New Literacies in Early Elementary

New Literacies for Early Elementary: Web 2.0 Tools to

Support Literacy

New Literacies for Early Elementary: Web 2.0 Tools to

Support Literacy

Jeremy BrueckWeb Services Manager

e-Read Ohio at The University of Akronjbrueck@uakron.edu

Who We Are

• e-Read Ohio is a division of the Reading First - Ohio Center.

• The goal of e-Read Ohio is to create an online professional

development system for teachers in grades Pre-K-12.

• This initiative was originally funded by No Child Left Behind through

Reading First when the Reading First-Ohio Center for Professional

Development and Technical Assistance in Effective Reading

Instruction was formed.

What We Do

• Now expanded through funds from the Ohio

Department of Education’s Literacy Educator Training:

e-Learning (LETe) program, e-Read Ohio:

• Provides effective and efficient high-quality online professional

development in the area of literacy for Ohio’s teachers,

• Selects and trains online instructors across the state, and

• Builds Ohio’s learning objects repository for professional

development.

Today we will…

• Take a closer look at reading and writing in the digital age

• Examine the implications of the read/write web

• Talk about how to use Web 2.0 to cultivate socially constructed thinking and learning in your students

Challenges of 21st Century Teaching

•‘Information Age’ technologies have made available copious amounts of information to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

•Strict age/grade level approaches to education are being questioned as the appropriate way to prepare students for the coming decades.

Classroom Teaching Environments

• Education continues to mirror the industrial age ‘assembly line’ approach.

• We’re trying to produce the most product (to standards) in the shortest time with the fewest defects.

• Our instruction typically occurs in a room with teacher and students ‘same place - same time.’

• Content (learning experience) is usually organized by topics and taught in time slots specified for that topic.

Looking at literacy

Traditional Literacies– Paper– Pencil– Book

New Literacies– Web logs (blogs) – video editors– World Wide Web browsers– Web & HTML editors– e-mail– Text messaging– Instant Messaging– spreadsheets – presentation software – bulletin boards– avatars– virtual worlds

What are New Literacies?

• Using information and communication technologies to:– identify important questions – locate information– critically evaluate the usefulness of that

information– synthesize information to answer those

questions– communicate the answers to others

Why integrate New Literacies?

• Young people will continue to socially engage in a variety of new literacies.

• Educators need to make school literacy more engaging for students and more meaningful to their present and future lives in a digital world.

• Educators MUST understand the shifts in practices and pedagogy that have taken place and consider how these shifts should inform our teaching of reading and writing.

Blogs

• What is a Blog?– Blog is short for weblog. – A blog is a frequent and chronological

publication of comments and thoughts on the web.

– A blog is often updated daily and contains all information that the person maintaining the BLOG (Blogger) wishes to share with the world.

Blogging in the Classroom

TEACHERS

• School-to-Home Communication– Announcements– Calendar– Newsletter– Classroom

Happenings

STUDENTS

• Reflections or journals• Example

• Dialogue with peers

• Communicate with teacher

• Group work

Blogs are FREE!

• Blogger

• Live Journal

• Diaryland

• Pitas

Digital Storytelling

• Podcasting– GarageBand

• Digital Media Projects– iPhoto– iMovie– VoiceThread

http://teachdigital.pbwiki.com/digitalstorytelling

www.voicethread.com

• Web-based, interactive digital storytelling environment

• FREE for educators

• Safely publish student work on the Internet, as well as

• PRIVATELY share student work with families, community or other classrooms

Isaac’s STEM Initiative

http://voicethread.com/share/166775/

Wikis

• What is a Wiki?– Wiki is a website that allows users to freely create and edit

Web page content usually in a Web browser. – Wikis are free online writing spaces.– Wikis use simple formatting rules--Like word processing.– Authors do not always claim ownership.– Wikis are published online.– Wikis provide a history and anyone can revisit prior

versions of text.

• Why are Wikis useful?– This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an

effective tool for mass collaborative authoring.

Wikis in the classroom

• A wiki “fan club” for you favorite author.• A virtual tour of your school as you study

“our community.”• Collaborative book reviews or author

studies.• A class “encyclopedia” on a special topic,

such as animals or state history.

• Create a Wikibook

Wiki as a New Literacy

http://necc2008presidents.wikispaces.com/

http://timelineofpresidents.wikispaces.com/

RESEARCHING

Old School nu skool• Structure “e-tivity” like a “traditional” activity.

– Have students complete a graphic organizer, draft, edit & revise before publishing work on wiki, blog, etc…

• Teacher introduces content.• Teacher gives explicit directions.

– Share expectations– Model – Foreshadow problems

• Practice together.

Planning for Instruction

• BEGIN and END with standards– Keyboarding OR Copy/Paste?

• What skills do your possess already?• What skills do your students need to learn?• What are your lesson objectives?

– Spelling– Writing Process– Handwriting

REPORTING

Choose appropriate resources

• Why use wikis?– Structure based on hierarchical subject

divisions through: • new page creation• internal and external hyperlinking

– Allow basic page formatting functions• Text editing (HTML editors)• Insert images, tables & lists • Hyperlinking• Embedded media

Schwartz, L., Clark, S., Cossarin, M., and Rudolph, J. (2004). Educational Wikis: features and selection criteria. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 5, No 1. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/163/244.

Free wiki resources

• wikispaces– http://www.wikispaces.com/

• pbwiki– http://pbwiki.com/

• seedwiki– http://seedwiki.com/

• wetpaint– http://www.wetpaint.com/

Important Considerations

• Private or Public– Should anyone be able to edit or just

members?– How will you create accounts for all

your students?

• Advertisements

Use Templates

• BEST PRACTICE– Create templates to easily replicate common

wiki pages your students will need.1. Go to "Manage Space.”

2. Click on "Manage Templates.”

3. Name the new template. You can create your template from a blank page or an existing page on your space.

Create a Picture Library

• BEST PRACTICE:– Upload files without adding them to a wiki

page before students edit wiki.1. Go to "Manage Space.”

2. Click on "List and Upload Files.”

3. Click "Upload Files" and then choose the file (or files) to upload from your desktop.

4. Click "Select" and the file will begin uploading.

Instructional Preparation

• BEST PRACTICE:– Create your wiki pages and outline prior to

class use.1. Click "New Page" in the left sidebar.

2. Select the template to start from.

3. Create your new page. You can then edit your page based on the template or save it as is.

Limitations and Considerations

• Editing– Simultaneous editing of one page in a lab

setting presents challenges– Learning Center approach is more effective

• History Tab– Is an excellent monitoring tool– In a public space, only IP addresses are

shown

ANALYZING

Assessment

• BEST PRACTICE:– Incorporating assessment into the wiki

provides information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are happening.1. Use the DISCUSSION tab to create assessment

questions.

2. Copy the URL of each question and link to it from the wiki page.

Assessment

• Survey Tools– SchoolWires

• http://www.schoolwires.com

– SurveyMonkey• http://www.surveymonkey.com • Free account allows 10 questions

– Zoomerang• http://www.zoomerang.com • Basic service is free• Educational pricing allows you to

export & analyze results

Questions/Comments

Jeremy Bruecke-Read Ohio Web Services Manager

The University of Akronjbrueck@uakron.edu

www.raiseddigital.blogspot.com