Welcome to EDRG 5753 Literacy and Technology. The purpose of this blog is to introduce you each week to the topics that comprise the three modules of the class, and to activate your background knowledge about those topics and give you a purpose for reading. I'll also use this blog to communicate information about assignments, model what I'd like you to do in your group blogs, provide a place for you to ask me questions.You should be reading this blog and responding to it before you read the readings for any particular week. As you read this first blog, you may have already read the assignments, and I hope you have completed the Google forms with information about who you are, your goals and questions, and your technology expertise. If you have not, here is the link to the personal information form: http://goo.gl/forms/3ULioMIqj4 . The link to the Goal sheet and technology expertise form is this: http://goo.gl/forms/hS6wUUkkCK .
Since this class is about literacy and technology, I'd like for each of you to think about your own definitions of literacy. We each have one or more that may or may not be dependent on your role and background. I won't share mine as I want you to develop your own, and not think that my definition is the only one or the right one. I also want you to think about who you are as a literate person in the different roles that you have in your life. For example, one role I have is that of teacher in higher education. As a literate person in that role, I read textbooks, develop syllabi, create blogs and rubrics and forms. Another role I have is that of researcher so in that role I read scholarly material, communicate with collaborators in different countries, review and discuss data in all of its forms, write scholarly articles with others. In my role as a friend, I read quilt patterns to determine which one best exemplifies my understanding of the recipient's personality, write emails to set up social occasions, share books I've read or listened to.
So, you response to this blog is to first write a 5-7 word definition of literacy. Then respond to the rest of these questions. What is it in your own social and cultural background? What is it in your the educational settings of which you are or have been a part? What do you think it should be? And who are you as a literate person as you traverse your role as a student, a teacher, and in other social roles you take on?
Finally, you may want to bookmark the links that follow. They are the ones set up by the authors of your texts with new information and links to apps and websites.
The Johnson book: http://literacytwopointzero.blogspot.com/
The Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Reynolds book: http://digitalwriting.pbworks.com/w/page/17812520/FrontPage
See you Aug. 28!
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ReplyDeleteLiteracy: interactions with various forms of text. In my social and cultural background I text and write emails to keep in touch, post on social media, share online articles through email, and read various Pinterest posts. In an educational setting, I read pacing guides and manuals, textbooks for classes, write to show my understanding, and read/post on websites related to curriculum. I think that my role as a literate person in both my social cultural background and in an educational setting, should be to interact with various forms of text (electronic, print, media, etc.) and synthesize this information to benefit these two roles. This includes the way in which I reiterate information gathered to both my students and professors. As a literate person in various roles, I am constantly reading to gather information and writing to help reflect on information. I also write to model, inform and keep in touch with friends and family.
ReplyDeleteLiteracy: The ability to use and understand printed language and multimodal information. ( I think it is difficult to articulate what literacy is in seven words. Hope it was somewhat on track.)
ReplyDeleteMy social and cultural background is highly influenced by Western values. I was born and raised in Oklahoma, but I have had opportunities to travel and be around various cultures. My background as an educator has been teaching primary grade students in low income settings. I have worked in education for many years and have seen the climate of education change drastically both in positive and negative ways. As a literate person I fill many roles. As an educator, I read articles about effective pedagogy and apply this to the classroom. I review blogs, social media, and teacher’s guides for instructional ideas for the classroom. I communicate with colleagues using instant message and e-mail. I use technology to communicate with parents and the community. As a graduate student, I am continually reading textbooks, research articles, blogs, etc. to gain more information applicable to being a Reading Specialist. As a person with friends and family, I am a part of social media. I read texts and other day to day tasks from grocery shopping to how to instructions. Each of the categories overlap a bit. It is hard to define them separately!
Literacy is an ability to communicate by using written languages. In my social and cultural background, since I grew up in north part of China, my social and cultural background is totally influence by eastern culture. In ancient China, it is to believe that women is better have no ability of literacy. Men is preferred to give better education and need literacy. Until now it has already become an important role for in people’s life. The ability is as crucial as people’s biological ability now. Since traditional Chinese character is hard to write and read, the government popularized the simplified Chinese character which are easier to read and write. Since there are still people in China have limited ability of the literacy, so literacy education is also the main task for schools and educators. As time goes by, I think literacy should be change all the time. People are not only required to recognize symbols as their own language. Literacy can also be the kind of common knowledge that people need to know in modern society. As a teacher, I need to read the textbook and prepare for the lesson for my students. As a graduate student, I have a lot of reading of every courses. As an assistant, I need to read and reply emails every day. I also use a lot of social Medias, such as Facebook, WeChat, Line, What’s app and so on to use words and text to communicate with people. As a literate person, I basically use all of the symbolized characters and word to communicate with people.
ReplyDeleteLiteracy is the expression of written or spoken languages. My social and cultural background is based in multiple situations. Growing up I was of low socioeconomic status and lived in an urban area of Chicago. I was exposed to many different cultures there and taught to respect them all. As an adult I consider myself typical middle class and live in a suburban area where most cultural backgrounds resemble each other. As a teacher in a Head Start setting I have had the pleasure of interacting with many different social and cultural backgrounds and gained a respect for others that are different from me. I enjoy being around people that have differences and feel that we can all learn from each other which is why I think all learning environments should be diverse.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself to be literate in all roles of my life. Literacy is involved in every aspect of everyday in one way or another. It is just involved in different levels. Depending on what role I am taking on at any given moment leads to my literate actions. As a Mom I am teaching my daughter language anytime I am speaking. With her I read picture books 20-40 minutes a day. As a student I am honing my literacy skills constantly through reading, writing, and comprehension. In my downtime I like to read informational text, news articles, and social media postings.
Literacy is the ability to understand and use oral and written languages.
ReplyDeleteI was raised in a middle class home in the suburbs of Atlanta. Because of that and my time in college and teaching, I have interacted with a variety of people with differing backgrounds and situations. As a teacher, I read books, write a variety of texts (including newsletters, anchor charts, morning messages, shared writing, etc.), read student work, read curricular materials, develop lesson plans, fill out (a lot of) paperwork, and more. As a student in college, I read textbooks, write papers, read blogs, create projects, and communicate via email. When I am not working or at school, I like to read fiction books, news articles, and communicate through text and email.
Literacy is how people communicate through written and oral expression. I was raised in rural West Virginia, where there was little cultural and socioeconomic diversity. I experienced a wider variety of cultures when I moved to Oklahoma to attend OU. As a teacher, I now interact with many cultures through my work with students and families.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I read curriculum materials, lesson plans, memos, emails, and student work. I write curriculum and lesson plans, morning messages, anchor charts, shared writing, dictated student work, newsletters, parent communications, and emails. As a student, I read syllabi, textbooks, handouts, blogs, and emails. I write papers, presentations, and emails. In my personal life, I read fiction books, online news and nonfiction, and texts and emails. I write lists, texts, and emails.
Literacy: communication and a symbol system that creates meaning. Literacy for me is texting and emailing family and friends, communicating orally and in writing with parents of my students, writing state department literacy reports, collaborating with teachers and communicating new and best practices, conducting professional development through PowerPoint presentations and presentations, and serving on district and state committees. Literacy should be a means of communication where meaning and knowledge are exchanged. I read nonfiction books, journal, and read research. For me literacy is communication, learning, exchanging ideas and knowledge, and being aware of multiple interpretations due to one’s cultural and personal background experiences.
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ReplyDeleteLiteracy is a socially made scheme people use to communicate. In my social and cultural background, literacy’s role is to enable me to effectively communicate with people in the world. For example, I use text messengers or email to share opinions and setting up appointments. In my educational settings, it works as a bridge among the previous scholars, my colleagues, and myself. What I mean is that I can look up what other people have researched already by utilizing their literature, e.g., a research article by Noam Chomsky and a sonnet written by Shakespeare. Literacy allows me to work with not only with my contemporary colleagues, but also with people in the past, or in the future too – as my future readers read my writings for example. Literacy should be open to the public. Everyone should feel easy to access it and feel free to make a contribution to it because literacy is what we, human beings, have made socially.
ReplyDeleteMy role as a literate person, as a student first, is to interpret and reflect on my teacher’s assignments, share thoughts and ideas with my classmates, and keep all of the learning data in the given courses in order to communicate with myself and others across the time. As a second language teacher, my primary role as a literate person is to teach my students literacy skills in a second language by teaching the target contents using in-text or multimedia materials. Also, becoming a model of using diverse literature sources – e.g., using the library e-catalogue, TedTalk videos, or e-newspapers - is another role for my students. In my social circumstances, as a father and a husband, my role as a literate person is to understand the bills and pay appropriately, check medical appointments for my family, drive correctly and efficiently by reading the road signs well, and write a poem or diary for my family.
Literacy is delivering meaning and emotion via reading, writing, and speaking.
ReplyDeleteAs a military child for 21 years and military spouse for 17 years, I have lived all over the United States. As a child I attended 4 Elementary Schools, 2 Junior High Schools, and 2 High Schools. As a teacher I have taught in 13 classrooms, 10 Elementary Schools, 1 High School, 6 School Districts, and 5 states. While the fundamentals of language and literacy are the same regardless of where you live or go to school, the culture and societal structure can significantly impact the success (or perceived success) of an individual's literacy within that sub-group.Therefor, the idea of literacy to me is incredibly fluid and situationally dependent. For example, Hawaiian people have their own slang/dialect known as Pidgin (pronounced like the bird). The saying among educators in Hawai'i is "Pidgin to reach, English to teach." As a result, regardless of how literate they may be within the field of professional educators that value Proper English, a teacher in Hawai'i must be fluent, flexible, and able to quickly access the appropriate words/language in order to be literate in the classroom.
Similarly, I must also be able to quickly access the appropriate words/language to be literate (as a reader, writer, speaker, and listener) in each role I take on throughout the day. As an Instructional Coach interacting with first-year teachers, many of whom are not from a teacher preparation program, I strive to make connections between their experiences and what is happening in the classroom in an effort to build a common language for us to communicate with. Within the same role, my literacies change as I interact with colleagues across the country with whom I already share a common language. However, when I work as a trainer for Everyday Math, I must shift to yet another literacy. Being literate in the military is a beast in and of itself (the only organization to have more acronyms than education is the military), however after being around it my entire life I am finally at a point where I would say I am literate within that community. I feel that I manage these many literacies fairly well, although my husband would disagree. He would say that I often speak and communicate with him as if he were a 5-year-old.
Literacy is the ability to access and understand visual communication.
ReplyDeleteIn my position at K20, I must be able to understand the jargon of educators and be able to speak in a way that highly educated people will understand. I also need to know every nit-picky style rule in APA to be able to edit their work. Additionally, I have to write a lot, so I must also understand and be able to execute proper narrative structure, argumentative structure, and copy to help this wonderful place succeed.
In my position as print chief at the Daily, I must understand how to convey meaning through design, composition, and language as well as verbally to my copy editors and designers.
Both of these positions require me to be able to not only create my own communication but, even more importantly, I must be able to shape the words of others while maintaining their own style and voice (i.e., without "inserting myself" into the text).
As an art director and copy writer at Lindsey + Asp, I must communicate on the most basic level, joining art and words to create understanding. This is most evident when creating logos, where the art conveys what something is and the word(s) convey only a name and location, at the most. In this case, it's a matter of creating something solid for the concept of a company, turning something abstract into something visual for the sake of instant communication.
And as an artist, I rely heavily on all of these skills to turn a concept into a statement. I believe literacy is the most important in this situation, because if one is not literate, only the essence of a piece of artwork can be conveyed. Perhaps the sadness or hope the painter was trying to pass on will come through, but without the context to synthesize this, the communication is lost.
Literacy: reading, writing, listening, and speaking
ReplyDeleteLiteracy, in my life, is essential. I grew up in a small-town in Oklahoma the daughter of two educators. Literacy and communication were highly valued. We read for enjoyment, specific information, knowledge, etc... As an adult I have taught in California and Oklahoma for many years and have enjoyed learning about various cultures. In the educational setting, literacy is very important. In my early childhood classroom I have a print-rich environment for the students to be exposed to written text. We learn phonemic awareness, letter sounds, phonics, chants, nursery rhymes, songs, fingerplays...all to help scaffold learning on the road to literacy. I believe that literacy should be a natural and integral part of the classroom environment.
I have many roles as a literate person. As a student I am learning new technological ways for literacy, such as google communities, blogs, wikis, etc...it is an exciting role that I am curious to experience. As a teacher I am always trying to promote literacy in my classroom. My young students read their name posted throughout the room, they read pictures and words for procedures in our classroom, they read where manipulatives belong, etc... We read a daily message and recite chants, songs, rituals every day. We practice writing skills in journals, dry erase boards, gel bags, sand trays. We are learning that the written word is a way to communicate to each other and the importance of that. On a personal note, technology and literacy is so important in my life. I love to read for enjoyment, pinterest, online shopping, facebook, surfing the web, and finding new recipes. (My husband is an awesome chef and I work hard finding new recipes to try although he is a much better cook than I am.)
I am looking forward to learning how to incorporate literacy and technology in my classroom and personal life. This is sure to be an interesting class and journey!
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ReplyDeleteLiteracy is the ability to comprehend what is read. In my childhood, it was not focused upon. My parents were literate people, but did not read often except for functionality. I saw my parents read the Bible, bills, or a restaurant menu, but never for pure enjoyment. Reading was about practicality only. Literacy to me, and now to my children, is an open door to the world! What a precious gift is the gift of literacy! In my school, literacy is everything! We want to inspire a love for reading and help students sense the immense value of it—even in kindergarten! We talk of treasures and mysteries unfolding within the pages of a book! I look at literacy as the life line that it is. I see every day, as a literate person and an educator in an impoverished area, people who cannot read and write. I am pained at the fact that their future is predetermined by their inability to excel because of their illiteracy! Oh that all could have the opportunity to advance! Literacy is a ticket out of poverty and ignorance! My journey as an educator, a reading teacher and a student is for one purpose--to help those who struggle in reading to rise out of the bondage of illiteracy! I want to help unlock the key to their future! The ability to read is that key!
ReplyDeleteLiteracy is information produced and gained through different texts. As it pertains to my social and cultural background literacy was a big part of growing up. As a part of my island/Caribbean life and being born and raised on a tiny island, reading, writing, and all things literacy were deemed important and highly expected. I read many books as a child both at school and at home, I visited the library and participated in many essay and oratorical contests. During the little time I had in the classroom I ensured that I did a lot of research via the internet, school books, and other articles and asked other seasoned teachers for guidance to ensure that I was well equipped. This helped tremendously, especially when I had to write my weekly plans. As a student, I have been engrossed in reading different articles, books, and have made texting, emailing, blogging and other discussion boards a part of my literacy learning. For me literacy should be about giving and gaining information and this may occur when we read books, posters, signs, articles as well as text messages or when we speak, listen and write. As a literate person, especially as a student, I ensure that I read and listen to the news, I ask a lot of questions and because I am away from home I use communication apps like Watspp, Facetime and Skype every day.
ReplyDeleteLiteracy is a form of communication through text. I was born and raised on an island of a small population. However the small size did not limit my people or myself from excelling. Literacy and education as a whole, was, and continue to be a very crucial part of people as individuals and the island itself. Growing up I enjoyed writing and reading poems and participating in short plays, essay competitions and reading at church. As an adult and having some experience as a teacher, literacy took to form of reading blogs and websites, writing lesson plans, and exploring tons of sites such as Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram to help enhance my creativity. I also engaged in reading students work, writing report cards and creating programs for my schools monthly activities. I think literacy is a building block to gain control over situations you are placed in.
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