Changing Literacies

Chapter 4: "Of all the wikis active online, Wikipedia, the free, online encyclopedia, is far and away the most famous (p. 69)."

I utilize Wikipedia regularly throughout the week. Some teachers in high school always told us not to use it because it wasn't a valid resource. However, if you carefully read the material, you can tell if it is correct or incorrect. I like Wikipedia because it is easy to navigate and often has pictures.

Chapter 5: "Although there are variations in format, blogs share a range of common features that make them quite easily recognizable as blogs (p. 85)."

Prior to this class, I had no experience with blogs. I had heard talk about blogs but really didn't know what the purpose of one was. This class has opened my eyes and allowed me to see the advantages of creating blogs. Since we raise cattle and sheep, we are always looking at ways to increase our profit and our genetics. Many different farms throughout the US not only have websites, but blogs as well. They tend to update their blogs every 1-2 weeks with events going on at their farm. All the blogs that I have viewed do seem to be set up the same way and easily recognizable as blogs.

Chapter 6: "The idea that digital technology might help to motivate reluctant learners and provide more meaningful contexts for literacy has captured the attention of an increasing number of educators (Merchant, 2007b) (p. 95)."

I particularly enjoy this quote. I remember when I student taught and had a student who would not do ANYTHING. I simply thought he was lazy and didn't want to be in the class. However, when we begin working on a unit project on the computer, he completely had a different attitude. He told me that he would much rather do stuff on the computer instead of worksheets/bookwork. This is a prime example of how technology can alter reluctant learners.

While reading this week, it has really showed me how valuable technology is in the classroom. I now feel certain that I can incorporate some of this into my classroom. I could very easily take my students to the computer lab on Fridays and have them to update their blog. This will allow the students to express themselves; it will also allow for them to use technology instead of doing boring worksheets, book work, etc.