This past trimester I continued to use Wikispaces and Google Sites as the primary online classroom learning space for my classes here in the Education Department. I wanted to take a second to explain how I’ve set up the two, and the rationale for each decision. This thought process is important as we ask educators…
Today we celebrate Digital Learning Day in a number of celebrations online and offline. The focus is on the authentic and effective use of technology in our classrooms. As always, the focus should be on using digital texts and tools to positively affect student learning objectives in our classrooms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as excited as…
I have the privilege of speaking to a class of teachers from Argentina tomorrow about possible effective and authentic uses of technology in the classroom. I was invited in by Carolina Orgnero who taught me my first class on qualitative research and methods while at UConn. I’ll be sharing some ideas I’ve fleshed out over the years with my…
After the completion of the MA New Literacies Institute, I spent a good amount of time reflecting of the week of work. I considered the implications of the work we’ve conducted so far in trumpeting the need for authentic and effective use of technology in the classroom. I considered my own responsibilities and the responsibilities of teachers as these technologies are (could be)…
We’ve had iPads here in the Education Department for a little over a month now. The University and the College of Arts and Sciences graciously agreed to supply the tools to everyone for administrative and instructional use. Now that we’ve gotten over the initial distribution, I’d like to share some of what we’ve learned so…
A recent “debate” erupted last week over some research that was conducted during the Teaching Internet Comprehension to Adolescents (TICA) grant by Dr. Leu, Dr. Reinking, and others (Amy Carter, Jill Castek, Julie Coiro, Laurie A. Henry, Jackie Malloy, Kathy Robbins, Angela Rogers, and Lisa Zawilinski). This work was detailed in various publications and presented…
In our research in online reading comprehension, we often highlight the five skills we see being used as students read online: questioning, locating, synthesizing, evaluating, and communicating. Each of these skills has their own issues as students move online to encounter the multitude of texts that make up the online reading experience. In looking at…