Assignment #1 - Technology Literacy (required)

Part 1 - ISTE

National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-S) and Performance Indicators for Students:

Focus: 1.b

1 - Creativity and Innovation | Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:

b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

2 Assignment Ideas (Middle School English class):

1. As part of a section on poetry, students would write a poem based roughly on the format/style of a published poet. From there, the student would create a form of multimedia to go with the poet. They could create a podcast of themselves reading the poem the way they want people to read it. They could create a digital image or poster on Photoshop or other digital creating programs that in some way encompasses the poem and has the actual poem within it. Depending on the type of poem, the student could create a movie based off of the poem. Or they could put the words to music and create a song. The results are truly limitless. The only guidelines I can think of at the moment would be that it has to deal explicitly about the poem (unless explained elsewhere) and would require a pre-project proposal and post-project summary of the process used to create the project.
2. When studying a specific topic, as part of an oral presentation, the student would create a picture-only powerpoint/slideshow and would explain the pictures as they went. This could make use of several different types of slideshow/powerpoint programs. Guidelines include: citations for each picture, a minimum time for the picture presentation, or a minimum number of pictures.

Importance:

This NETS-S is important, simply because this is the creative aspect of technology summed up. Allowing students to use technology in a way that they decide helps grow their boundaries of what is possible with technology. The more students explore different types of programs and tools, the more they will be able to use technology in the future. Not to mention, individual or group expression is vital to anyone's ability to communicate. When applying this NETS-S, students can gain experience and knowledge in technology that they can use in future jobs, education, and other areas of their lives.

Part 2 - ISTE

National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers

Focus: 2.a

2 - Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments | Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, ad attitudes identified in the NETS-S Teachers:

a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

3 ways:

1. Throughout the semester, I have a feeling that a lot of different ideas are going to come to me in regards to technology. My goal and plan is to write any and all of those ideas in blog posts, throughout notes, and in my binder. This way, I'll have all of them written down and ready to be compiled into one grand list.
2. I have also been compiling lists of different teachers' blogs and other informative sites that discuss technology in classrooms. I think that subscribing to these blogs will help me with brainstorming.
3. I have a lot of presentations to give this semester in all of my classes, so my goal is to incorporate a bit of technology in each presentation. That way, I will not only get more comfortable using technology, but I can see what sorts of things work and what things don't.

Importance:

The first piece of this NETS-T states plainly that one purpose of this specific part is, "to maximize content learning." By weaving modern technology and standard curriculum and content, we, as teachers, are allowing our students to make education their own. We're allowing them to apply their own knowledge to new knowledge that they're gaining. As part "a" states, we apply this technology adaptation "to promote student learning and creativity." We're well aware of the potential of each of our students, as such, we should allow them to reach that potential through technology in order to boost student thinking.

Focus: 3.b

3 - Model Digital-Age Work and Learning | Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.

b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.

3 ways:

1. I want to use this blog as a center for my "technology brainstorming," and by doing this, I hope to get feedback from other people in the class on what they think will and won't work. I want to use this blog as a center of collaboration between myself and my peers.
2. I am going to collaborate with other teachers and peers by subscribing to different blogs and reading the blogs of my fellow classmates. I hope to comment on anything I find substantial, with the hope of developing communication between myself and the blog author.
3. I'm not sure that this will actually happen, but I HOPE to ask some students that I know about the technology used in their own classrooms. I want to know what's working for them and what isn't. I want to be informed. Even though tons will change between now and when I actually begin to teach, I want to stay as up-to-date as possible.

Importance:

The first portion of this NETS-T is pretty standard - teachers need to "exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society" because if we can't do it, how can we teach our students to? By doing part "b," we are allowing ourselves to make use of the proficiency we've acquired in regards to technology. By interacting with others through technology, we are expanding our circle of communications into a world that bases its survival (to take it to the extreme) on technology. It's important for us to understand that concept, as well as to EXERCISE that concept.

Part 3 - Full Text Article

"Beyond Technology for Technology's Sake: Advancing Multiliteracies in the Twenty-First Century" by Carlin Borsheim, Kelly Merritt, and Dawn Reed

Citation:

Borsheim, Carlin, Kelly Merritt, and Dawn Reed. "Beyond Technology for Technology's Sake: Advancing Multiliteracies in the Twenty-First Century." Clearing House 82.2 (2008): 87- 90. Education Research Complete. EBSCO. Web. 3 Feb. 2010

Summary:

This article is based on the concept of "multiliteracies." In the article, a multiliterate person is someone who, "is flexible and strategic and can understand and use literacy and literate practices with a range of texts and technologies; in socially responsible ways; in a socially, culturally, and linguistically diverse world; and to fully participate in life as an active and informed citizen" (p 87). It further discusses a shift in pedagogy that needs to take place - the "technological shift." Following the introduction, the article goes into three sections that provide examples of how to make this shift, specifically in the subject of English and English education classrooms.

The first section is titled, "Multiliteracies in the Traditional Curriculum (Carlin's voice)." First Carlin lays out three things that integrating technology does in the classroom; multiliteracies pedagogy

1. "facilitates a constructivist model of learning in which students can make meaning through authentic experiences.
2. support traditional curriculum objectives, like reading challenging text or engaging in various aspects of the writing process.
3. goes beyond traditional literacy objectives to support and advance the development of multiliteracies."

Carlin continues to explain the process her class went through when writing a research paper. First they began their research and stored information, articles, sites, and notes using wikis, Word documents, and social bookmarking sites. Carlin made comments on papers using Word's comment feature. She then had the students turn their paper into an audience-appropriate media source. Examples include an informational video, a "visually appealing brochure," etc.

The next section was titled, "Mulitliteraces beyond Classroom Walls (Dawn's voice)," and discusses a class who begins using podcasting to a site that the local community viewed (as well as students from across the country). Dawn's class then used social networking sites to explore the implications of "genre." Dawn summarizes by stating that she now realized that her students are literate and write in more ways that just academics - they write for social and personal reasons that take forms vastly different from those of traditional education.

Last comes the section titled, "Multiliteracies for Preservice Teachers (Kelly's voice)." This discusses interactions between teachers and staffers that involve different uses and forms of technology in the classroom. "Our English education program created a program-wide wikispace" (89). This allowed interaction to occur between different persons within the program. The teachers then used wikispaces for their individual classes as a home center for documents, links, and other important information.

The article finishes by stating, "Going beyond technology for technology's sake can extend and deepen the many pedagogical goals teaching in the twenty-first century demands" (90).

Reflection:

I found this information very helpful and enlightening. While I think that some of the ideas such as in-text computer commenting on papers to be dreadful sounding, I did quite like the idea of translating a paper into a media presentation of some sort. I also enjoyed that the article focused on a few different areas that teachers can use technology to better themselves and their classrooms. Program-wide wikis and class social-networking for education are ideas that students and staff can relate to on many different levels.

Application:

From this article I have been given new ideas and insights into future classroom assignments, such as:

• I know this is a direct idea theft, but I truly find this idea pleasing. After students write a research paper, they are to turn the information into a media source of some sort.
• Using social networking sites to evaluate the types of writing that are used. What is the purpose of writing that way? Why would this appeal to reading audience? What sort of genre would this writing be considered? What is the situation in which this was written?