the classroom, would be the grading of revising and editing. 

The article by Wheeler, Yeoman, and Wheeler, discusses the pros and cons of using wikis in the classroom.  In a collaborative learning environment, teachers take the role of supportive resources, while the students become producers by constructing their own knowledge on the web. This can have both positive and negative effects on student learning.  For example, students may be vulnerable to taking in information from unreliable sources and believe it to hold truth.  There is a need for teachers to become models for their students by showing them how to participate in wikis.  

Richardson discusses the collaboration that wikis can provide when used in schools.  Wikipedia is often used as a quick resource for an inquiry question.  However, anyone can edit the information, which can question its reliability.  Richardson makes an argument that “When mistakes occur, or vandals strike, the collaborative efforts of the group set it straight, usually very quickly” (Richardson 2010, p. 56).  Wikispaces on the other hand, is a more reliable and safe wiki to use in the classroom.  As an educator, you can separate pages for students to collaborate on assigned topics, giving you more control of the workspace.