Weekly Reading #6

Quote

“I can recall my first IM experience.  I felt anxious and rushed, unable to keep up with the lightening fast keyboard skills of my sister-in-law. The fast paced dialogue would flash upon the screen instantly.  I would compose one answer mentally and then the next question would be staring at me waiting for a reply” (Carey).

I chose this quote because I remember my first experience with IM and chat rooms. I didn't understand all the abbreviations and lingo of my chatting companion. I was overwhelmed and frustrated because it seemed like everything was abbreviated and I didn't have a dictionary. This was also the time when Google wasn't big and I never thought to research the text; however, I’m not sure that the key would be able to be found. 

Resource
I chose the following picture because this is what I felt like when I was first trying to learn how to Instant Message. This is also how a lot of older people, who are not familiar with the new technology of today, feel when the younger generation write or talk. For example, I know younger people who often say "ROFL" when they think something is funny (ROFL mean "rolling on the floor laughing"). However, they don't pronounce each letter, they say it like it is pronounced "roffle".


Art done by Chris Madden; Found through Google Search on Jeanne Meister's post on the New Learning Playbook blog.

Questions

How can instant messaging support reading and writing in school?

It prepares students for a wide-range of reading and writing purposes in the world, such as professional, community, and household purposes. In order for students to be fully literate, they need to be proficient in communication and information technologies (ICT). “Instant Messaging motivates young people to engage in: decoding, encoding, interpretation, analysis, multi modalities (for example: visual and audio), intertextual reading and writing (across texts, genres, and modes), lateral reading (skimming), collaborative discourse, and multitasking” (Carey).

2.       How did you attitudes and beliefs about the value of instant message change as a result of reading the research on instant messaging as a literacy practice?

I never thought about Instant Messaging as a way to motivate students to do the list previously mentioned. What they do through Instant Messaging is a large portion of what they are taught to do in English and mathematics courses. I didn’t think Instant Messaging could be so complex in its structure and learning capabilities.

Carey, J. (n.d.). Instant Messaging: A Literacy Event. Retrieved June 25, 2013, from Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6DFAmexYq7vYWdXV2RacF9EVXc/edit

Week Six: Categories

Social Outlet: 
"social networks, file share, games, videos, pictures"
Knows other people who plays the game, Dishonored
Brother taught her how to use the computer for videos and pictures.

Keeping Up-to-Date:
"News, research, videos, pictures"
"research and projects"

Creative Outlet:
"graphic design, photo design"
Videos and pictures are her favorite things to do on a computer.
"Dishonored, it works your brain; critical thinking."

Schooling:
"research and projects"
"they are bettering my knowledge"
"Also, computer use in school helps me. So, it's something I enjoy."

Week Five: Interview Transcript

Interview with Breanna

Do you have a computer/Ipod/MP3 player/Wii....etc?

Yes, Xbox, Wii, computer, Ipod, phone, Playstation, TV, Nook

What kinds of things do you use the computer for?

Social networks, research, Pictures, file share, news, games, videos

What is your favorite thing to do on the computer?

videos/pictures

How did you learn to do that?

My brother taught me.

What are some other things you use the computer for?

Graphic design, photo design

What is your favorite game? Why?

Dishonored, it works your brain. Critical thinking.

Do you know other people who do this?

Yes.

How would you like to use the computer at school?

research and projects

Do you think teachers would let you use the computer to do those things? Why? Why not?

Yes, they are bettering my knowledge.

Anything else you would like to tell me?

Also, computer use in school helps me. So, it's something I enjoy.

Weekly Reading #5

Quote:

“To complete the stimulated recall, we asked participants our research questions as they read through a website and audiotaped the dialogue” (Rowsell & Burke, 2009).

I was surprised that they used stimulated recall by asking questions while the students navigated the website. I’m not sure why they would do that. My impression was that they asked the survey questions, which were listed previously, during students interaction with the websites. I don’t know how those questions would last 40-minutes during an interview with the students. My brother gives very short answers whenever he’s online. However, I’m still unsure how this way of conducting the research would help in the study.

Resource:

By MermieOriginals at Youtube [CC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q69zFQ_8a0)]

I chose this resource, because it is a good example of digital text. It's a video made to teach kids the alphabet. The song, visual, and written texts are all incorporated to make learning the alphabet fun. This relates to the article because in the study the results showed the effects of how digital media improves reading skills in students, as well as engages and motivates them to learn. This video is a great way to show that in kids trying to learn their alphabet.

Questions:

1.       What did you learn about how reading of digital texts differs from the reading of print texts?

With digital texts, the reader has to construct meaning from visual and sound cues, as well as written text. With print texts, the reader just has to construct meaning from the written words. Digital texts have different representations of meaning, while print texts are only one dimensional in its ability to produce meaning.

2.      Do you agree the reading of digital texts are complex?

I do agree that digital texts are complex because they are multi-faceted. Readers need to use the majority of their senses to decipher all the possible meanings from the digital text. The combination of visual, sound, and written representation of meanings—when combined into one cohesive meaning—are what makes digital texts complex.

3.      Do you think that reading digital texts has value for reading in school?

I think that digital texts has value for reading in school. The complexity of various representations of meanings calls for a higher order of thinking than the traditional written texts. There are several meanings that they have to decipher in order to understand the digital text. This higher-order, critical thinking skills are what we strive for in education.

4.      How might a teacher connect Peter's online reading skills with academic reading? How might this improve Peter's academic reading?

Peter was able to articulate the plot and storyline of Naruto, which extended to his interest in the card game. This is important because students are often required in academia to produce the plot and meaning of written texts that are given to them in class. Also, his interest in the game extended to another media type to which the effect was the same. Being able to gather information from one source and use and transfer that knowledge to other forms is an important concept in mathematics. Therefore, this one study has produced skills in both English and Mathematics that teachers strive to instill in their students within the classroom.

This digital texts will improve Peter’s academic reading because it has different layers of reading involved. These skills would involve interpreting visual clues, mastering the nuances of subtext, following ideas in a non-linear way, and decoding simple reading. The multi-facets of digital texts are what improve thinking and learning. These skills aren’t covered with a single printed text like it is in digital texts. 

Rowsell, J., & Burke, A. (2009, October). Reading by Design: Two Case Studies of Digital Reading Practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), pp. 106-118. doi:10.1598/JAAL.53.2.2

Weekly Reading #4

“Classrooms that privilege alphabetic, print‐based, hard copy texts over electronic, multimedia and online texts are failing to capitalize on their students’ expertise and creating dissonance, as well as perpetuating disadvantage for those teens, who are not engaging with new texts outside of school” (Adlington & Hansford, 2008).

This statement reminds me of the movie Kate and Leopold. Leopold is a misplaced man when he travels to New York City from a different era. He is completely lost in all modes of communication, transportation, and entertainment. I feel that this is what our students will feel if we, as teachers, don’t incorporate new digital media into the classroom for our students to experience and skillfully use—lost. When they graduate high school they will be lost in a growing sea of technology, if teachers don’t help them assimilate to such changes and become critical consumers of information and technology.

By Ron Mader at Flickr [CC (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)], from Flickr Commons.

I chose this image because I believe it is our responsibility as teachers to provide students the best education, which would involve the new technologies that improve collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. These skills are important in the job market, which is ever-expanding. There is always going to be some new digital experience that students should use or implement in their working knowledge, which is why this image is a perfect description of the growing knowledge that teachers must have. Teachers must be continual learners and leaders. It is unfair to students whose teachers refuse to change and are stuck in the "old school" ways. I believe this is the most important information I gathered from this week's article, Digital Spaces and Young People's Online Authoring: Challenges for Teachers.

Questions

• Why is it important for teachers to use digital media to support writing instruction in school?

Like I said previously, it is our responsibility to help transition students into new digital media so that they have a chance to succeed in the job market. School is a safe and easy way to be introduced to and experiment with new technologies that students wouldn’t have a chance to use otherwise. Moreover, if teachers use digital media to support writing instruction in school, the technology and digital media that students are familiar with will become a tool for motivation and engagement. Digital media allows for more learning than traditional texts because it is vast in its all-encompassing curriculum.

• What are the differences between writing online and writing in school?

The differences between writing online and writing in school is that there is a bigger audience for your work online, than there ever could be in school writing.  There are so many tools and various communication presentations that could be used when writing online versus writing in school. Text can come alive with online writing.

• How should teachers use digital spaces to support writing instruction in school?

Teachers should use digital spaces, such as Wikis or blogs, to support writing instruction in school. It’s creative sites like these that can cause growth in writings from students by the feedback and collaboration that can occur online. Peer and teacher feedback is what encourages corrections to text, because no student wants to look ignorant when they attach their name to something that will last forever and be seen by many.

• What are some of the challenges to using digital spaces for writing instruction in school?

Some of the challenges to using digital spaces for writing instruction in school is the lack of funding for technology in school. Technology is expensive and most schools can’t find the funding to do 1-to-1 technology—meaning, one technology per one child. I would love to teach in a technology/digital media driven school. I feel that the students would be better prepared for the real world and may even have an advantage over other prospective employees.

Please find another example (Lesson plan or student created product) that provides a good example of how a teacher kept true to the social purpose of a new digital text to support learning in the classroom. Please provide explanation for you example.

Understanding Stereotypes

I chose this lesson plan because it can be adapted and expanded upon within the digital environment. Students can create a digital story or a public service announcement on the effects of stereotypes have had in their lives or their friends' lives. This ending project can be placed on the Internet on websites, such as Youtube. I liked this lesson because stereotypes are harmful assumptions about other people. Just as students need to be critical consumers of information, they need to be critical consumers of people. In other words, "you can't judge a book by its cover".  The collaboration and input from various classmates with different backgrounds will be beneficial in the learning experience involved in this project. Having the students find stereotypes in newspapers, magazines, and other media is a great way to relate what they've learned and the effect of stereotypes in their world.

Adlington, R., & Hansford, D. (2008, July 6). Digital spaces and young people’s online authoring: Challenges for teachers. Retrieved June 10, 2013, from National Conference for Teachers of English and Literacy: http://www.englishliteracyconference.com.au/files/documents/AdlingtonHansford-Digital%20spaces.pdf

Week Four: Illuminated Text (Final Draft)

Weekly Reading #3

As you read this article consider the following questions and post your responses to them in a posting on your blog:

1.      What is the main argument presented in this article?

a.       A literate person must be able to read and write via paper-based and online texts, participate in and create virtual settings that use Web 2.0 tools, and critically analyze multimodal texts that integrate visual, musical, dramatic, digital, and new literacies.

2.      Why is it imperative that teachers and educational policy makers recognize the role multimodality plays in redefining literacy in the 21st century?

a.       Literacy has already moved forward into multimodal, multidimensional, and hyper linked texts. Teachers not only have to think about what students need to learn, but also, what literacies the students bring with them into the classroom and how they can be integrated into the course to engage, motivate, and captivate students’ learning.

3.      What is the fundamental philosophical orientation of educators who engage in multimodal literacy instruction?

a.       It is the teacher’s responsibility to provide his/her students with a wide range of opportunities that allow them to expand their ways of communicating what and how they know. No one particular mode of communication carries the entire message. Literacy is entangled and inseparable from the other modes, media, and language systems that make up the messages that are sent, red, and/or interpreted.

4.      What is the rational for engaging children in learning through the arts promoted by educational philosophers like Maine Green and Elliot Eisner?

a.       According to Eisner, the arts develop different forms of thinking, such as the ability to discern qualitative relationships, within and among texts, and knowing that whatever is expressed is only part of what is meant. He goes on to say that not everything knowable can be written. For example, tone and body language cannot be written but produce meaning.

b.      According to Green, students become more informed and critical thinkers/speakers, because they are active viewers and perceivers.

5.      Do you share this philosophical orientation? Why? Why not?

a.       I believe it is a great idea to incorporate literacies that students already know into the subject material in class. Also, I agree with Eisner and Green about the arts being a dynamic way of expression. I love the arts, and the way people express emotions and communicate with an audience through unwritten text is amazing. It’s these literacies that engage students. It’s what they know combined with what they have yet to learn.

6.      Name three benefits of multimodal reading and writing for students? Be specific and use quotes from the text to support your claims.

a.       Multimodal reading and writing reaches all learners within the classroom. It allows students to learn through their particular style and can help struggling students. “Multimodal literacies instruction enables more children to enter into academic thinking and literacy than uni-dimensional forms of literacy instruction” (Sanders & Albers).

b.      “If educators read such multimodal texts to uncover the child’s sedimented experiences, they may find connections between home, school, and other spaces and facilitate conversations that bridge home and school literacy practices” (Sanders & Albers). Any connections that a teacher can make between students and the curricula will engage and motivate the children to learn.

c.       “Through multimodal instruction that is engaging, challenging, and personally relevant for the students, rich learning and writing results” (Sanders & Albers). Students will want to write and talk about familiar literacies they interact with, such as past experiences or social media. Due to the fact that teachers won’t have to drag information from them, students will gain more practice with literacies and be able to communicate and share their products, as well as their knowledge and experiences.

7.      Give an example of how blogging supports the four aspects of multimodal theory proposed by Kress and Jewitt.

a.       Materiality

                                                              i.      Blogging uses various tools to communicate ideas and concepts via images, videos and texts.

b.      Framing

                                                              i.      The blogger controls the framing, such as the sidebar, image placement, and layout of the blog.

c.       Design

                                                              i.      The blogger controls the background, font, colors, and overall design of their blog. This gives them the capability of expression.

d.      Production

                                                              i.      In a blog, the text and the actual posts are what would be considered the production aspect of the multimodal theory. Moreover, the links and embedded images or videos included in the posts would also be included.

8.      What can teachers learn about their students from their image productions? Why is this important?

a.       Teachers can lean a lot about their students, such as their identity, or past experiences. Students will be able to express their various styles and teachers will better be able to see their student’s weaknesses and strengths in literacy.

9.      According to this article, why should teachers use technology in their teaching?

a.       Because it allows for greater participation, collaboration, and distribution of knowledge. Students can learn 21^st century literacies and become more interactive with the world and society through the use of technology that is available now.

10.  How does multimodal literacy relate to 21st century literacy?

a.       Multimodal literacy is the implementation in classrooms that will encourage 21^st century learning and literacy. They are a package deal. 21^st century learning encourages technological knowledge and usage, and multimodal literacy is using those 21^st century technological skills to create multimodal creations/products that can be communicated with others.

11.  What project described intrigued you the most?

a.       I would like to learn more about the “Silencing Stories” project. I like the idea of incorporating arts into the classroom. Personally, I love the arts, which is unique for a mathematics person. However, the arts, I feel, is the best way of expression, whether it’s verbal or not.

12.  What challenges to integrating multimodal reading and writing into schools do you most identify with?

a.       The cost. It’s hard to find computers/computer labs available every day for students. Also, supplies for projects can get expensive, especially with 25 students in each class for 6 periods a day.

13.  Why is multimodal literacy essential in preparing students for work, play and democratic participation in the 21st century?

a.       In the workplace especially, it is important to have multimodal literacy skills. Appearance and presentation is everything in corporate America. The better skilled our students are, the better chances they have in the job market. These skills will also allow them to be better critical consumers of information, which will make them better democratic participators. When students have better multimodal literacies this will improve their gaming, hobbies, and extracurricular activities because they will be able to better communicate their thoughts and knowledge to others.

14.  Find and embed an image in your blog posting that relates to multimodal literacy.

 

Google Image Search: "multimodal literacies"
http://rampantred.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/presentation11.jpg
 

 

Sanders, J., & Albers, P. (n.d.). Multimodal Literacies: An Introduction. Retrieved June 4, 2013, from NCTE: https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Books/Sample/32142Intro_x.pdf

Week Three: Illuminated Text

I had a hard time trying to figure out what transitions and fonts were compatible with the authorstream website. However, this is my illuminated text. Enjoy!

 

Illuminated Text

More PowerPoint presentations from Heather