Thursday 28 April 2011

Are we critically literate enough?

Critical Literacy is "the ability to read texts in an active, reflective manner in order to understand power, inequality and injustice in human relationships." (Coffey, 2011)

I found this definition of critical literacy valuable as it explains that students must be active and evaluate all information that they encounter. This definition also suggests that students are vulnerable and easy targets for manipulation, when biased information is presented to them. This concept is increasingly relevant when students are dealing with technology and possible threats from predators.

Critical Literacy skills have always been important in schools, as students need to be actively aware of what they are accessing, where it originated from and any biases that underpin it. The development of critical literacy skills is even more integral now with continual advancements in technology. Information providers have changed from the once 'reliable' big companies (such as Msn and Fox), to individual users, who are reporting on everyday events, inevitably incorporating their own biases. This can be very confusing for students and they need to learn skills to differentiate between what is 'reliable' and 'unreliable' information.

How about search engines? Can they be trusted to retrieve the most up to date and credible information?
Simply put, no. Search engines, such as google and yahoo function with an algorithm, which determines which information will be of most relevance to the user, based upon past searches and the popularity of particular websites. Students need to develop critical literacy skills, so that they are able to critically evaluate information, based upon their origins and examine possible biases existing in the texts. Students need to be educated on how to be critical aware of the information they are accessing via search engines.

So how about us, are we critically literate enough? Do we know enough about evaluating the information we are presented with in order to make informed decisions and judgements? I think that most people have received an email from a Prince in Africa, explaining how we must help him because he is stuck in a difficult situation. The story continues on and we are asked to send him our bank details and when he has escaped his situation, he will then send us a financial reward. Those kind of emails are the obvious examples. What if it was a friend who was asking for money? How can we be absolutely critical and clear in this situation? If those thoughts are occurring in my head, they would almost certainly occur to a child, who is more likely to be trusting of others. I think that it is important that we become more critically literate and in turn educate students to also be critically literate.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Aluminium Foil Mind Deflector Beanie... You know you want one!

Aluminium Foil Mind Deflector Beanie (AFMD) is probably something that everyone should get ahold of right now... you know, before the aliens attack! 


What is an AFMD?

  • Form of head ware constructed from aluminium foil (or aluminum - for American readers)
  • Protects users from Electronic Psychotronic Mind Control Carriers
  • Cheap and Unobtrusive
  • Blocks the brain from unwanted brain scans and mind control forces
  • Incredibly fashionable
Warnings:
  • Anti-AFMD research which is (of course) unreliable
  • Beware of 'fake' eBay AFMDs - they may be pre-programmed for mind control
  • Try not to become confused with the American and the British spelling of aluminium, yes they are different and no the american spelling is not correct.
So, what are you waiting for... go get one now! And join the fight against mind control!

How would you use this resource in the classroom? 

Friday 15 April 2011

A Multitude of Literacies

This week the focus was on multi-literacies, so I found that the most effective way to present this blog was to actively experiment with the multimedia resources. I examined pod/vodcasting, digital storytelling and social sharing.


Multi-Literacies:

  • is the ability to communicate across different cultures and contexts. Students require instruction on how to utilise literacies in the appropriate context
  • is the ability to communicate across different mediums. Teachers need to prepare students for interacting with text based as well as oral and visual mediums.

(Kalantzis & Cope, 2011)

Podcasting (audio) & Vodcasting (video) are audio and visual tools that are used to share information.

  • Students can be active (creation of information)
  • Students can also be passive (listening & viewing)
  • Students can work together collaboratively
  • Students can also be active listeners to the work of others and can provide constructive feedback
  • Students participation will reinforce speaking and listening skills - while actively engaging with multimedia materials.
  • Students can be autonomous, with the freedom to choose characters and voices. This element can protect student privacy.



Digital Storytelling is the creation of a narrative using multi-media materials.

  • Students can be active constructors of information
  • Students can also be passive and engage in others stories
  • Students can work individually or collaborate in groups
  • Students require fundamental print literacy skills before engaging in digital storytelling. It is important that students understand narrative structure and chronology as well as grammatical rules.
  • Students can create stories which can be stored as private, and can determine who they interact with.

Digital Storytelling... An example! on Storybird

Social Sharing is the "hub" where collaborative interaction occurs on the internet. Social sharing falls into three categories; text, images and video.

  • Students are able to actively engage in the construction and publishing of their own creative works; whether it be text, image or video based.
  • Students can also be passive users and act as the 'audience' 
  • Students are also interactive on social sharing sites - they are free to choose what they contribute to, to target particular audiences and to constructively evaluate the work of others.
  • Students develop fundamental multi-media skills and critical literacy skills.
  • Discussions regarding privacy on social sharing sites are integral before students engage in online activities.


Youtube Example: Examines the principles of effective youtube participation.

  • Quality Video Content: Videos should be interesting and engaging. This will encourage channel subscription and participation.
  • Develop an audience: Users must develop an audience of subscribers, who will revisit their channel to view future videos.
  • Algorithm: Youtube videos surface in search engines based on an algorithm. Participants must provide clear descriptions and tags for videos.
  • Promote Videos: Videos can be promoted via social networking sites and also embedded into outside websites (embedding a youtube video on to my blog, is broadening the potential audience for the video).

Tuesday 5 April 2011

OMG! Txtspk in action!

'Hey Lexi. How r u? Sry dint txt u bak. bin busy.' 

The above extract may (or may not) be the kind of text message which I usually receive from my brother. I am not a fan of text speak, I actually find it incredibly difficult to understand. 

I have two reasons for my stance: 
i) I feel as though I am reading a foreign language (I was never particularly good at languages)
ii) I find it difficult to understand why people wouldn't just send the text out over two messages, the 140 character barrier is easy to defeat... stand strong. 

However, I am not saying that students are 'dumbing' down the English language. Instead, they are altering it in a way that makes sense to them and to their friends. In a way, they are creating their own language which they can use to communicate with each other. Text speak is a form of language, as it is understood by a group of people and assists in communication within that group. 

I think that it is important to realise that there are many different types of literacies. My focus has mostly been on print literacy and I have applied this knowledge to information technologies, instead of perhaps taking on some of the information literacies. Text speak is a form of literacy and has just as much validity in the lives of our students as academic literacy, but I do think that there needs to be a distinction within the classroom. Students understand when text speak is appropriate and utilise it outside of the classroom in social settings, such as sending a text message, on facebook or on twitter. It is important that students understand the distinction between academic and non-academic writing. At the same time, I feel as though it is important to acknowledge students language and culture, as it is part of who they are and it would be demeaning to degrade or to ignore it all together. Potentially, if teachers are facing difficulties with students confusing text speak with academic literacy, they could place the two versions up against each other and allow students to compare and contrast and to make their own decisions about which language is appropriate for different contexts. I think that it is important that students become critical of all literacies and that they are able to think and to analyse different sources and to realise the place of each of these literacies and know how to engage with them. It then becomes the role of the teacher, to provide students access with a range of resources and experiences to develop confidence in the different literacies.

My name is Lexie and I am a twitter convert. At the beginning of this year, If I had been told that I would not only have my own twitter account but would also enjoy using it, I would have laughed and not given it another thought... oh, how times change! I have actually taken to twitter and my twitter knowledge has developed mostly through collaboration with friends. Just last week, I discovered what trending was and found this to be truly was one of the most exciting elements. If everybody is talking about a particular topic (or person), then this topic may then emerge on the trending list. I think that had a huge part to play in the promotion of one Miss Rebecca Black and the "Friday" song, which had spread over the internet in less than a week! So, twitter is an almighty powerful force to be reckoned with!

What I find fascinating about twitter is that anybody can communicate with anybody around the world. Twitter, when compared to facebook is much, much simpler. While facebook has a element of microblogging, in that users can update each other with their status', it is also concerned with sharing relationships, photos and interests with your 'friends.' Twitter allows you to follow, or be followed by others from around the world. Twitter also allows users to send out short posts (140 characters), which can be directed to ALL of your followers, or directly to specific users, by using the @ symbol. My only criticism of twitter, is that it feels a little voyeuristic. I understand that users allow people to follow them and can choose to make their posts public or private but I still don't feel completely comfortable with the idea that potentially anyone in the world has access to my posts and I also have access to theirs. Still, I think that twitter has a huge part to play in connecting people around the world and to promote the wide-spread sharing of information and discussion of ideas, in a way that wasn't possible before.