Reflecting on Literacy

The world in which my middle schoolers are learning is vastly different from the one in which I studied as an adolescent. Then, the challenge was finding sufficient information using limited resources; now, the challenge is culling relevant information from the vast stockpiles at our fingertips. It has been said that in an information age, “the most valuable asset is the ability to find information expediently” (Eagleton & Dobler, 2004, p. 2). It is critical that I keep this concept in mind as I lead my students in navigating both electronic and traditional resources if I am to support the development of the literacies the future will demand.
Creating a unit plan based on the QUEST model of inquiry-based learning has shown me why the research projects I have undertaken with my students have often fallen short of my expectations. Our students, who seem so savvy when faced with new technologies, have not learned to use them effectively in the service of academic goals. This seems, now, so obvious, but at the beginning of this course it was a revelation to me—a true “a-ha!” moment. This understanding is critical because it helps me recognize the need for pre-assessment of technology skills; I must meet my students at their current ability level. No less important is the need for me to model strategies and provide adequate practice time during each step of the inquiry process if my students are to internalize new skills. As Warlick (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010) states so succinctly, “We need to teach them how to learn.”
In addition, I have been reminded that, as literacy demands change, the teacher “will no longer always be the most literate person in the classroom” (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004, p. 1599). I have already encountered situations where my students’ technological knowledge surpasses mine, and I have embraced the opportunity to learn from them. The readiness to admit my shortcomings in order to overcome them demonstrates to my students the value of being part of a community of learners—and that we all have the capacity to be teachers.
One professional goal I have is to build my skill in the technologies I expect my students to use. Specifically, I want to become more proficient in using both Audacity and Movie Maker. This will increase my comfort level as my language arts classes embark on the unit I developed during this course; it will also help me be a better teacher of skills as my reading classes (in which technological literacy levels vary widely) create book trailers. My district offers professional development in using both of these programs, but the programs are usually held toward the end of the school year. I hope to recruit a group of teachers who share my interest in order to demonstrate the need to offer these classes sooner. Many teachers have lamented the lack of professional development in technology, but little has been done about it. Championing this need could provide an opportunity for more teachers to develop new skills in technology, which would benefit students far beyond the walls of my own classroom.
As I reflected on the past seven weeks, I returned to the mission statement I wrote at this time last year. I was pleased to see how well the unit I developed during this course supports my mission goals—especially the goal of helping students develop the habit of lifelong learning. This aim is particularly relevant in light of the concepts we have studied during this course. Thornburg states that “Skill sets perpetuated in many schools today no longer meet the needs of the dynamic society into which young people graduate” (2004, p. 1). If our students are to be successful in school and beyond, demonstrating the flexibility and adaptability needed to function well in a changing environment (Jukes, 2007), they need to develop the habit of learning and an openness to adopting new methods of obtaining knowledge. A most valuable lesson is provided every time I demonstrate my willingness to learn alongside of—and from—my own students.

References
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.
Jukes, I. (2007). 21st century fluency skills: Attributes of a 21st century learner. Retrieved from http://www.pflugervilleisd.net/curriculum/ela/grade5/documents/attributesofa21stCenturyLearner.pdf
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Skills for the future. [DVD]. Supporting information literacy and online inquiry in the classroom. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Leu, D. J., Kinzer, C. K., Coiro, J. L., & Cammack, D. W. (2004). Toward a theory of new literacies emerging from the Internet and other information and communication technologies. In Ruddell, R. B. & Unrau, N. J., (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed.). (pp. 1570–1613). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Thornburg, D. (2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive Briefing No. 401). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf

Reflections on Technology

I’ve always considered myself open to technology (“Work smarter, not harder” is something of a classroom motto), but there were elements of technology that I had successfully avoided due to lack of time or my own failure to recognize their potential in the classroom. This course has certainly changed that. I now have practical experience in creating blogs, wikis, and podcasts, as well as a clearer understanding of how these tools can be used to increase classroom engagement and help shift responsibility for learning from teacher to student.

As important as those practical skills are, I can’t neglect the importance of my increased awareness of the need for my students to master twenty-first century skills—and the power of Web 2.0 tools to help them succeed in that goal. While I can’t overstate the need for careful monitoring to ensure student safety, I now recognize that we must put more control in student hands. We shouldn’t block Wikipedia, for example, as an unreliable site; we should teach our students how to use this vast resource carefully and intelligently—not to mention teaching them how to add to this storehouse of information themselves, to become part of “the collaborative construction of knowledge and truth” (Richardson, 2009, p. 57) that the Read/Write Web allows.

The first step in continuing my own understanding of and comfort with new technologies lies in putting them to use on a consistent basis. I plan to focus initially on using the Web to broaden the audience for my students’ writing. Providing an authentic readership for their work will help students recognize the need to strive for a polished product. Receiving feedback from writers besides the teacher will provide additional encouragement to my young writers. Richardson notes the motivational power of blog responses, “especially when those comments come from sources outside of the classroom walls” (2009, p. 30). Expanding the audience will be a valuable means to increasing student achievement.

The next step is to continue my own studies in the field. In addition to the three upcoming technology classes in this degree program, I plan to take advantage of professional development offered by my district—and to recommend more technology-related offerings.

My first long-term goal is to make blogging a regular part of our writing experience. I will be teaching a new language arts course next year, so I plan to integrate blogs as a required form of publication from the beginning of the course. Requiring students to read and respond to each others’ blogs will help build a sense of the class as a supportive community. I hope that as our blog readership expands, students will recognize the potential of their words to reach an immense audience. While this may take some adjustment, I anticipate that students will welcome this forum and the move toward a paperless experience it represents.

The second long-term goal is the use of wikis for a variety of purposes. Our initial foray into wikis will be to build grammar resources that will be used by our class. Students will learn the nuts and bolts of wiki building in small groups; they will develop both technological skill and the ability to work collaboratively, two elements that are critical to twenty-first century literacy. As students comfort with wikis increases, they will use the wiki as a collaborative meeting space as they work on a variety of assignments.

Many teachers who have embraced the use of new technologies have commented that this has allowed them “to move from a didactic, teacher-driven world to a more inquiry- and project-based world” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2007) with their students. This is the direction is which we need to move. And if these technologies can bring “the element of fun to the learning experience, (Laureate Education, Inc., 2007), then so much the better.

References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007). “Bringing the Fun into Teaching with Technology.” [Motion picture]. The Emergence of Educational Technology. Baltimore: Author.
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

The Great Podcast Experiment, Part II

Here's the same interview; the podcast is embedded this time. Always something new to learn!



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The Great Podcast Experiment

Here's the link to a discussion about technology use among four teenagers at my middle school and myself.

Week Five Application

P21 and a New View of Education

I was surprised at first to discover that The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (http://www.p21.org) has been in existence since 2002, yet has only fourteen states involved in its state leadership initiative. On reflection, however, I realized that the numbers shouldn’t surprise me. Thornburg shows us that our educational system is still based on the agricultural and industrial models described by Toffler (Laureate Education, Inc., 2007b); as a country we have been slow to adopt the realities of the information age.

And that’s a shame, because technology is increasing at such a rapid rate that we are steadily losing ground. We are still struggling to find the time and resources to help our students achieve fluency in basic Internet use when we should be immersing them in the possibilities provided by the Read/Write Web.

It is encouraging to see that P21 not only advocates for technology issues, but strives to integrate core curriculum with emerging content areas; new literacies; and learning, thinking, and life skills. P21 President Ken Kay states that this approach is “the only way we can assure twenty-first century readiness for every student” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2010). Additionally, it calls for balanced assessment to determine student proficiency (recognizing that standardized testing alone is an insufficient measure) and promoting the use of modern technologies in assessment.

In P21's 2009 response to the Draft English Language Arts Standards, I was pleased to find emphasis placed on the need to provide clarification of the specific literacies expected in this content area. This is a critical component for success; if standards are unclear, educators will have difficulty adopting them effectively. There is reference made to the need for “fewer clearer higher standards,” echoing the issue of “trying to address too much content” put forth by Robert Marzano (Laureate Education, 2007a).

Perhaps P21 will be the driving force needed to bring about the changes our educational system needs to stay globally competitive. The emphasis on the importance of professional development alone is a strong indication of the dedication to its mission; in order to bring about the sweeping changes proposed there must be commitment to first educating the educators.

References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2007a). Program Two. Making sense of standards. [Motion picture]. Designing Curriculum and Instruction. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007b). The Third Wave. [Motion picture]. Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. Baltimore: Author.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2010). Fusing the Three Rs and Four Cs for 21st Century Readiness. [Motion picture]. United States: Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

Blogs in the Classroom

In my eighth grade reading and language arts class, one of our classroom objectives is writing for an authentic audience. A blog could provide the means to do so, beginning on a small scale as students make their writing available to classmates. However, I anticipate that this effort could expand to include a larger audience: other students, administrators, parents, and interested individuals beyond the school community. Students' understanding that they are writing for an expanded audience would encourage more thoughtful response. The critical element to impart to students, however, would be the fact that "blogging is a genre that engages students and adults in a process of thinking in words, not simply an accounting of the day's events or feelings" (Richardson, 2006). The purpose of the blog would be analysis and critique--skills that promote close interaction with ideas and words--not simply a surface reaction. Seeing others' responses to one's ideas would provide motivation and create a sense of collaboration among class members. In addition, a blog would help students develop an understanding of the power of professional learning networks, which will serve them well in college and career.

Today, as I reveiwed the documentation for the Junior Great Books program I will begin implementing in several weeks, I realized that a blog would provide a perfect opportunity to support students as they embark upon discovering a very different approach to literature, one that focuses on interpretive questioning and shared inquiry. Initially, it could offer a place to view supporting materials and post questions. Later, as students become proficient in the methodology of the course, a blog would allow them to share their own interpretive questions prior to class discussion and to reflect on the text outside of the classroom. It would also allow a forum for ancillary discussions or assignment postings during times when the schedule requires us to compress the suggested five-day format of the program. On an expanded scale, a blog could offer a way to interact with other schools that are implementing Junior Great Books.

References
Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classroms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Welcome

This is my first blog, set up for a technology course at Walden University. I look forward to using this medium to interact with my classmates, and, ultimately, to learning how to bring blogging into the classroom.