Looking back at EDRL6004

I must confess that at the beginning of Semester 3, I was somewhat apprehensive about EDRL6004 because I could not, by any stretch of the imagination, claim to be tech savvy. However, it did not take me very long to realise that the technologies about which we were learning did not require one to be a computer expert and my fears quickly subsided. As the course progressed, I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the lab sessions. I felt though, that the intensity of the course content demanded more contact time, but we all needed some vacation, so that we had to make the best of the time that we had.

To say that I learned a lot would be an understatement. I feel that a huge vista has opened before me. As an educator, I can never be the same again. With the utmost sincerity, I can say that EDRL6004, out of all the MEd Reading courses covered so far, has had the greatest impact on me. Having learnt about blogs, wikis, concept maps, e-books, digital storytelling and podcasts, I feel more empowered and equipped to make a tremendous and positive difference in the literacy development of our millennial youth, and in the professional growth of my colleagues who desperately need training in literacy instruction.

I am very grateful to our lecturer and tutors for their guidance, patience and dedication. They have helped me much more that they know. I also say thanks to my peers without whose assistance, support and camaraderie, this past semester would have been more of a strain. Good wishes and blessings to all!

Podcasts, please!

Semester 3 drew quickly to a close and there was no time left for hands-on podcast sessions in the lab. However, from my readings I learned that podcasts are audio blogs that prospective listeners can subscribe to and download to their MP3 players or computers. Martinez (2005) states that podcasting is " the internet's media "broadcasting" format". Given the requisite software, creating a podcast appears to be just as easy to produce as the other technologies we have worked on, and teachers and students can actually transform any piece of writing into a podcast.

Cothran (2008) explains that students can create a podcast to respond to text which they have read. This is done by writing down their reflections or interpretations, practising (to read) it, and recording it through a voice recorder or on a computer and microphone. The recording is then uploaded to a computer. Certainly, there can be many variations to this kind of project, but it is obvious that podcasting is beneficial to literacy development, in that it connects reading and writing meaningfully to promote fluency. This is because the " podcaster" will want to aim for recorded material that is flawless, so he will do repeated readings until he gets it right. The mere fact that students get to integrate technology in the process of reading and writing is quite motivating for them, and the opportunity to publish digitally is also gratifying in itself. Which child would not like to hear himself, or for his peers to hear him on an MP3 player? Colleagues, let us add podcasting to our technology toolkit.

Webspiration for Teaching and Learning

The heat is now on for our Electronic Portfolio and this has directed my attention to the use of concept maps in literacy instruction. Many of us have used graphic organizers in our classrooms. We may have created them ourselves (or with some input from our students) on the black/whiteboard, or had our students examine the ones in their texts. These may have caught our students' interests only marginally, if at all. By chance, they might have benefitted by being able to visualize connections between words/phrases and a main idea. According to Lovitt & Horton (1994), concept maps can assist struggling readers by building on their prior knowledge, thus motivating and preparing them for a reading task. During reading, concept maps can also be used to support their reflections on their understanding. As such, concept maps promote comprehension.

Some other benefits of concept maps are that they are helpful for teaching vocabulary, they can be used in all content areas, and are easy to construct. Cost free, user friendly Webspiration can add the element of fun to the exercise for both students and teachers. This Web 2.0 technology enables users to digitally create concept maps individually or collaboratively. In addition, pictures and graphics can be inserted for visual effects and to enhance meaning, so that using Webspiration for concept map construction can help to revolutionize teaching and learning. Children get to use computers (which they enjoy) to organize their thoughts in the process of making and sharing meaning, without the hassle of boring face to face question and answer sessions. Teachers have at their disposal an excellent teaching and evaluation tool. Needless to say, Webspiration must not be kept a secret. Let's see how I can make it work in my Electronic Portfolio.

Cloud Computing and Security

Thanks to Jody Madho for bringing "Apps for Government" to our attention. This is a recent version of Google's applications collection for enterprise. These applications have servers in the United States and have been upgraded to meet the US government's informations security requirements. While I am in love with the idea of being able to store data/files/documents in the cloud, and work on any computer at any time, anywhere, in a cost effective manner, I have misgivings about cloud computing with respect to the security of material stored on Google Docs.

The ability of the cloud to secure US government information might inspire confidence where prospective users are concerned, especially as it provides cheap, easy and convenient computing. However, Internet history has shown that there are always hackers who stand to profit handsomely from undermining and sabotaging online systems. At this very moment, some tech geniuses and spies might be already hard at work trying to weaken and infiltrate this new system. I am not trying to be melodramatic and I would advise caution in using the cloud. When did I become an expert?

Winning with Digital Storytelling

I teach at a semi-rural secondary school that recently placed third in the RBTT Young Leaders Programme. This is a significant accomplishment, in that as one of the newer secondary schools, we were considered an underdog in the scheme of things, where traditional "prestige" schools tend to take the lead. Thanks to our talented and committed teachers, the participating students were able to contribute to community development, learn interpersonal skills and make their school proud.

I do not know what the theme for the next Young Leaders project will be, but I look forward to making an input which will involve helping students to create a digital story as part of the project. This is, of course, after familiarizing them with digital stories created by my colleagues and myself. These will be used for activating their previous knowledge and connecting it to new concepts to be taught. Also, according to Hibbing and Rankin-Erikson (2003), using multimedia (which is integral to digital storytelling) will help students to retain new knowledge and to understand difficult content. After the students are exposed to digital storytelling as a teaching and learning tool, I would like to see the next Young Leaders (with guidance from their teachers) produce a digital story to either inform, explore historical events, or tell a personal story, depending on which purpose will best support the project's objectives. The digital story might very well help our students to continue their ways.

New Literacies

If as reading specialists, we shall be mandated to help our students to develop "twenty-first century literacy" (Brown, Bryan & Brown, 2005), we need to be fully aware of what this concept entails, if our intent is to address the various literacies which fall under this banner. Namely, they are digital literacy, global literacy, technology literacy, visual literacy, and information literacy. We need to be able to identify and define these literacies in order to clearly articulate our objectives as we plan for instruction. Needless to say, we must also be proficient in these literacies ourselves, since some of our charges might already be ahead of us in this regard.

As I read about digital storytelling, I was struck by the distinction made between digital literacy and technological literacy. This is because in my "state" of only now coming to terms with twenty-first century literacy (which I understand to be synonymous with "new literacies"), I thought that both digital and technological literacies meant the same thing. However, according to Brown, Bryan & Brown (2005), digital literacy refers to one's ability to communicate with a growing (online) community in order to source help, collect information and discuss matters. On the other hand, technology literacy speaks to the capacity to use computers together with a range of other technologies to enhance productivity, learning and performance. Moreover, a novel concept to me as well was "global literacy", which refers to the ability to read, interpret, respond to and contextualise various text (screen and otherwise) from a global lens.

I have confessed my ignorance which one hopes will be gradually lessened. Did someone say that the more you learn is the more there is to learn?

Creating electronic books

Seeing is believing and to do is to learn. For me, creating an e-book was an exhilarating activity. I think that every teacher should be exposed to this hands-on experience, because it is the best way to fully grasp just how beneficial e-books can be to emergent and struggling readers. Teachers can construct e-books to target the specific needs of such learners, and students can co-produce these screen texts with their teachers or with other students, depending on the instructional objectives to be met. More advanced and independent readers can also benefit from creating e-books because it can heighten their perceptions of self-efficacy when their literacy skills are put to use in a digital medium.

Although it does not require much technical skill, it can be regarded as a highly creative endeavour.In tandem with the print and visual literacies that are developed and utilized in this exercise, readers at all levels get to engage in visual art where they select and use appropriate pictures. Then there is the aural component where music can be incorporated to create effects, and the "voicing" of text can introduce the element of drama. As such, creating an e-book allows students to express themselves in different ways and brings into play multiple intelligences. In addition to language and reading instructors, teachers of visual art, music and drama (and every content area teacher) should consider this as an innovative teaching tool and as a means of motivating students. Let's get our students to author e-books. Make learning creative fun.