Kitchin,+Angela+Love+-+Closing+Reflections

I would define “new literacies” as: applying literacy skills (reading, writing, comprehending, applying) to technology. I think my definition only changed in that I feel it’s now applying literacy skills instead of having a completely different set of literacy skills just for technology. We (hopefully) are already literate, so we apply what we know to “new” forms, such as the Internet or Web 2.0 tools. **2. Describe some new literacies that you learned about this week? What did you know about these topics before the week began and how has your experience this week contributed to your understanding of these new literacies?** One thing I learned about this week was collaborative research. I really liked learning ways that the students could work together to do research and still be able to share all of their sources. I think Diigo is a great tool for this literacy. It allows students to post links to their sources, but they can also highlight the sources and add comments with the sticky notes tool. I think this would allow for better research because they would be able to evaluate websites and sources better before they choose to use them in a final project. **3. In what ways are the new literacies prompted by technology? How do they affect one another?** I think that new literacies aren’t necessarily prompted by technology. I see it more as literacy and technology are holding hands. The more we advance with technology, the stronger the bond between the two. They are a couple – right now they are just dating as they learn about each other. As time goes, I can see them getting engaged, married, celebrating anniversaries, and growing old together. <3 **4. How do new literacies affect the way we think about academic content? Describe examples of how some specific academic content is affected by changes in the ways we reading write and thinking (i.e. new literacies).** I think the way we research is most affected by new literacies. In the past, students would go to the library and use the card catalog (either a paper one or on the computer) to browse books. They would read the abstracts of books and then go to the shelves to find them books. There, they would read the back of the book and flip through the table of contents, index, and pages of the book to preview it. Next, students would decide which books to take home. The books would be read and sometimes a student may be halfway through a book before realizing it had very little to do with their topic. This made the research process much longer. And, two students could not use the same book if it was checked out. This made it even harder to find sources. With the use of the Internet to do research, students now read much briefer summaries of the websites in the search engine results. They are able to then preview the material much faster by scrolling. Students can use keywords and search strategies to narrow down searches, thus finding sources that are much more structured to their topics. Finally, multiple students are able to use the same sources and even share then with comments and highlights. This really helps students better collaborate and research can more from an individual assignment to a group assignment with ease. **5. How do new literacies affect the way we think about our teaching practices? How do they affect the development of new teaching practices or approaches to teaching?** One way that new literacies affect my own teaching practices is that I now try to plan more opportunities for students to collaborate. It is much easier and I think it creates much stronger projects. I also try to think of old ideas in new ways. For example, in the past my students have created magazine ads on paper. Since paper products are slowly being phased out, I need to switch my assignment. Now, I am planning for students to make walking tours using Google Maps and TV commercials using digital cameras and Windows Live Movie Maker. I also try to think about Web 2.0 tools I can use to enhance my lessons and that students can use to enhance their products. I am now more concerned with my students having a flash drive than I am with them having paper and pencil. ** 6. During the week, you learning about several conceptual / theoretical frameworks for understanding the new literacies including, project-based inquiry, TPACK, Bloom’s revised cognitive theory, online identity, and global literacies (i.e. cultural competence, cultural awareness, cosmopolitanism). Describe your personal perspective on new literacies as it is informed by these conceptual and theoretical ideas. ** With creating being the highest level in Bloom’s revised taxonomy, the focus for me has shifted to the products the students create. I still will keep objectives and standards in mind, but I am more focused on what the students can create that demonstrate they have met the standards. With PBI, I am focused on how the students get to their final project. I think the process is as important as the product. I don’t want my students to just answer questions; I want them to think creatively to solve problems or challenges. Having new literacy skills will help them because I will go from a teacher-centered teacher to a student-centered facilitator. The PBI design studio really made me think about how to creatively integrate more technology in my lessons. I really like that I was able to focus more on the students expressing their views than I was on them writing something down. In the past I would have had the students write out how to be a good person. Now I think some of the lesson would have gotten lost with many of the students. Because I integrated technology and focused more on the topic than on the product, I think the students will learn more from the process. The Voki is fun, so the students will be more engaged than they would have been had they written their responses. ** 8. You learned this week about how to manage, and in some cases create, your online identity. What action steps will you take (are you taking) to manage and further extend your online identity? ** When I did the web search of my name, I didn’t find much. The thing that stood out most to me is that I am doing a good job and I need to keep being aware of things I post online. I need to be aware that at any time my students and their parents could search for me online and I would hate to have anything embarrassing show up. I need to be aware of pictures and profiles that I post on any website. I am a private person, so I liked that not much showed up and what did show up was mostly school related. ** 9. If you had one more day in the Institute, what would you like to learn more about and why? ** I would have really liked more time to interact with Web 2.0 tools. I would have liked to have more workshops in which I got to use the tools instead of just be told about them. I would also have liked to have been able to see more projects. The gallery walk was hard because I was really interested in seeing projects that were in my subject area. But, because the projects weren’t labeled, I ended up at Math, Physics, and library projects that, though they were neat, they didn’t help me in ELA. I also would have liked to have tried the activities presented in the gallery walk because I would have been able to learn more and then apply more ideas to my own classroom.
 * 1. Now that you’ve had this professional development experience, how are you defining “new literacies?” How do you think your definition has changed or evolved this week? **
 * 7. How does the design process you learned about in your design studio work and the video digging deeper session support your understanding of the creative process? **