New Literacies in Early Elementary

New Literacies for Early Elementary: Web 2.0 Tools to Support Literacy Jeremy Brueck Web Services Manager e-Read Ohio at The University of Akron jbrueck@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 21 st 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?
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Use Templates
BEST PRACTICE
Create templates to easily replicate common wiki pages your students will need.
Go to "Manage Space.”
Click on "Manage Templates.”
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.
Go to "Manage Space.”
Click on "List and Upload Files.”
Click "Upload Files" and then choose the file (or files) to upload from your desktop.
Click "Select" and the file will begin uploading.

Instructional Preparation
BEST PRACTICE:
Create your wiki pages and outline prior to class use.
Click "New Page" in the left sidebar.
Select the template to start from.
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.
Use the DISCUSSION tab to create assessment questions.
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 Brueck
e-Read Ohio Web Services Manager
The University of Akron
[email_address]
www.raiseddigital.blogspot.com

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New Literacies in Early Elementary

by Jeremy Brueck on Aug 11, 2008

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