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.

Help for the Disabled

This past academic year I have been teaching a Form 2 student who is disabled. He cannot walk, so he is wheelchair bound. Some other students take turns to wheel him around and assist him in getting his things in and out of his bookbag. He has limited use of his hands so that turning pages and writing are somewhat laborious for him. His handicaps though, are only physical because he reads quite well, participates eagerly and intelligently in class discussions, generally produces good work and is socially well-adjusted.

I believe however, that there is still a lot of untapped potential in this fourteen year old. How I would love to introduce him to electronic books and all the other Web 2.0 technologies with which I myself have recently become acquainted. In particular, e-books would free his hands from having to turn pages and manipulate pens and pencils. He would be able to read many more books in a shorter time, express himself more extensively by creating his own e-books and generally develop literacy skills faster and more independently. He is already a motivated student, so that with e-books and the entire range of Web 2.0 technologies at his disposal, there should be no stopping him. It might be a good idea for the government to provide laptops to the nation's disabled children as well.

Wikis and Writing

Many of us have been teaching our students process writing which involves much feedback from the teacher and limited collaboration among students, if the end product is not a group effort. However, as reading specialists, we must be ever mindful of the evolutionary nature of literacy and the ways in which it is manifested in the twenty-first century. Undoubtedly, wikis are an added dimension to literacy that can be used to enhance the writing process. Since they are designed to support social interaction and collaboration in a digital setting, teachers can now have students write with wikis and edit each other's writing for grammar and spelling. There can also be peer review in which students can post drafts and and invite other students to comment.

In a wiki as well, groups can write short stories or expositions together. Group members can share and organize ideas, and as the piece develops, there is ongoing review and editing with guidance from the teacher. In addition, visual literacy may be incorporated and developed where pictures are used to illustrate, as well as to help create mood and tone and other effects intended by the authors.

When our students are engaged in this manner, writing should become more exciting and enjoyable, and less onerous than pen and paper exercises (which are ever waning in popularity among our charges). Once they are taught rules and guidelines for online social interaction and for using the Internet, it might be possible for them to become more inspired by the experience of writing wikis.

Blog Talk

Blogs (weblogs) can be regarded as online diaries or journals, according to Vacca & Vacca (2008). They provide a digital medium for teachers to monitor their students' literacy and academic progress. As a collaborative tool, blogs facilitate class participation where a teacher or a class can set up a blog, wherein every student can have his/her own "blogspace" for making and sharing comments to contribute to class discussions. This aspect of blogs I find to be especially helpful for the more reticent students and for those who lack the confidence to speak up in class. With blogs they can find a "voice" with which to express themselves, thus enabling the teacher to make assessments that would not be possible in a verbal forum.

Atkins, Battle, Nicholson & Caverly (2008) point out that blogs can be used to promote critical reading, thinking and writing. These skills are essential for literacy in a "Web 2.0 world". It appears however, that blogs are not appropriate tools for reading intervention with students who are experiencing challenges with word level aspects of reading such as phonics, phonemic awareness and basic sight words. Unfortunately, many of us in this MEd programme are grappling with the task of assisting students with such issues, both in the primary and secondary schools. Nevertheless, as reading specialists, we shall be mandated to train other educators to help their students at all levels in developing their literacy. As such, we can instruct our colleagues in the use of blogs so that hopefully, they will become more effective in their classrooms.

What Web 2.0 means to Us

I must say that I am impressed with Web 2.0 (cloud computing) because of the benefits it affords users. Among these advantages are collaboration tools such Google Docs, wikis and blogs. If these are used on a wide scale to promote literacy across our nation's schools, they might motivate our students to engage in more meaningful and constructive online communication with their peers, as opposed to what they have grown accustomed to on Facebook (to a large extent, idle gossip and damaging pictures).

Another significant benefit of Web 2.0 is that basic applications and file storage cost nothing. Consequently, much computing can be done on inexpensive computers such as netbooks. This has significant economic implications for our new government. Since it is claimed that the pre-election promise (of laptops to SEA students entering secondary schools) will be kept, then funding for this must be carefully considered. As an educator who has only recently been introduced to Web 2.0, I advocate that the government should exercise thrift with public funds and purchase netbooks, which are to be stored safely at the schools because of our appalling crime situation. Certainly these institutions should have uninterrupted internet access and the government-provided netbooks are to be released to the students for regular classroom activity.

Needless to say, Web 2.0 and netbooks will not be very effective in a classroom situation if teachers lack the necessary professional training and knowledge to use them for scaffolding students in their learning. Here is where we as reading specialists have a significant role to play.

TPACK and Literacy Learning

In Harris & Hofer (2009) we are made to understand that "technological pedagogical content knowledge" (TPACK) is an umbrella term which refers to the combination of teachers' knowledge of technologies, pedagogies and curriculum content. It is this knowledge that forms the basis of content-based technology integration. The article further points out that TPACK in educational practice is complex. From my perspective, it may be especially daunting for educators who are "techno challenged". We can take comfort in the fact that this professional knowledge can be developed over a period of time and that this ICT course is launching us into this area of professional development.

If we are committed to our students' literacy development within the context of twenty-first century requirements, we must be prepared to learn about the technologies that are available, and how to use them to help our charges to learn. We must also be wary of being "technocentric" (Papert, 1987), where there is too much emphasis on the technologies utilized and insufficient focus on their effectiveness on students' learning. Uppermost in our minds should be that the technologies are merely a means to an end and not an end in themselves. Extremely useful in this consideration are the technology-enhanced learning activity types that the article outlines in tabular form. Although these activity types are specific to social studies, they illustrate quite clearly that this approach can be employed to enhance learning outcomes in any content area. We must note though, that for this approach to be successful, there must be precise and detailed planning and preparation. Let's meet this challenge head-on.

Reference

Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). Instructional planning activity types as vehicles for curriculum-based TPACK development. In C.D. Maddux, (Ed). Research highlights in technology and teacher education 2009 (pp. 99-108). Chesapeake, VA: SITE.

Response to Jennifer Payne

Response to Jennifer Payne

Like Jenny I have made many new friends and acquaintances in the MEd Reading programme and have learned a lot.

I agree with her observation that in spite of the general improvement in our living standards, where most children have cell phones, trendy clothes, access to free meals and so on, the decline in literacy, especially among our male students is alarming. In equipping our teachers to address this problem, I think the government also needs to provide for further teacher training in the area of special education, in addition to the MEd Reading programme.

Why I chose to become a Reading Specialist

WHY I DECIDED TO BECOME A READING SPECIALIST

In the face of increasing illiteracy among the general population of Trinidad and Tobago, arising largely out of growing levels of educational disengagement and underachievement on the part of our male students, I decided to become a reading specialist to assist in providing solutions for this disturbing phenomenon. It is my intention to participate in a wider holistic campaign, as well as a to interface on a more personal level with struggling readers, to bring about interventions aimed at reducing and eradicating illiteracy in our nation.

To further this objective, as a reading specialist, I would like to pass on valuable knowledge (to which I am exposed in this Med programme) to other teachers, especially those in the content areas. This is in order to equip them to become teachers of reading, as they deliver their respective curricula. I am cognisant of the fact that content area teachers in general do not consider themselves to be reading teachers, and as such they believe that promoting literacy is not one of their roles as educators. There is a desperate need to overturn this mindset, so that teachers will become more flexible in their outlook and open to a paradigm shift, wherein they will embrace the requisite training and instructional strategies to scaffold students in their literacy development.

Finally, as a reading specialist, I would be facilitating my own professional development. During my years of teaching experience at both the primary and secondary levels, I have noticed that over time, students’ interests and learning styles have changed. This is in accordance with changes in technology and how this has impacted social networking and entertainment. Hence I hope to be able to cater for the needs of emergent and struggling readers in the twenty-first century.