Digital Communication and Collaboration

    Technology provides us with a more balanced and engaging classroom environment. Through the multimodal approach, we expose students to a variety of ways to receive information, such as print, pictures, and videos (Lankshear and Knobel, 2013, p. 24). From the reading, the point that stood out the most to me was, how adolescents are engaged in various forms of communication in which they use many sources daily (Lankshear and Knobel, 2013, p. 24). According to the graphical representation of GREEN's approach to literacy, this adolescent engagement can be seen in the operational literary practice. Students use a language system that ranges in context. The environment where students engage in this hybrid communication is mostly outside of school because that is where it is most common for them to interact with others. In considering this idea and the information learned from the chapters and knowing that technology can be applied to multiple subjects in school, I reflected on my own practices in the classroom (Durrant, 2000).

    During the pandemic, I created a non-fiction research unit online for my students. We were fully remote however, I had to address this topic with my students as a curriculum requirement. I was able to create groups, outlines, guides for researching, communicating, and collaborations. Going into the project, I knew what my students' abilities were. I knew they were able to use Google Classroom, Google Meets, use Google Slides to create their presentations, and access digital reading material online on Sora. Reflecting on this from page 26 in the text, I acted similar to Mr. Cardenas, because I focused my lessons on non-fiction text features, instead of how to access them because I knew my class could find the resources (Lankshear and Knobel, 2013). I was not physically with my students so I had to trust that they were on the appropriate documents and resources during our live class time. I was able to guide the students to successful presentations at the end of the unit by setting guidelines and expectations every week. This helped them pace themselves and be more independent from me. The students kept daily journals, which were checked weekly, they created multiple slides on their assigned person and presented with their group. The students even set up a time after class to meet with their group to rehearse their presentations before the actual due date. In believing in their abilities and tailoring the project to their interest they had the tools and support to be successful. The students added videos, text, images, audio, and hyperlinks to their presentations. They were suggested in the outline and all groups were successful in the integration. In viewing the graphical representation of GREEN's approach to literacy, the cultural component in the project can also be seen. The students developed an understanding using multiple resources and developed an understanding of the content and context of all the sources.


    The issue in this is that there must be clear expectations and consequences to ensure students are using the technological resources appropriately and making the most of their learning time (Lankshear and Knobel, 2013, p. 27). This was a concern for parents and of mine in issuing this project. However, as I am nearing this unit again this year, I am envisioning it with the use of Chromebooks in the classroom. I hope to engage my students and make them feel comfortable and interested in researching for their projects. My ultimate vision is to allow for traditional print and notebook writing, but a final product to be on Google Slides. Sometimes for parents and educators, it is difficult to view the good of technology, because personally, we have only experienced a small sample in our education and are new to the current possibilities. We have to embrace the interest and the facility to allow multimodal resources and methods in the classroom.




References

Durrant, C and Green, B (2000). Literacy and the New Technologies in School

    Education: Meeting the L(IT)eracy Challenge? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy.



Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2013). A New Literacies Reader: Educational Perspectives. Peter

    Lang Publishing, Inc: New York.

What Even Is Reading?

    Reading is an essential part of daily life. We find ourselves reading various things on a daily basis. In a nutshell, reading is the acquirement of information from various sources that builds our knowledge base, on any topic. Today, most of our reading and research on topics are commonly done via the Internet (Rich, 2008). The internet is fast and readily available tool that can be used to learn information within minuets. Think about the last time you looked up your favorite music artist to confirm that the post on Instagram was in fact true. What about when you want to make a lifestyle change? The first place we look is online. We look for information and success stories on social media and blogs about individuals who have tried this new lifestyle you hope to shift to. In the classroom setting, reading predominantly looks different, When we think of reading in a classroom, we imagine a kindergarten teacher reading a physical print book aloud to their group of students. A group of freshman in high school, enthralled by a thick novel their teacher is explaining and comparing to the last novel they completed. However, educators are encouraging students to move towards a more digital approach to enhance the print reading they do in the classroom. The most important component of literacy is actually reading, the method or source may vary. Regardless of the method, words are read and information is learned. The dilemma stands, "is reading online really reading? " and " can students grow and learn from digital reading sources?". 

    Reading online opens up a whole new and exciting word for young readers at their fingertips. In using a search engine to research their new favorite band or television show, they are actively reading and taking in new knowledge. When young readers are reading online and are taking in information, this is also reading (Rich, 2008). Even video games are structured in a way where the information needs to be read to be able to know and understand how to win and level up. Although most parents may not agree with this method of reading, it is reading. Video game reading, reading captions on social media, reading blogs about fan fiction and theories is all reading ( Rich, 2008). The different methods of reading helps students to expand their learning. Think about how many times the phrase, "these kids know more technology than me" has been said? The new generations are born with this accessibility and are exposed to it at a young age, making it a positive tool for their development and learning (Huffaker, 2005). Sometimes parents and educators want to fight young readers on what they are reading because it is not how they read or what they read. Although students may not enjoy reading the new novel you picked out for them, they will love to spend hours on the Reddit page about they show they love, reading about theories, ideas, and wishful outcomes. 

    The question now is, 'Can students learn from this?', lets make this personal. As a mom and an educator I am the biggest cheerleader for reading. I find myself telling all the young people around me to read. I encourage them to read anything! Sometimes they say, "Mrs. Salazar nothing in your classroom speaks to me". I get that. We try to borrow books from other teachers, but I always get two or three students who do not find something they love. It is a struggle. So, I ask them what do they like. The answer is mostly Xbox and Netflix. So I encourage them to go home and look up their most favorite thing at the moment, because lets face it,  next week the answer will be different. Sometimes this is video game release information, or fan fiction. Regardless of the fact, they are reading and when I ask they are able to present to me new information they acquired. They are also being exposed to new vocabulary and content specific language. This helps them learn and grow as readers. Yes, I have to explain to parents that this too, is reading, and is a way to keep students reading and encourage their interests (Rich, 2008). I ordered many books revolving around the topic of video games and the topics in the video games, such as building, animals, and nature ( Minecraft). This helps me to have possible books of interest for my students in the classroom. Unfortunately, it is not always the correct time to have our Chromebooks out, like during an exam, so I must be prepared. I know you are wondering, how does mom-me do it? Well, my son really, struggles with reading. The apple does not fall far from the tree, because I did, too. Like my son, I did not like being told what to read. So at home I have been encouraging him to go online, with me of course ( he's only nine). We look up a different topics everyday on various resources that speak to him. Together we compare the information he researches to determine what could be true. Our rule of thumb is any information we find in all the sources is a great indicator of truth. He enjoys this activity. He gets to research, read, and discuss our findings with me. It takes his reading to another level because it does not seem like reading anymore, but it is. Now the research unit at his school is his favorite, because he is better at it and can take that information and explain it in his own words. Truth is a major concern for parents on the internet. There are many websites that are credible and well known sources to internet users, today. Making sure young readers get accurate information is important because if the information is not correct, what are they really learning( Rich, 2008)? Reading is a complex, immense world of endless possibility for all readers. Even the most traditional of readers have traded their print newspapers, for digital versions at their fingertips. I hope this post helped you to acquire new knowledge and learn about the importance and value of digital reading resources for our younger readers. My goal is that you view reading in a new light so you can encourage our youth to keep growing. 

References 

Huffaker, D. (2005). The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom. Advancement of Computing in Education 13(2).

Rich, M. (2008, July 27). Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? Retrieved September 18, 2021, from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html

Evolution of Digital Literacy in the Classroom

"The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives" (Gillen and Barton, 2010, p. 9). 

    As an educator, parent, and student, I have been able to experience the contributions of the technology in Literacy. While reading the articles Literacy and the New Technologies in School Education: Meeting the L(IT)eracy Challenge? (Durant and Green, 2000) and The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom (Huffaker, 2005), I was able to reflect on the changes from my personal experience, since I was a K -12 student at the times of publications and on the quote above.

    Traditional classrooms offered printed texts and classroom textbooks as tools of learning. These versions of literacy created limitations for educators, because they only had access to the physicals materials at hand. As a current educator, the amount of digital resources I have at my disposal help me cater to my wide range of readers. This also allows me to create lessons which offer different was for student to present their knowledge to me. Students have more resources at their fingertips to help them be more successful and taking their learning to the next level in all subjects (Huffaker, 2005).   

    During this past school year, digital literacy became my most valued companion, as my school initiated the school year on the virtual platform. The use of online digital libraries and multi-leveled lessons helped me be successful at delivering effective instruction to my students. During the pandemic shut down, the previous shift and exposure to digital means of communication and learning made the school year possible. In a world where everything was an uncertainty, virtual education was already a proven method of instruction. Teachers began creating lesson which involved social components in efforts to connect the students virtually. Platforms such as Padlet, Pear Deck, Nearpod, and Google Classroom helped teachers create an effective online community and learning environment for their students. As mentioned before in allowing students to interact and share knowledge in various ways, Padlet is a great resource. I presented Padlet to my students and they were able to share their knowledge with images, verbal responses, and connect similar ideas to that of their peers in a connecting web diagram. It helped us discuss literary works and share our perspectives in ways the students felt more comfortable. This can be seen in Green's approach to literacy graphical representation, where students can identify various literary practices and social modalities while constructing their own perspectives (DECS, 1996).  In Digital Literacies, Tabetha Newman concluded, "that one way of better making sense of the use of emerging, digital, technologies is to create a development framework for schools" (Gillen and Barton, 2015, p. 25), this framework she talked about in 2009, made the transition to remote instruction possible for schools. Through the distribution of a Chromebook, schools were able to close out the 2019-2020 school year and begin the 2020-2021 year. This was a direct result of the students being exposed to using technologies in the classroom and having technology courses prior to shutdown. Technology and multi digital learning platforms allows educators to collect an extensive amount of data to better address the needs of students on an individual level, while remote. It also allows educators to assign text that are catered to the student and additional learning resources such as videos and audio clips, to help students succeed virtually. 

    In our current world, people are naturally attracted by the idea of being social on digital platforms (Huffaker, 2005). In efforts to stay current and keep up with the times, the daily use of social media has us reading more than ever before. Using this as an educational tool that meets the interests of the students and produces organic engagement is key to a productive learning environment. I remember a time, when I had to go to the library on a special trip to research a topic of interest. Now, I can simply search on my phone or laptop. I can receive my information in various ways as well. I can view a video and receive the information orally and visually through images or demonstrations, I can read about it in a digital article or digital copy of a book. I can then proceed to discuss on a forum or express my opinions about it on a blog (Huffaker, 2005). Humans have evolved into digital creatures, from digital news reports, magazines and even the newspaper. Web usage has increased significantly from 1999, and we continue to greatly depend on it today (Durant and Green, 2000).  One overall argument for technology is the time saving and limitless opportunities to extend your learning circle. Educators can create a blog platform to challenge their students to think beyond the given, express their ideas and question each other on an educational level (Huffaker, 2005). Digital literacy has reshaped classrooms by helping to make education fun, engaging and interesting to the present day student. 

References

Durrant, C and Green, B (2000). Literacy and the New Technologies in School Education: Meeting the L(IT)eracy Challenge? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy.

Gillan, J and Barton, D (2015). Digital literacies: A research briefing by the Technology Enhance Learning phase of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. London: London Knowledge Lab Institute of Education.

Huffaker, D. (2005). The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom. Advancement of Computing in Education 13(2).