April Daniels-Schluns presented on four topics related to cognition, culture, and learning: student culture, language/literacy, technology, and social change. Student culture and the way students learn is dependent on their backgrounds. Teachers must understand student culture to design effective lessons. Technology impacts teaching by requiring educator technology knowledge and affects learning by giving students access to information and communication. Literature, literacy, and language comprehension impact learning as students develop understanding. Social change impacts teaching through educational changes and influences individual student learning. Fostering relationships between students and teachers through blending these topics can promote both teaching and learning.

1. Cognition, Culture, and Learning
Presentation
By April Daniels-Schluns

2. Introduction
Four topics of
choice:
•Student
culture
•Language,
sense-making,
and literacy
•Technology
•Social change

3. Explanation of
Topics
•Culture – plays a major
role in how and what
students learn
•Language, sense-
making, and literacy –
closely relates to
information taught in
English Language Arts
classrooms
•Technology – currently
promotes engagement
in learning
•Social Change – positive
impact on surrounding
environment

4. Educational
Context
Hopes in choosing
these topics:
•Enhance
learning of
students
•Further aid
design of
instructional
activities
•Make learning
meaningful
•Enhance
teaching abilities

5. Student Culture
Two aspects that
need to be taken
into consideration
when constructing a
learning
environment:
•Student culture is
an important
aspect in relation
to education
•Students are
defined by who
they are and how
they learn

6. Student Culture
Continued
Popular Culture –
•Allows for flexibility
of other means of
literacy growth
through the use of any
media
•Has become a way
that students can
develop their reading
skills without
necessarily opening a
physical book

7. Student Culture
Continued
Popular Culture Continued
Students have
flexibility in gaining
material through
electronics such as:
•Reading devices
•Computers
•Online messages
•Music
•Television
•Advertisements

8. Student Culture
Continued
Cultural Differences –
•Each culture has a variation in the
language
•It is important that students be
able to foster cultural differences in
their studies so that they are better
equipped to avoid
misunderstandings as well as to
overcome any obstacles created due
to cultural differences (Wang, 2011,
pp.229-230)
•Trust is another important aspect
of cultural differences
•There must also be a connection
between a teacher and his/her
students from different cultural
backgrounds

9. Technology
Technological Advancements
Social media sites that can
be used as communication
centers for reaching out to
other students to gain
further insight into
understanding learning
objectives may include:
•Facebook
•MySpace
•Twitter
Students have a better
chance of learning when
they are able to read and
write utilizing many
different methods (Selfe &
Selfe, 2008, p.84).

10. Language, Sense-
Making, and
Literacy
Literacy
•There needs to be a
connection between a teacher’s
lesson plan and a student’s
prior knowledge (Lawrence,
Rabinowitz, & Perna, 2009,
p.61).
•One of the best ways in which
to ensure student learning is
through the observation and
examination of literacy
comprehension between
students as well as their level of
participation (Santori, 2011,
p.206).
•One method in which to
promote motivation and
engagement is to add Young
Adult (YA) books to the
curriculum list.

11. Social Change
•Technology allows for a
connection between young
people, whether they are
near or far from each
other.
•Blogging has been used as
a way to engage young
students outside their
comfort zones and with
other communities (Haste,
2009, p.26).
•One of the best places in
starting the social change
process is by gaining a
liberal arts education
(Early, 2009, p.55).

12. Evaluation of
Relationships
•Student culture is what makes a
student who they are and it
includes how they are going to
learn throughout their
educational careers.
•Technology is constantly
changing and the schools need to
find a way in which to
accommodate their students’
learning using the tools available.
•Literature, sense-making, and
literacy are all connected because
what a student reads and how
they comprehend what they have
read will have a great impact on
how they will continue to develop
in their literacy skills.
•Social change is how teachers
and their students have, or plan
to make, a contribution to the
environment around them.

13. Impact on
Teaching and
Learning
Student Culture
•Teachers must know
what makes their
students tick when
creating learning
activities, in order to
create effective active
learning experiences for
them.
•Student culture is also
important to learning
because the way
students learn is partly
dependent on student’s
background.

14. Impact on Teaching
and Learning
Continued
Technology
Technology has an impact on
teaching through:
•The level of knowledge that
an educator must possess in
order to be able to monitor
the proper usage of the tool.
•Educators have some
understanding of what
students are capable of doing
while using the technological
tools before allowing
independent usage.
Learning is affected because:
•Students are able to
communicate half-way across
the world with other students,
on any given subject matter
•Students have immediate
access to information.

15. Impact on Teaching
and Learning
Continued
Literature, Sense-Making, and Literacy
•Has an impact on
teaching because it
encompasses many
different aspects of the
ELA classroom.
•In relation to learning,
literature, sense-making,
and literacy have an
impact because of the
ability of students to
gain deeper
understanding through
the use of technology.

16. Impact on Teaching
and Learning
Continued
Social Change
•Social change has an
impact on teaching
because of the
continual changes
within the educational
field.
•Changes have begun
to take effect that
involves the individual
learning of students.

17. Conclusion
Academic Achievement
•It is very important to
develop a trusting,
caring, and long-lasting
relationship between
students and teachers, if
learning is to take place.
•No matter the process,
both teaching and
learning can take place
when blending student
culture, technology,
language, sense-making,
and literacy.

18. Reference
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Early, G. (2009). The humanities & social change. Daedalus, 138(1), 52-57.
Ham, S.H., & Cha, Y.K. (2009). Positioning education in information society:
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Haste, H. (2009). What is ‘comparative’ and how should education
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Ijei, C., & Harrison, J. (2010). The long and winding road to social justice:
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19. Reference Continued
Lawrence, S.A., Rabinowitz, R., & Perna, H. (2009). Reading instruction in
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Neville, M.G. (2009). It takes a village to empower a child: A call for positive
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Ostenson, J., & Wodham, R. (2012). Young adult literature and the common
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Page, M.A. (2012). Popular culture: The new literacy challenge for English
teachers. English Journal, 102(2), 129-133.
Santori, D. (2011). “Search for the answers” or “talk about the story”?:
School-based literacy participation structures. Language Arts, 88(3), 198-
207.

20. Reference Continued
Selfe, R.J., & Selfe, C.L. (2008). “Convince me!” Validating multimodal
literacies and composing public service announcements. Theory into
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Sweeney, S.M. (2010). Writing for the instant messaging and text messaging
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Wang, J. (2011). Culture differences and English teaching. English Language
Teaching, 4(2), 223-230.
Wendt, J.L. (2013). Combating the crisis in adolescent literacy: Exploring
literacy in the secondary classroom. American Secondary Education, 41(2),
38-48.