Text Innovation

I have created a text innovation using the picture book Who’s that knocking? By Alison Lester which would be suitable for stage 1. The book encourages readers to predict what the silhouette at the door is using descriptive language. In the book a shadow described as a slithering, slimy and mean boa constrictor is in fact Barnaby the cleaner with a vacuum cleaner with the hose wrapped around his head. The first slide continues with focus on character and shows the shadow of a man holding an object and there is something else which is not easily identified. Is it another person? When the door opens he is standing opposite a kangaroo! The following slides focus on setting. By changing the setting students could discuss how that might change other things in the story and how when reading a new story for the first time, identifying the setting might help develop vocabulary and predicting. The setting also helps the reader make text to world connections. Students should be familiar with the silhouette of the Sydney Opera House. The second image is of London with the London eye in the background. This leads to the achievement of outcome RS1.7.

References
Lester, A. (1993) Who’s that knocking? Camberwell: Penguin Group
Images retrieved 15/10/2011 from www.Flicker.com

My avatar

I am trying to embed my avatar in the About Me section of my blog but I can't get it to work. It says the embed code is too long. Anyone got any other ideas?

Happily Blogging

Blog Dogs - This is definitely a blog I would model to a stage 2 class.  It is a  blog of a class in Sydney.  The layout is excellent with a nice balance between images and text.  The tabs are also useful in organising blog content e.g there are separate tabs for homework so thus eliminating "I couldn't remember what we had to do for homework" excuse.  The rules of blogging have been explicitly stated with a real focus on cyber safety and being critically literate and are supported with lots of examples to scaffold students. This is reinforced using a visual text written by a parent.  There are links to applications on the homepage that can be used to enhance students' individual blogs.     I also like the embedded youtube video for parents explaining the concept of blogging rather than assuming knowledge.  This helps students to explain the concepts of blogging to parents who are digital immigrants.

Mr. Salsich's class blog - this blog follows third grade students in a school in Connecticut, U.S.A.  This blog uses alot of applications that I have recently discovered e.g. Voicethread.  On the home page students record facts about ospreys.  They have used the application to improve the fluency of their reading.  The questions following the thread ask for feedback on the reading fluency and any interesting facts about the osprey they learned. Looking at the comments section parents leave comments initially about how much they enjoyed hearing their child read.  In the reply comments they are also reminded to answer the other questions.  This is definitely an application that stage 2 students could use quite effectively. 

The blog also uses a frog named Juan Pablo as a kind of blog mascot.  While the students are on vacation the frog looks for suggestions for books from his followers. This is a good idea to help keep the blog active as well help with teacher planning.  A tool like Blabberize has been used to make the frog look as if he is speaking.  It is well organised into sections like blog guidelines and how to comment.  It also has a section on learning links which are links to websites organised by subject. 

Copyright

Can I copy material from the internet for research?
If it is for research or study and the copying is fair yes but you should check the website to see if the material to be printed and / or downloaded is subject to any conditions by the copyright owner. 

What constitutes research and fair use?
Research constitutes the collecting of information about a particular subject usually in the area of study.

Fair use:
The Copyright Act regards your use as fair provided: it does not affect the "legitimate interests" of the copyright owner, copying is not made for financial gain or profit and no conflict exists with normal use of the material.

Can students (university or school) use music in videos that they make?Yes, government primary and secondary schools are covered by licences from copyright owner organisations such as  AMCOS/ARIA Schools Recording Licence and  APRA Schools Performing Licence and universities have a blanket licence agreement to use music in videos provided there are made for educational purposes.

Retrieved 15/10/2011 from www.apra-amcos.com.au/MusicConsumers/MusicinBusiness/Universities.aspx 

    http://www.copyright.org.au/find-an-answer/ Education: copyright basics

3 useful activities from Happily Blogging @ Belmore South article

Animated Vokis (pronounced voke-ee) are speaking avatars.  Students at Belmore South use this application to create characters for a game.  This could be useful tool in creative arts and english e.g a reader's theatre or playbuilding where students could record their scripts.  The use of avatars addresses privacy concerns some parents may have in using their children's images online.

Voices of the World wiki

This is a global blog which sets tasks to be completed for each month.  According to the founder Sharon Turner the aim of the project is to connect children globally with their peers "through meaningful and engaging projects".  Tasks include using internet applications such as vokis (see above), using Voice thread and blabberize.  This wiki is very relevant for HSIE topics eg customs and cultures as well as talking and listening skills in english
Retrieved 15/10/2011 from http://votw.wikispaces.com/

Connecting with an another school - I loved the idea of Kim's class linking up schools in Scotland and England.  The Scottish school are learning about Australian history and the class shares their historical knowledge via a wiki.  They share their performance of Macbeth with schools in England as well as sharing questions for a project that a school in Geelong is undertaking.  Because of my Irish background I would love to collaborate with a school in Ireland. Imagine collaborating on a topic like seasons.   When it is our summer it is winter in the northern hemisphere.

Pericles, K. (2008). Happily blogging @ Belmore South. SCAN, 27(2), 4-6 http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/

Definition of the term ‘new literacies'

New literacies can be defined as a set of skills which broaden traditional literacy skills of reading and writing to be literate in the online world.  These skills include digitial literacy skills to navigate and use digital tools eg using search engines to locate information.  This information needs to be evaluated for its reliability and validity thus requiring critical literacy skills. Leu (2010) shows an example of a website with information on Martin Luther King.   When you scroll down and see who hosts this site (a white nationalist organisation) only then do you understand what are the underlying values of the site and who owns and benefits from having this content online.   In addition trans literacy skills are important allowing users to transition between different modes to synthesise this information.  Finally multiliteracy skills are necessary skills to communicate information in multiple modes.

With the advent of web2.0 tools where the focus of using the internet has gone from showing to sharing information and collaboration (Callow, 2008, p.13) the need for new literacy skills has never been more important.  Knobel & Lankshear, (2006, p.81) see new literacies in practices like blogging, podcasting and social networking which involve “distributed participation and collaboration”.

Callow, J. (2008). New literacies, New York & Web 2.0: a little knowledge is a helpful thing! SCAN, 27(4), 13-16

Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2006). Discussing New Literacies. Language Arts, 84(1), 78

Leu, D. L. (2010) New literacies, inquiry, equity: teachers leaders for a new educational era.   Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/davygamm/leu-keynotenli2010

Voice Thread

Voicethread

Voicethread is a tool which allows you to add commentary to images instead of static text. It also has a pen feature to draw the viewer's attention to a certain part of the image.   The program allows educators to create their own community of users.  Applications for this tool might include students working together on a book review.  In maths, students could explain for example different strategies for adding two two digit numbers.  In visual arts it could be used in an art appreciation lesson on a particular artist. For those students who lack confidence presenting in person to their peers they may find this tool valuable delivering their presentation online.  It would allow esl learners to listen to stretches of language.  It can be used as an assessment tool by creating an document and invite people to comment in a collaborative voice thread.

The concerns I have is the workload for the teacher in moderating this community.  The authors encourage collaboration with other educators to become part of a global learning community. This operates like facebook where other users can be invited to join your community. Privacy issues may well be a concern for teachers and parents.   I would definitely trial this tool but restrict its usage initally for explaining difficult concepts on a class blog.

Tree Octopus video

I remember once being told never believe everything you read in the newspaper.  This was in an era of paper and type rather than screen and internet but even so it was a good first step in becoming critically literate.  This video surprised me for a number of reasons:  Firstly, 49 out of 50 7^th graders believed the content of this website and indicated that it would be a reliable resource for a project they were undertaking.  Secondly there is a lack of guidance and investment by authorities and government in the US in assisting teachers  to develop their students as critical internet readers. Thirdly given that a teacher’s accountablilty is defined by student outcomes in traditional paper and pencil tests this is less of a priority for teachers .  “If it’s not on the test we are not going to worry about teaching it”.  McDougall’s (2007, p.135) interviews of teachers in Queensland also supports this  view that learning of conventional literacy is given a higher priority while acknowledging the importance of literacies associated with ‘technologies’.

This video raises important issues for teachers, students and even parents.  Our students are digital natives and as such come to school with the skills to surf the internet and use digital tools.  They need to learn skill sets to become more discerning and learn not to take everything at face value they read online.  The advantage we have as teachers is more life experiences and “understand that any sharing of information needs to be approached with a critical eye (Callow, 2008, p.14).  But this is not enough as I realise after watching this video I hold some misconceptions of what an authentic website is i.e those ending in .org or .edu.    It needs to be backed up with ongoing professional development.

• Callow, J. (2008). New literacies, New York & Web 2.0: a little knowledge is a helpful thing! SCAN, 27(4), 13-16
• McDougall, J. (2007). Engaging the visual generation : some Queensland teachers come to terms with changing literacies. Screen Education(46), 130-137
• Techknowledge - Digital Literacies .http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid6415358001?bclid=6310839001&bctid=1457684597