Ma Ssr - O'byrne

Secondary School Reading Grant Program Network Meeting March 11, 2009 Oh, The Places You’ll go: Where Literacy, New Literacies and History/Social Studies Intersect W. Ian O’Byrne University of Connecticut [email protected] Studies show that our students are more plugged in than ever before, and these trends only seem to be growing with the steady influx of technological tools. But, when our students enter our classrooms, we expect them to unplug, disconnect, and teach them using antiquated pedagogies. To safely and successfully incorporate new literacies infused lessons into your classroom and online spaces, consider the following strategies: 1. Begin with a lesson, or unit that already have taught successfully in your classroom. 2. Spend time thinking about the general skill level of your students, and also the level of comfort you have in working with technology. Find tools, skills and activities you would like to embed into your lessons. 3. Embed the activities or tools into your lesson in an authentic manner. Do not add ICTs into your lessons solely to have them there. For example, have students build prior knowledge on a subject through Internet searches and Internet scavenger hunts. This way you can work on basic Internet searching skills while introducing a new unit. 4. Engage students by having them study maps or conduct virtual field trips using programs such as Google Earth. Extend learning in lessons through usage of online video and blogging sites. Create excitement in class field trips by geo-tagging photos you take on your trips. Build a sense of global citizenship in your students by having them email other students using programs such as ePals. 5. Embed the skills, strategies and tools in your lesson all while incorporating the same learning strategies you would normally highlight. Use new literacies skills into your lessons to enrich the activities, scaffolding and enrichment that happens daily in your classroom.

Online Resources Google Earth (earth.google.com) The virtual globe, map and geographic information program. Search for “google earth teachers” for the educators page published by/for teachers…and for tons of lesson ideas. Picasa (picasa.google.com) Great…free…program that organizes, edits, uploads and shares your photos. Easiest way to geotag your photos. Search for this video on YouTube to see how: S6GGDWMlGiY Virtual Field Trips (tiny.cc/fieldtrip) There are hundreds of online tutorials available to guide you in creating virtual field trips for your students. You can also take your students on a Google Lit Trip (www.googlelittrips.org) for the ultimate in interdisciplinary lessons. ePals (www.epals.com) ePALS connects 4.5 million students and teachers in 191 countries for teacher-designed cross-cultural and interactive projects. Classrooms use monitored email, language translation, discussion boards, maps and more to work and learn together. ChannelOne (www.channelone.com) Calls themselves the “pre-eminent news and public affairs content provider to teens”. Their Livewire section allows you to pull clips from their highly entertaining news broadcasts. EduBlogs (edublogs.org) “The largest education community on the Internet" where you can sign up for a free blog. A great place for teachers to blog with their class, or other classes around the world. An ideal site for educators who want to blog with support. Ning (www.ning.com) Research shows that our students are inundated by online social networks. Ning allows teachers to create customized social networks that are safe and secure for teachers and students. Create an online environment where students can learn about the curriculum, and how to safely interact online. YouTube (www.youtube.com) The king of video sharing sites. More users, and more videos than anywhere else. TeacherTube (www.teachertube.com) Modeled after YouTube, but strictly for sharing educational videos. Go Animate (goanimate.com) Easy to use, free online animation tool. Allow your students to express what they’ve learned in a different way than you

traditionally would. Ultra-high interest for most students.