Pedagogy Plugged In

If you are among my fellow educators that grew up without computers, know you are in good company. But , those kiddos sitting in front of you did. They have never known life without technology! Inevitably, our two worlds have collided and it is up to us to turn those ‘digital natives’ into Internet savvy learners. For those of you feeling a bit out of your comfort zone, here is a guide to help you do just that. Let’s start with reciprocal teaching first , then build from there. Focus on the four reciprocal teaching strategies without any technology:             Predicting             Questioning             Clarifying             & summarizing Begin with direct instruction, guided demonstrations and think-alouds. Lots of model...

For children, there is no higher power than the internet. It is the end all be all for all of their needs. Gone are the days of going to the library and flipping open a book and you can forget about Grandpa and his sage advice. You yourself are reading this article which is only available online. Playing a game, getting food, listening to music, ordering paper towels; all done with the internet. Unfortunately, as Peter Parker learned from Uncle Ben, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Students are so highly dependent on the internet but they often do not have the skills to be able to make the most out of their experiences. As we all know from browsing social media, there is a lot of garbage unreliable information on the internet that readers need to know how to sift through in order to reap the benefits of its almighty power. As a teacher, you are probably asking yourself, “Where do I even begin?” My hope is by the end of this article you can walk away havi...

After all of this information on New Literacies and new literacies, you may be asking yourself, “...But how! How am I supposed to teach something else !” Well, times are changing. As educators, it is our job to keep up with that, and prepare our students for the world ahead of them. Here are some strategies that may make things a bit easier and help you when teaching new literacies: Look at everything with a Lens to the Future. When we are looking at education and resources with a “lens to the future” we are thinking about what is ahead for our students. When we went to school, things were much different. We were preparing ourselves for jobs that did not necessarily require technology. Now, our students are entering a world filled with technology. It is our job to prepare them for what is ahead- which is looking with a “lens to the future”. The world is changing quicker than you can say ‘new literacies’ and it is essential to be giving students opportunities that they wil...

New Literacies versus new literacies, what is the difference you ask? No, it isn’t as simple as a capitalization mistake. Lowercase new literacies are ways to read specific technologies such as text messaging or social media outlets. New Literacies takes place over many lowercase platforms and looks for commonalities between them (Leu, et al 2014). Lowercase new literacies are ever changing. As soon as we learn them, more are appearing. Facebook is an example of a new literacy, and just look at the history of the website. Facebook has grown from one posting on a friend’s wall and not being able to comment back and forth to the massive social media outlet it is today. Friends can post videos, comment to one another, have group messages, and do many other activities on the website. Users must adapt to the changes and learn how to use the site. Twitter is another example of an evolving new literacy. When the app first came out, users could post a short 140 character message. No...

A student comes over to my table with a look of exasperation on her face. “What’s up Haley? Do you have a question?” I inquire over the top of another student’s chromebook. Haley looks flustered as she splutters, “I can’t find any information about Christopher Columbus!” What I want to say back is this- “ Really? You can’t find ANYTHING about one of the most famous (although controversial) explorers in history? With the world at your fingertips? Back in my day we had a long metal drawer in the library and…” But I hold my tongue (and my frustrations) as I remember that Haley is only 8, and here I am asking her to harness one of the most influential and powerful technological tools of our time. It’s kind of a tall order. Research has shown that although navigating the online world isn’t easy, it is a necessary part of students’ learning (Leu et. al 2014). The “New Literacies” intertwined within the internet are also intertwined with students’ future. So even tho...