New Literacies Instruction in Teacher Education

By McPherson, Sarah Wang, Shiang-Kwei; Hsu, Hui-Yin; Tsuei, Mengping

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming the priorities of the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to focus on preparing students for the new literacies. Literacy is defined as a relative, rather than absolute, range of knowledge and skills for reading, writing, communicating and critical thinking (International Literacy Institute, 2002, p. 9). According to the Partnership of 21st Century Skills, new literacy is the ability to use ICTs to develop 21st century content knowledge and skills critical for success in the workplace and in life. The new literacy is an additional set of basic skills essential for surviving in a digital networked environment.

Armstrong and Warlick (2004) describe the new skills as the 4 Es:

1. Reading: Exposing Knowledge. Finding information with web search tools, and decoding, evaluating and organizing the information for meaning and problem solving.

2. Arithmetic: Employing Information. Understanding the immense quantity of digital information often expressed in the language of numbers.

3. Writing: Expressing Ideas. Communicating effectively through the exchange of information and ideas over the web.

4. Ethics: The Right and Wrong of the Information Highway. Addressing the ethical issues of reliability, fair use, ownership of information, and the security of the infrastructure.

Similarly, according to the Tapio Varis, the UNESCO Chair of Global e-Learning (Varis, 2002), new literacies encompass several types of literacies:

* Technology literacy: The ability to use the Internet to access and communicate information.

* Information literacy: The ability to research and analyze information to make valid decisions.

* Media literacy: The ability to produce, distribute and evaluate audio/video content.

* Global literacy: The understanding of the interdependence of people all over die world and the ability to participate in global interactions and collaboration.

* Social competence and responsibility literacy: An awareness of the need for safety and privacy associated with uses of the Internet.

ICTs can be described as having these dimensions: 1) a natural function as tools for collaboration and conversation, 2) intelligent repositories of knowledge, 3) seamless integration, 4) ubiquitous access, 5) secure and authentic, and 6) reliable and scalable (Masullo, Moreno, and Tsantis, 2005). The magnitude and velocity of change in these dimensions are redefining the nature of literacy. The new literacies generate a critical need for new instructional practices so that K-12 students are indeed literate as 21st century citizens (Cavanaugh, 2005). Therefore, teacher educators have a responsibility to effectively integrate ICTs into literacy curriculum to prepare students for their futures as teachers (International Reading Association, 2005). Developing competence in dynamic web connectivity and interactivity are new literacy skills, in addition to existing uses of productivity tools such as word processors and PowerPoint. Effective teaching strategies for using web browsers, web editors, e-mail, instant messaging, synchronous conferencing, and technologies not yet even imagined should be included in teacher preparation programs.

Web-based ICTs

It goes without saying that the web is an important resource for teaching and learning (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2003). It is a repository of instant information and easily accessible publications for teachers and students. Hands-on instruction in effective uses of ICTs prepares teachers to use the web and web-publishing tools to enhance curriculum and instruction for K- 12 students. Practice using web-based tools provides experience for teacher candidates to develop proficiency with the dynamics and interface of web tools for communication and collaboration. Examples of web-based ICTs for literacy instruction include:

* Blogs and wikis

* Virtual literature circles

* Internet Workshop model

* Digital concept mapping

* Online chats and video conferencing

Blogs and wikis

Blogs and wikis have created a need to prepare teachers to use the web and web-publishing tools for teaching and learning (Godwin- Jones, 2003). These free, flexible, and easy-to-use applications are attractive to teacher educators for publishing their own ideas, reactions, and reflections on interactive collaborative websites. The use of blogs and wikis in instructional technology and teaching methods courses provide pre- and in-service teachers authentic experiences for becoming proficient with the application of these technologies for publishing, discussing, and sharing with fellow teachers (McPherson, et al., 2006).

In the introductory phase of a collaborative project between universities in New York and Taipei, the students used a wiki to provide clues to introduce their respective cities. The clues evoked critical thinking and cultural knowledge using text, graphics, and sound.

Blogs were used to support collaborative research and writing through the globalization project with education students in New York and Taiwan. In New York, the project was implemented in an online course called Language Arts and Technology, which addressed topics such as diversity in the classroom, reading strategies, global education, and digital literacy (Global teachers in the 21st century). In Taipei in-service teachers in a graduate multimedia course participated. Graduate students from both universities posted their life maps, including their personal backgrounds and reasons for becoming teachers.

According to Richardson (2006), an advantage of blogs is the organization of discussions as personal publications enabling communication. Blogs serve as bulletin boards for collective commentary on resources and current issues related to topics introduced in the course (Martindale and Wiley, 2004).

In the teacher education programs at the New York Institute of Technology, blogs were designed to facilitate class participation in three graduate courses –

* Foundations I: Philosophy of Instructional Technology (http:// nyitedit603.blogspot.com/)

* Foundations II: Diversity, Technology and Learning (http:// diversitytech.blogspot.com/)

* Language Arts and Technology (http://nyitedla615.blogspot.com/ and http://edla615fa2006. blogspot.com/)

– and two undergraduate courses:

* Teaching Reading (http://diversestudent. blogspot.com!)

* Curriculum Articulation through Multimedia (http:// videoblognyit.blogspot.com/).

The instructor for each course organized blog activities around topics such as diversity, teaching strategies and resources, globalization and digital literacy. Students were prompted to post their ideas, research findings, and reflections on assigned topics as well as comment on the postings of their classmates. For example, participants in the instructional technology course Foundations II: Diversity, Learning, and Technology, posted synopses of current news articles related to diversity issues and their personal commentary and reactions to the issues reported. Hotlinks to the articles allowed readers access to the original sources as well as their classmates’ comments (http://uftsummer.blogspot.com/). Another section of the same course used blogs to report on research about assistive technology devices (http://atitprojectssp07.blogspot. cow/ ).These blogs empowered students to publish their ideas and perspectives on critical issues presented in class lectures (Oravec, 2002). In the Teaching Reading course, teacher candidates exchanged reflections on reading instruction they had observed during assigned field work and their perceptions of the effectiveness of that instruction for diverse learners (http://diversity2006.blogspot.com/ ). The blogs also supported use of multimedia formats. For example, in the Curriculum Articulation through Multimedia course, teacher candidates shared instructional video clips they had created on the video blog (http://videoblognyit. blogspot.com/) along with unit lesson plans and reflections. The blog became a resource giving other teachers access to materials to use in their classrooms.

The wiki format supports collaboration to produce concepts inclusive of ideas of all participants. Wikis can be edited by anyone and everyone, which facilitates consensus for group production. In K- 12 learning environments, group collaboration tools foster cooperative learning; in teacher education, group collaboration prepares teachers in the use of these tools. Cooperating, contributing, and reaching consensus are valuable interpersonal group dynamic skills that motivate participants in learning and work environments.

The graduate in-service teachers were excited to learn these new applications to use with their own students. They felt that blogs and wikis have potential for increasing their students’ interest and engagement in learning. One teacher commented that the blog “gave choice and students like choices, not to always be assigned what the teacher deems acceptable.” Another teacher stated, “Once I started, it was amazing; I did not want to stop. Learning became fun because it was realistic.” Blogs and wikis may provide an intrinsic excitement for learning that motivates students to participate in reading and writing, particularly if their teachers model enthusiasm using these simple web-based tools. Security is an issue when using online communication tools. There is a danger of publishing inappropriate or private information. It is quite easy to link from a blog dashboard to other blogs that may deal with inappropriate or indecent topics. The freedom to publish carries the responsibility of ethical and socially appropriate uses of web publication. Rigorous K- 12 classroom management strategies must be enforced to prevent abuse. Managing security of blog or wiki sites should be part of teacher candidates’ instruction to prepare them for effective implementation in their classrooms.

Virtual literature circles: Asynchronous discussion forum

The Internet supports the notion of book clubs through websites and virtual book discussions as a means of sharing ideas about books with a wider audience (Daniels, 2002). In the online Language Arts and Technology course, the class was divided into three groups. Each group read a different novel and participated in literature circle activities using the threaded discussion forums, file exchange, and collaborative chat tools of Blackboard(TM). Adapted from Ziegers (2002) description of roles for participants in literature circles, each member in the group assumed one of the following roles to facilitate the discussion:

* Discussion Director, to develop questions to discuss

* Vocabulary Enricher, to choose words that are difficult or used in an unfamiliar way

* Connector, to find connections between the story and other literary works, event(s) in the outside world or in his/her personal life

* Illustrator, to draw or locate pictures related to the reading

* Travel Tracer, to track the movement of the characters

* Investigator, to provide background information related to the book

This experience in small online groups with specific roles, timelines, and group projects allowed for authentic interaction, collaboration, communication and publication. The participants related their own background and experiences to the discussion while experiencing and modeling how this same process works in a 12 classroom. For example, a participant from Jamaica brought his personal cultural and historical perspective to the discussion of the Island of the Blue Dolphin. Another participant related the novel to her feelings of isolation when she arrived in the United States four years earlier. The online exchange in the literature circle gave these participants voice to express their background and perspective to the literature, a strategic instructional device to carry into their own teaching.

The online environment in K-12 fosters the emergence of student voice describing unique perspectives, feelings, and ideas in the communication exchange. Participating in virtual book discussions in a collaborative Internet environment has the potential to improve K- 12 students’ reading, writing, communication and critical thinking skills and to expand their perspectives and perceptions with an audience of their peers in the classroom and around the world.

Internet Workshop model: Web research template

Internet Workshop is a framework for independent reading on a specific topic on the Internet (Karchmer, et al., 2005). The teacher specifies a website location and guided questions for analyzing and synthesizing the information found there. The students then share their research and exchange ideas and strategies they discovered. This approach to Internet research allows students to learn content information from each other and develop critical literacy skills for using information obtained from the web. Leu (2002) states that although Internet Workshop may have many variations, it includes these basic procedures:

1) The teacher locates and bookmarks an Internet site with content related to a curriculum topic.

2) The teacher designs an activity, series of questions, or response prompts, etc., requiring students to use the site to meet content, critical literacy, or strategic curriculum knowledge goals.

3) Students complete the web research activity.

4) Students share information, questions, and insights gained from the web research activity.

The Internet Workshop is a template for web research focusing on one or two URLs rather than using search engines. Following the template outline in effect results in a worksheet. The structure guides the research and results in students’ analysis and synthesis of information. This straight-forward instructional strategy focuses the instruction and guides student discussion and productivity. In the Language Arts and Technology course graduate in-service teachers designed and implemented Internet Workshop activities in their subject areas and examined the effectiveness of the model. Through learning-by-doing, in-service teachers gained the skills to incorporate effective Internet research strategies into their teaching.

Digital concept mapping

Digital concept mapping is a tool used to describe relations or an overview of knowledge domains (Plotnick, 1997). It provides a visual representation using symbols, pictures, icons, clip art, and minimal text to depict a holistic understanding not easily conveyed by words alone. In the collaborative project between the graduate students in the U.S. and Taiwan, digital concept mapping of the participants’ important life events was introduced as a tool for self-introductions. Students primarily used Inspiration”, an easy- to-use K- 12 software readily available in most schools. Some more advanced students used MS PowerPoint clip art or even a basic web page design. Concept mapping provided a way of communicating with minimal language barriers and allowed the participants in the two countries to see similarities in their lives and career paths that lead to their becoming teachers.

Online chats and video conferencing

For a virtual learning community, synchronous online communication simulates natural interactions common to face-to-face communication (Uttendorfer, et al., 2006). The interchange is essentially a virtual conversation or question and answer session via the Internet. Online chats are frequently used in higher education courses to extend class discussion. Applications in K- 12 may include online chats with celebrities, business executives, authors, or newspaper reports, or support conversations related to global collaborative projects, support groups for young people with eating disorders, or college admissions. A NASA simulation used in a science methods class gave pre-service teachers first-hand experience with decision-making using authentic data for a natural disaster relief Direct interaction with a NASA astronaut was facilitated by video conferencing technology and added real-life context to the activity.

Webinar (web+seminar) is another webbased communication tool. In a webinar session, a web-cam system allows participants to see and hear each other, adding to the personal connectivity of the experience and allowing file sharing, simultaneous access to visuals and whiteboards, collaborative development, and real-time audio discussion (Rovai, et al. 2001). Business has found that these tools save travel time, allowing people at a distance to be in the same meeting at the same time. Schools may use webinar tools (such as Elluminate(TM), Comotiv(TM), or Adobe Breeze(TM)) to enable students in different locations to participate in the same class at the same time. Teachers with experience in these environments learn the advantages of synchronous interactivity and have the expertise for use in their own classrooms if the necessary equipment and network infrastructure are available.

Use of these tools adds real-time interaction to the traditional classroom in a way never before possible. However, the logistics and training for using synchronous tools are more complicated than asynchronous web-based publishing tools. Cameras, microphones, and high speed bandwidth are required for the voice and video to be recognizable. Scheduling of sessions must be synchronized so that the participants can access the conference at the appropriate time. Participants not facile with the technology can de-rail a meeting or class when technical difficulties arise. Adequate training and practice is critical to successful access to online chats and video conferences.

Conclusions

This article has provided a brief overview of several types of instruction that support development of ICT skills. The strategies skills and technology are summarized in Table 1.

The Internet and ICTs are changing our definition of literacy. To become fully literate in today’s world, students must become proficient in the new literacies of ICTs. Therefore, teacher educators have a responsibility to integrate these technologies across the curriculum in order to prepare students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to use ICTs effectively for critical thinking in the work place and their adult lives (International Reading Association, 2005). Teacher competency with ICTs in the classroom requires knowledge, skills, understandings, and attitudes that are inextricably bound up with content, context and pedagogy. Providing authentic experience in teacher preparation courses will prepare pre- and in-service teachers with a vast array of skills to create meaningful and productive learning contexts. Given the importance of these new literacies to the future of our children, it is imperative that teacher preparation programs include ICT tools in their curriculum.

“Wikis can be edited by anyone and everyone, which facilitates consensus for group production. In K-12 learning environments, group collaboration tools foster cooperative learning; in teacher education, group collaboration prepares teachers in the use of these tools.”

References

Armstrong, S., & Warlick, D. (2004). The new literacy. techLEARNING. Retrieved May 7, 2007, from

Cavanaugh, T. (2005). Integrating literacy and technology literacy instruction in preservice education. Paper presented at the 2005 World Conference on ?-Learning in Corporate Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Vancouver, BC. Retrieved May 5, 2007, from http:// www.unf.edu/~tcavanau/presentations/ elearn/ NewLit2005/index.htm Daniels, H. (2002). Literature circles: Voice and choice in book clubs and reading groups. [Electronic version]. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Global teachers in the 21st century. (2006). Retrieved June 30, 2007, from http:// www.wretch.cc/blog/global06

Godwin-Jones, R. (2003). Emerging technologies: Blogs and wikis: Environments for online collaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 12-16.

International Literacy Institute (April 2002). Towards guidelines for the improvement of literacy assessment in developing countries: Conceptual dimensions based on the LAP project. Retrieved October 10, 2006, from http://www.literacy.org/products/ili/ pdf/ LAPGuidelines.pdf#search=’Curr ent%201iteracy%20relative%20absolu te%2C”

International Reading Association, (2005). Integrating Literacy and Technology in the Curriculum. Retrieved April 25, 2006, from http://www.reading. org/downloads/positions/psl048_ technology.pdf

Karchmer, R. A., Mallette, M. H., KaraSoteriou, J., & Leu, D. J., Jr. (Eds.) (2005). Innovative approaches to literacy education: Using the Internet to support new literacies. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Leu, D. (2002). Internet workshop: Making time for literacy. Reading Online: Exploring Literacy on the Internet. Retrieved May 5, 2007, from http:// www.readingonline.org/electronic/ RT/2-02_Column/

Leu, D., & Coiro, J. (2004). New literacies for new times: Why and how the literacy community needs to rethink its mission. [Electronic version], WSRA Journal, 44(5), 3-7.

Martindale, T., & Wiley, D.A. (2004). Using weblogs in scholarship and teaching. TechTrends, 49(2), 55-61.

Masullo, M., Moreno, W., 8c Tsantis, L. (2005, July). An anatomy of the international ICT divide. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Orlando, FL.

McPherson, S., Wang, S.-K., Hsu, H-Y., & Tsuei, M. (2006, October). New literacy instruction in teacher education. Paper presented at the 2006 World Conference on ?-Learning in Corporate Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Honolulu, HI.

National Center for Educational Statistics, (2003). Weaving a secure web around education: A guide to technology standards and security. Retrieved November 13, 2006, from http://nces.ed.gov/ pubs2003/ secureweb/ch_ 1 .asp

National Council of Teachers of English, (2003). NCTE Position statement on composingwith nonprint media. Retrieved April 25, 2006, from http://www.ncte. org/about/over/positions/category/ media/ 1 1 49 1 9.htm?source=gs

Oravec, J. A. (2002). Bookmarking the world: Weblog applications in education. Journal of Adolescent o- Adult Literacy, 45(7), 616- 621.

Partnership of 21st Century Skills, (n.d.). Framework for 21″ century iearning: Information and communication literacy. Retrieved May 5, 2007 from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index. php?option=com_content&task=view8ri d=61&Itemid=135

Plotnick, E. (1997, June). Concept mapping: A graphical system for understanding the relationship between concepts. ERIC Digest. Syracuse, N Y: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED407938). Retrieved September 6, 2006, from http://www.ericdigests. org/ 1 998- 1 / concept.htm

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, and podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Rovai, A., Cristol, D. S., & Lucking, R. (2001, April). Building classroom community at a distance. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.

Uttendorfer, M., McPherson, S., Silverman, S., & Tirotta, R. (2006, July). Emerging technologies to enhance the human dimension in online courses. Paper presented at the Annual National Educational Computing Conference, San Diego, CA.

Varis, T. (2002, March 7-8). Challenges of learning society. Presentation at the 21st Century Literacy Summit, Berlin. RealPlayer and PowerPoint presentations retrieved June 27, 2007 from http:// savonlinna.joensuu.fi/eom/LETTET05/ detailed_program.html#wednesday

Varis, T (2002, November). Image Education and Media Literacy in Approaches to Media Literacy and e-Learning: European Commission Workshop, Brussels.

Zieger, J. (2002, March). Literature Circles. TeacherNet Gazette, 3(3). Retrieved May 5, 2007, from http://teachers.net/gazette/ MAR02/ zeiger.html

Dr. Sarah McPherson is assistant professor and chair of the Instructional Technology master’s program at New York Institute of Technology. She teaches several courses including Diversity, Learning & Technology and Language Arts and Technology. She consults with International Society of Technology in Education and the Maryland Technology Consortium and is a board member for NYSCATE, a New York Association for Instructional Technology Educators.

Dr. Shiang-Kwei Wang is assistant professor at New York Institute of Technology. She teaches courses in multimedia authoring and instructional design in the Instructional Technology graduate program. Her research includes uses of emerging collaborative tools for instruction.

Dr. Hui-Yin Hsu is assistant professor at New York Institute of Technology and coordinator of the reading component of the Teacher Education program. She teaches basic methods courses in Teaching Reading and Reading across the content areas.

Dr. Mengping Tsuei is associate professor at Taipei Municipal University for Education. She teaches courses in multimedia authoring and instructional design in the computer science graduate education program.

Copyright Association for Educational Communications & Technology Sep/Oct 2007

(c) 2007 TechTrends. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.