Week 9

My Reflection of the Research Paper

This research paper aims at investigating the influence of blogging tool on college students’ reading level and learning motivation. According to U.S. Department of Education, students’ reading scores are getting lower as well as their comprehension abilities. A bunch of studies show that this phenomenon results in students’ short attention span and reduced engagement due to their habitual multitasking behavior. Students are spending too much time on other media such as TV, music, computer, video games and social networking tools. The author pointed out that much research focused on the negative effect of dynamic media, but not exam whether readers prefer interacting with digital texts.

In the research, the author also mentioned an important concept----New Literacy. It is defined as literacy-related skills needed in an interactive multimedia environment, such as retrieving and evaluating information, comprehending information, and producing and publishing information through online technologies. Blog is one of the forms of new literacy. Blogging enhances social interaction, providing a channel to build a sense of community, to strengthen communication skills, and to write for real audiences. In addition, it allows students and teachers to have classes with computers which is more flexible. The research applied both quantitative and qualitative methods to prove that blogging can somewhat increase students’ ability of reading comprehension and learning motivation, but better combined with our traditional methods of teaching.

It is wise to integrate technology into our daily traditional learning. Training students with new literacy skills is becoming an urgent issue because we need technology almost everywhere in our life. Get students prepared will add their self-confidence and motivation.

Initial draft for Final Keystone Unit Implementation and Evaluation

 

1.     Subject:  Reflect on Your Favorite Fairytale with Blog

2.  Grade level: Grade 4

3.   Standards addressed:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

      4.  Intended results of the proposed technology integration:

      Students are required to choose one of their favorite fairytales and read it again deeply with their own understanding. In addition, students should learn to analyze both the plots and characters in the story and type it out on their blogs. Students will share their reflections with classmates and comment on each other’s work.

5. Support and format of training needed for the effective implementation of the selected technology in their classrooms.

     Students must be equipped with a computer connected to the Internet.
     They need to create their own blog and get familiar with the main function of the tool.

6.  Requirements (computer lab or classroom computers)

     Computer lab is better for all students to access to their blogs.
     Everyone is encouraged to take part in the writing and discussion.

7. Evaluation plan (what is your plan to make sure that your training meets the goals, needs, and objectives)

     Every student needs to create a blog for the course.

     They should finish reading at least one fairytale and reflect on it through both the main plots and analyze at least two characters.

     Reflections should be posted on students’ blog and shared with each other.

     Each student should make comments on at least three of their classmates.

Digital Storytelling Video

Here is the link of my storytelling video.

The Old Man and Tree



It is adapted from a Chinese fable.
The story is short but meaninful.
Hope you enjoy it ^^

Week 8

The Influence of Classroom Blogging on Elementary Student Writing

Blogs is a great tool in teaching writing in classrooms. We are able to experience the developing and changing for each day. The findings of this research article indicate that student bloggers became mindful and connected to the audiences. Both teachers and students can interact with each other through the internet. Everyone can take part in the class discussion. As we are using bloggers in our language arts course, I benefit a lot from it.

Cell Phones in the Classroom: Are we Dialing up Disaster?

The use of cell phone enabled the students to become active participants in their learning by using the internet to search for background information. The integration of cell phones into the classroom need not be perilous. It is true that schools will need to overcome challenges associated with using these devices. But I think students need to be self-conscious when having the opportunity of using cell phones in the classroom.

New Media, New Literacies and the Adolescent Learner

This article is a research study about the relationship between new digital media and adolescents’ writing while using new media. This article examines eight themes that emerged during the study. Immersing students in a digital environment that serves as a model for their own digital performances which fully engages the student multimodally across the language arts.

Week 7

Assignemnt #1

The first article talks about the multimodal education. In the 21^st century, the definition of literacy has expanded to refer to a flexible, sustainable use and production of traditional texts and new communication technologies using language, print and multimedia. In today’s classroom, the format of text books are beyond print, it is more likely to include multiple modes of print, visual image, audio, gesture and so on. It’s very important for teachers and students to interact with the characters and plots in the books. In addition, books are no longer the only way of learning, we also apply iPads, laptops and smart boards into the process of studying.

        The second article discusses about the Second Life in which educators hope to activate learners’ motivation by satisfying themselves. It has been pointed out that there are several problems existed in online learning nowadays such as using the Blackboard. Both low completion rate and low satisfaction of students are problems unsolved by present online study. Exploring the possibilities of engaging and improving online learners’ motivation is the reason of Second Life. Instructors will create another authentic world in which learners can explore and solve problems in. Students can also negotiate and collaborate with each other to accomplish tasks. Instructor aim to build a strong sense of community to connect online learners

        But there are also hidden problems of the Second Life. First, learners should upgrade their equipment to ensure the fluency of class. Second, there isn’t any privacy of class if teachers don’t have the authority to lock the campus. Third, the text message feature in SL might be difficult for people to follow. Last but not least, and it is my concern about the SL. Students might behave very well in Second Life and achieving a lot in it. But he is actually not that good in the real life, he would probably choose to escape the reality deliberately. So teachers should be careful guiding students when they are using the Second Life.

Assignment #2

I create a role of vampire in the Second Life.

In learning language, Second Life is a great tool for both teachers and students. We can change different contexts in it and create various topics in the process of study. In class, students are able to join different activities organized by instructors. Teachers should prepare images, videos and audios to students to assist learning before class. After class, students are given tasks to accomplish in their free time. They can arrange their own time when using the Second Life, and they can explore more about things interest them most.





My Book

        I created the book called “I and Snow White” is for children whose first language is not English, and it is done with UDL Book Builder. I talked about my idea with a teacher who teaches English as a second language in China. He suggested that there must be something interests the kids. So I came up with the idea of bringing Snow white to the contemporary world because almost every child is interested in fairy tale and they must be glad to be with characters from it. Then I just insert new words into the story and children will learn when reading the story. I chose a couple of words related to vehicles, of course you can replace with other words in teaching. Children would be glad to see the happy ending!

The link of my book is:
http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=73291&page=1

How you enjoy it.

Week 6

Assignment #1:

Here is the article I would like to share with you:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tsc0ucnctvdmm1w/Technology.pdf?m

It is state in the article that adolesent literacy in the US is in crisis nowadays. And this problem is what we are probably going to meet in the future when we become a teacher. To increase the efficiency of ELA learning, we are suggest to integrate technology into the classroom. Technology can increase students' interest of learning and also improve their learning motivation. The national Council of Teachers of English and the international Reading Association's Standards for the ELA states that secondary students should be able to conduct research using a variety of technological and information resources. So teachers should be equipped with the knowledge of applying technology into daily teaching.



Assignment #2:

With the rapid development of the information and communication technologies, our teaching method becomes various. Teachers should be prepared to integrate ICTs into the classroom which can help students to improve their new literacy skills. The first research paper argues that new literacy depends on the technological skills, cognitive skills, and literacy skills. Increase teacher and student access to technology is just the first step toward the ideal learning environment. In addition, schools should provide professional development opportunities to enhance teachers’ ICTs integration skills.

The second article refers to the social networking site which is now popular among young people, for example: Facebook, Twitter, Path and etc….Users can share docs, images, videos with each other through these websites. Education can also be applied within this kind of form, just like Edmodo we used a few days ago. Teachers are able to create classroom online to reach all the students. Edmodo makes it easier for teachers to make plans, give assignments, set quiz, and share resources.

Assignment #3:
   

    Edmodo is a social web similar to facebook, but it is more education-oriented. Edmodo can be well applied to ELA teaching. Teachers are able to set plans, enhance library, create groups, give out reading assignments, collect students’ reflection and create quiz for students for assessment. Everyone has the opportunity to take part in class. Teachers are also able to create badges to awars students who make progress and motivate them. It is really a good tool for both teacher and students to share their thoughts and discuss together online. However, it is a great tool for ELA teaching.

    Planner: Teachers can create any task or event in their schedule and send it to students, groups or teachers if they would like to.
    Badge: Teachers can create badges to award students who make progress. All you need to do is to set a title and description for the badge and upload an image for it.
    Assignment: Type in the title and description of the given assignments and choose a due date. Before you post it, you can also attach a file with it and choose a group to send to.
    Quiz: To create a quiz, you have five options to select: multiple choice, True/Flase, Short Answer, Fill in the blank and Matching. Add any questions you would like to give in the test. You are also required to set the time limit of the quiz.
    Library: Library is something more likely to be a resouce pool that is enriched by yourself. Upload documents from your computer or link something from google are both good choices.