Using Technology for Reading Development
By Shelley B. Wepner and Lucinda C. Ray
Rationale for Using Technology to Enhance Literacy
The students have a high degree of involvement in and support for their emerging literacy skills and reading pleasure. Technology also serves as a means for improving students’ performance. Actually, many researchers had already found about those two facts.
Types of Technology for Reading Development
As a suggestion, this book offers three types of technology that can be involve in reading development. They are:
• Electronic books
• Learning adventure
• Types of technology for reading development reading comprehension and assessment software
Electronic Books (E-books)
Students can have the book read aloud, have the text and graphics animated with sound and voices, and receive help to enhance comprehension and recall. E-books usually focus on narrative text for emerging and developing readers, and expository text for developing and independent readers in grades 3 and beyond. E-books can be used for recreational reading, thematic units, author studies, and topical studies with instructional frameworks
Learning Adventures (LA)
LAs are designed to challenge students to explore and think about different environments and events. LAs are particularly useful for independent readers because
LAs offer the opportunity for having collaborative activities
Reading Comprehension and Assessment Software
It is used to develop the students’ comprehension skills through the existing reading program. Students actively participate in the story development while focusing on reading as a problem-solving activity. The purpose of this type is to help students increase their comprehension, make better use of context when reading, appreciate author style, build vocabulary, and improve spelling.
Evaluating Reading Software for Your Instructional Needs
When the educators want to use technology, there are two considerations. They are:
• To use or not to use
• Passing the software test
Additional Information
Teacher or educator can use technology in the teaching and learning process. Even, web sites can be used as teacher resources. Another one is instructional plans. This one can be divided into:
a. for emerging readers
example: learning adventure with animal
b. for developing readers
example : - thematic plans on differences
- study of literary genre : fable
- author study : Marc Brown
c. for independent readers
example: - theme units on slavery
- theme unit on survival
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
JAAL
222Writing for the Instant Messaging and Text Messaging Generation: Using New Literacies to Support Writing Instruction
By Sheelah M. Sweeny
The Rationale for New Literacies
As quote by Sweeny, Vacca stated that for previous generation, teachers taught reading and writing separately and different subject. However, we realize that the two processes of them are interdependent and complementary; they influence each other. We live in digital era at the moment. Semiotics shows that language and communication as stable system with defined rules (theoretically), but in digital technology era, everybody can be the producer and collaborators. The digital age is synonymous with rapid change. If the way of communication is changing, educators need to adapt to the new literacy contexts. That is why ICT involves here.
Schools need to use ICT so that students are prepared to function in a world where new literacies are the expectation and the norm because in the digital age,everyone can access freely. Not only that, Tony Wagner cited by Sweeny suggests area of skills that students should have before graduating. They are:
1. problem-solving and critical thinking
2. collaboration across networks and leading by influence
3. agility and adaptability
4. effective written and oral communication
5. accessing and analyzing information
6. curiosity and imagination
Connecting to Teaching Standards
Technology standards are often given scant attention due to budget constrains, limited access to technology, and inadequate investment in teacher training. Standards are used to promote the types of skills that students need to be successful, productive adults in an information-rich society and serve encourage teachers to include technology as an integral component of their pedagogy
Changes in Written Communication
Communication thoughts and ideas plus multimodal texts will be accomplished through the use of variety of media and formats. Those tools make author thinks not only about the content but also about the presentation and the audience. The media that can be used are IM, hyperlinks to recorded materials, text, visual images.
Students’ Use of Technology
In digital age, technology is not something new or complicated for the students. Technology makes students as digital natives and the teachers as the digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001). Technology makes the communication and learning more meaningful and engaging the students of the digital era.
Integrating the Internet and Writing Instruction
The use of technology for educators and learners is to find or create the task, searching for specific contents, activity, and sharing information. Technology also can give feedback, suggestions, and ideas. Ways to integrate the internet with writing instruction are authors as mentors and editing and revising. In author as mentor, the teacher involves the author to give mentoring lesson to the learners. Here, the learners can directly interact with the author. Meanwhile, in editing and revising, the learners can post the work via internet, then, many people, even his/her classmate, can edit and then he/she can revise it. It is very beneficial for educators and the students. Actually, the teacher can also have internet workshop.
New Approaches for Writing Instruction
The ways are messaging applications and having online forum. For the first way, educators can engage the students to find article or text which they like best. Then, they make the summary and it should be posting via message text in hand phone or another social network. In online forum, they can use Skype or forum or conference at Yahoo! in order to share their ideas.
By Sheelah M. Sweeny
The Rationale for New Literacies
As quote by Sweeny, Vacca stated that for previous generation, teachers taught reading and writing separately and different subject. However, we realize that the two processes of them are interdependent and complementary; they influence each other. We live in digital era at the moment. Semiotics shows that language and communication as stable system with defined rules (theoretically), but in digital technology era, everybody can be the producer and collaborators. The digital age is synonymous with rapid change. If the way of communication is changing, educators need to adapt to the new literacy contexts. That is why ICT involves here.
Schools need to use ICT so that students are prepared to function in a world where new literacies are the expectation and the norm because in the digital age,everyone can access freely. Not only that, Tony Wagner cited by Sweeny suggests area of skills that students should have before graduating. They are:
1. problem-solving and critical thinking
2. collaboration across networks and leading by influence
3. agility and adaptability
4. effective written and oral communication
5. accessing and analyzing information
6. curiosity and imagination
Connecting to Teaching Standards
Technology standards are often given scant attention due to budget constrains, limited access to technology, and inadequate investment in teacher training. Standards are used to promote the types of skills that students need to be successful, productive adults in an information-rich society and serve encourage teachers to include technology as an integral component of their pedagogy
Changes in Written Communication
Communication thoughts and ideas plus multimodal texts will be accomplished through the use of variety of media and formats. Those tools make author thinks not only about the content but also about the presentation and the audience. The media that can be used are IM, hyperlinks to recorded materials, text, visual images.
Students’ Use of Technology
In digital age, technology is not something new or complicated for the students. Technology makes students as digital natives and the teachers as the digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001). Technology makes the communication and learning more meaningful and engaging the students of the digital era.
Integrating the Internet and Writing Instruction
The use of technology for educators and learners is to find or create the task, searching for specific contents, activity, and sharing information. Technology also can give feedback, suggestions, and ideas. Ways to integrate the internet with writing instruction are authors as mentors and editing and revising. In author as mentor, the teacher involves the author to give mentoring lesson to the learners. Here, the learners can directly interact with the author. Meanwhile, in editing and revising, the learners can post the work via internet, then, many people, even his/her classmate, can edit and then he/she can revise it. It is very beneficial for educators and the students. Actually, the teacher can also have internet workshop.
New Approaches for Writing Instruction
The ways are messaging applications and having online forum. For the first way, educators can engage the students to find article or text which they like best. Then, they make the summary and it should be posting via message text in hand phone or another social network. In online forum, they can use Skype or forum or conference at Yahoo! in order to share their ideas.
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