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.
- 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.
They need to create their own blog and get familiar with the main function of the tool.
- 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.
Everyone is encouraged to take part in the writing and discussion.
- 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.
I agree especially on your notion of how important blogging can be used as a New literacy. The enhancement blogging brings to social interaction and providing a channel for people to express themselves to an audience of their peers is a great use of blogs.
回复删除I loved how you ended your reflection by saying, "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." If we are getting prepared now, we will feel more comfortable using it as teachers for our students in the classroom.
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