Reflection and Visions for the Future

There have been several topics that have sparked my interest over the last several months. I am feeling so much more confident with technology and excited about where this journey has taken me. Early on (mid-January), I expressed a keen interest in exploring Internet safety. As a foundational 21st century learning skill, I believe this is a point of entry for all students – to be able to use the Internet in a safe and appropriate manner. I did not explore this topic further in my course work for LIBE477, however still curious and seeking information, I did attend a ProD session on February 20, 2015 about Internet Safety. CyberSafety was a program presented by a middle school liaison officer in Kelowna and Bonny Lalach, the program coordinator for the Justice Education Society. The officer is a RCMP liaison in three schools in the Kelowna area and had many stories and examples to share that stressed the importance of teachers being aware, and gaining the necessary skills, to handle Internet safety issues proactively. She stressed the dire need for students to be safe/feel safe on-line. Her discussion was followed by an introduction to the CyberSafety program. This program is an online course that shows children/students how to stay safe in the digital world. The program is based on a series of videos and activities that help children learn about digital footprints, staying safe when sending messages and posting online, protecting themselves from identity theft and how to deal with cyber bullying and sexual predators. Upon completing (viewing) at least 90% of the course, which takes about 1.5 hours in total, participants can take an exam and earn a CybersafeBC certificate (Source Link).

I have scheduled this program into my Health and Career Education plans, which we will begin the first week back after spring break. The program provides a parent letter to send home so families are aware of the unit and the sensitive nature of the lessons. I am happy to have had the opportunity to explore Internet safety outside of my course time, as I had quickly decided back in January to shift gears to the inquiry phase and select a topic that would be of immediate relevance to all my students, both primary and intermediate. Ever since, the topic of ‘how to engage reluctant readers’ has been forefront in my mind.

By the end of January/early February, I had narrowed down a list of articles relating the engagement of reluctant readers – to increase their motivation through 21st century learning skills. I researched and looked at a variety of ways to do this: e-readers, interactive fiction, tablets, online stories, and games. I knew that the use of digital technologies would inspire, engage, and as a result likely enhance learning for all of my students. Articles by Hovious, Morgan, Serafini & Youngs confirmed this idea. A dominant theme ran through each of the four articles: they all discussed multimodal and digitally-based texts. Three of the articles I selected examine the general scope of breaking away from traditional book reports and paper/pencil tasks, and engaging readers through 21st century skills through the use of multimodal programs and digitally-based texts.

The first of these three articles, Reading Workshop 2.0: Children’s Literature in the Digital Age (Source Link), discusses a literacy environment that incorporates the use of multimodal and digitally-based texts. I found the article to be of great significance, as it describes several key aspects of a 21st century classroom model with regards to engaging readers. Using Digital Story Projects to Help Students Improve in Reading and Writing (Source Link), is a second resource I appreciated, as it offered information and insight not only on how technology (specifically digital stories) can not only motivate, but improve students’ reading and writing. The third resource I found, Multimodal Children’s E-Books Help Young Learners in Reading, (Source Link) furthers the discussion on how multimodal programs improve students’ interest in reading. Through the increased motivation, academic gains are seen along with an improvement in reading.

Inanimate Alice “Born Digital" (Source Link) is the fourth resource I referenced. This article is in a category of its own, as it discusses a specific multimodal program in detail: its creation, its intention, and its impact on students’ learning worldwide. Inanimate Alice is a program I have since spent hours “playing”. Inanimate Alice is a digital story that captivates student interest with sound, animation and other various media elements. I have enjoyed reading Alice’s story; her life from the age of 8 in episode 1 to age 16 in episode 5. Within these five episodes, Alice has travelled to China, Italy, Russia, Hometown, and Hometown 2. Upon viewing Alice’s story, I was immediately taken by interactivity of these stories. Immediately I began brainstorming and talking to colleagues about how the story of Alice could be used in the classroom/library to engage reluctant readers.

My ICT learning has included an introduction to blogging, Twitter, hashtags, embedding links, and Google+. By using these various forms of technology and social media related aspects, I feel that I can stay connected, receive and share a lot of information, and perhaps most importantly teach 21st century learning skills to my students, of which I had no previous applicable knowledge (Source Link). For me, this will include the social media networks Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Blogs, watching videos, and joining a Personal Learning Network (Source Link).

In terms of furthering my own ICT Skills, I mentioned in mid-February that listening to podcasts would be a fantastic use of my time during my 1.5 hour commute each day. I found a list of educator’s podcasts and have enjoyed three to date (Source Link). Some days I just want to sing on my way to/from work, but at least a couple times a week I enjoy the information, instruction and insight during my travels. This is definitely a routine that I will continue, long commute or not.

What has emerged for me as I look back on all of my posts and my inquiry phase as a learner in this course is that I would like to continue investigating how to motivate readers/engage reluctant reader’s through 21st century learning skills. This is a focus that has application in both the library and in the classroom (where I teach grade 5/6 two days a week). I have thought for weeks that putting together a unit on the multimodal game Inanimate Alice would comprise my final project. I had a vision of students watching Alice’s stories and then creating a digital story of their own. This would require me to first learn and create my own digital story, of which I have never done. I have read about a teacher in Australia that accomplishes this assignment with her grade 7s, so I imagine it is possible! My vision was to create my own digital story, to be used as a model for students. I wanted my storyline to be about how a young boy, a reluctant reader, whom discovers the world of digital stories upon which a new desire is ignited in him to read and create online.

Following my February 20th post on Supporting my Colleagues ICT Needs, I have begun to reconsider my final project idea. I awoke to the fact that I shy away from teaching my colleagues, as I feel too young, or too new to the profession, or too…(fill in the blank). My biggest take away from the February 20th assignment (and it was a big one for me) was that by sharing your wisdom with others you are not being arrogant, you are being of service. “It’s about them, not you. Giving, not gloating.” (Scivicque 2013). I am now contemplating how I can share what I have learned, specifically about engaging reluctant readers, with my staff. I would love to have a finished project that serves as both a unit which I can apply to the classroom and/or library, and also serves as a platform for presentation (such as staff meetings, Pro-D, curriculum meetings, or a Learning Community meeting).


References:

Hovious, A. (2014). Inanimate Alice: Born digital. Teacher Librarian, 42(2), 42-46.

Justice Education Society. (2014). CyberSafe BC. Retrieved from: http://cybersafebc.ca/user/register

Morgan, H. (2013). Multimodal children’s e-books help young learners in reading. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(6), 477-483.

Morgan, H. (2014). Using digital story projects to help students improve in reading and writing. Reading Improvement, 51(1), 20-26.

Scivicque, Chrissy. (July 25, 2013). 5 Ways to share your professional expertise and 4 reasons you should. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2013/07/25/5-ways-to-share-your-professional-expertise-and-4-reasons-you-should/

Serafini, F. & Youngs, S. (2013). Reading workshop 2.0: Children’s literature in the digital age. The Reading Teacher, 66(5), 401-404.