Using New Literacies in the Classroom

What are “New Literacies?”

According to the University of Connecticut’s Carnegie Research Grant, new literacies include the following:

• Locating information using menu, search engine, links, or other navigation finders relevant to a topic or goal.

• Critically evaluating information within and across web pages against standards of credibility that take into account the information’s source, authority, mode of representation, logic and purpose. 

• Synthesizing information from many sign systems (e.g., print, pictures, icons, moving images, audio, and other design elements) and sources to construct a working mental model of the content
• Communicating information by producing a representation that coherently, explicitly, and persuasively articulates the meaning intended by the author(s)


How can new literacies be used in the classroom?

Digital storytelling is a way in which teachers can have their students create project-based assessments while using these new literacies. iMovie and Book Writer are two apps which students can use to create multi-media productions on an assigned topic. Book Writer allows students to create interactive eBooks by “adding pictures, text, voice recordings, songs, and videos”(Book Writer Description). iMovie allows students to create videos, commercials, or documentaries to communicate the information they have learned. For both types of projects, the students would need to locate and research information using multiple webpages, construct a working model of the content, and coherently communicate what they have learned; all of these are examples of how the students would be using new literacies.


How do new literacies tie in with the Common Core Standards?

According to Digital Storytelling and the Common Core Standards, “The anchor standards for speaking and listening include students learning how to “make strategic use of digital media…to express information and enhance understanding of presentations; present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning; and to adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks”. Both iMovie and Book Writer would allow students to make strategic use of digital media to present information in a creative way. Students could produce digital videos using iMovie and then upload this video to their interactive book on Book Writer, "making strategic use of digital media."

Project, Problem, and Case-based Learning: Perfect for the Science Classroom

Problem-based Learning

The students are given an essential question at the beginning of a unit. This guides the instruction throughout the entire unit. With this type of learning, the instruction is very student-centered. The students participate in activities and do research to try to answer the essential question. The teacher plans the activities and provides researching tools for the students, but does not give much direct instruction.

I am actually in the middle of a unit right now that would be an example of problem based learning. The students are trying to answer an essential question which was given to them at the beginning of the unit: “How has the shape of Connecticut’s landscape come to be the way that it is?” The students have done numerous hands-on activities related to erosion and weathering, researched different types of erosion and weathering, and watched videos about how different features in CT have formed (CT River Valley, Morraine at Hammonasset Beach, beaches, Long Island Sound, etc.). They will then answer the essential question at the end of the unit by writing a scientific explanation about how CT’s landscape has come to be the way it is. The students use technology by researching information about Connecticut’s landscape on laptops and from videos on the SmartBoard. They also take a virtual field trip of Grinnell Glacier on Google Earth to see how a glacier is affecting Montana's landscape, and relating this to CT's landscape.

Project-based Learning

The students create or design a solution to a real-world problem. This is similar to problem based Learning because students are investigating a question. However, it is different than problem-based learning because they are actually building an object or contraption that solves a problem. The teacher might present the students with a problem, and the students might collaborate in groups to engineer a solution. The teacher provides the materials, but the lessons are mostly student-centered.

Every student is required to complete a project-based learning project in our district. As a science teacher, I am responsible for rolling out the projects in my classroom. Some examples of what students might do for the project might be a science experiment or an invention. The students come up with a problem question that they would like to investigate or solve. Then they design an experiment to solve the problem question or an invention to solve a real-world problem. The students might use technology to create a graph using Excel to show their results from their science experiment or a commercial on iMovie to market their invention.


Case-based Learning

 Teachers uses a case-study to guide instruction. In this type of learning the students are given a real world scenario, and they have to come up with a solution to the problem in groups (student-centered). This is usually in the form of a written paragraph or formal proposal. This is different than project-based learning, because it is a written solution instead of a designed solution.

In my classroom, the students are given a real-world scenario about reducing the amount of polluted runoff that reaches the river in our town (We actually had a major water pollution disaster this summer from a factory near the river). The students write a proposal about how they would solve this problem if they worked for the local Water Department.

The following links have some examples of case-based learning lessons:

http://archive.tlt.psu.edu/suggestions/cases/casewhat.html

http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/

Modeling Digital Age Work and Learning

According to the ISTE standards, teachers are expected to model digital age work and learning by “collaborating with students, peers, parents and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation”(ISTE). There are many ways that teachers can become a professional teacher and digital citizen like they suggest. Updating a classroom website, sending out Remind text messages, and updating a Google Calendar could be some ways that teachers collaborate with students and parents. They can also use an online portfolio such as SeeSaw which allows students to upload and document what they are doing or learning in class. Blogging works similarly in which students can upload documents they have written, videos they have made, models they have drawn, etc. On a blogging site or SeeSaw parents can then view what their children are learning in class and teachers can review progress.


Teachers can also create an e-Portfolio for themselves to use as evidence of good teaching. In Karen Barnstable’s article 41 Benefits of an ePortfolio, she states that teachers will learn the following by doing an e-Portfolio: “ They will refresh their skills in documenting lifelong learning experiences. This allows them to bring all of their learning to their daily job challenges. Employees will be able to demonstrate professional growth and show a commitment to continued learning”(Barnstable). It is so important for teachers to continue staying up-to-date on the newest technologies as well as demonstrate an enthusiasm for continued lifelong learning, so an e-Portfolio would be a great way to document this. In their e-Portfolio (which could be on a website or a blog), teachers should include their resume, awards and honors, work samples and links to anything in their online professional presence such as social networking sites. Social networks such as Pinterest, Edmodo, Twitter and blogging sites can help teachers collaborate with students, peers, and parents. Pinterest is a great spot to search for interesting assignments, lesson plans, and websites by topic that other teachers have posted in addition to sharing classroom ideas with others outside of your district. Edmodo, Twitter, and blogs are great tools to follow other teachers like yourself to see what they are doing in their classrooms. Twitter and blogs can also be used by posting pictures of fun things you are doing in class so that parents and peers can see what the students are learning. Collaboration tools such as Google Drive and Slack are great for teachers within a district to share documents, important links, photos, etc. If teachers are using at least a few of these technologies to collaborate with parents, students, and peers, this is evidence of good teaching because they are using digital tools to “support student success and innovation”(ISTE).


Although it is important to have a professional online presence, teachers need to make sure that they separate their online personal lives and online professional lives. They shouldn’t allow parents or students to follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. if they are using these social networking sites to post pictures, political views, personal comments from their personal life, etc. Only parents and students should be allowed to follow teachers on social networks such as Twitter or a blogging site if they are posting about their classroom.

We Need to Teach in a Variety of Ways For All Learners

Did you know that learning styles are a myth? I didn’t know that either until today. While some students might prefer to learn visually instead of auditorily or kinesthetically, this doesn’t mean that they learn better this way. There is not any evidence that proves that learning styles impact learning. In fact there are multiple tests and experiments that have been done that show that when students are presented with material visually vs. auditorily, that the end results on their tests are the same. Although I think of myself as a visual learner, this just means that I prefer to learn visually rather than verbally. When presented with information in a verbal fashion I might actually zone out because I had previously been misinformed about how I learn best.


In the Psych Files Podcast on learning styles, Episode 90: The Learning Styles Myth: An Interview with Daniel Willingham, Willingham discusses how teachers need to keep ability separate from learning styles. Students may have different levels of ability in different content areas, but this does not mean they have different learning styles. He also talks about how everybody does better with visual imagery, not just people who think they are visual learners. The visual aspect in class is important for students to pay attention, whether it is doing a science experiment or tracing countries on a map.

In the video, Learning Styles Don’t Exist, Willingham says, “People learn in different ways. However, this doesn’t really relate to the classroom. Good teaching is good teaching, and teachers don’t need to adjust their teaching to individual students learning styles.” In his second video he further clarifies and says, “Teachers need to differentiate based on students’ interests, learning ability, and motivations, but not because of different learning styles.”

Teachers need to keep in mind that each individual student is different and may have different abilities or interests. Although learning styles are a myth, knowing about learning styles helps teachers to realize that they should be teaching content in a variety of ways for all learners. Teachers need to teach and present information in the following ways in order to benefit all students: visually, verbally, kinesthetically, musically, logically, socially, and solitarily. In his article, Matching Teaching Style to Learning Style May Not Help Students, David Glenn states, “Teachers should worry about matching their instruction to the content they are teaching. Some concepts are best taught through hands-on work, some are best taught through lectures, and some are best taught through group discussions.” There needs to be a mixture of pedagogies in order to have a successful classroom.

In the TED Talks Video, Learning Styles & the Importance of Critical Self-reflection, Tesia Marshik discusses how so many teachers believe and are even told that they need to adjust their teaching based on different learning styles. She says that we learn things in context or in terms of meaning, not based on a particular learning style. She says “We need to stop believing in learning styles, because we are wasting valuable resources, and it is one less thing teachers need to worry about. There is no evidence that shows it actually helps learning. Labeling yourself or a student as a particular learner might prevent you from trying other strategies that help you to learn better. All of us are capable of learning in a variety of ways.” I think that teachers and educators are so drawn to workshops about learning styles because the idea seems to make sense. While it may seem like a complete waste to know about learning styles if they don’t exist, it is partially beneficial to know about them if the teachers can use these ideas to teach to ALL of their students.


References

Britt, M. "Learning Styles - A Grand Myth." The Psych Files. N.p., 2016. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.

Glenn, B. D. (2009). Matching Teaching Style to Learning Style May Not Help Students. Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to/49497/

Marshik, T. (2015). Learning Styles & the Importance of Critical Self-Reflection. TED Talks. Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs

Willingham, D. (2008). Learning Styles Don't Exist. Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk