As the Internet became the dominant text of our generation, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s New Literacies Research Lab studied how integrating these online texts interacted with more traditional literacy practices. This work examined Online Reading Comprehension and helped identify the skills necessary as students read, write, and communicate online. Research in this nascent…
As artificial intelligence (AI) tools and assistants start to get more attention in society, one of the conversations I’m paying attention to is the future of AI in the classroom, and ultimately the future of education. In these discussions, there is a lot of hysteria and hyperbole about what machine learning, virtual assistants can do…
As we witness artificial intelligence (AI) virtual assistants capture the imagination and ire of most in society, it’s important to understand that we’re in the middle of the story. To a certain extent, AI, at least in the form of virtual assistants, or machine learning models is evolving. A recent example is found in wearable…
This week, Microsoft made an announcement that they’ve extended their partnership with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and GPT-3. As I’ve indicated in a previous post, I’m less interested in ChatGPT, and more interested in the technology and advances behind these tools. As part of this third extension of the partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft is…
What do you think of ChatGPT? One of the common conversations I’ve had over the last two months involves ChatGPT and the impact it has on our lives, and potentially our classrooms. Have no doubt, things are definitely different. I’m really excited and curious about ChatGPT. But, I’m more interested in the technology behind it.…
“For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” – Audre Lorde (1983) Together with a great group of colleagues, we published a piece in the special issue on Bringing Critical Media Literacy into ELA Classroom from NCTE. You can review the draft we submitted to the journal here. The full publication is embedded…
This week I held a webinar as part of my work with the Literacy in the Disciplines, 6-12 (LiD) group. The session focused on Traversing, Transforming, Transcending, and Transgressing wicked problems in the classroom. Many critical societal problems are neither simple nor easily solved; they are wicked problems (Zellner & Campbell, 2015). A wicked problem…
This post was written by Nenad Radakovic and Ian O’Byrne. Portions of this come from our publication titled Toward Transdisciplinarity: Constructing Meaning Where Disciplines Intersect, Combine, and Shift. In our educational spaces, we often break our areas of expertise down into specific subject matters. We educate, train, and certify classroom teachers in terms of grade…
Many important societal problems are neither simple nor easily solved; they are wicked problems. 1 A wicked problem is a social or cultural challenge that involves many social systems and…
During the past year and half, many educators across the board have had to make a shift to teaching online due to the global pandemic. As a result, educators have been both challenged and inspired in the online classroom. As we learn to live with a new normal, many questions remain as we attempt to…