Module Two

Instructional Technology 6232 60

Module #2: New Literacies

INSTTECH 6232 Selection and Integration of Instructional Technologies
50 points

I am sure you are literate... but HOW are you literate? What do you believe literacy to be? How do you define it? How do your resources define it? How do your friends and colleagues define it?

Let's find out!

if you can't see the presentation above, use this link:

 http://www.screencast.com/t/BzmCi7PN 

 
In "the old days" literacy meant you could sign your name and maybe read some basic text, but in today's world it is about much more. While reading and writing remain essential, we now examine other literacies as well... financial literacy, technological literacy, health and wellness literacy and more. 

New Literacies - Assignment 1 Part 1

Read this article:
http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/leu/ 

Also read the Introduction and Section One (21st-Century Skills) from our required book (Teaching with the Tools Kids Really Use by Susan Brooks-Young)

Share on our New Literacies Discussion Board your biggest take-away from these readings, include what you learned and it's potential impact on your teaching, if it will not have impact on your teaching, explain that too. Provide thoughtful insight and concrete examples and references back to what you have read, this is a bit of more "scholarly writing" but it MAY serve as a launching pad or framework which you will revisit or explore in a different way in Assignment 3 this week.

New Literacies - Assignment 1 Part 2

Read what your classmates have written on the discussion board. Comment on at least two of their posts paying special attention to WHAT they learned and HOW it will impact them.

Assignment 1 is worth 15 points. These points will be earned based primarily on your posts on the discussion board but also on your thoughtful comments on posts by others.

Assignment 1 Part 1 by Friday October 26th at midnight CDT

Assignment 1 Part 2 by Sunday October 28th at midnight CDT

New Literacies - Assignment 2

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (http://www.p21.org/)

This organization has been in the forefront in describing, teaching, sharing and advocating for "21st Century" skills. In these skills they describe a number of "literacies" including:

• Civic Literacy
• Health Literacy
• Environmental Literacy
• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• ICT Literacy

Explore the P21 website and work with a team of your classmates to write and edit definitions of at least 7 literacies. Remember to be respectful of the work of others. 

If your last name begins with A - FO you are in Team One and will use this online tool: http://gaillovely.titanpad.com/1 (the password is letmein )

If your last name begins with FR - Z you are in Team Two and will use this online tool: http://gaillovely.titanpad.com/2 (the password is letmein )

When your group has all agreed with your group definitions, submit your definitions to Gail via the Blackboard Assignment Dropbox. Your grade on Assignment 2 will be based upon your participation in the Titanpad group work (type your name in the left side of this site when you get to your writing space), and the definitions you submit to the dropbox as a group. This part of the assignment is worth 10 points.

Assignment 2 by Sunday October 28th at midnight CDT

Blogging - Assignment 3

As a part of growing your own literacies and as a way to gather and share your thoughts, it is time for you to build your professional identity on the "blog-o-sphere". Some of you already have a blog for your classroom or school, this needs to be a professional blog for writing about your own learning. IF you already have this sort of blog, that is fine, if not, you will begin by creating a blog and then begin to use your blog to share your ideas, experiences, and resources. 

Blogging involves reading, commenting, and creating (writing and more). Writing is key. This is where you can share your ideas with the world. Dr. David Moursund once said that he didn't know how he felt about something until he had written about it. Writing requires you to organize your ideas so you can express them and they can be understood. 

Step One: Create your blog (or email Gail about the blog you already have and how it fits this assignment and this course.)

UNI uses Google's Blogger as the standard because it is quick and easy, but you may use whatever blogging tool you wish. Remember this is a professional and public blog you are creating, so choose a name for your blog which is appropriate for your role as an educator and a learner. (You can use YouTube as a place to find tutorials for creating your blog. There are many good ones there.)

Step two:

• Add a tool or widget to make it easy for your classmates and others to "subscribe" to your blog.

• Write your first blog entry. Use this entry to reflect on New Literacies. Take your time to think deeply, substantiating your thoughts with evidence from the sites you have used in this module or other sources. Please be certain to link to any sources you use. Citations are also important. You may want to use Easybib ( http://www.easybib.com/ ) or Bibme (http://www.bibme.org/ ) to make this easier. Include pictures which you own or which are properly cited. (There is a section in our book in Part II, Section 8 on images which can be helpful here.)

 Step three:

Put a link to your blog in the Module Two Discussion Board.

Remember - This is a public blog... it is not a discussion group where only Gail or your colleagues in this course will be your audience. People in the public may read it. Don't write like this is a test, but instead try to write in a manner which others will find interesting.


Your grade on Assignment 3 is based upon your synthesis of the materials covered during this module and your writing in an interesting, informative, thoughtful way in your blog post. There are 25 points available for this assignment.

Assignment 3 by Sunday October 28th at midnight CDT

Additional Resources Related to this Module (not required, but interesting):

Literacies:

A YouTube Video from a TED Talk on Digital Literacies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78

Kathy Schrock's New Literacies:
http://www.schrockguide.net/literacy-in-the-digital-age.html

Another's resources and thoughts about literacies:
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/

Blogger:

YouTube Blogger Help Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BloggerHelp/videos?view=0

Google Support for Blogger:
http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=112498