Monday, July 19

ST: New Literacies in Practice

One of the interesting ideas today is that we are able to teach New Literacies without technology. This is a great way to get around technology issues, yet still emphasize the skills used in New Literacies which are engaging to students as skills they use in their daily activities.

1. "Snowball" activity: Write a comment or response to what was presented. Crumple up the ball and throw it to another student. He or she un-crumples the paper and writes a response to the response on the paper. Repeat and continue the process. This resembles the ability to comment on ideas such as a blog.

2. Brainstorm Corners: Take a large sheet of paper. Each member of the group takes a corner of the paper. They brainstorm ideas based on the topic. The students then share their lists and cross off any doubles. Then students can make categories that these ideas fit into. This helps students organize a Wiki for this topic and the categories will become page titles.

These two activities show that technology is not needed to allow students an opportunity to interact in a way that supports New Literacies. We can tap into students' skills used in their daily lives to make our lessons more engaging and student led. We can reference the technology or show them examples of how what they do in the class translates into "real world" examples. 

Another reason why these activities are important is they are a bridge for the teachers who are 

reluctant to using New Literacies . This allows them to start seeing the skills necessary for New Literacies without adding the worries of technology.

 

EC Ning Summer Webstitute 2010

Day 1: Social Network With and Without Technology: William Kist

2.  One of the common concerns about using social networking in classrooms is that it puts kids at risk.  What does Chapter One of The Socially Networked Classroom have to say about the social construction of “childhood”?  How is your district coping (or not coping) with some of the fears that surround Web 2.0 applications?

Chapter One interestingly points out that kids were once doing very dangerous things at a young age! Working in factories, doing "adult" jobs, and being exposed to adult realities like death. I think our natural inclination is to try and protect students, especially younger students, from all of the "tragedies" and possible injuries of the world. However, as educators, it is our duty to help these students navigate these difficult issues in order to learn how to handle the world once they have left school and are on there own. According to Chapter One, many students deal with poverty and other issues which might make school the only place they have an opportunity to interact with different media.

What is interesting, and what the chapter points out, is that while we sometimes make fun of students for instantly flipping their cell phones out at 3:30 when the bell rings, adults do the same thing! We sometimes say that students can't sit for 40 mins and take notes, but some staff meetings also contain teachers who are not happy sitting for an hour or more just listening about a topic. We tend to teach students like we were taught and have not accepted that things have changed.

How do we cope with the fears of Web 2.0? It seems in most cases we are overprotective and overcautious. It seems like instead of trying ways to adapt an idea or attempt to work with a teacher on an idea, the immediate answer is no. However, many of the fears of Web 2.0 have less to do with technology and more to do with the way the world changed. How can we change parents', administrators' and teachers' understanding of the way the world, information, and communication is changing? How can we keep up with these changes? How do we provide our students with the equipment and opportunities needed to ready them for the world? How can we integrate these skills with our curriculum and high stakes testing expectations?

EC Ning Summer Webstitute 2010

Day 1: Social Network With and Without Technology: William Kist

3. In the video, Dr. Kist talks about how a simple assignment, such as writing alternative endings to stories, may be given a new twist to get kids thinking in terms of new media. If you teach in a school without much technology (or even if you do), what are some instructional practices that you do that could be given a new dimension to get at principles of reading and writing in these “new” times?

It seems like students have issues sorting through information to locate what is important and what is not. They are unsure of what terms to enter into Google to search for, and then once they have results, they are unsure how to read the titles to eliminate poor sites. So, many of the research techniques that apply to "old fashioned" research papers also applies to using the internet-- topic titles, reliability of source, documentation of source, and where to find information. We need to show students how to think to accomplish these tasks with the technology now available.

Using the formats of technology is another way to use technology without using technology. For example, most schools block Facebook, but students could create a paper version of a Facebook page or a Word version by using the template and design of the actual Facebook Page. This allows them to summarize and use a format that is "real" to them as they interact with the text.


It seems like the biggest challenge is that instead of focusing on just fiction, our study of literacy needs to include nonfiction more. Instead of limiting our definition of literacy to reading passages and LA class, we need to look at art, film, graphic novels, ads, charts, manuals, etc.

The time when one could memorize or learn all the information needed to perform a certain job are over. There is no longer "one" solution to problems. Now, we have to teach students to take information and create using that information. We have to show students HOW to find information they need and EVALUATE the information they find.