Week 13

In the article, Toward a Theory of New Literacies Emerging From the internet and Other Information and Communication Technologies consisted of information about literacy and the Internet. The article talked about literacy in today’s social context. I found the statement, “the rapid emergence of the Internet as a powerful new technology for information and communication” to be so true. Every year the Internet becomes more involved and powerful through communication of social media networks inside and outside the workplace. In 2002 60% of all households reported having Internet access in their home. In eight years (1994-2002) the percentage of classrooms in the United States possessing to least one computer with Internet access went from 3% to 92%. I personally am amazed with these statistics. It just shows future educators how much the Internet has became so involved as well as mandatory in the classroom today. Therefore, the Internet is a rapid change that is becoming more and more popular not only in school settings, but as well as homes and businesses.

When talking about children’s literature through the Internet the definition cannot be just be limited to paper-printed media. Children’s literature also cannot just be limited to just paper-based books of printed pages, but must include books in electronic formats as well. According to this article, “definitions of literacy still must include concepts of composition, decoding, comprehension, and response, in order to understand how each of these definitional factors play out in electronic environments we must take into account current uses as indicators of current definitions of literacy.” The article mentions how media literacy scholars need to bring their understanding of critical literacies to the study of what students need to learn within the new literacies of the Internet. I think this is a great point because it is very important for students to understand how to be critical when it comes to literacy and the media. Overall, I found this article to be a great wealth of knowledge and I really enjoyed reading the article.

Week 12

In the article, Teaching about language, power, and text: A review of classroom practices that support critical literacy consisted of the author examining lessons and units that were created for critical literacy at the upper or primary grade levels. The author points out six broad categories based on student activities or tasks. The six categories are; reading supplementary texts, reading multiple texts, reading from a resistance perspective, producing counter texts, conducting student-choice research projects, and taking social action. Although these six categories have been presented as discrete, in many classrooms, activities are merged so that students are engaged in two or more of the tasks. I liked these six categories for literacy instruction. I think if used correctly in a unit or lesson they can become beneficial for the student.

In the article, Becoming Critical Consumer and Producers of Text: Teaching Literacy with Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 consisted of information for a variety of tools available online for teachers to use in their classroom with their students to become critical text consumers and producers. I liked the section about Writing with Comic Creator because I feel Writer’s Workshop is very important at the elementary level. The elementary level is when students learn how to become writers, but if a teacher does not make writing interesting and engaging I personally feel they could loose a student’s interest in the writing process. By having the students use ReadWriteThink.com the students can create their own comic strip. This is a fun creative way for students to write and be engaged in the writing process.

Week 11

In the article, Exploring the online reading comprehension strategies used by sixth-grade readers to search for and locate information on the Internet consisted of information about a study that explored the nature of reading comprehension processes while reading on the Internet. The study consisted of eleven sixth graders with the highest reading scores, reading report card grades, and Internet reading experiences. Students met with the researcher individually two different times and were assigned one task each time. The students task was to read a website that consisted of a multilayer website or a search engine. When the students were finished they were then asked to answer specific questions about their strategy used in an interview that followed the reading session. According to the authors, “reading Internet text prompts a process of self-directed text construction that may explain the additional complexities of online reading comprehension.” I found this study to be very knowledgeable since I am going into the literacy field. Especially since technology and the Internet is becoming such a useful tool for elementary level students.

In the article, Research on Instructional and Assessment in the New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension consisted of information pertaining to the Internet as a tool for information regarding reading comprehension learning. I found this article to be very intriguing and resourceful. I particularly liked the section of the article about “What Might Classrooms Look Like In The Future?” As a future educator I feel that we need to be ahead of the game when it comes to technology and the Internet. According to the authors, “it is also likely that students and teachers will engage in important online reading projects to advance content area learning while they also develop greater proficiency with online reading comprehension.” I see this happening already in classrooms. Teachers are having their student’s set up blog accounts and then having them answer questions about a passage the students may have read online. This also creates interaction and discussion amongst the students.

In the article, Expanding the New Literacies Conversation consisted of information about building the importance of good theory building to inform understanding of the Internet in the schools. I think the article made a great point about Internet usage. 63% of children coming from homes where their parents make $75,000 or more annually used the Internet at school compared to 36% of children coming from households where their parents make $15,000 or less annually. Therefore, students in richer school districts have more of an advantage navigating the Internet in school and at home compared to those students who are in less privileged school districts.

Week 10

In the article, Acquisition of Information Online: Knowledge, Navigation and Learning Outcomes discussed the topic of an investigation that examined the relationship between prior knowledge and the World Wide Web browsing outcomes within the context of a genetic website. I personally found the studies findings to be interesting. The overall outcome of this study found that readers who were in the treatment group were engaged in prereading activities containing information designed to increase their prior knowledge. This group had significantly higher learning outcome scores than students in the control group. This investigation shows us that prereading assignments, if used correctly are very essential for students to use before beginning an assignment on the World Wide Web.

In the article, Becoming Literature in the technological age: New responsibilities and tools for teachers discuss the topic of literacy in this technological age as well as exploring a variety of tools available for educators and students. I found this article to be very helpful in the technology field when assigning a web-based assignment for students. I think Flaming Text will definitely come in handy in the future when assigning online projects for myself as a teacher as well as the students. This website seems very useful and easy to use to complete projects for the students. Overall, I really learned a lot from this article and I know I will find it to be very useful in the future.

Week 9

In the article, A Good Teaching Technique: WebQuests describes the new teaching tool WebQuest. The author provides detailed information about the structure of good WebQuests. The author also includes the strengths and weaknesses along with the challenges teachers or administrators might face. I felt this was a very beneficial article because it included not only the strengths of WebQuest, but also the weaknesses of WebQuest.

In the article, “I Guess It Was Pretty Fun” Using WebQuests in the Middle School Classroom focuses on ten suggestions for teachers to take into account when assigning an assignment using WebQuest. I liked how the article touched upon collaboration. Especially in today’s society students do not get to collaborate much outside the classroom because of all the electronic games there are out on the market. Overall, I feel that WebQuest is a fun, great way for students to collaborate and work together as teams do to complete a project.

Week 8

In the article, Evaluating the Importance of Common Components in School-Based Websites: Frequently of Appearance and Stakeholders’ Judges Value was an interesting study. Only eight of the seventy schools that were included in the study incorporated more than 50% of the recommended features in their site. I found this to be a very interesting statistic because it shows me that schools are not going out of their way to improve their site. The study also indicates that parents and students appear to disagree about specific types of data that are useful in a website. It is very common for parents and students to disagree. For example parents and students disagree on types of TV shows that students should not watch or video games that students should not be playing. Therefore, I do not find this statement to be out of the ordinary.

In the article, Using Websites Wisely consisted of ways to assist teachers to help students work online in a meaningful way. I found the article to be very helpful when assigning online work to students. The article also lists websites to use to help students learn. Overall, I feel this article had a lot of useful knowledge.

In the article, Making the Most of Your Class Website consisted of different types of websites you can use depending on your purpose for the classroom website. I never realized that there were different types of websites teachers could set up. I found this article to be very useful because I do plan on setting up a classroom website when I become a teacher. The article assisted me with determining the purpose of my classroom website. As well as to take into consideration that all students have sufficient access to the Internet and are computer savvy to do web based work. Overall, I feel this article will be useful to me when setting up my classroom website.

In the article, Elementary Classroom Web Sites: Support For Literacy Within and Beyond the Classroom consisted of a study based on how elementary classroom Web sites support children’s literacy. I found the Literature-Based Approach section to be very interesting. This approach was the least supported instructional approach, with 35% of Web sites included a feature regarding children’s literature. Only 32% of Web sites featured a link to children’s book authors. I find this to be very interesting because in literature book authors are very important as well as the instructional approach. Therefore, I found this article to be very knowledgeable regarding classroom Web sites.

Week 7

Chapter seven, Fun with Flickr is about a website where you can upload digital photos or videos that you take from a fieldtrip or throughout the day in the classroom. You can then share them on the web with parents and other community members. Flickr is free as long as you do not publish more than two 500MB videos a month and more than 100MB photos a month. Otherwise you have to create an account, which is $24.95 a year. By having an account it gives you unlimited photo and video uploads, unlimited storage ability, and unlimited viewing ability. Another great thing about Flickr is the privacy settings. When posting a picture you can make the comments that are posted under the picture private so only people you want to see them can see them. I also liked the idea that each photo that gets uploaded to Flickr can have “tags” or keywords associated with it by the publisher, and those tags are then searchable around the world. It is another great way for people to connect with others from around the world.

In the article, Photostreams to the People consisted of information about Flickr. According to Peggy Garvin, “Flickr began to develop The Commons when the Library of Congress proposed using the popular site to expose more people to its photo collections and to experiment with Web 2.0 interactivity.” I found this fact to be very knowledgeable in how Flickr was developed. I found the section on Social Media and Public Institutions to be very interesting and controversial. According to Peggy Garvin, “the 2009 CIL panelists each judged their participation as a success, citing the positive feedback from the public and the press and the rewards of richer contacts with their users.” I think this is a great positive reinforcement for teachers to know when deciding if they want to use Flickr in their classroom.

In the article, The Unexplored Promise of Visual Literacy in American Classrooms I enjoyed reading. According to Larry Myatt, “now, more than ever, we need to connect the dots and make way for the powerful visual thinking lying dormant within our classrooms to surface in order to make sure our young people have the chance they deserve to pass the hurdles we put in their way.” This is so true because according to Larry Myatt, “the classrooms are likely to have anywhere from 4 to 10 students with special needs, ranging from those who require minor accommodations to others who need teachers to make substantial adjustments to their planning, instructional materials, and assessments.” By implementing new technology in the classroom I feel it will help students learn better academically through technology based interventions, especially the students with a learning disability.

Week 6

Chapter eight, Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming had a lot of valuable information. One interesting fact that I learned about podcasting is that most podcasters are just your average people with ideas they want to share. Using podcast in the classroom could be very beneficial to the students. I liked the idea of Radio For Kids, By Kids. Each show has its own host, theme, and unique segments. I feel this could really get the students involved and could be an exciting new way for children to produce what they learn. Screencasting is another way to support materials when teaching complex skills on the computer. I find screencasting to be very interesting. I think this could be an essential tool in a classroom for any age level.

In the article Digital Language Experience Approach: Using Digital Photographs and Software as a Language Experience Approach Innovation was about a case study that took place in a kindergarten classroom. The article researched three little girls who come from different backgrounds. The case study explored young children with different levels of literacy learning when a Language Experience Approach is enhanced with digital photography and creativity software. Savannah, a young girl of middle literacy abilities from a middle-class white family, Tien-Tien, a young girl of Asian descent with high literacy abilities, and India, a young girl of African American race all participated in the study. The study indicates that children with varying literacy abilities have unique opportunities for literacy development with digital photography and creativity software. It is also important to note that adults play an important role in D-LEA activities as facilitators who provide effective activities by modeling the use of technology tools. Therefore, I found this case study to be very interesting in the fact that photography in the classroom and play a positive role in a child’s literacy learning ability.

In the article, The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling had a lot of useful information. Digital storytelling “revolves around the idea of combining the art of telling stories of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video.” (Robin, Bernard) Digital storytelling can be used in digital literacy, global literacy, technology literacy, visual literacy, and information literacy. In these areas of technology students can improve their software skills that can combine a variety of multimedia tools including working with text, still images, audio, video, and Web publishing. Therefore, when students use digital storytelling they increase their full complements of literacy skills, including: research skills, organizational skills, technology skills, presentation skills, interview skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and assessment skills.

In the article, Podcasting in the Classroom:A Sound Success was a very interesting article about the use of podcasts. Podcasting “could be an important tool for delivering and receiving information” according to Johanna Riddle. The initial focus of podcasts was delivery of content. According to Johanna Riddle, “it wasn’t long before till the K-12 community realized the advantages of student podcasting in the classroom. The process is a nexus for traditional and 21st- century literacies, requiring discipline-based research, reading, and writing. Podcast also calls for editing, oral reading, and presentation skills.” (Riddle P. 24) Therefore, I think podcast can be used in a variety of ways throughout the classroom to enhance students learning skills and abilities.

Week 5

Chapter four is about Wikis. While reading this chapter I found out a lot of great knowledge about Wikis. The section about wikis in schools was interesting to me. I don’t know if I would want to create a wiki in my classroom just because there are so many other ways of creating a site that I feel it would be much easier to maintain. Although I do think there are a lot of positive attributes that go along with wikis. I think Wikis should be used in a high school not elementary level.

Chapter five is about RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, also known as a web blog. According to David Perry of the University of Albany he says, “the speed of reading in the age of the digital has changed, and we need to help students navigate this.” I find this to be very true for the 21^st century learners. Literacy is no longer how well students can decipher text on a screen. We as educators have to prepare our students for this much complex world. I personally find it difficult to set up a RSS account let alone a twitter account for the classroom. I do like the idea of the RSS and I like all the tools that go along with it. I think it’s a great learning tool in the classroom.

In the article Digital Literacies, I found it to be very knowledgeable and useful about wikis. According to Knobel and Lankshear, “A wiki is a collection of web pages whose content is typically organized around a specific purpose or pattern.” “Wikis have a great potential for promoting online and offline collaboration and for disseminating research and practical resources among educators in accessible ways,” according to Knobel and Lankshear. I feel this is very important in the education world today because collaboration is very important among educators in today’s society. Overall, I learned a lot from reading this article.

In the article Radical Change and wikis: Teaching new literacies, had a lot of great information about wikis. According to Dobson, “wiki is an easily learned, open-source software program that allows all users to access and edit the pages on an ongoing basis.” I thought the study that was done by a research team in 2004 was interesting. At the end of the study the research team points out that they wondered if the students were more attracted to the visual elements in the books and focused on them in their own writing simply because the research team had relied on the images to introduce the conception of “something different” and modeled how the research team would “read” the pictures. I thought this was a very interesting point that the research team brought up because most of the time students do just follow the teachers role and copy what the teacher or role model does instead of thinking outside the box when creating something new. I also liked how the article pointed out how we as teachers “need to think less about teaching and more about engaging our students in the process.”

Week 4

In chapter six-titled The Social Web it consists of information regarding the web. Throughout reading this chapter I learned a lot of valuable information on how to do different types of shortcuts while using the web. I found the section on Diigolet toolbar to be very valuable for myself. I have never heard of this tool before, I find it to be very valuable when searching for educational information throughout the web.

In chapter nine titled Social Networks it consists of information regarding social networks throughout the World Wide Web. I have never heard of Ning before. I found it to be a great tool that allows children and teachers from around the world to connect. I also like the idea of how Elementary teachers use the network as an art center for individual learners. I feel Ning is a great tool for students to show their artistic ability through a social media site.

I found the article Social Networking Goes to School a great article. Now that everything today is based upon social networking I do think it is a great way for students and educators to use a social networking site to stay connected in and outside of school. According to Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano, “social networking has changed the way educators teach and students learn.” I find this to be very true just with blogging. Looking at educational blogs I found a lot of professional development links that were posted for educators. I feel social networking is a great way for teachers to stay up to date and connected with the education world.

I found the article Tweacher (n): The Twitter Enhanced Teacher to have a lot of great ideas on how to use twitter as an educational tool. My favorite was how a teacher can set up an online poll and then the students can tweet their answer. I find this to be very fun and exciting for students to use. Twitter can also be used as a collaborative way for students to write creatively. Overall, I feel this article had a lot of great educational ideas for teachers to use to stay connected with their students through twitter.

Week 3

The article on Hot Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking was a very knowledgeable article. I liked the point the author made about how a literature response blog simply moves the students ideas and responses online. Online blogs also prompt and invites student responses to a text through open-ended questions that teacher ask. Literacy online blogs also promotes the use of multiple perspectives amongst students. This type of teamwork and collaboration is necessary in our global economy today. This type of collaboration may also serve as an awareness of effective writing and different perspectives amongst students. Overall, I feel online blogging promotes students to read, think and comment on other students work within the classroom.

The article Teaching With Authors’ Blogs: Connections, Collaboration, Creativity was about the importance and potential use of blogging throughout the classroom today regarding the use of authors’ blogs. I feel it is very important for the students to connect with the authors. Through the use of authors online blogs students can connect and learn more about an author.

Chapter two and three in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classroom was about weblogs and the different uses it has inside the classroom. I liked the idea of how a blog can be an online “filing cabinet.” Not only is this useful for the students, but it also can be a great way amongst the other students in the class to have a discussion and collaborate without taking away from class time. It also is a way for students to create an online portfolio of their work that they will have forever. I have to be honest I never realized what a great tool an online blog was for students until I read these two chapters and articles. I definitely think an online blog is an educational benefit for teachers and students. Online blogs bring so much collaboration and discussion throughout literacy amongst students. Therefore, online blogs can be used inside and outside the classroom in many different ways. Online blogs are beneficial for teachers, students, parents, and the community.

Week 2

While reading the article What Research Reveals for Classroom Practice, I found the statistics that were brought up to be very interesting. According to Lenhart, Madden, and Hitlin, eighty-seven percent of students between the ages of 12 and 17 in the United States report using the Internet, nearly 11,000,000 daily. I find this to be a very high statistic. According to Parsad and Jones, in 1994, only 3 percent of all K–12 classrooms in the United States had Internet access; today, 93 percent have access. I find this to be a positive statistic. I do believe that the internet in the classroom is not only a great tool for teachers when presenting a lesson or preparing a lesson, but it is also a great tool for students to use to do research or use it for fun learning activities/games. I remember when I was in fourth grade my class was the first classroom to have a set of five Macintosh computers. The computer did not have Internet access, we only used the computer for educational games. I remember during free time everyone wanted to use the computer because it was so new and fun for all of us. I personally really enjoyed using the computer at school and I did learn a lot from the educational games that we were aloud to play on the computer. Overall, I feel that the Internet and computers have helped increase students and teachers knowledge of technology abilities all around the world. After reading this article I feel my viewpoint on new literacy reflects upon the same as Coiro and Leu. I see new literacy as an important new strategy and dispositions, required by the Internet that are essential for online reading comprehension, learning, and communication. I also feel that the Internet is helping our student’s today connect and collaborate with each other around the world. Whether its through an online blog, e-mail or web-cam. I feel that collaboration and communication is essential in the literacy world. The Internet is also helping us teach our students how to communicate and learn from other cultures around the world.

Chapter one in the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, was a very knowledgeable chapter about the web. I liked how the chapter brought up how the web and technology in genera is becoming so advanced for adults, but easy to use for children. Children now of days know how to create more projects on the web then their parents, usually it’s the parents helping or teaching the children how to do things. This could become very dangerous because the parent does not really know what the child is actually doing. The author in chapter one brought up a great point about blogging, although blogging can become a great way to teach students how to communicate, collaborate, and spark up a debate it can also be very dangerous in the fact that if a stranger comments on a students blog. We as educators have to explain to our students that a blog is out there for the public to read. Although I do think if someone does comment on a student’s blog it will more likely be a positive comment.

Chapter ten was a very interesting chapter to read. I personally think it is a great idea to upload books from research libraries to an online google database. I feel that it would be very beneficial to everyone. This would be much easier and faster to access instead of going to the library and searching for the book. I also liked how in this chapter it pointed out the independent work. When I was in elementary school I remember the teachers were very strict about working independently. Now a day there is a lot more collaboration going on in the classrooms. I think this is great! I feel collaborating and communicating is the key to a successful person. The more collaboration, communication, and teamwork involved during a project will help students succeed in the real life. Now a days there are so many ways to communicate with one another through technology it is much more easier for people to collaborate.