I know you must be anxious to find out a bit more about these new literacies of the 21st century or for us to gain further insight on this single sex school trend. Don’t worry we will come back to those hot issues later.
This course is coming to a close and many of us started at the bottom of the learning continuum ladder. We were novices and very reluctant to interface with the technology. By now I am sure that we have even passed the advance beginner with all this blogging. However, we are well on our way to becoming competent or proficient with a bit of forced and voluntary practice, that is our five lesson plans and using it in the classroom. Who knows maybe some of us will climb the ladder all the way to the top and become experts.
As you go back to your classrooms you need to ask this very pertinent question: Have you truly learnt about technology and of integrating it to aid the teaching of literacy? Well we won’t know unless we reflect after we have returned to our classrooms.
Do you remember Ed I from Teachers College- learning has occurred when there has been a change in behaviour. Thus, we need to have a change in our behaviour and teaching style. We must not let what we have learnt fall into the category of futile, quickly forgotten stuff that have been crammed into the mind.
I bid you farewell for now as we all engage in our practice that may hopefully make us competent to go to our various schools and share our new found knowledge.
P.S. Don't forget, we will get back to those hot issues later.
Friday, August 6, 2010
It’s Not Just Us – We Just Playing Follow the Leader as Usual
We have a tendency to adopt policies from else where and jump the gun even without putting things in place or devoid of their success report.
Holthouse (2010) spoke of the new trend to adopt a single sex school attitude or gender segregated classrooms. He reported that in 2002 only 11 public schools in the United States had gender-segregated classrooms and as of December 2009, there were more than 550.
What brought about this new wave? Well it is the age old debate about boys and girls being wired differently. Hence, the male and female brain development and function vary during childhood through adolescence, thus calling for classrooms in which boys and girls are not only separated by gender, but are also taught according to radically different methods (Holthouse, 2010).
Stakeholders just like us have mixed views. However, what does the research have to say? Various studies have found benefits for girls but not boys; benefits for boys but not girls; benefits for both girls and boys; and benefits for neither girls nor boys (Sax, 2006). Thus, it is actually a bit inconclusive.
Although, there has been no attempt to account for the variation in the results. Sax (2006) suggested that “The most obvious explanation for the variation is that merely placing girls and boys in separate classrooms accomplishes little,” he said. “For the single-sex format to lead to improvements in academic performance, teachers must understand the hard-wired differences in how girls and boys learn and incorporate the best practices for all-female classrooms and all-male classrooms.”
This point of view has led me to a new question. How does this vary from teaching to the individual needs of students which encouraged differentiated classrooms or the big issue of multiple intelligences?
References within post:
Holthouse, D. (2010). Gender segregation: Separate but effective? Teaching tolerance, 27. Retrieved from: http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-37-spring-2010/gender-segregation-separate-effective
Sax, L. (2006). Six degrees of separation: What teachers need to know about the emerging science of sex differences. Educational HORIZONS, Spring. Retrieved from: http://www.boysadrift.com/ed_horizons.pdf
Holthouse (2010) spoke of the new trend to adopt a single sex school attitude or gender segregated classrooms. He reported that in 2002 only 11 public schools in the United States had gender-segregated classrooms and as of December 2009, there were more than 550.
What brought about this new wave? Well it is the age old debate about boys and girls being wired differently. Hence, the male and female brain development and function vary during childhood through adolescence, thus calling for classrooms in which boys and girls are not only separated by gender, but are also taught according to radically different methods (Holthouse, 2010).
Stakeholders just like us have mixed views. However, what does the research have to say? Various studies have found benefits for girls but not boys; benefits for boys but not girls; benefits for both girls and boys; and benefits for neither girls nor boys (Sax, 2006). Thus, it is actually a bit inconclusive.
Although, there has been no attempt to account for the variation in the results. Sax (2006) suggested that “The most obvious explanation for the variation is that merely placing girls and boys in separate classrooms accomplishes little,” he said. “For the single-sex format to lead to improvements in academic performance, teachers must understand the hard-wired differences in how girls and boys learn and incorporate the best practices for all-female classrooms and all-male classrooms.”
This point of view has led me to a new question. How does this vary from teaching to the individual needs of students which encouraged differentiated classrooms or the big issue of multiple intelligences?
References within post:
Holthouse, D. (2010). Gender segregation: Separate but effective? Teaching tolerance, 27. Retrieved from: http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-37-spring-2010/gender-segregation-separate-effective
Sax, L. (2006). Six degrees of separation: What teachers need to know about the emerging science of sex differences. Educational HORIZONS, Spring. Retrieved from: http://www.boysadrift.com/ed_horizons.pdf
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Using Pictures Creatively
We all know the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well last day we spoke of the evolution of Ebooks as a motivaion for reading. Today we are going to talk about creating our own stories using simple tools such as PowerPoint and Photo Story 3. They are both simple programs and relatively easy to source.
Children normaly hate to write. I myself hate to write just seeing a blank sheet in front of you can automatically give you writers block. Digital stories combine the art of telling a story with a variety of multimedia such as pictures, audio, graphics and even videos if you wish (Robin, 2006).
The steps are quite easy to follow any teacher can Google the steps and download a free copy of Photo Story 3 if they do not wish to use the PowerPoint. After this students can begin using pictures to write their thousand words.
The pros definitely out-weigths the cons with this approach to teaching writing. Robin(2006) postulates that it appeals to diverse learners, encourages collaboration as students work in groups and helps add value to the students’ work by giving them to opportunity to feel a sense of ownership and accomplishment as they publish their work.
Like all new stratergies and approaches especially those that envolve the use of technology there must be structure and proper planning in order to achieve success. Ohler (2006) advocated that if digital stories are to support education it must be tied to the curriculum and used in ways that will strengthen students' critical thinking, report writing, and media literacy skills.
Read the articles to gain more information.
P.S. In the next post I will go back to the “Boys Crisis” in order to address some of the issues that were raised by my collegues.
References used in post:
Robin, B. (2006). The educational uses of digital storytelling In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2006 (pp. 709-716). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from: http://www.editlib.org/p/22129
Ohler, J. (2006). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 44-47.
Children normaly hate to write. I myself hate to write just seeing a blank sheet in front of you can automatically give you writers block. Digital stories combine the art of telling a story with a variety of multimedia such as pictures, audio, graphics and even videos if you wish (Robin, 2006).
The steps are quite easy to follow any teacher can Google the steps and download a free copy of Photo Story 3 if they do not wish to use the PowerPoint. After this students can begin using pictures to write their thousand words.
The pros definitely out-weigths the cons with this approach to teaching writing. Robin(2006) postulates that it appeals to diverse learners, encourages collaboration as students work in groups and helps add value to the students’ work by giving them to opportunity to feel a sense of ownership and accomplishment as they publish their work.
Like all new stratergies and approaches especially those that envolve the use of technology there must be structure and proper planning in order to achieve success. Ohler (2006) advocated that if digital stories are to support education it must be tied to the curriculum and used in ways that will strengthen students' critical thinking, report writing, and media literacy skills.
Read the articles to gain more information.
P.S. In the next post I will go back to the “Boys Crisis” in order to address some of the issues that were raised by my collegues.
References used in post:
Robin, B. (2006). The educational uses of digital storytelling In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2006 (pp. 709-716). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from: http://www.editlib.org/p/22129
Ohler, J. (2006). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 44-47.
Let's Compare
In my last post we spoke about my library project and of me pondering the use of Ebooks in the library project. Thus, in this post we will try to compare Ebooks with paperback books.
Books have been the cornerstone of our society for centuries, especially after the invention of the printing press. However, digital technology has begun to radically change the role of books in our society.
Ebooks allows for paperless reading. Yes, this will definitely be in favour of all those save the planet people as it is a means of preventing deforestation. Although, there are Ebooks Readers it can be read with a variety of other devices such as computers, and even cell phones such as the Apple IPhone. This feature makes the Ebook very portable as it can take up little to no space. You can even fit it in your pocket. It also has the ability for people to interact with it by taking notes or even making the print larger, thus, even attracting the attention of the aged and for those of us that like to have a dictionary, it has one built into it for easy access.
Imagine having thousands of books at your finger tips, walking around with a library of books. This immediacy and easy of access just might attract toady's millennium children who want things instantly.
What do you think? Would Ebooks encourage today’s children to read more?
Books have been the cornerstone of our society for centuries, especially after the invention of the printing press. However, digital technology has begun to radically change the role of books in our society.
Ebooks allows for paperless reading. Yes, this will definitely be in favour of all those save the planet people as it is a means of preventing deforestation. Although, there are Ebooks Readers it can be read with a variety of other devices such as computers, and even cell phones such as the Apple IPhone. This feature makes the Ebook very portable as it can take up little to no space. You can even fit it in your pocket. It also has the ability for people to interact with it by taking notes or even making the print larger, thus, even attracting the attention of the aged and for those of us that like to have a dictionary, it has one built into it for easy access.
Imagine having thousands of books at your finger tips, walking around with a library of books. This immediacy and easy of access just might attract toady's millennium children who want things instantly.
What do you think? Would Ebooks encourage today’s children to read more?
Monday, August 2, 2010
Can Technology be Part of the Remedy?
As the technology class comes to a close I reflected on some of my challenging teaching experiences. I remember a particular child that I taught about lets say 10 years ago. Yes, how that problem still haunts me as I still see myself as having failed to help the child.
I was a young teacher and I was given a Standard One. In this class, I had a ten year old boy that could not write his name correctly. I remember teaching him to write his name and I felt that I had accomplished something but he soon forgot. He took less time to forget that it took to teach him how to do it. This child would use a random string of letters to spell a word during our weekly assessment and would constantly come to me to complain that another child was copying from him.
Feeling very frustrated I sought advice from some of the senior teachers and I was told that I should not waste my time and worry about him, as he is very old and would pass through the system. However, I still persevered but I don’t think that I made any significant difference.
Paper and pencil never worked with him. I now wonder if technology might have made a difference. At that time I did not have any technology at my disposal. However, I believe that eBooks would at least have given him a sense of autonomy in his reading. He would have felt that he was able to read a book all by himself.
Of course we can now consider the various diagnostic assessments that we have been exposed to but what do you think? Do you believe that technology may have helped?
I was a young teacher and I was given a Standard One. In this class, I had a ten year old boy that could not write his name correctly. I remember teaching him to write his name and I felt that I had accomplished something but he soon forgot. He took less time to forget that it took to teach him how to do it. This child would use a random string of letters to spell a word during our weekly assessment and would constantly come to me to complain that another child was copying from him.
Feeling very frustrated I sought advice from some of the senior teachers and I was told that I should not waste my time and worry about him, as he is very old and would pass through the system. However, I still persevered but I don’t think that I made any significant difference.
Paper and pencil never worked with him. I now wonder if technology might have made a difference. At that time I did not have any technology at my disposal. However, I believe that eBooks would at least have given him a sense of autonomy in his reading. He would have felt that he was able to read a book all by himself.
Of course we can now consider the various diagnostic assessments that we have been exposed to but what do you think? Do you believe that technology may have helped?
Problems or Opportunities?
In 2006 the then Minister of Eduction spoke of the need to use technology in education and that, cell phones were part of the new technologies. Thus, instead of a ban she suggested that proper rules and regulations should be put in place to ensure proper usage.
In 2008 it was reported that a seminar on juvenile delinquency at the Faculty of Social Sciences Lounge at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine revealed that Secondary school students are selling sexually explicit footage of themselves for as little as $5. These sex videos involving the students are transferred to the customer via cellphone bluetooth. However, the research unit focused on the issue being more of a social problem rather than a technology issue.
In 2010 the Harvard Education Letter published an article that encourages the use of cell phones in the classroom. Actually this article advocates that it is the most commonly owned technology and that a greater percentage of the student population has access to their own personal cellphone every year.
Gillard (2010) also reported success stories that used cell phones in their literature and math lessons. She even spoke of the growing popularity of smart phones and that many students prefer these to laptops.
This article spoke of the need to harness what you have and that students prefer the smart phones as it allows immediate access. Yes, microwave babies.
Anyhow, I am on the fence as I know that we have not fixed our social issues or put things in place. So what do you think of cellphones; problems or opportunities?
References used in post:
Gillard, C. (2010). “Dumb” phones, smart lessons. Harvard education letter, 26 (4). Retrieved from: http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/474
Jeremiah, K. (2008, February 20) Porn for sale: students cash in on sex in the classroom. Trinidad Guardian. Retrieved from: http://news.bn.gs/article.php?story=20080220133252158
Taitt, R. (2006, May 26). No cell phone ban in schools. Trinidad Newsday. Retrieved from: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,38041.html
In 2008 it was reported that a seminar on juvenile delinquency at the Faculty of Social Sciences Lounge at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine revealed that Secondary school students are selling sexually explicit footage of themselves for as little as $5. These sex videos involving the students are transferred to the customer via cellphone bluetooth. However, the research unit focused on the issue being more of a social problem rather than a technology issue.
In 2010 the Harvard Education Letter published an article that encourages the use of cell phones in the classroom. Actually this article advocates that it is the most commonly owned technology and that a greater percentage of the student population has access to their own personal cellphone every year.
Gillard (2010) also reported success stories that used cell phones in their literature and math lessons. She even spoke of the growing popularity of smart phones and that many students prefer these to laptops.
This article spoke of the need to harness what you have and that students prefer the smart phones as it allows immediate access. Yes, microwave babies.
Anyhow, I am on the fence as I know that we have not fixed our social issues or put things in place. So what do you think of cellphones; problems or opportunities?
References used in post:
Gillard, C. (2010). “Dumb” phones, smart lessons. Harvard education letter, 26 (4). Retrieved from: http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/474
Jeremiah, K. (2008, February 20) Porn for sale: students cash in on sex in the classroom. Trinidad Guardian. Retrieved from: http://news.bn.gs/article.php?story=20080220133252158
Taitt, R. (2006, May 26). No cell phone ban in schools. Trinidad Newsday. Retrieved from: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,38041.html
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
ARE WE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT IMPROVING LITERACY?
As we are collaborating and sharing ideas how about sharing some ideas for a project that I am currently working on.
I worked at a particular primary school during the past two years and made various observations. The school had a room designated to be the library, it had some books many being of dinosaur age. However, the library is used to house meetings for various groups and for remedial sessions. There is no system in place to utilize the library to provide access to books so that their exposure to text and stories would increase. Yet, teachers complain about literacy issues such as comprehension, reading skills, and writing.
From speaking to students, there are some who have never visited any of the public libraries. Therefore, I embarked on a project to revive the library so that it functioned as a library and so that students benefited from its existence. However, I was only able to drum up support in the form of assistance from 4% of the staff other than the principal. I know there must be others that are interested but I really hope that they get more involved as the project progresses.
Do you have any idea about how I can get the teachers more involved? I have been playing with the idea of eBooks in my head but do you have any ideas for my library project? I am really open to suggestions.
Keep reading and sharing.
I worked at a particular primary school during the past two years and made various observations. The school had a room designated to be the library, it had some books many being of dinosaur age. However, the library is used to house meetings for various groups and for remedial sessions. There is no system in place to utilize the library to provide access to books so that their exposure to text and stories would increase. Yet, teachers complain about literacy issues such as comprehension, reading skills, and writing.
From speaking to students, there are some who have never visited any of the public libraries. Therefore, I embarked on a project to revive the library so that it functioned as a library and so that students benefited from its existence. However, I was only able to drum up support in the form of assistance from 4% of the staff other than the principal. I know there must be others that are interested but I really hope that they get more involved as the project progresses.
Do you have any idea about how I can get the teachers more involved? I have been playing with the idea of eBooks in my head but do you have any ideas for my library project? I am really open to suggestions.
Keep reading and sharing.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Research Challenges
Thus far we have discussed two resources that support the integration of new technologies into learning and literacy instruction, namely Blogs and Wiki. Hence, I wanted to mix it up a bit by exploring research that highlighted best practices of the integration of technology with literacy. However, there seems to be a scarcity of such research. This has been voiced by our dear course coordinator.
Holum and Gahala (2001) highlighted two challenges that researchers face when trying to anchor recommendations for using technology in literacy instruction. He spoke of a ‘moving target’ problem and the issue of not having many comprehensive literacy studies. It was really clear to see how these could be challenges to researchers. Technology is always evolving and in some cases it changes so much that it becomes obsolete. Hence, researchers would not want to dispense time and money with such risks to their research.The other issue is the scarcity of comprehensive literacy research into the use of technology for enhancing literacy. Anchoring recommendations suggest that you would want to back up your findings, thus the need for available comprehensive research.
Do you think we can help overcome these challenges? What issues do you think we should investigate?
References used in Blog
Holum, A. & Gahala, J. (2001). Critical issues: Using Technology to enhance literacy instruction. Retrieved on July 1, 2010, from: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.htm
Keep reading for more, who knows you may get an idea for your research.
Holum and Gahala (2001) highlighted two challenges that researchers face when trying to anchor recommendations for using technology in literacy instruction. He spoke of a ‘moving target’ problem and the issue of not having many comprehensive literacy studies. It was really clear to see how these could be challenges to researchers. Technology is always evolving and in some cases it changes so much that it becomes obsolete. Hence, researchers would not want to dispense time and money with such risks to their research.The other issue is the scarcity of comprehensive literacy research into the use of technology for enhancing literacy. Anchoring recommendations suggest that you would want to back up your findings, thus the need for available comprehensive research.
Do you think we can help overcome these challenges? What issues do you think we should investigate?
References used in Blog
Holum, A. & Gahala, J. (2001). Critical issues: Using Technology to enhance literacy instruction. Retrieved on July 1, 2010, from: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.htm
Keep reading for more, who knows you may get an idea for your research.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
ARE WE READY FOR IT?
I was prompted to post this blog after reading some of my colleagues posts. Many people are of the opinion that we are not ready for the integration of technology into the classroom and that the classroom prevents the use of Web. 2.0 technology. Although this might be true, there are alternatives.
Over the past year I have been able to experiment with the use of a Wiki in my standard four classroom. Despite having no access to the Internet I created a class website using a free template provided by weebly.com. The video below spoke about using it for the actual teaching of the content as they learnt about poetry within the classroom and this may be possible for some people.
However, our website was used to place extra activities and games related to the topics that I was teaching. It was also an out of school activity as the responsibility was laid on the parents and children to visit the website. This may have contributed to the fact that it took a while to get off of the ground.
It took a lot of effort as you had to constantly point out that they needed to go to the library or to an Internet cafe if they did not have access at home and repeatedly discuss safety considerations. To further motivate the children to visit the website whenever we had an event, a display, a function or a field trip pictures were taken and uploaded to the website as our photo gallery.
The website can also be beneficial to the teacher as it has provided an avenue for me to communicate with the children over this vacation period as they engage in their independent studies.
What do you think are you willing to set up a Wiki for your class?
So far I have given some insight into my experiences next time we will look at what the research has to say in terms of best practices. Keep reading!
Over the past year I have been able to experiment with the use of a Wiki in my standard four classroom. Despite having no access to the Internet I created a class website using a free template provided by weebly.com. The video below spoke about using it for the actual teaching of the content as they learnt about poetry within the classroom and this may be possible for some people.
However, our website was used to place extra activities and games related to the topics that I was teaching. It was also an out of school activity as the responsibility was laid on the parents and children to visit the website. This may have contributed to the fact that it took a while to get off of the ground.
It took a lot of effort as you had to constantly point out that they needed to go to the library or to an Internet cafe if they did not have access at home and repeatedly discuss safety considerations. To further motivate the children to visit the website whenever we had an event, a display, a function or a field trip pictures were taken and uploaded to the website as our photo gallery.
The website can also be beneficial to the teacher as it has provided an avenue for me to communicate with the children over this vacation period as they engage in their independent studies.
What do you think are you willing to set up a Wiki for your class?
So far I have given some insight into my experiences next time we will look at what the research has to say in terms of best practices. Keep reading!
Monday, July 12, 2010
TO Blog or NOT to Blog
While you ponder on “The Boys Crisis” , we will get back to the first issue at hand, technology to enhance learning.
There is nothing like a first hand experience to make a judgment. In education most times we weigh the pros and cons to decide whether or not to use a particular strategy or new approach.
Based on my experience, bogging can be such an inconvenience as it takes away from your time, worse yet if you are working with a schedule it makes it difficult to write quality blogs. It is often difficult to even think about a topic and then there is the hassle of finding a blog to respond to.
However, let’s consider the benefits of blogging to both the teacher and the students. Blogs are motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in the classroom. It provides an opportunity for students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. With a blog, every person has an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. Blogs provide excellent opportunities for students to read and write with an instant audience and get quick feedback. Thus, creating effective forums for collaboration and discussion, it creates a community of learners, where it can provide a forum to revise topics and to study as a group. If structured properly it can be a powerful tool to scaffold learning or for mentoring to occur.
Of course the fact that it is being graded has forced me to take them seriously and helped to consider how best I can support my position in each blog making me more critical in my writing. In my final decision I believe that I will incorporate it into my classroom as the pros seem to outweigh the cons.
What might be your position or experience with blogging?
Keep reading to learn more about technology that can enhance teaching and learning.
There is nothing like a first hand experience to make a judgment. In education most times we weigh the pros and cons to decide whether or not to use a particular strategy or new approach.
Based on my experience, bogging can be such an inconvenience as it takes away from your time, worse yet if you are working with a schedule it makes it difficult to write quality blogs. It is often difficult to even think about a topic and then there is the hassle of finding a blog to respond to.
However, let’s consider the benefits of blogging to both the teacher and the students. Blogs are motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in the classroom. It provides an opportunity for students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. With a blog, every person has an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. Blogs provide excellent opportunities for students to read and write with an instant audience and get quick feedback. Thus, creating effective forums for collaboration and discussion, it creates a community of learners, where it can provide a forum to revise topics and to study as a group. If structured properly it can be a powerful tool to scaffold learning or for mentoring to occur.
Of course the fact that it is being graded has forced me to take them seriously and helped to consider how best I can support my position in each blog making me more critical in my writing. In my final decision I believe that I will incorporate it into my classroom as the pros seem to outweigh the cons.
What might be your position or experience with blogging?
Keep reading to learn more about technology that can enhance teaching and learning.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
THE BOY CRISIS
I know that this might be straying from my last post but I just had to ask your opinion on this issue.
Have you considered or wondered about the pilot project to promote single sex schools in Trinidad and Tobago? Someone shared an article 'Putting the "Boys Crisis" in Context' from the Harvard Education Letter that has caused me to ponder a bit on the issue.
This article highlights the literacy crisis of boys, as girls are constantly surpassing them with their literacy scores in various reading proficiency tests. Do you think anyone has considered how the promotion of literacy should be changed at these schools to cater for the boys? Do you think any special program has been developed?
The article also spoke of these gaps being due to various factors and that a lot of boys are actually better readers than girls. This I do agree with as there are many factors that would affect these statistics and things like socio-economic factors, demographic factors and we can speculate and investigate other factors.
However, despite these factors I still believe that the literacy approaches for various genders should be considered. Sadowski (2010) suggested that increasing students’ access to reading support at all levels of schooling can prevent reading challenges and that rather than make decisions on national or even district-level data, district officials may wish to investigate possible reading gaps in their own schools first, suggesting some action research.
What are your views? Should literacy be something we should consider deeply as we venture into the idea of same sex schools? Should the approach to teaching literacy be re-considered with respect to boys?
References used within post:
Sadowski, M. (2010). Putting the “Boy Crisis” in context. Harvard education letter, 26 (4). Retrieved from: http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/473
P.S.
We will get back on track with our last post but I will definitely be coming back to this topic so give me some food for thought in the mean time.
Have you considered or wondered about the pilot project to promote single sex schools in Trinidad and Tobago? Someone shared an article 'Putting the "Boys Crisis" in Context' from the Harvard Education Letter that has caused me to ponder a bit on the issue.
This article highlights the literacy crisis of boys, as girls are constantly surpassing them with their literacy scores in various reading proficiency tests. Do you think anyone has considered how the promotion of literacy should be changed at these schools to cater for the boys? Do you think any special program has been developed?
The article also spoke of these gaps being due to various factors and that a lot of boys are actually better readers than girls. This I do agree with as there are many factors that would affect these statistics and things like socio-economic factors, demographic factors and we can speculate and investigate other factors.
However, despite these factors I still believe that the literacy approaches for various genders should be considered. Sadowski (2010) suggested that increasing students’ access to reading support at all levels of schooling can prevent reading challenges and that rather than make decisions on national or even district-level data, district officials may wish to investigate possible reading gaps in their own schools first, suggesting some action research.
What are your views? Should literacy be something we should consider deeply as we venture into the idea of same sex schools? Should the approach to teaching literacy be re-considered with respect to boys?
References used within post:
Sadowski, M. (2010). Putting the “Boy Crisis” in context. Harvard education letter, 26 (4). Retrieved from: http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/473
P.S.
We will get back on track with our last post but I will definitely be coming back to this topic so give me some food for thought in the mean time.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
CRITICAL ISSUES WITH LITERACY AND INFOMATION TECHNOLOGY
Traditionally literacy instruction referred to the teaching of basic literacy skills-reading, writing, listening and speaking. However, in the 21st century it has become a digital world. Thus, students also need technology skills for communicating, investigating, accessing and using information as well as being able to think critically about messages inherent in new media.
As an educator in this digital world one has to consider what it means to be literate in a digital society. Does this mean teaching the children how to use word processors and spreadsheets and the sort, as we would have done to become computer literate and ready for the digital world? In my research and readings I have found such a broader view as technology can influence how people read, write and communicate.
Although technology promises new ways to promote literacy, educators have mixed reactions as some holds it at arms length and some embraces it and some in their enthusiasm have a some what wrong interpretation of how it should be used.
What side do you think you would support and how do you think we can encourage our colleagues to embrace the use of technology to promote literacy?
In the future posts, I would like to explore what research has to offer, best practices and resources that support integration of new technologies into literacy instruction.
As an educator in this digital world one has to consider what it means to be literate in a digital society. Does this mean teaching the children how to use word processors and spreadsheets and the sort, as we would have done to become computer literate and ready for the digital world? In my research and readings I have found such a broader view as technology can influence how people read, write and communicate.
Although technology promises new ways to promote literacy, educators have mixed reactions as some holds it at arms length and some embraces it and some in their enthusiasm have a some what wrong interpretation of how it should be used.
What side do you think you would support and how do you think we can encourage our colleagues to embrace the use of technology to promote literacy?
In the future posts, I would like to explore what research has to offer, best practices and resources that support integration of new technologies into literacy instruction.
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