Week 3 Assignment 2 - New Literacies Definition and Components

Which ideas from the PPT reflect what the ELA teachers you interviewed are currently doing to integrate technology with their literacy instruction?

The ELA teacher I interviewed provides her students with many opportunities to retrieve, process and exchange information. She uses various programs to engage her students in meaningful learning activities. Her students learn to read, write and communicate appropriately while also exchanging information using the internet.

How can you help change their instructional practices to include the use of technology and the Internet in their literacy and content-area curriculum?

The teacher I interviewed does a great job teaching her students using various programs, however her students are not given the freedom to explore and research on their own. I would suggest that she guides her students in learning how to locate information using the internet and then evaluate the internet sources they used. She should also focus on more collaborative learning, as students gain so much from the interaction. At this point, her lessons don’t include much group work.

What professional development and/or resources will they need in order to make these changes?

Being that her teaching does take place in an online classroom her students all have computers and internet access. She has the resources available, however is missing the knowledge and understanding of how to effectively make use of the many technological tools available. It would be advisable that she attends professional development workshops to learn of the new and improved ways in which technology and the internet can be used in the classroom to benefit student learning.

What ideas do you have for grouping students so they will have equal access to technology in the classroom?

Group work should be closely monitored to ensure equal opportunity for all students. Perhaps students should be given a rubric to self-assess their input in the project and use of technology in caring out their job. They should also each be made responsible for a specific part in the assignment. This way the task doesn’t fall on just one student.