backward design approach has instructors consider the learning goals of the course first. These learning goals embody the knowledge and skills instructors want their students to have learned when they leave the course. Once the learning goals have been established, the second stage involves consideration of assessment.

“21C Skills” refers to a broad set of knowledge, skills, work habits, and character traits that are important to succeed in today’s world, particularly for college and career readiness and in the workplace. Examples of these skills include collaboration, communication, creativity, and problem-solving.

Knowing how to read, write, and participate in the digital world has become the 4th basic foundational skill next to the three Rs—reading, writing, and arithmetic—in a rapidly evolving, networked world.

Web Literacy 2.0

Global economic competition within economies based increasingly on the effective use of information and communication.2. The rapid appearance of the Internet in both our professional and personal lives.3. Public policy initiatives by nations that integrate literacy and the Internet into instruction.

According to one of the most systematic evaluations of worldwide Internet use, over 2.4 billion individuals now use the Internet—more than one third of the world’s population (Internet World Stats, 2011). Moreover, at the current rate of growth, Internet use will be ubiquitous in the world within the next decade.

This approach suggests that the best solutions result from collaborative groups who bring diverse, multiple per-spectives to problems (Page, 2007). New Literacies theory takes an “open-source” approach, inviting everyone who studies the Internet’s impact to contribute to theory development and to benefit from others’ contributions.

The Mozilla Foundation and community of volunteers have worked to address this paradox by creating a Web Literacy Map.

a curriculum framework

key concepts for digital literacy are essential both in providing a common language for theorists and educators and in being a guiding principle for teachers in a rapidly changing technological landscape.

As Douglas Belshaw puts it, “Digital literacies are transient: they change over time, may involve using different tools or developing different habits of mind, and almost always depend upon the context in which an individual finds herself.”[

basic access, awareness and training to inform citizens and build consumer and user confidence to highly sophisticated and more complex creative and critical literacies and outcomes.

As increasing numbers of businesses, services and even democratic processes migrate online, citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and opportunities for employment, education and civic participation

generation of youth who are not fully digitally literate, yet are deeply immersed in cyberspace. Therefore, “it is not… enough to assume that young people automatically have all of the skills, knowledge and understanding that they need to apply to their use of technology.

all students feel safe and comfortable participating

rubric when deciding whether to adopt a technology solution:  Does it give each child a chance to participate, even if they are not the first to answer? “Does it engage every learner in the room, and require them all to actively participate and respond to each question, form an opinion, and submit an answer?” Does it allow for students to share openly, without risk of exposure of their mistakes to other students?  Is it efficient and effective for teachers to target not only class needs, but individual student needs? Does it vary the way students can respond to a question? Some students like oral discussion while others prefer written replies.

Educational technology can help encourage quiet students to become active participants in the classroom

Figure 1.3. Continuum of Assessment Methods

Figure 1.1. Stages in the Backward Design Process

Once the learning goals have been established, the second stage involves consideration of assessment

Being audience and culturally aware, resolving conflict appropriately, using technology tools effectively, and taking responsibility for personal and group productivity.

participate in the digital world has become the 4th basic foundational skill next to the three Rs—reading, writing, and arithmetic

When most workers held jobs in industry, the key skills were knowing a trade, following directions, getting along with others, working hard, and being professional. To hold information-age jobs, people also need to think deeply about issues, solve problems creatively, work in teams, communicate clearly in many media, learn ever-changing technologies.

Learning through making involves constructing new content

reading online requires a basic understanding of web mechanics

At least five processing practices occur during online research and comprehen-sion: (1) reading to identify important questions, (2) reading to locate information, (3) reading to evaluate information critically, (4) reading to synthesize informa-tion, and (5) reading to communicate information

MediaSmarts has drawn on the work of academics and educators across the country to develop a curriculum framework to ensure that students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 can receive a comprehensive digital literacy education. This framework consists of lessons, classroom activities and other teacher resources that translate the five key concepts into specific digital literacy skills that are essential for each grade level. These skills are grouped into seven categories: Ethics and Empathy: This category addresses students’ social-emotional skills and empathy towards others as well as their ability to make ethical decisions in digital environments when dealing with issues such as cyberbullying, sharing other people’s content and accessing music and video. Privacy and Security: This includes essential skills for managing students’ privacy, reputation and security online, such as making good decisions about sharing their own content, understanding data collection techniques, protecting themselves from malware and other software threats, and being aware of their digital footprint. Community Engagement: Resources in this category teach students about their rights as citizens and consumers, and empower them to influence positive social norms in online spaces and to speak out as active, engaged citizens. Digital Health: Digital health skills include managing screen time and balancing students’ online and offline lives; managing online identity issues; dealing with issues relating to digital media, body image and sexuality; and understanding the differences between healthy and unhealthy online relationships. Consumer Awareness: These skills allow students to navigate highly commercialized online environments. They include recognizing and interpreting advertising, branding and consumerism; reading and understanding the implications of website Terms of Service and privacy policies; and being savvy consumers online. Finding and Verifying: Students need the skills to effectively search the Internet for information they need for personal and school purposes, and then evaluate and authenticate the sources and information they find. Making and Remixing: Making and remixing skills enable students to create digital content and use existing content for their own purposes in ways that respect legal and ethical considerations, and to use digital platforms to collaborate with others.

Digital education

5. How we respond and behave when using digital media is influenced by the architecture of the platforms, which reflects the biases and assumptions of their creators.

4. Digital media experiences are real, but don’t always feel real.

3. Digital media have unknown and unexpected audiences.

2. Digital media are persistent, searchable and shareable.

1. Digital media are networked

Create is the ability to produce content and effectively communicate through a variety of digital media tools.

Understand is that critical piece – it’s the set of skills that help us comprehend, contextualize, and critically evaluate digital media so that we can make informed decisions about what we do and encounter online.

Skills and competencies that fall under “use” range from basic technical know-how – using computer programs such as word processors, web browsers, email and other communication tools

This model

Digital literacy is as much a key part of learning about history and learning how to study history, and learning about science and learning how to study science,

Instant-messaging, photo sharing, texting, social networking, video-streaming and mobile Internet use

“it is not… enough to assume that young people automatically have all of the skills, knowledge and understanding that they need to apply to their use of technology.

In order to be literate in today’s media-rich environments, young people need to develop knowledge, values and a whole range of critical thinking, communication and information management skills for the digital age

Digital Health: Digital health skills include managing screen time and balancing students’ online and offline lives; managing online identity issues; dealing with issues relating to digital media, body image and sexuality; and understanding the differences between healthy and unhealthy online relationships.

Teachers interviewed by MediaSmarts identified several key factors that limit the ability of educators to help students build digital literacy skills. They also offered some solutions to these problems, including the need to: provide students with authentic learning opportunities that are enhanced through technological tools; position teachers as facilitators and co-learners, instead of “drill and kill” experts; focus teacher training on how to use technology to enhance learning and meet curricular outcomes; and create reasonable policies and less restrictive filters in schools so that teachers can better help students develop and exercise good judgement.[12] Technology has shifted the traditional classroom paradigm that positions the teacher as the expert. This can be hard for many educators to accept, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our quickly evolving technological world, we are all learners, and teachers who are willing to share responsibility with students are more likely to be comfortable – and effective – in a networked classroom.

content can also be copied, shared or spread at a trivial cost

young people need to develop knowledge, values and a whole range of critical thinking, communication and information management skills for the digital age

Today’s youth are often called “digital natives” by adults because of the seemingly effortless way they engage with all things technological.

The Arts: As more and more artistic production is created or distributed through digital media, arts courses also need to reflect the impacts of digital technology, such as how platform architecture influences aesthetics and self-presentation, and the effects of networked technology on arts industries and communities. The Internet has definitely been a mixed blessing for most arts industries, but students need to understand those changes – and be able to see what changes are coming – if they’re considering careers in the arts.

it’s easy to forget that laws, morals and rights still apply online.

what you share online may be seen by people you didn’t intend or expect to see it. Your ability to control who sees what is limited: both content creators and traditional gatekeepers and distributors have much less power to control what happens to it once it’s posted. This can make it difficult to manage audiences, and there is always a risk of context collapse when what was intended for one audience is seen by another. As well, you may be sharing content that you’re not aware of with audiences you don’t know about, such as cookies and other tracking tools that record information about who you are and what you do when you visit a website.

Digital content is permanent

without guidance they remain amateur users of information and communications technology (ICT), which raises concerns about a generation of youth who are not fully digitally literate, yet are deeply immersed in cyberspace.

“it is not… enough to assume that young people automatically have all of the skills, knowledge and understanding that they need to apply to their use of technology. All young people need to be supported to thrive in digital cultures; they need help making sense of a rapidly changing world of technology which gives them access to vast amounts of information, which is infused with commercial agendas and which for many reasons can be difficult to interpret.”[1]

citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and opportunities for employment, education and civic participation

Digital literacy is more than technological know-how: it includes a wide variety of ethical, social and reflective practices that are embedded in work, learning, leisure and daily life.

being able to adapt what we produce for various contexts and audiences;

Understand is that critical piece – it’s the set of skills that help us comprehend, contextualize, and critically evaluate digital media so that we can make informed decisions about what we do and encounter online. These are the essential skills that we need to start teaching our kids as soon as they go online. Understand includes recognizing how networked technology affects our behaviour and our perceptions, beliefs and feelings about the world around us.

Digital Literacy Model

citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and opportunities for employment, education and civic participation

Today’s youth are often called “digital natives” by adults because of the seemingly effortless way they engage with all things technological.

Promising trends

coding in national school curricula; outside-school coding clubs; competitions and campaigns; and the subsidized distribution of low-cost computers with pre-loaded courses and applications.

National ‘digital literacy for all’ initiatives; integration of digital skills development into school curricula;

In the place of ‘digital natives,’ I believe we need to support the rise of a new generation of ‘digital citizens,’ with the right skills for life, work and engagement in connected communities for today and tomorrow.

Times piece viewed on the web may contain hyperlinks, videos, audio clips, images, interactive graphics, share buttons, or a comments section—features that force the reader to stop and make decisions

digital authorship as "a form of social power.

"It's not interactive, ... there's one screen, and you just have to read it," he explained. "It's the same as reading a [paper] page."

That makes digital writing a potentially powerful lever for social good, allowing students to "actively participate in civic society and contribute to a vibrant, informed, and engaged community," as the ALA notes. It also makes digital writing a potentially dangerous tool—decisions about when and what to share online can have repercussions for a student's safety, privacy, and reputation.

Students have to query a search engine using keywords and navigate those results, including assessing the reliability of particular authors and websites.

Phonology: the ability to recognize and reproduce speech sounds. Orthography: the ability to recognize and reproduce spelling patterns. Semantics: the ability to pick out the meaning of words. Morphology: the ability to recognize and reproduce the patterns of word formations.

Morphological knowledge allows children to expand their vocabulary from a smaller set of root words to form more words. For example, morphological knowledge in English allows children to form more words from a single word, as is the case with the word child: childless, childlike, and childish; it also allows children to make grammatical inflections such as adding -ed to verbs to create past tense worked, and adding ·ing to form present progressive work!!!.i_. Moreover, it allows children to produce plurals ( dogs) and possessives ( Peter's) and to create prefixes (P!:!._-read) and suffixes (friendless)

Moreover, children's thinking at this stage is egocentric by nature, and they are likely to evaluate others and events based on their own viewpoint. For instance, 3-year-old Dana told her older brother Chris that the moon was following her while they were walking outside one evening. Likewise, children at this stage have a hard time understanding the function of rules. You have probably noticed that young children often change the rules of a game to suit their needs.

cess of l

Children who ore in environments where oral language and written languug are used in monningful ways will gradually acquire competencies in using language t communicate and to solve problems.

Laban's

Listening is not a passive activity. Instead, to be effective, lis-tening must be active ancl purposeful.

ho metalinguistic level

Children who have had frequent storybook internet ions wilh a wide variety of types of texts (or genres) will develop an aware· ness of how language is used in oach type of discourse

Pmgmnlic knowledge involves the .. kno~g~ ,?£~~~re~s~a\~t of_the communication and how language is used to achieve that intent. Pragmatic

A.s...~ecome more aware of how mor-phemes are t~ed, their lang~e beco~~~r;ecisem@ me.g1.1.9gffiL_

meaningful phrases.

that organize our conceptual knowledge. These semantic networks facilitate nffw learni

Prosodic fealures in a languago represent the wa)~sometl1h.!_g is said

honological knowledge refers to knowledge about sound-symbol relations in a language. A phoneme is the smallest linguistic unit of sound, which is combined with other phonemes lo form words. Phonemes consist of sounds that are considered to be a single perceptual unit by a listener, such as th

It forms the foundation of our perceptions, com-municntion!f and daily interactions.

attention to lan8!!Q.@_ a~municg_li9Il..!J!!.J1er than a fo_cus on spi3_e.ch_pro_ctu<1tion ~nd..th~_.de.v.elopment of articulation. This approach recognizes that language is a medium of communi-cation with ot

On a worldwide scale, illiteracy disproportionately impacts women.[32] According to 2015 UIS data collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, about two-thirds (63%) of the world's illiterate adults are women. This disparity was even starker in previous decades: from 1970 to 2000, the global gender gap in literacy would decrease by roughly 50%.[33] In recent years, however, this progress has stagnated, with the remaining gender gap holding almost constant over the last two decades.[28] In general, the gender gap in literacy is not as pronounced as the regional gap; that is, differences between countries in overall literacy are often larger than gender differences within countries.[34] However, the gap between men and women would narrow from 1990 onwards, after the increase of male adult literacy rates at 80 per cent (see image)

"Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society".

verall literacy are often larger than gender differences within countries.[34] However, the gap between men and women would narrow from 1990 onwards, after the increase of male adult literacy rates at 80 per cent (see image).[27]

literacy

"The written word was all around them, in both public and private life: laws, calendars, regulations at shrines, and funeral epitaphs were engraved in stone or bronze. The Republic amassed huge archives of reports on every aspect of public life"

The key to literacy is reading development, a progression of skills which begins with the ability to understand spoken words and decode written words, and which culminates in the deep understanding of text.

an important role in literacy development, gains in childhood literacy often occur in primary school settings. Continuing the global expansion of public education is thus a frequent focus of literacy advocates.

eaching people to read and write, in a traditional sense of the meaning (literacy) is a very complex task in a native language. To do this in a second language becomes increasingly more complex, and in the case of migrants relocating to another country there can be legal and policy driven boundaries that prohibit the naturalization and acquisition of citizen ship based on language proficiency.

While women and girls comprise the majority of the global illiterate population, in many developed countries a literacy gender gap exists in the opposite direction.

"Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society".[7]

The public library has long been a force promoting literacy in many countries.[70] In the U.S. context, the American Library Association promotes literacy through the work of the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services.

Egyptian hieroglyphs emerged from 3300-3100 BCE and depicted royal iconography that emphasized power amongst other elites. The Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system was the first notation system to have phonetic values.

"Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society".

defining literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts".

Reading development involves a range of complex language-underpinnings including awareness of speech sounds (phonology), spelling patterns (orthography), word meaning (semantics), grammar (syntax) and patterns of word formation (morphology), all of which provide a necessary platform for reading fluency and comprehension.

Reading development involves a range of complex language-underpinnings including awareness of speech sounds (phonology), spelling patterns (orthography), word meaning (semantics), grammar (syntax) and patterns of word formation (morphology), all of which provide a necessary platform for reading fluency and comprehension.

The modern term's meaning has been expanded[by whom?] to include the ability to use language, numbers, images, computers, and other basic means to understand, communicate, gain useful knowledge, solve mathematical problems and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture.

iteracy, which includes the abilities to apply to printed material critical analysis, inference and synthesis;

The modern term's meaning has been expanded[by whom?] to include the ability to use language, numbers, images, computers, and other basic means to understand, communicate, gain useful knowledge, solve mathematical problems and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture

The key to literacy is reading development, a progression of skills which begins with the ability to understand spoken words and decode written words, and which culminates in the deep understanding of text.

To achieve this goal, a synthesis of theoretical perspectives and research into a new instructional model known as online content construction (OCC) is necessary. OCC is defined as the skills, strategies and dispositions necessary as students construct, redesign, or reinvent online texts by actively encoding and decoding meaning through the use of digital texts and tools

The ‘Why’ of MultiliteraciesFirst, why literacy? Or even more fundamentally, why education (in which literacy is a ‘basic’)? On this front, not much has changed in ten years. The two sides of the political spectrum, characterised loosely as ‘left’ and ‘right’, remain poles apart in what they see as the appropriate role of literacy learning in society, and indeed, education in general.

Education is one of the key sources of social equity.

The world was changing, the communications environment was changing, and it seemed to us to follow that literacy teaching and learning would to have to change, as well.

Even the idea of a ‘Google search’ was unimaginable ten years ago.

I believe that the word choice involved in identifying construction as opposed to creation is also of the utmost importance. Creation can be viewed simply as the act of producing, or causing to exist.  Construction is the building or assembling of an infrastructure. Construction is equal parts inspiration and perspiration. Construction calls on creativity as well as persistence, flexibility, and revision. Construction asks our students and teachers to focus on the power and patience employed during work process…and not just the final resultant work product

to try and consolidate the great work in visual, digital, and multimodal content construction…while making it easy & flexible enough for teachers to make this work happen in their classrooms.

The ideas and concepts in all of this work does overlap sometimes…and students and teachers should feel empowered to move in, out, and between all of the concepts. Working online is a fluid experience which calls for flexible learners.

ORC) has elements of “communication” identified as the last of the five skills students need.

Construction is equal parts inspiration and perspiration. Construction calls on creativity as well as persistence, flexibility, and revision. Construction asks our students and teachers to focus on the power and patience employed during work process…and not just the final resultant work product.

Gee (2007: 172) describes deep learning as “learning that can lead to real understanding, the ability to apply one’s knowledge, and even to transform that knowledge for innovation.” He argues that pursuing deep learning requires moving beyond learning about – “what the facts are, where they came from, and who believes them” – to learning to be – which involves “design” in the sense of understanding how and when and why knowledge of various kinds is useful for and sufficient for achieving particular purposes and goals. According to Gee (2007: 172)

Genus Species + Species Hybrids Example

•Photoshopping remixes (e.g., Lostfrog.org)•Music and music video remixes (e.g., Danger Mouse’s “Grey Album” and the Grey video)•Machinima remixes (e.g., Machinima.com)•Moving image remixes (e.g., Animemusicvideos.org)•Original manga and anime fan art (e.g., DeviantArt.com)•Television, movie, book remixes (e.g., Fanfiction.net)•Serviceware mashups (e.g., Twittervision.com)

Lessig (2005) provides a range of examples of the kinds of digital remix practices that in his view constitute “the more interesting ways [to write]” for young people. These include remixing clips from movies to create “faux” trailers for hypothetical movies; setting remixed movie trailers to remixed music of choice that is synchronized to the visual action; recording a series of anime cartoons and then video-editing them in synchrony with a popular music track; mixing “found” images with original images in order to express a theme or idea (with or without text added); and mixing images, animations and texts to create cartoons or satirical posters (including political cartoons and animations), to name just a few types. We accept this conceptual extension of “writing” to include practices of producing, exchanging and negotiating digitally remixed texts, which may employ a single medium or may be multimedia remixes. (We also recognize as forms of remix various practices that do not necessarily involve digitally remixing sound, image and animation, such as paper-based forms of fanfiction writing and fan-producing manga art and comics, which continue to go on alongside their hugely subscribed digital variants.

“Machinima” – machine + cinema – is the term used to describe the process by which fans use video game animation “engines” to create movies.

where someone creates a cultural product by mixing meaningful elements together (e.g., ideas from different people with ideas of one’s own), and then someone else comes along and remixes this cultural artefact with others to create yet another artefact.

Then for ‘Before We Were Men’, I tried my hardest to make this video stand out above all the other Naruto V. Sasuke AMVs that are out there. I wanted to show all the things that the two had gone through up to the fight that they have near the end of the series. Also I tried to throw in a bit of fan service with the text [i.e., words like “passion”, “angst” appearing at specific points in the video] and the ending along with keeping the theme of the Video feed effect at the beginning and end [i.e., quiet introductory and conclusion sequences].

But if you think about the ways kids under 15 using digital technology think about writing – you know, writing with text is just one way to write, and not even the most interesting way to write. The more interesting ways are increasingly to use images and sound and video to express ideas (in Koman 2005: n.p.)

associated with activism contesting copyright and intellectual property legislation

. Until recently this concept was associated almost entirely with recorded music. It referred to using audio editing techniques to produce “an alternative mix of a recorded song that differed from the original, and involved taking apart the various instruments and components that make up a recording and remixing them into something that sounds completely different” (ethnomus.ucr.edu/remix_culture/remix_history.htm).

By “remix” we mean the practice of taking cultural artefacts and combining and manipulating them into a new kind of creative blend.

37 Tech Tools Your World Language Students Should Have

is a remix | Kirby Ferguson

Video Games (Is School Enough? Series)

(Is School Enough? Series)

(Is School Enough? Series)

Cultural Anthropologist Mimi Ito on Connected Learning, Children, and Digital Media

Mimi

Digital Media

D

nkins - 03

10He

06

316 I like this 2 I dislike this Share Share Save

Henry Jenkins on Participatory Culture

(Big Thinkers Series)

(Big Thinkers Series)

TEDxNYED - Henry Jenkins - 03/06/10

how do we create a literacy pedagogy which promotes a culture of flexibility, creativity, innovation and initiative?

3literacy curriculum taught to a singular standard (grammar, the literary canon, standard national forms of the language), the everyday experience of meaning making was increasingly one of negotiating discourse differences. A pedagogy of Multiliteracies would need to address this as a fundamental aspect of contemporary teaching and learning.

The world was changing, the communications environment was changing, and it seemed to us to follow that literacy teaching and learning would to have to change, as well.

the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Initia-tive (2012) establishes more uniform standards across states to prepare students for college and careers in the 21st century. One of the key design principles in the CCSS, research and media skills, focuses on the integra-tion of online research and comprehension skills within the classroom such as locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating

Learning

A variety of educational taxonomies have been adopted by districts and states nationwide. Examples of widely used taxonomies include but are not limited to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives;23 [ 23] Bloom’s revised Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing;24 [ 24] Marzano and Kendell’s New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives;25 [ 25] and Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Levels.26 [ 26] Using educational taxonomies to facilitate the development and guide the organization of learning objectives can improve content appropriateness, assessment effectiveness, and efficiency in learning and teaching.

Choice of strategies is closely linked to actual, perceived needs as the rehearsal unfolds.”10 [ 10]

How you track student progress can make a difference in their learning and your teaching.

Performance assessment does not have to be a time-consuming ordeal; it is a great way to assess our students' skills. It is essential to create a rubric that is simple, quick, and objective. This article discusses the process of creating a rubric as well as showing a rubric used by the author in her general music classroom for several years. Differences between assessment and evaluation are also mentioned.

FIGURE 5 Self-Assessment Analytic Qualitative RubricDirections: Answer each question by circling the most accurate answer.1. I try to watch the music and the director at the same time. I can do this by sitting upright and holding my music at chest height.Always Frequently Sometimes Never2. I try to use good breath support while I am singing.Always Frequently Sometimes Never3. I try to sing with a full and free vocal tone, while blending my voice with others.Always Frequently Sometimes Never4. When I get ready to sing a song or exercise, I look at the key signature to determine the key (also called the "tonality").Always Frequently Sometimes Never5. I try to read notes and rhythms as I am singing.Always Frequently Sometimes Never

11% for music knowledge

Moreover, non-achievement criteria such as attendance, attitude, effort, and participation may be given more overall weight in the grading process than achievement criteria.

attendance and attitude were the most common grading criteria employed by instrumental and choral music teachers.

Some music teachers believe the creative or interpretive nature of music precludes assessment but then readily employ subjective methods of assessment, many of which "are determined haphazardly, ritualistically, and/or with disregard for available objective information" (Boyle & Radocy, 1987, p. 2).

Because blog entries are published on websites, they can easily incorporate photography, infographics, and embedded video. This is a great way to scaffold all elements of digital literacy, as student assignments become increasingly complex and build digital literacy skills over the course of the school year.

Construction is the building or assembling of an infrastructure.

Construction is equal parts inspiration and perspiration. Construction calls on creativity as well as persistence, flexibility, and revision. Construction asks our students and teachers to focus on the power and patience employed during work process…and not just the final resultant work product.

Creation can be viewed simply as the act of producing, or causing to exist.

Creation can be viewed simply as the act of producing, or causing to exist.  Construction is the building or assembling of an infrastructure. Construction is equal parts inspiration and perspiration. Construction calls on creativity as well as persistence, flexibility, and revision. Construction asks our students and teachers to focus on the power and patience employed during work process…and not just the final resultant work product.

. She identified that in order to “identify, in textual terms, how the Internet mediates the representation of knowledge, the framing of entertainment, and the conduct of communication”, our understanding of construction and creation needs to be broad enough to allow for change in the future. I believe that viewing the work as construction and more expansive that just creation allows for this eventuality.

Working online is a fluid experience which calls for flexible learners.

Internet Reciprocal Teaching Promotes the Five CsCreativity: Students use divergent-thinking skills to generate their own questions and keywords for online searches. Their final projects require them to creatively express their own point of view. Communication: Students share what they learn as they work in small groups and with the whole class. They communicate with a wider audience by posting on a class blog. Collaboration: Students create collaborative knowledge through Internet inquiry and social interactions. They comment on one another's work using technologies such as VoiceThread and support one another through instant messaging. Critical Thinking: When using the Internet, students build the text they read, choosing which links to follow and which to ignore. The nonlinear nature of online reading helps support critical thinking. Students also learn to question the perspective and bias of online sources. Comprehension: Students learn important online reading skills, such as how to distinguish news articles from blog posts and editorials. They carefully read texts they encounter online to understand and evaluate different perspectives.

As the tide shifts from page to screen, students must learn to comprehend evolving texts.

Internet inquiry offered students the opportunity to explore authentic issues while building online reading comprehension skills.

Although we were impressed with how well the students used the skills and strategies from the first two phases to conduct their research, the most rewarding aspect of Phase 3 was the sense of agency that students expressed.

How do I make the world a better place?

This project differs from the traditional research project in that the focus is on the process of inquiry and not the product of research. Students develop an understanding of how important it is for them to play an active role in their own learning and experience the satisfaction associated with knowing how to question, locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information.

Students worked in small groups to find five to seven articles about the attack. We discussed the differences among news articles, blogs, and editorials. Then the students had to post comments on the classroom blog about whether they thought the zoo or the patron was at fault for the attack.In a follow-up activity, student groups had to decide whether zoos were cruel or a tool for learning. First, they had to find five Web sites that criticized zoos and five that supported zoos. Each group posted links to a classroom blog. Then the groups had to choose three Web sites for each position from the class list and rank these sites on continuums of usefulness and truthfulness.

we asked them to find out whether any famous people were foster children.

No one gave students a map for Internet inquiry. Students needed a sextant, a tool for navigation, to guide them.

Project Based Learning

Many times in our classrooms we create WebQuests to have students explore online resources.

Student skills[edit] Typically, literacy in the classroom has focused on the following building blocks: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, text comprehension (NEIRTIC, 2004). However, as the electronic age permeates our society, students need to be prepared for jobs that require further literacy skills. Some of these skills include the following (Kinzer, 2003, para. 15): Keyboarding Layout and design skills for creating presentations and web pages Critical thinking about video, still images, audio, text, and interrelationships, and how they jointly convey intended and unintended messages Skill in using a variety of software types Information gathering, retrieval, and copying into presentation formats Scaling images

How do you see Creative Commons and licensing affecting teaching and learning in K-12 or higher ed?

Why SHARE? Why use SHARED content online?

What challenges and opportunities do you have from these experiences?