Reading and the PC

First year secondary students are currently being furnished with brand new computers as the fulfillment of an election campaign promise made by the new government. The reported cost is about $84million dollars, it was stated that this will be the beginning of an exercise , continuing for the next four years, by which time all secondary school students will have personal access to laptop computers.

The implications of this exercise is vast. I am concerned with the impact of computers on the reading achievement of challenged students . How would they be used in the classroom? Are teachers properly trained in computer assisted instruction? How and for what purpose will a struggling reader use this technology? Additional concerns by the citizenry range from , who would service and upgrade the computers to concerns about the safety of students taking laptops to and from school in crime ridden Trinidad. To me, the overarching question is , is a computer necessary to facilitate reading achievement among struggling readers?

The research continues in this area but I’ll make reference to two, Simic (1996 ) refers to research by ( Reinking , 1988) to indicate that computer instruction is effective for a variety of reading skills and concept areas. In another study the researcher found that multimedia presentations could improve retention and comprehension of information . In order to sustain these positive trends in literacy outcomes Simic (1996 ) suggests the following guidelines:

o Computer instruction in reading should focus on meaning and stress reading comprehension.

o Computer instruction in reading should foster active involvement and stimulate thinking.

o Computer instruction in reading should support and extend students' knowledge of text structures

o Computer instruction in reading should make use of content from a wide range of subject areas.

o Computer instruction in reading should link reading and writing.

Only time will tell if this money was well spent.

Reference:

Simic , Marjorie ( 1996 ). Guidelines for Computer-Assisted Reading Instruction . Retrieved on 25^th October,2010 from http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/guidelines.computers.html#credits

Intruders on the blog

Some of my friends have asked me if I had embraced a new style of music since becoming a student at UWI. This was prompted by the four or five "hacker videos" that are revolving on my video bar.

I did not choose these videos, I specifically selected those which were appropriately about reading , but those seem to be in the background while the intrusive videos are up front and centre.I have reset the bar a few times but it frustrates me because it switches back almost immediately. I find it takes away from the professional look of the blog and I am tempted to remove them altogether, but there are so many great,videos on You Tube that I just feel it a duty almost, to point readers to that space to sample whats available on all topics related to reading.

Does anyone know how to remove those offensive videos?

Digital Natives - The Multitaskers?

If ever you are in the home where a teenager resides there is bound to be this type of conversation, well not conversation really,because there is usually no audible response. A snippet goes like this:
"How could you study in such noise? turn off the T.V !"
"And you can't hear me, why you always have to be wearing earphones?
Of course , this is happening while the youngster is researching on the Internet. I do not have to mention that the ubiquitous cellphone is also nearby.

The impression we get, is that teenagers are concerned that they'll miss out on something important, so they stay connected all the time.Inspite of a feeling of being able to cope, studies have shown that there is a level of distraction that is evident academically and socially.

A study in the U.S revealed that 46% of teenagers send texts while driving.We know the consequences of that! Researchers also found that students assumed that distraction had no effect on their academic performance, what they concluded was, although they were able to accomplish academic tasks, they required more time to achieve the same level of performance on those tasks.

So when our "digital natives",(Prensky,2001) wired to the hilt,feel they are in control of the pervasive communication media, they are in fact controlled by it.

Reference:

Glasser, U. & Palfrey, J. Mastering multitasking.Educational Leadership. Vol 66,6.
15-19.

Prensky,M. (2001). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon.9,5. 1-2.

Two styles of photostory

So now we are up to date with the 21st century method of storytelling - digital story telling - Awesome!

I was so motivated, I surfed across to You Tube and found these two examples of photostory. They incorporated different elements to make the presentations unique . Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Free WEB2.O Technologies

I have been searching the Internet for free stuff, Web 2.0 tools specifically, and the selection is overwhelming. I tried the links to some of them but access was denied due to glitches in the system. This suggests to me that tool creators are working at a pace to have something new in cyberspace every day and just maybe, testing and fine tuning might still be required to remove those annoying “bugs”. Nevertheless, there is a wealth of tools with a lot of potential for motivation and reinforcement in support of curriculum.

I do advise caution in the overuse of these technologies though, as they are not the panacea for every teaching/ learning problem that exists. I believe they are meant to enhance learning and to revitalize boring topics and methodologies in and out of the classroom.

I have not done an evaluation of these sites , they are presented as available choices that may be of some use to someone.

On this site maintained by Judy Brown , an Emerging Technology Analyst , she compiles a list of tools with descriptions , you can locate her at http://www.judybrown.com/tools.html .

Here is another good site, this one is by John Costilla, he is an educator and has a very active blog called CLASSROOM 2O.In this selection, he offers a list of one hundred tools at http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/649749:BlogPost:180818 there is some duplication here, but additional ones are included. Although he specifically selected them for the primary school teacher, they lend themselves to adaptation for any level.

The final site I ’ll share is this one maintained by Dr. Cheryl Wissick of the Univ. of South Carolina http://www.ed.sc.edu/caw/toolboxfree.html it was specifically compiled to support reading.

These are just a few of the many sites featuring Web 2.0 tools that teachers may access in an effort to make their instructional practice come alive.

A good shot

I do not own a digital camera , neither am I a camera buff and I do not intend to run out and purchase one any time soon .The nearest I had come to owning was in winning a small one in a KFC promotion many years ago. It is still in the box after all these years. Now, with the camera feature embedded in cellphones , I have one at my disposal, though not the best for photostory, as Murella advised me.

That does not mean to say that I am unable to appreciate good photography. I have always been interested in the type of pictures in which the photographer is able to capture tales of opposites within a single shot. I am interested in photos of people in which the subject is totally oblivious to the photographer’s presence so that the true self is revealed . I am also seduced by old wedding pictures and photos of babies.

So I was very interested to hear Aisha’s lecture in the technicalities of achieving a good shot and I appreciate the fact that in order to get the type of shots that I like , the photographer would have had to shoot countless times , being mindful of factors like range, focal point, lighting , exposure, centrality, perspective , background, subject matter etc.

This lecture set me thinking … maybe I should go out and buy one , huh?

Blogging and the challenged student

It is very very late and I am still in the process of completing an assignment before Monday. It think it will be done. I have taken a break to write this post.
I have chosen to to write about blogging and the efficacy of the strategy for developing writing abilities in students. It dawned on me that some consideration should be given to the literacy challenged student in activities like this.

What will the student do when he is required to post to a class blog? What will he do when he has to write a comment? How would he feel when he is unable to contribute to the activity? How would the the teacher facilitate this student? As I reflect on students who are constrained by challenges yet possess a desire to be accepted as valued members of the learning community it becomes painful that for many of them, full realization of that human potential may never be a reality for any number of reasons. I have encountered students like these over the years,and some of them have attempted to solve their problems by staying away from school. But I believe that incorporating technology in the classroom is one way to build self esteem and demonstrate that blogging could be a motivator if done well.

I think the teacher has to make the concerted effort to bridge the gaps among students on different points on the learning continuum and the school should be in full support of what the teacher is attempting to achieve. It may be necessary to design blogging activities specifically for those learners, not too dissimilar from the activities of the general class but at the " zone of proximal development" according to Vygotsky, where some level of success can be attained.This is certainly not the solution in its entirety but it can cause us to consider situations like these with which we may be faced as Reading Specialists .