Weekly Reading #9

Quote

“These new literacy practices are inherent in the Web 2.0 landscape that is familiar to many of the Net Generation, but not yet embedded in school literacy practices” (Asselin & Moayeri, 2011).

I chose this quote because I don’t believe this is the fault of classroom teachers. Until we can afford one-to-one computing, as well as an IT personnel, it is impossible to embed Web 2.0 technologies into school literacy practices. I feel that more teachers would love to incorporate games and technological instruction if they had the finances and means to do so. I would love to do more digitally-interactive lessons; however, it is difficult to schedule lab and find enough working computers for my students. Eventually, I believe we will have one-to-one computing.

Asselin, M. & Moayeri, M. (2011). Practical Strategies: The Participatory Classroom: Web 2.0 in the Classroom. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years 19(2).

Resource

Web 2.0 Tools

This picture and its website lists Web 2.0 tools and their hyperlinks. I think that this is important because teachers need to see all the resources available for integrating such technology tools in their classroom. I like the picture because it displays how much digital tools have overtaken in today's society. This picture is a mosaic of almost all of the Web 2.0 tools available. 

Questions

What makes a literacy practice a “new literacy”?

Literacy practices that are “new literacy” are classroom practices that draw on social elements of Web 2.0 that are favored by youth to support less practiced usages required for learning.

How does might Citizen Journalism support the development of “new literacies”?

Citizen Journalism supports the development of “new literacies” because it is drawing on relevant issues relating to the students. This motivates students to learn while using Web 2.0 technologies. This project is better than writing a news article or a report. It’s interactive learning.

What is critical literacy and how does your Citizen Journalism project encourage critical literacy? How might you change your project to encourage critical literacy?

Critical literacy is the deconstruction of text by understanding the foundation and conflicts that lie beneath the surface content and the relationship that the text holds with other text(s). Citizen Journalism project encourages critical literacy because it views the information through various perspectives, such as political social, and economical lenses. Specifically, students research and interview expert or experienced witnesses. This promotes critical literacy. A way to better enhance the critical literacy in the Citizen Journalism project is to encourage students to find contradicting opinions on the topic.

What problems may arise when students use Web 2.0 tools for learning in school and how might teachers capitalize on these opportunities to promote information literacy?

A problem that may arise when students use Web 2.0 tools for learning in school is that teachers may become dependent on these tools for learning. Moreover, the problem of ownership could occur with work when students collaborate through the Internet, such as with Wiki contributions. Social networking could become a distraction from the classroom. Teachers can capitalize on these opportunities to promote information literacy by sharing how trustworthiness and biases can be found in resources available on the web. Also, appropriate usage of the tools can be taught to students as it comes up. This will be a learning opportunity to help students become critical consumers of information.