Prior to this assignment about new literacies, I was unaware of many of the forms that literacy can take, such as visual or mathematical literacy. As someone who has studied abroad and worked with ELLs at MSU, I place a high value on cultural literacy. Prior to this project, I understood this as being respectful and knowledgeable about other cultures, as well as appreciating diversity. However, after exploring and researching this topic, I now have a broader understanding of what this literacy also encompasses. This project taught me that there is a great deal of information we encounter in our daily lives, especially in education, that is assumed knowledge. However, those not from the dominant group in society (with an emphasis on ESL students) are often left out of the loop. This information gap affects their access to opportunities in life, in addition to them missing important connections or meaning when reading a text. My level of conscientiousness about cultural literacy has increased after completing this project and I will make every effort to bridge this gap in my classroom. As I stated in my prezi, “if it’s worth mentioning, it’s worth explaining.”
This was my first experience working with the Prezi technology. In past classes, I’ve found this to be a more engaging format for a presentation than the average PowerPoint. It took some trial and error to end up with a project that I was satisfied with, but feel that I have a good sense of its features and how to use it now. I can easily incorporate this into my teaching and can also educate my students about how to use this technology. By using a technology to teach others, media literacy is also included and emphasized!
In order for my students to produce a similar project, there are several skills that they would need to possess prior to beginning. First, they would need to have an understanding of what literacy is and that it can take many forms. We would also need to discuss the different components of the forms. It would be helpful for them to have access to resources, like we did, to explore the different types. Some of my students can read and for them, this research stage would be doable; however, many of my students struggle with reading, so they would need assistance with learning more about the topic. Also, for these students, creating a Prezi (which involves conveying information in text form) would not be very accessible unless they were given assistance from a higher-level peer or a teacher. Students would need to have keyboarding skills, as well as expertise in using the mouse. They would need to develop a knowledge about the different features of Prezi, but I think if the teacher did a tutorial on the projector from her computer, they would catch on quickly. A skill they would need for deciding on the content for their presentation is selecting the main ideas, as well as providing specific examples. Students would also need to know about various multimedia extras they can include, such as images, YouTube videos, sound, etc. I think if my students worked in pairs and had a long timeline for this project, they could be very successful in using the Prezi software. Having them teach each other about the different literacies would definitely be a topic that would need to be scaffolded and incorporated into the classroom from the beginning of the year in order for students to have a solid grasp on it.
For my literacy lesson I chose to focus on retelling a story using the key words, “first,” “next,” “then,” and “last.” I think that using a Prezi would be an easy way for them to practice this series of words. They could create their own stories and add images with a transition between key words to a new frame. This visual shift to a new frame would reinforce the shift in their stories to a new event and signal to them that they need to include a new key word (whichever word is appropriate). Plus, this would be an engaging way to share their finished pieces with the class and demonstrate a way to publish a text in the 21st century!
I was also unaware of all of the different literacies, and found this project extremely helpful, in that we were able to learn a bit about each literacy and how to bring it into the classroom. You talked a lot about cultural literacy, and how information gaps can affect our future students. As future educators, how do you suggest we address these issues in our classrooms? And do you think there are any ways we could spread the word throughout our colleagues in the best possible way? As you mentioned, there are a lot of important reasons for not ignoring this topic, so just curious to see how you plan to work with this in your future classroom.
ReplyDeleteI thought my students also had a lot of learning to do before they could work with the prezi technology. What grade are your students in again? And what grade do you think would be appropriate to introduce this software to best benefit the students? I was trying to think of this, but wasn't sure what level I thought best fit. I think you did a really good job with your reflection, and hope that you were able to learn a lot about the literacy and technology that you worked with!
As future educators, I think there are several ways to address this in our classrooms. One, is to know your students and be aware of which students may need extra clarifcation or explanations. Also, you can provide extension activities, either as homework or extra credit, that allow students to go more in depth about a person, event, or topic. A great way to spread the message about the importance of cultural literacy to colleagues would be through a Professional Development. There may be organizations that specialize in this topic, or we could plan a PD session by collaborating with other teachers.
DeleteMy students are in grades 1 and 2. I think that my second graders could probably handle using the Prezi software after a tutorial from myself. Although their projects would not be super text-heavy, I think it would still be beneficial.
This project has taught me a lot the different types of new literacy. Before this project I had no idea that these different areas (emotional, cultural, etc.) are all types of literacy. After viewing your project and reading your blog it brought to my attention the importance of cultural literacy. I think that you made an excellent point about the importance of integrating culture into our future classroom. What do you think is the most beneficial way to fully integrate culture into our classroom? How do you think you can convince your colleagues to integrate culture more into the classroom? I think that you are right and the importance of culture is vital, but how do you explain this to maybe a teacher of a class that has only the prominent culture in their classroom?
ReplyDeleteI have never worked with a prezi but I have heard that they are difficult to use. However, your project looked excellent so maybe it is not very hard once you play around with it. Do you think your students would enjoy using the prezi? I think that your reflection was very thoughtful and meaningful and I am glad I was able to read it.