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Post by carolinebyrnes on May 19, 2016 1:20:22 GMT
I found the digital literacy article extremely fascinating. My favorite assignments in elementary school were WebQuests. A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. These can be created using various programs, including a simple word processing document that includes links to websites. I have vivid memories of being so excited to go to the media center to learn and explore on my own and I was even more excited to share what I learned with my classmates. I was lucky to have great teachers, go to well funded school that had the resources for me to do these assignments. In the early 2000's I remember computers being a huge deal and their importance is even bigger today. Technology and digital literacy plays a huge role in how individuals gather information and see the world. I believe that it is extremely for people to use technology to engage in that way. However, not all students are as lucky as I was/am. There are many barriers to implementing technology and the use of digital literacies in the classroom 1) funds 2) lack of system support 3) lack of system knowledge 4) lack of teacher knowledge 5) lack of teacher support. What are some ways we as educators can overcome these barriers?
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Post by carolinebyrnes on May 19, 2016 1:26:00 GMT
I also loved the idea of disciplinary literacies and how each field has it's own discourse. the idea of an insider language has been interesting to observe in our very class. While teaching and school psychology share a lot of similar language there are some huge differences as well. I have found it hard sometimes to explain myself to those who are not in the school psychology program. However, this gives the school psychology students great practice because we will be interacting with teachers the rest of our careers ( and teachers will be interacting with us as well) . It is a skill to explain yourself using a "universal" discourse. I am not even sure if there is such a thing as a "universal" discourse. Any thoughts?
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Post by colleen on May 19, 2016 1:32:32 GMT
Ditto on what Bri said, thanks for starting a new thread Sarah!
The part that shocked me most during the health and literacy video was the apprehension that the people had about even going to a doctor's office because of literacy issues. It makes sense though, going to the doctor isn't exactly a pleasant experience to start with and it's always annoying filling out new patient paperwork. But adding the fact that you may not be able to read or understand the paperwork makes it even more intimidating. Worse still, there's the expectation that you should just know what you're doing as an adult. It was heartbreaking to watch the woman who got a hysterectomy without fully understanding the procedure because she couldn't read the paperwork. I thought she was especially brave for admitting that in a video though. I agree with Bri that it's almost a systems level healthcare issue, that patients aren't able to understand what is happening during a doctor visit without reading the accompanying paperwork and explaining the procedure isn't made a priority.
Something that I found really interesting from the digital literacy article was that it equated engaging in digital literacy practices with learning to engage in traditional reading practices. It stated that in order for a child to learn to read a book, they need guidance and support to fully read the material and understand its implications. The same thing can be said for using technology - it's not just enough to provide the technology, it is imperative that students actually know how to use it and understand the benefits enough to actually want to use it.
A lot of it comes down to funding for technology in schools. Some schools do not have the funding for technological aids to the curriculum. Conversely, there are schools with technology funding that have brand new smartboards and ipads in the classroom but are in low SES areas and lack some common, basic prerequisites to attending class. What good is a smartboard in the classroom if a student is coming in hungry, with no pencil or paper and in an area where they don't feel safe? Technology opens so many doors to new forms of literacy but it isn't the end all be all. Simply providing the technology isn't enough, it needs to act as an aid in an otherwise enriching and positive environment. With that being said, when technology is properly implemented it allows students to express themselves in less restrictive and more imaginative ways and that is a huge benefit.
I came across a quote in the reading that I absolutely love. I'm not entirely sure what it has to do with digital literacy (I guess it makes a good tie in for digital literacy relating to agency and meaningfulness) but I thought it was illuminating and succinct.
"If people are to nurture their souls, they need to feel a sense of control, meaningfulness, even expertise in the face of risk and complexity. They want and to feel like heroes in their own life stories and feel that their stories make sense. They need to feel that they matter and that they have mattered in other people's stories. If the body feeds on food, the soul feeds on agency and meaningfulness" (Gee, 2007, p.10)
^^ mind BLOWN.
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Post by ericalharris on May 19, 2016 1:33:55 GMT
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Post by carolinebyrnes on May 19, 2016 1:37:00 GMT
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Post by colleen on May 19, 2016 1:44:37 GMT
Instead of formal notes this week I'm including highlighted points of interest and quotes from the reading.   |
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Post by rachelmartin1 on May 19, 2016 1:45:05 GMT
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Post by bdelisi on May 19, 2016 2:08:05 GMT
Here are my notes for reading 3  |
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Post by Jack Bond on May 19, 2016 2:48:42 GMT
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Post by Jack Bond on May 19, 2016 3:05:29 GMT
Gotta say I really loved the gist of what the readings/video/info searched for were getting at. That at the end of the day so much of what we learn is heavily influenced by the literacy practices we do/don't learn as kids. It's a snowball effect: if we don't effectively learn the foundations as kids, in whatever way will help, it's going to affect the more complicated literacies we encounter as we get older. The video also made we wonder if it's relevant for particular generations: not to say that education wasn't a priority several decades ago, but today we're learning/studying more about how to ensure students can achieve as much as they can in schools. Couple that with the dramatic increase in technology in such a short amount of time, it makes you wonder what troubles that students who don't receive effective literacy assistance will encounter.
As a small aside to what us in school psych learned in the fall, disciplinary literacy aspects really reminded me of Gc/crystallized intelligence's importance in understanding the competencies and capability of individuals: certain assessments and tests that possess questions heavily influenced by Western culture would not be appropriate not familiar with the culture, and wouldn't be relevant as a question of intelligence. This is extremely similar to me with how disciplinary literacy uses one's experiences & etc. in tandem with one's ability to think critically or read or etc., in order to provide an overall understanding (i.e. literacy) of an area.
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Post by leighvand on May 19, 2016 3:42:15 GMT
The Health Literacy Video was incredibly terrifying. You all have hit all the points that crossed my mind though. I want to say that this issue is mostly a medical field issue, and that the doctors of these patients have not fully explained their medicines/procedures/health issues. I luckily have had health care professionals that ensure that I understand my medicines, etc. But I definitely have been in conversations with another person and I am not sure what they are talking about, but embarrassment keeps me from asking what a certain word means. While I think being able to read CAN be important in those situations, I believe healthcare professionals should fully explain all aspects of another's health conditions. That being said, how does that relate to how a classroom works? How is a teacher equivalent to the doctor in this situation? I probably thought myself in circles when it came to disciplinary literacies versus content-area reading. These terms seemed to reflect one another in many instances. The largest defining factors that helped me distinguish the two was that content-area used reading/writing to learn the subject matter while disciplinary literacy uses the literacies to make meaning specialized within the discipline. I also found this imagery:  |
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Post by jessicadiazr on May 19, 2016 3:49:22 GMT
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Post by hannahacree on May 19, 2016 6:38:23 GMT
A point in the article on digital literacies that stuck out to me was the distinction between viewing digital literacy as a set of technical skills or as cognitive and socio-emotional aspects of work in a digital environment. To me this defines digital literacy as being able to functionally perform in a digital environment without necessarily engaging in the task or technology, or reasoning through a task, using the correct skills to succeed and engaging the technology, information, and task. I can't help but attempt to extend this to our use of digital literacy and use of literacy in the classroom, are we pushing and encouraging students to have a cognitive, socio-emotional, well rounded learning experience; or simply encouraging the mastery of tasks and skills?
As many have mentioned, I also found the Health Literacy Video frightening and saddening. I always knew that there were people in the world who cannot read well, but I thought they must know enough to operate in the world, assuming medical literacy would be something general and everyday enough that they would be able to successfully do it. This video did not support that. This gap in reading and understanding among people is concerning when applied to medicine, when a misunderstanding can easily become harmful. It also saddened me that people who had difficulty reading or knowing what some medical language meant, were too afraid or nervous to ask for clarification. I hate that the way our society is set up, people put themselves and their families in danger because they are too afraid to ask for help for fear of embarrassment or of what others might think. I wonder what ways there are to bridge the gap in which healthcare providers are more explicit with patients, and a culture of asking for help when needed is accepted? In regards to the classroom, I am certain students experience similar feelings, they don't want to appear dumb or behind to their peers so they never speak up and express that they are confused or lacking. That makes our jobs as teacher and school psychologists that much more important, to identify those who struggle and ensure that they are supported.
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linda
New Member
Posts: 30 
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Post by linda on May 19, 2016 11:34:50 GMT
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Post by delilah rogers on May 19, 2016 15:48:49 GMT
i found it really interesting how in the article there was a great deal of emphasis to say that we are not digitally literate if we simply had the knowledge of the context, but we must also know how to apply it in relevant situations. I think it is very important to put this much emphasis on all forms of literacy, especially in the classroom, as we can't consider a student literate simply because they know how to read the words, but they also have to understand what everything means and know how to apply the understanding in context. In terms of writing as well, if we simply knew how to write words, that doesn't mean that we can write, we need to be able to form coherent sentences and convey ideas through writing to prove that we are literate in the area. Also i think the idea of disciplinary literacy is somewhat similar to this idea that they got across, as it is literacy in their discipline in which they are fluent in their area of work, in which they must engage in different areas of their work.
Like many other, the video was very shocking to me, there is no way i could imagine a life where i wasn't literate in reading. The things I would miss out on and the embarrassment felt from not being able to do something that is thoroughly expected of you in society. I couldn't imagine not knowing how to take my medicine, or read a menu in a restaurant, signs on the road, poetry, quotes, and more. I honestly was not aware that this was even an issue is this day and age. I wish doctors would take this into consideration when treating a patient and explain the medication before giving it to their patients in case they cannot read it.
to what caroline said, i feel like if there was a universal discourse, it may be body language since many forms of body language or facial expressions tend to have the same meanings across the world. In some sense this may not be true however because there are very many varying forms of bodying language across the world.
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