Developing Literacy in MST

Tyler and Bill H. presented this morning on the topic of journaling.  One prompt  shared was,  “I wish I knew more about…”  What do you wish you knew more about in regards to content area literacy?  Why?  What will you personally do to learn more about the topic?

(Authored by Elyse Boress)

I’m trying to remember when it was I first started using the internet. It’s hard to imagine those days without the internet, but I think it was around my college days that the internet was being utilized for anything and everything.  Even though we’re in the technology revolution, some people like Tom Long discuss how all these technological advances are harmful to the literacy of our future, whereas others, like Clive Thompson, advocate that these advances are beneficial..  I understand both arguments, but still questioning what technology will do to the future of literacy in our country? In fact, what direction is technology going to take us in the long run?

In Longs article Literacy Limps Into the Kill Zone, which can be found at , he talks about the all out assault on the English language and the role technology plays in that unprovoked and dastardly attack.  He also talks about the ways dumbing down the language is not only seen as acceptable, but is tacitly encouraged as the status quo.

In a sense, I understand where Long is coming from.  In thinking about all the text messages and emails I’ve written, I can tell you that majority of them consisted of incomplete sentences, slang and symbols that would not be looked highly upon if written on paper. In fact, you might even question whether or not I know how to read or write. It’s not just me either. This is how we are functioning today.  Our fingertips type out more information than we handwrite.  Are we forgetting how to pick up a pen and paper and write? Are we getting educated by this technology?

In the article Clive Thompsons View of Literacy,   Professor Andrea Lunsford says

technology isn’t killing our ability to write. It’s reviving it-and pushing our literacy in bold new directions.

She has found that more people today are reading and writing due to this technology boom. Whether it’s instant messaging, texting, emailing or blogging, people are actually reading and writing while they are doing this. They might not think of it that way, but they are. Also, people are attracted to this type of technology over a pen and paper style of writing because they have a different audience they can address. This means that the meaning, tone and information can change to meet the needs of that audience.

Again, there are some good points here.  Yes, I agree that more and more people are reading and writing via technology but you just have to be careful about the slang and types of information they are reading and writing. Also, what about all that information that you don’t want your kids reading about?  It’s there. All online. And they’re reading it. Is it educational? That’s for you to decide, but just know that they are reading, even though it might not be the reading you were hoping they would choose.

It is clear that there are arguments on whether or not these technological advances are beneficial in reading and writing or not. Do you think we should continue pushing technology in the classrooms as much as we have been? Or should we push for more paper and pen activities?

(Authored by Bill Heinsler)

When I was in middle and high school, there were two kinds of books I encountered in my classroom: textbooks and literature/novels the language arts teachers had us work with.  The teachers used the textbooks as the only source of written information in the classroom, never looking to broaden their (or really, our) horizons.  This led to mostly boring classes, with focus only on the information that the authors of the texts included because they thought that it was important – or would help to sell their book! Now, as I am getting closer to having my own classroom and my own students, I want to break this terrible tradtion that so many of us dealt with when we were in school.

In the traditional math textbook, there might be a brief explanation about how a theory came into existence or why a branch of mathematics developed, but usually that only description lasts only a paragraph at best.  Mathematics has been in existence for millenia (thousands of years) - the symbols have changed, but the use of numbers for counting and measuring has been around for thousands of years.  In the book, Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, the author describes three reasons for the emergence of mathematics: counting sheep, measuring property, and the passage of time.  Also in the book, the author describes a 30,000 year old bone with counting marks carved into it!  While these ideas are very simple and the math was just used for counting, I think that it is very important for students to know that they are studying a discipline that was created well before their great grandparent’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents!

In an article published by the Teachers College at Columbia University (http://www.tc.columbia.edu/news/article.htm?id=2914), reading in mathematics is very justly defended:

Math, like other subjects, has history and new areas yet to be discovered. Through reading, students learn the history of how certain formulas came to be and alternate forms of math. One class learned taxi geometry that takes into account the grid street system of New York City, she said. In other forms of geometry, mathematical constraints can make a sphere look like a square.

The article goes on to discuss the importance of reading in any inquiry based classroom, where students play such a major role in constructing their knowledge and understanding.

Inquiry-orientation [inquiry based learning] suggests that knowledge is dynamic and there are more interesting ideas to come from it than what is written already.

With the abundance of excellent written material that is so easily attainable today, the possibilities for bringing in more reading material than just a textbook are nearly limitless.

Note – In doing some searching on the internet for this topic, I stumbled across an excellent resource that lists many trade books that contain great information that can be incorporated into the math classroom, complete with the topic discussed in the book as well as the grade level(s) that the topic/book are appropriate for.  It can be found at:  http://teachingtechie.typepad.com/learning/files/literature_to_math.pdf.

(authored by Bill Simons)

Can a child read at one or two years old? As crazy as it may seem, evidence points to a resounding yes. We only need to google “baby reading video” to find examples. But how young is too young. Glenn Doman, author of the popular book “How to Teach Your Baby to Read” tells us that we should start teaching our children to read when they are just infants. A month or two olds is prime time to begin delivering instruction.

Featured on the popular show 20/20, Mr. Doman showcased his technique with solid results. Children in the reading classes where in fact reading, and reading well. The three year olds were reading Dr. Suess books with fluency, while the five year olds where reading the newspaper. Doman tells us that visual acuity is not fully developed in most children until the age of two, making typical children’s books difficult to use. His technique is simple, much larger text is needed.

Doman argues that infancy is exactly the time that we should be tapping into innate reading ability. Up until about the age of three, the brain is creating new connections at an astounding rate, producing upwards to a quadrillion cell connections by age three. At about that time the early brain begins to shift focus, culling off connections which are not used or underutilized.

Many scientists today believe that the brain has critical periods for speech and language development. Research has shown that cats can be blinded by simply being kept in the dark when they are kittens. The eye does not mature like it should and those cells die off. Certain animals have been shown to have a critical period for imprinting on their mother, such as when ducks often come to follow a human as their mother.

This may also be true of children’s brains. UCLA’s Michael Phelps, a biophysicist and co-inventor of the PET scan tells us “If we teach our children early enough, it will affect the organization or ‘wiring,’ of their brains.” Phelps also notes that “Unfortunately, U.S. education does not take full advantage of this opportunity”. Psychiatrist Arnold Scheibel, former director of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute tells us that “the language centers of the cortex are not able to reach full maturity without proper stimulation”.

An area of great interest, reading is essential to the success of children in school and as adults. When consider the future of these children perhaps we should be considering much earlier interventions. 14 million people are illiterate in this country, and 63 percent of prison inmates can’t read. It obvious literacy has a great impact. Perhaps we should get to it a lot sooner! When are you going to teach your children to read?

(authored by Russina Eltoum)

When thinking about reading in the content area the only question that worries most of the teachers is how to get enough time to cover the materials that at least prepare the kids for the test, and at the same time to incorporate teaching how to read.

Curriculum standards and high stakes testing have focused our attention on the following matter: more kids need more proficiency in more subjects, and reading plays a part in every one. With several years of test scores to reflect on, it has become clear that what kids don’t get about a particular subject often has to do with what they can’t read about it.

I think the next ten years are going to see a radical shift in the ways we teach and learn. I read an interesting post last week, What’s the Value Added? In this post, I have watched a video and read about how some teachers record mini lectures in videos and send their students home to watch them in their I phones to get the basic idea or concepts, and when they come to school they practice certain skills in class. I think this is a good example to The Next- Gen Teachers and their smart use of technology

This video made me think about the nature of homework today; it is so clear that what we call homework is actually addition schoolwork, and if it’s just schoolwork done at home, then what makes it more valuable than schoolwork done at school? The issue is more complex than that pat answer and deals with what I perceive to be a common failing even of effective educators.

So what can we do to make the homework really a fruitful practice that can enhance our students’ understanding of what they have been studying? What could the teachers do to make the time they spend in class with the students more valuable and productive?

I really believe that homework should be used to reinforce content that students have already worked with, or to introduce them to new concepts they are about to work with. and I also believe that one of the possible solutions to the common teachers’ complaint about not having enough time could be shifting the activities between the classroom and home; I mean that instead of assigning more problems for the kids to practice at home, we can send them home with some reading materials, or links to certain websites with, of course, some reading activities to do like think along, think markers, or any pre, during, or post reading activities. And then when students come to class, a discussion about what they have read and how it is connected to the concepts which they have been studying in the class would be essential. Students could also practice some problems and new skills that related to the topic in class with the teacher ‘s and peers’ help, which would be more fruitful than doing that alone at home because when students collaborate, they learn a lot from each other. Students benefit for these kinds of interaction. And the teacher is also there to provide needed assistance.

I believe this practice will deepen students understanding to content and at as the same time it will help them to be better readers, it will also help students recognizing that learning time happens both in school/class, and out of school/class. This way students will actually make some of the earlier steps of the learning process at home — making work done at home even more critical for classroom success than it has been.

There’s no question this idea is disruptive to current ways of school – that’s actually the point. The point of this entry is to think about how we do it now. I’m not suggesting that the individual teacher in a larger system could easily implement it, but I’m asking people to imagine what is possible… and what would be best for kids. The only way we’re going to ever change the status quo is to imagine better ways to do it. Don’t you think so?

(authored by Brian Slocum)

When is the last time you took a standardized test that was not computer based? For most of us, it was most likely when we took the SAT during our junior or senior year in high school. Tests required for post-graduate studies, such as the GRE (Graduate Requirements Examination), MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) are all taken on a computer. Are standardized tests the only ones that that should be considered for computer based assessment? Can we find ways to integrate computer based testing into courses that are just normal parts of a high school or college curriculum? In some cases, we already have. We have seen a variety of tools such as Course Compass and MyMathLab which enable students to take online quizzes. Having increased access to computers nowadays allows us to use them in almost any environment. When considering computer based testing, the questions we must investigate are:
1) Why the shift from a paper and pencil based test to a computer based test?
2) Is there a significant difference between the results when someone takes a paper and pencil based test or a computer based test?
3) Are current paper and pencil based tests (such as the SAT) eventually going to be given on the computer?

There are numerous reasons for moving from a paper and pencil based test to a computer based test. One of the major benefits is that the software can automatically score the exam as it is being taken and then provide the students with their immediate results as opposed to a turn-around of several weeks. On standardized tests, this also alleviates the need to wait for the allotted time to pass before everyone can continue on to the next section. Once a student is completed with a section and feels that they have answered every question to the best of their ability, they are simply a click of the mouse away from continuing on to their next section.

Several studies have shown that there is little to no difference when comparing exam scores that test the same material, some of which are taken with a paper and pencil and others at a computer. In analyzing test results from an accounting course, Anakwe (2008) states

The study reveals that in three different accounting courses, there were no differences in student test scores between the online tests and the in-class tests. The study also revealed no correlation between a student’s gender or class and the student’s test performance.

Another study was conducted in which students actually took the SAT at a computer. They were given scrap paper and pencils but all answers were recorded one question at a time on the computer. Tools such as an on-screen calculator were provided. Interviewing the director of guidance for grades 6-12 in the district where this SAT was taken, an article from eSchool News (2001) states

Of the students who’ve taken this so far, I think 75 [percent] or 80 percent have said they prefer this to a paper and-pencil test.

This study was conducted in 2001, and 8 years later students are still taking the SAT at a desk with paper and pencil. Perhaps the College Board feels that the format of the test is fine in its current form and is in no rush to change, but it is something that must be considered as new generations grow up very familiar and comfortable with using a computer. Of course there are still disadvantages in this case. The SAT requires enough computers for the hundreds of students that take the test at one time at each location. This would require some heavy thought as to possibly restructuring the entire exam. Perhaps each test could be unique and offered more frequently so fewer students would take the exam at once, similar to the GRE. However, these should be viewed as modifications to be made that would improve the quality of the test, not disadvantages preventing us from adopting a new format. After all, the aforementioned study stated that the majority of students involved preferred the computer based test. If students are the ones taking the exam, shouldn’t we be listening to their thoughts on the matter?

References

Anakwe, B. (2008). Comparison of Student Performance in Paper-Based Versus Computer-Based Testing. Journal of Education for Business, 84(1), 13-17. Retrieved October 8, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1580346501).

Schools try giving SAT via computer. (2001). eSchool News. Retrieved October 7, 2009 from http://www.softwaresecure.com/pdf/SATsOnComputer_020501_.pdf

(authored by Jeff Doell)

Some time ago I came across a video meant extol the virtues of electronic communication, compared to the rigidly linear and soon to be antiquated traditional print media of yesteryear. I tried to find the video on the internet so I could link to it. I entered every search term I could think of and finding half a dozen sites discussing web thinking, none of which I deemed worthy of a link, gradually concluding that the internet was not a web of meaningful connections, rather a tangle mixing the interesting and important with the meaningless and trivial.

Searching for a needle in a haystack with the likes of Google, and its web –crawling –google –bots and complex algorithms, constantly in flux to outwit clever spammers. (see How Google Works) No knock on Google, but getting their attention and saying something insightful are two totally different things. The ability to create a set of instructions that will break down and classify text without understanding it is quite a trick, but the difficulties of applying such a strict protocol when dealing with complex ideas and subtler themes has become apparent as the company has ventured into the domain of traditional librarians with Google Books Library Project. Harvard librarian Robert Darton has written that Google’s efforts “to digitize collections and sell the product in ways that fail to guarantee wide access … would turn the Internet into an instrument for privatizing knowledge that belongs in the public sphere,” while others complain the millions of electronic volumes are poorly organized: “Google has misdated hundreds of books and scattered many multivolume works so arbitrarily that they’re hard to piece together even with the computer’s help.” (see Google Books and the Judge, The New Yorker Book Bench, Sept. 18, 2009)

Such a democratic forum might not be the appropriate method to access high quality research and literature carefully produced by professionals who cannot be expected to labor without just compensation. (see The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen. But surely the internet is useful, begging just what kind of content is best suited for internet access? Reading through the posts on our course website, my own comments and this post included, I get to feeling how I imagine would a teacher grading student essays, which seems strangely at odds with fast pace typical of electronic communication, usually scanned and actively navigated as opposed to dutifully followed like traditional prose. While considering the merits of brevity in internet postings, I penned the following:

To speak in terms of instantly
recognizable units

Rumination will only
conceal its essence

The kind of austerity you’d
expect from a math teacher

Raising dystopic concerns
of Orwellian newspeak

Doesn’t a little explanation
prevent misunderstanding?

Our complex web of connectivity deals best with short pithy statements that are well tagged and available for hyperlink. It is less important for the creators of internet content to carefully connect ideas because connections are made by the navigating user. Despite Foucault’s observation that books are like nodes in a vast network, they are also entities unto themselves and arranged in an intentional fashion deserving of a certain preservation that the major thoroughfares of electronic communication cannot provide. Democracy, coincidence, dilatants, and untapped talent may be able to compete with those who have made a career of letters, but electronic communication must proceed in a way that insures the opportunity for communication at length.

(Authored by Chelsea Griswold)

Last month, Berninger conducted a study that compared students’ ability to write with pen and paper or using a keyboard and computer. Berninger studied 2^nd, 4^th, and 6^th graders with and without writing disabilities as they wrote the alphabet, sentences, and essays.

The study showed that while keyboarding was a more effective method of writing the alphabet, older students wrote more complete sentences and longer essays by hand. Furthermore, students wrote their essays faster when they wrote with pen. This trend of more rapid and lengthier composition with pen was also found with second graders.

It is important to recognize that longer and more quickly composed essays do not necessarily mean better quality essays. Fisch identifies this issue, as well as student ease with computers, as possible flaws in Berninger’s study. He suggests that it is possible that students do not have as much experience with keyboarding  and word processessing programs as they do with writing by pen. This inexperience would greatly impact the length of time it took for students to write an essay. Also, if a student is focused on finding the letters he or she needs on a keyboard, that student may be less likely to concentrate on effectively communicating their thoughts; thus reducing quality or length of their essay.

Anne Smith’s students (and others) weighed in on Berninger’s study as well. Their reviews and comments were mixed.  Clearly, writing by hand and by keyboard have different advantages. This study pointed out specific advantages for writing by pen, however the comments noted that writing using the computer allows for efficient editing, and greater clarity for writers with poor handwriting.

Additionally, the advantage of using a keyboard is being able to quickly communicate with others around the world. As Mary’s post states

“Literacy in the classroom will come in the form of many web 2.0 tools”

and so our students need to be able to communicate effectively using the keyboard to be literate and take advantage of web 2.0 tools. So, despite advantages of hand written communication, all students must be able to write using a keyboard as well as using pen.

This research and blogs raise some interesting questions for educators to consider. Are we impeding literacy, specifically writing skills, among our students by asking them to use a computer to communicate their thoughts? If so, are other technologies hampering students’ literacy, especially in technology-heavy courses such as math and science? Is it more important for students to be able to communicate using the keyboard as opposed to pen and paper? Should typing be a skill that receives greater emphasis than hand writing in our schools? How do we help students become more effective writers when using computers?

(post authored by Mary Vosburg)

Literacy is constantly changing.  Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and photo streams point the way to the future of communication.  What was once spoken in class is now written down in the digital world.  However, some people fear that new technology will seduce kids away from books.  But do online discussions promote literacy?

In the article “Blogging is History: Taking Classroom Discussions Online,” the story of an AP American history teacher was told.  In 2006, Eric Langhorst had his students read Guerrilla Season, by Pat Hughes.  Instead of solely discussing this book in class, he setup an online blog book group.  His 300+ students could all discuss this book 24/7.  Not only were his students allowed in blog, but also parents of the students.  Each week, Langhorst posted several discussion questions. Students were encouraged to make their own posts along with commenting on other student’s posts.  This online discussion allowed students to openly express their thoughts and opinions without the structure and time restrictions of the classroom.  Students were reading the thoughts of other students instead of listening to them.   The students gained a good understanding of the book through reading and responding to other people’s comments.

Online discussion allows students to interact with classmates outside class. There is no set time or fixed space for students in an online discussion. Students can log on at any time and from any Internet-enabled computer.  A successful online discussion has the same effect of group or in-class discussion.  The conversation should build on the students’ perspectives to gain a deeper understanding of the materials.

Clarence Fisher, a Canadian teacher, produced an informative video/podcast (http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=50) that is worth viewing.  It documents where literacy has been and where it is going.  Literacy in the classroom will come in the form of many web 2.0 tools (wikis, blogs, digital photos, etc.). He also believes we need to teach students about options they have for producing content. How do they learn to choose an effective medium in the midst of so many possibilities?

Online classroom discussions allow every student to participate in the class without being forced to come up with an immediate response.  Some students need time to think before responding.  Online discussions allow those students more time to think.  Moreover, online discussions allow students to participate in classroom discussion even on days that they do not have that class.  Since discussions are text-based, students can easily save entire conversations and access them at a later time.  Many times when I have been in class a thought about a particular conversation does not come to me until hours later.  This form of communication allows those thoughts to be expressed and discussed.

There are a couple questions that come to mind when thinking about adding online class discussions to my class.  Do all of my students have access to the internet?  If not, what should I do then? How can I make sure that students are doing background readings? These questions are things teachers need to consider before adding online class discussions.  I believe it is the future of the classroom to go online for certain sections of the class.  More and more information is being found on the web instead in hard copy articles.  Giving students the ability to express their opinions on certain topics online at home it the future of classrooms.  After all, there is no place like home to do some school work.