Week 7 2018 Inquiry: Research and Critical Thinking Part 1

I enjoyed reading about the different things you are trying out, and hearing about potential pitfalls.  And I agree with you all that you need to balance ebooks and traditional ones.

Learners are  empowered when they are able to ask questions about topics of interest and use those questions as a guide to finding information they can use to enrich their lives. So this week, we are beginning to read and discuss about inquiry.  While inquiry does include communication, collaboration, and comprehension, critical thinking is going to be a key focus here as is creativity.

This week you are reading  3 book chapters.  I'd suggest reading the Johnson chapter first, followed by the BABR chapters. They are really full of tools and strategies for inquiry, so much so that I was a bit overwhelmed!  Here is some vocabulary I"d like for you to use in your blog discussions: locate, evaluate, synthesize, integrate, divergent search phrases, repurposing, reinforcement, problem posing, online search, search engines, search strategies, curating, organizing, summarizing. Synthesize the information and collaborate on creating a definition of inquiry learning grounded in all of the readings for this week. Make this synthesis a generative synthesis (see the DeSchyver article I've uploaded on Canvas for a definition of this term). Then I want you all to be critical evaluators.  Divide up the tools from BABR chapters to try out--the blog leader can either make assignments or you can volunteer.  Critically evaluate the tools that you tried out and write about them in your responses.
Remember that  this week you need to fill out the Virtual Check In form. Please do this by Thursday  midnight.  I"ll check regularly and get back to you.  Have a good fall weekend.

Week 6 2018 Comprehension and e books

Awesome discussion this week, ladies!  I could tell it was a synchronous discussion and much richer because of it.

This coming week you will be extending the creative collaboration and communication around comprehension:  What is it in digital spaces? What supports it on Web 2.0? Which of the social practices might contribute to it?  An additional topic is how eBooks contribute to comprehension, and in fact, my aha moment of the readings, what "taken for granted" book handling skills need to be revisited in order to comprehend a story or a piece of text in the e-world.

 As I was reading, I came upon a reference to Bloom's Taxonomy and its revision to be a digital taxonomy.  Take a look at it below.

 Keep this in mind as you read the chapters in the Johnson book and H&C chapters.  In your blog discussion, refer to the digital Bloom's to identify the comprehension/thinking that you might be encouraging with students in each of the activities or ideas presented.

It is noon on Friday as I write and rain is still coming down.  Stay dry!  Stay safe.

Week 5 2018 Collaboration and communication for comprehension

We are moving into Module 2 about Web 2.0 resources and supporting NL/nl skills and social practices--the more practical piece. Remember to always be thinking about why the resources and skills are related to NL theory and to the important social practices that underlie that theory and the uses of those skills.
This week we are focusing on collaboration and communication for comprehension--three of the C's that are key skills for participating successfully in NL. Specifically, J 3 will discussion communication to build community within and outside of the classroom.  BABR 6 discusses how online discussions build communication and collaboration. H&C 5 discuss how to use audio tools and H&C 9 discusses how social media can support collaboration. How does communication and collaboration increase comprehension? How can you connect the key ideas to your own setting?

Have a good week!

Week 4 2018 Planning for NL/nl

So sorry I'm behind in confirming your topic choices for the digital book. Jenny, you want to do digital citizenship, which I can see easily for the theoretical piece and the lesson activities.  I"m not sure about what resources you will evaluate, but I'm ready to hear your plan.  Melinda, I have you down for planning for integration of New Literacies into literacy instruction.  Theresa, I have you for social media and collaboration.  I"m looking forward to what you all do with those topics. 

The readings for Week 4 focus on the planning process for integrating New Literacies/new literacies into your teaching and classrooms.  Last week's readings also alluded to planning as part of describing new literacies on classrooms.  I hope that as you read, even if the literal content is not about your teaching area or grade level, that you have been making connections to your own situation and in your mind, thinking about how the information could be used at your grade/age level.


As you read the chapters, think about how the ideas they put forth are part of planning for instruction.  How are they related to last week's readings? Compare and contrast the different frameworks. How are the readings all connected to this week's overarching topic? What is new to you about this process and what is just an expansion of what you already do? On Page 28 of H&C, you see a link to the Tech Integration Matrix site.  Go there and see where you fall within the two dimensions of the matrix.  How will all of this information help you as you plan for your own lessons/activities integrating digital and multimodal literacies into your classroom?

Have a good week! I'm looking forward to seeing you on Friday, Sept 14 at 5 pm.  I"ll let you know where via email. If there are questions that you woudl like to discuss in class (content or assignments), let me know in the blog discussion.

Week 3 2018 What do NL/nl look like in classrooms?

This week I'd like you to continue to think about what makes new literacies  new and especially consider what they look like in classrooms.  New literacies are not just about integration of technology but about how literacy is transformed. I added a bit about the differences between New Literacies and new literacies on last's weeks blog in response to your question/uncertainty.  Let me know if we need to revisit this distinction at our F2F meeting on Sept. 14. There was also a question about activity based curriculum.  Think about this concept about being based in learner's activity around literacy that is goal directed (activity as a verb), not as basing your classroom on activities before determining goals and purposes of your lessons (activity as a noun). I think that this is consistent with what you already know and do.

As you discuss this week on your own blog, please make sure to use the following terms in your discussions: goal driven reading and writing, affordances, constraints, open networked environments, multimodal texts, literacy practices, social practices, collaboration, communication, critical stance, persistence, flexibility, reflection, teacher and student roles and relationships.  You will be introduced to frameworks for classroom practice including TPACK, TPACK+, 21st century literacy learning, flipped classroom, IRT.  You have already read about Literacy 2.0 and activity based curriculum. Discuss your thoughts on all of these frameworks: similarities, differences, challenges. You might want to look carefully at Reflection question 2 at the end of H Chapter 10 and respond to that.  I have also uploaded to Canvas 6 articles that illustrate NL/nl in classrooms. Each of you should pick a different one to read and then summarize the classroom practices described in the article for each other and discuss how the descriptions of the classroom practices demonstrate the skills, strategies, and dispositions for 21st Century Literacy.  I'm sure each of you will also have other topics that you would like to discuss as well.

I hope you have a good Labor Day Holiday weekend and a good week next week. Don't forget to complete a virtual check in form for me please.I'd appreciate if you could do that by Wednesday.

Week 2 2018 What are New/new Literacies/literacies?

You are beginning the first module of the course, which lays the groundwork theoretically for the practical knowledge of supporting literacy development using digital tools that are multimodal.  The purpose of this module is to answer the following questions over the first 3 weeks:
What are New Literacies and new literacies? Why are they important? What makes them New? What do they look like in classrooms? How can teachers plan to integrate digital and multimodal literacies into their literacy instruction and learner's literacy learning?

For this week, you are focused on those first three questions. As you read, compare what you know about literacy in a traditional sense with Literacy 2.0, digital literacy and multimodal literacies.  Look for connections across the three texts that you are reading. For your blogging discussion, define what you think New Literacies are.  How are they different from new literacies? How do the 5Cs of the J text compare to the BABR text's 6 social practices? Where does the information in the H text fit in all of this? What are you doing already that might be supporting New/new Literacies/literacies in your classroom? What are you doing that might not be supportive of New/new Literacies/literacies?  Please use the following vocabulary in your responses in ways that demonstrates your understanding of the concepts that underlie them: creativity, collaboration, activity based curriculum, affordances, social practices, intertextuality, learning networks, digital citizenship, critical thinking, communication, comprehension, open and closed networked environments, connective writing, forward inferencing, sources of prior knowledge, connected learning.

Remember to post your responses to my questions before you read the response of your classmates. Remember also to include a question for your classmates that you would like to discuss. Finally, the blog should become a discussion between the 3 of you, so that means more than just posting and responding once to each of your other 2 classmates. 

I look forward to reading what you write and discuss. I'll weigh in when I feel the need or if you want me to.   Have a good week.

Week 15 Reflecting on your learning over the semester

You have done quite a bit of reading, blogging, writing, and discussing aspects related to literacy and technology.  We looked at New Literacies and new literacies, and the important skills and social practices that are a part of both. You practiced with Web 2.0 tools and tried out ideas in your own practice.  I'm quite impressed at what you all did and the willingness you had to try out different tools and social practices. Finally, we read about and you are writing multimodal works. I'm really looking forward to your iBook chapters.  I'd like you to reflect about your learning over the course of the semester and respond to these questions:
1. What are the three most important (to you) ideas that you learned about New/new Literacies/literacies this semester? Why are they important to you? How will they inform your practice as a scholar/higher education instructor, reading specialist, early childhood educator, or elementary educator?
2.  Revisit the goals that you set for yourself at the beginning of the semester. How have you met them?

Remember that we are meeting on Adobe Connect on Friday, Dec. 11 at 5:00 pm.  I'm looking forward to your sharing of your projects at that time. Here is the link to the video on how to access Adobe Connect.  Remember that the dates etc are for my first hybrid class last fall.

Have a good week.