Week 7 - Second Life Adventures

1. Readings

Article #1 - Using the ADDIE Model to Design Second Life Activities for Online Learners
This article discusses the reasons that Second Life (SL) should and could be implemented into online learning environments as well as discusses potential challenges. SL provides a real life like environment where users can experience real life events but also environments and experiences outside our normal realm as well. Organizations depict real world place and events for users to explore who might not be able to otherwise be a part of these experiences. In terms of online learning environments, SL provides for the social presence that is otherwise missing compared to a face-to-face classroom. SL can help support relationships between students and the instructor as well as between students themselves that is often difficult to naturally cultivate through simply using blackboard. Another benefit to implementing SL is the opportunity to open up the learning environment beyond that one course and allowing for collaboration between different sections of the same course and other professionals. SL also provides for depth of learning through access to multiple forms of information such as web sites, pictures, videos, etc. SL provides for more than one way to communicate (text and verbal) and provides an authentic learning environment to explore and solve real world problems. Some challenges of using SL are the hardware requirements, the inability to enter SL from schools/organizations, the fact that it is open so anyone can enter a group meeting and become a distraction, that it is most beneficial to small group settings, and that the text communication can become difficult to follow during conversations. The authors also discussed how they implemented the ADDIE instructional design model to incorporate SL into an online course where the instructor analyzed the need and potential use of SL in the course, designed learning activities and methods to organize and present content. The instructor then developed the content and delivered the materials needed for the course and then began the implementation. This was followed by an evaluation where students' interactions, feedback, and questions about the assignments were all collected and analyzed. 

Article #2 - Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education: The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms
The focus of this article was to describe how multimodal education theories and practices can exist in the classroom despite the constraints teachers often feel from standardized testing.  The authors basically discuss how linear text is no longer the main focus or main resource for meaning in books. They specifically focused on children's books that they analyzed and categorized to then choose from to use in a study. The authors explained that children have always been multimodal in the way that they interact with others and express themselves (drawing, writing, drama, etc.). In the digital world we live in now, books have become multimodal as well. The authors mention that possibly without consciously doing so, authors of children's books are creating multimodal books by changes in font, size of the fonts, font colors, and nonlinear presentations of writing. These all provide for multimodal interactions between students and the text. Multimodal instruction in the classroom involves how the teacher models, explains, and scaffolds learning. The three teachers in the research study chose books from the categorized list and developed lessons that incorporated the multimodal texts and promoted the students to think the same way when doing their work. The authors did observe that 3 new roles had been created for teachers which include resource manager, coconstructor of knowledge, and as design consultant. The authors finish by talking about how the communication world is constantly developing so why should literacy instruction as well?



2. Second Life

My Second Life Exploration...

Ways to incorporate Second Life into ELA instruction...

I discussed with an ELA teacher what Second Life was and we brainstormed how to incorporate it into classroom instruction.

• A very easy way to is to simply allow students to explore a world and then write a story about their journey. They could include setting, characters, and the plot of their experience.
• Another way is using the chat function to promote language in conversation.
• I also read that students can watch plays on Second Life which is a great way to study plays and script writing instead of traditional ways of studying from books.

UDL Bookbuilder - South

Here is my book called South. It is a picture book illustrated by Patrick McDonnell and written by yours truly! At our school the academic achievement levels can vary greatly between students within the same literacy group and often if can be difficult to find a single book that matches each reader's level. Using picture books with the UDL Bookbuilder site is a great way to differentiate these books by creating your own story and inserting the vocabulary you are trying to teach your students. For most of this book I worked on teaching vocab through the use of context reading and the use of the images. I also incorporated questions regarding analyzing and understanding emotions of the characters which is often difficult for our students who are high functioning autism (HFA). 

*One note was that for some strange reason the site was not allowing me to add any text for the characters. I know when I was testing it out earlier in the semester it worked for me, so I'm assuming it is a temporary glitch.

**If you read through the story please let me know if there are any mistakes so I can correct them before using the book with students. 


Thanks and Enjoy!

Week 6 Technology and Adolescence

1.  Enhancing adolescent literacy achievement through integration of technology in the classroom.  By: Betty J. Sternberg, Karen A. Kaplan, and Jennifer E. Borck.

I chose this article because although the authors are noticing the struggles of adolescent readers and the challenges stemming from these struggles and focus on implementing interventions to support them, but they are also focusing on earlier interventions and working with prekindergarten students to third graders in a proactive method. Their goal is to use the empirical research they collect to inform future practices in seven different areas: state-offered virtual courses and delivery systems, communication tools, artificial intelligence, word processors, new literacies practices, professional development, and technology for parents. I was particularly interested in the use of articificial intelligence and how they suggested its use in providing individual and independent feedback on students' writing ccan occur multiple times in one class period which would not be possible by actual teachers.

I would recommend all of you to read it because the article gives great examples of how online learning programs can be successful for many students who are struggling in traditional learning environments or for students who aren't challenged and want more variety. However, it also takes a step back and questions how exactly online learning programs affects different aspects of learning and what exactly is making them successful rather than simply promoting their use.

2.1 The first article discussed a lot about social networking sites for schools like Edmodo and Blackboard, both of which I feel pretty familiar with, explaining their potential use of extending the learning outside of the classroom walls and a typical school day for a deeper more involved learning experience. It also discusses the very visible split in attitudes concerning technology use in the classroom with the pro arguments stating all of the potential benefits technology offers to our students and their success in the very global environment they will be a part of. The other side states that that these technologies are a distraction to students' learning and have a negative influence on students ability to communicate and write properly. I personally don't think that it is one or the other, I think both are possible and it all depends on the way technology is integrated into learning and the classroom. Something this article discussed that I wasn't really aware of, but am now interested in, is the initiative NYC Dept. of Education has taken to encourage schools and teachers to "adopt social networking sites to support and enrich learning opportunities..." It is the support teachers need who are trying to make a shift in technology integration in schools where the attitude towards learning environments is more traditional. It can be utilized to create a community of support for teachers across different subjects, teaching styles, and populations of students to find the best way to integrate technology into individual classrooms.

The second article discussing research into more general ICT skills and integration, how it's currently being done, and suggestions for future use. Specifically the study found that the teachers that participated were fairly confident in terms of their basic ICT skills and their technology skills. But the researchers found that technology wasn't being integrated to its' full potential and they wanted to understand why. They learned that teachers lacked confidence in advanced ICT skills and their technology integration skills. However, a bigger obstacle was their limited access to technology. This makes sense because if the technology is limited then teachers aren't able to practice implementing it and creating the best ways to integrate. But the researchers also point out that simply having technology in the classroom and it being used does not mean that the integration is a beneficial kind. 

2.2

I have created a Teacher's Corner where I have some apps that I have purchased and want to keep open to share ideas with co-workers and any other teachers who want to be a part of it. If you'd like to join, the group code is... px5u5m

Also here is a link to last year's EdmodoCon (yes it's real) where you can see archived videos and presentations. 
http://www.edmodocon.com/

There are many potential uses of Edmodo for ELA teachers. The tools such as posting notes, quizzes, polls, and planner are great for daily use. The quizzes and polls are especially great to get regular feedback on the different stories and assignments you do in class and to check on students understanding of comprehension and literary concepts. The planner is a great tool for helping students stay organized and help guide them in learning how to plan ahead to complete multiple assignments. It's also a great differentiating tool because you can add tasks and events and add just one student who may need extra reminders/support to complete assignments without the rest of the class being aware of it. The Library is a safe and efficient was to share resources with students with out the fear of them finding unreliable or unsafe material on the internet and since it is all in one place, the content is available to them no matter where they log on. I personally think the student badges are a great built in behavior management/reward system giving students something visible to work towards that isn't erased on a daily/weekly basis, but rather built upon. The ability to create your own badges allows the opportunity to easily tailor the reward system to each students. And the ability for parents to be active participants or simply observers reinforces the home and school connection for students.

When I briefly used Edmodo in my literacy class it was for a compare and contrast essay based on the book we were studying at the time. In the library I was able to include online resources that provided information about the book, characters, and included images. I was also able to create my own graphic organizers and worksheets to help guide the students and uploade them into the library. Student were able to download the worksheets from the library, complete and save them, and then re-upload them to 'turn' them in. Using the notes feature I was able to provide detailed instructions that they could refer to as many times as they needed and I was able to send out reminder posts as it became closer to the deadline. I was able to download their papers, read them, grade them, leave comments/edits, and then award them badges for their hard work. It is a really motivating way for them to do the same work in a non-traditional setting.