New Literacies Research Team

Online Presentations

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After a pretty successful online keynote we all had the opportunity to be a part of for the ARF Conference...in Sanibel Island...I have been looking for ways that we might be able to present materials online (and look pretty snazzy doing so).

In the past week or so I've come across two new tools that I think could revolutionize the way we do things.

Dimdim is an online conferencing tool. You can add your .ppt or .doc to the center of the meeting, and have your own webcam embedded off to the side. With more expensive plans, you can integrate the webcams of others so you can have a "virtual meeting". In the case of the ARF keynote...I would see this as streamlining the talk and work that we did. Not that Don peering down into the webcam was bad...but...

The second tool would be Prezi. Prezi is a "zooming presentation tool". There's no way for me to really explain what it does other than saying that. You need to see if to believe it. Basically it dramtically brings your audience through the materials that you're presenting. Take a look at the write-up Lifehacker put out recently on it.

I may try to use this for my upcoming talk at IRA.

W. Ian O'Byrne

Are we too interconnected?

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In our talks with researchers and educators about online habits of students, I frequently point to the data as often compiled by groups such as the Pew Internet and American Life project and show how our students are already online...we can choose to join them or not. I share with them the belief that as a teacher, it was my job to prepare the students I was charged with every year for the real world. My job was to prepare them to safely engage themselves with their surroundings. So, if they sped past a stop sign and were pulled over...they couldn't give as an excuse the fact that they couldn't read the sign. The conundrum comes now comes when we extend this discussion to the online communities.

In increasing numbers our children are online, and creating multiple identities while online. For some reason, while it is my duty to prepare them to be safe citizens...I am not to prepare my students to be safe online citizens. There are numerous ways in which I can safely teach my students how to safely interact online. Customizable social networks (NINGs) allow the teacher to create a social network that they build and control all elements of. They can choose who is allowed in, what material is posted, what is discussed. The students are still allowed to build an online identity, but under the watchful eye of the instructor.

As a researcher that studies and tries to understand ways to connect what is happening online and in the streets to what happens in the school....most of this is extremely exciting. But, recently a couple of reports over the last month have brought about some small cause for alarm.

The first is the report by the Council for Research Excellence that exclaims that the average adult is exposed to a little over eight hours a day staring at a screen. This would include televisions, computers, cell phones, ipods, etc. In not having an opportunity to read the report, and dissect the data as UConn has taught me to do, I can not quickly buy into any results. But, knowing my behaviors and those of students I have worked with...I tend to believe that this finding is not far off. The concern for me is that as I have found in my work, adolescents tend to be technologically saavy, but not informationally saavy. They have the toys and tools...but don't know how to use them effectively. Studies like this show that as they move into adulthood, these trends multiply.

The second study shines a little more light on how adolescents deal with and navigate this time spent online. In a report by the Pew Group, the study looks at adults who embrace mobile technology and the connectedness they feel. The results show that "youth", labeled as being in their twenties, sometimes feel overconnected with all these new toys and tools. As shown in previous reports from the Pew project this problem has somewhat been addressed by teens.

As educators, we need to provide opporunties for our students to learn the ways and mean of being a safe internet citizen. In the same way that we prepare them for the world and the future...we need to prepare them for all the worlds and futures they might encounter. But, as adults, we need to begin to take a look at our relationship with the internet and connectivity and learn how to deal with it on our own. We need to take the time to determine what is a safe and healthy relationship to have with technology.

Now...I'm off to answer the 20 emails that piled up on my BlackBerry while posting...

W. Ian O'Byrne

Dissertation Talk

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It's been awhile since I've posted. I have numerous things I'd like to write about...things to share that you need to know. Websites will be changing soon to make more room for ads...and Google is refining their search engine results again. All things that will affect the way your students read and learn online.

I've also been very busy helping the Interational Reading Association rewrite and re-frame their position statement regarding technology and literacy. Can't say more...but stay posted...very exciting.

So, the real reason for this very conversational post is that I've been spending too much time moving toward my dissertation research. I decided last night to take a leap of faith and share the trials and tribulations of my progress through the process. May turn out to be very boring, may be very insightful. I probably will get admonished or coaxed into now sharing these ideas with the Internet world by colleagues. At the very least it will provide me with an opportunity to think out some ideas as I work along.

SO...today was spent finalizing and uploading my files to the UConn IRB. I was all excited and IM'ed Lisa with the good news...and then got the rejection email from the IRB. So it was back to the writing and revision. Now..I'm waiting again.

My research question is going to take a look at the way students critically evaluate information while looking at online sources. The research shows that students don't evaluate information when reading online. Even more serious is that they are frequently fooled while obtaining information for their personal and academic exploits.

So the question came up last year during work with the TICA grant...could you teach critical evaluation by having the kids build hoax websites? Greg and I toyed with the idea for awhile...and that will be the basic thread that holds my work together. I'll be unpacking whether or not you can facilitate critical evaluation of online information through online content creation.

Should be fun...I'll have more info as time, and ideas warrant...

Go Huskies!!!

W. Ian O'Byrne

Such a great time to be alive...

I had a brilliant idea to evolve my blogging habits into a once a week...This Week in Tech (TWIT) submission. More of an homage to This Week in Baseball more than anything else. Although most of my colleagues will notice the TWIT moniker first, last, forever. But, I know that this will not be a regular thing...so you'll have to prepare for infrequent installments...

Once again sitting here in the basement. Just spent hours thinking about my upcoming IRB application that I have to finish, running stats analysis after analysis using SPSS, preparing for upcoming talks.....and I take a break to read through the blogs..

Here's why we should revel in the times that we're now living. Here's some things that have happened in the last week that you should know about...

The first installment of TWIT...yeah!

According to results released by eMarketer...there are 82 million, and counting Online Content Creators out there. This is fantastic for my future research and my upcoming dissertation. The only problem is that our schools are not busy figuring out how to educate and prepare our kids for the future that is out there. More content to evaluate and sift through...more to create for themselves. Not to mention Mash-ups...

Secondly, great work is happening in a project between Flickr and the Astronomy.net group. Users can upload photos of the cosmos and the robot will automatically analyze the image and return it with annotated results and a description. The robot uses geographic images in the image to figure out what you took a picture of, and compare it to everything else in the database. When plugged into Microsoft's Worldside Telescope, you get some real magic.

Finally, James Patterson will be writing a "crowdwritten" novel next month. This is taking Web 2.0, and collaborative writing to the next level. Twenty eight writers have already been selected to write along with Patterson, and the resulting collaborative piece will soon be released a chapter at a time, electronically. Apparently there will only be print copies produced for the authors...no chance of picking this one up for a summer read. Unless you have a beach-proof Kindle.  I felt like collaborative writing like this would soon be coming. I figured that with the Kindle, authors could go back to the old serial novels. Imagine buying a novel by Stephen King, that you received chapters periodically, rewrites, revisions...updates to the novel. Very cool stuff to live through.

Sadly...as I finish this post...Zemanta is updating and telling me that TWiT already exists, and is in use..so much for that idea. Back to reporting the news...

W. Ian O'Byrne

What're you looking at?

Google released findings from eye tracking studies they have been conducting on where your eyes are going when you encounter a page of search engine results. The findings..not surprisingly show that Google is giving you exactly what you want when searching the web. Although, if you're a reader here...you'll know that I for one have misgivings about this claim. (In terms of full disclosure...I am an unabashed GoogleLover. My entire online communication system is powered by, and owned by Google.)

Nevertheless, the findings show a couple of interesting things in relation to the work we're conducting on online reading comprehension, and teaching searching strategies in a classroom. The eye-tracking results show a tell-tale "F" pattern for most users. Which means that individuals spend a lot of their time on the first site, and then progressively less and less time as they move through the results.
The results also suggest that searching, and deciding which link to select almost seem to be a subconscious process. The user rarely progresses beyond the first one...and maybe two links.

Thumbnails, images and adds only help the user to skim through and avoid unnecessary content even more quickly.

As far as how this should impact our work with students...understanding the task or question you are researching online is paramount. Selecting great keywords, and being self-reliant on editing and revising keywords is as important. Probably the most important piece is still having that "healthy skepticism" while reading online. If individuals are frequently reading the first result given in a search engine, and rarely going beyond that link...we need to teach individuals how to check and double check the information given to us by Google.

Google believes, as evidenced by these results, that they are giving us what we want when we search. We can not trust and blindly accept the results that are kicked out by the search engine, sifting through the results is still very necessary.

It is time to teach our students...and employ better online reading habits as adults...when we read and learn online.

W. Ian O'Byrne

Related articles by Zemanta

• Eye-tracking studies: more than meets the eye (googleblog.blogspot.com)

New Literacies Teacher Institute

Since I began my journey as both an educational researcher and teacher educator  I have noticed  how important community building is in changing the world. As I travel to NRC, AERA, IRA, NECC, and a host of other conferences I have noticed how committed people can work together.

For example, even though new literacies research is a diverse field, everyone I met has the same the goal of preparing students for a world that continuously evolves with technology.

Furthermore, everywhere I traveled a group of us would gather outside of conference hall and discuss the need to bring together both new literacies researchers classroom teachers who are moving the field forward.

This is why I was so excited to hear about the New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute this summer at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation of North Carolina State University.

New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute

The Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have redefined learning and literacy in the 21st century. How should schools and teachers respond?  The New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute prepares educators for teaching in powerful ways with these new digital tools. The Institute will include inquiry projects, workshops, panel discussions, design studios, invited speakers, and just-in-time learning. Working collaboratively to develop creative and innovative instructional solutions for their classrooms, participants will spend an intensely rewarding week with other educators, just as passionate about transforming teaching and learning for the 21st century.  In this weeklong institute, conducted by leaders in the rapidly emerging field of new literacies and learning, you will:
•    Develop expertise with teaching the new literacies of online reading comprehension and learning in your grade level or subject area.
•    Design and produce video and new media learning products for student learning.
•    Adapt innovative social networking environments for use in 21st century classrooms.
•    Explore dynamic instructional models for teaching new literacy and learning skills.
•    Hone the dispositions and skills to become an instructional leader for change.
•    Engage a pioneering community of teacher leaders who continue to collaborate after the Institute.
•    Gain access to the latest technology and facilities of the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University, an international center for school change and innovation.

Join us for the New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute this summer at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation of North Carolina State University.  Dates: July 12-17.  Registration fee: $500.  For details and registration information: See http://www.fi.ncsu.edu/newliteraciesinstitute.html

Greg

It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that Jing...

Image by angermann via Flickr

Okay...sorry...I had to...

So I posted the tutorial on how to use Jing in your classroom, and was called out by my advisor Dr. Leu. The question was....exactly how would you use this in your classroom?

So I put together four examples of how to effectively use screen captures...and Jing...in your classroom.

1.  In the first example, I created this video to help participants of the Allow it to be YouRTube talk we did at NCTE. We wanted to walk participants through using iMovie and the built in webcams on the MacBook to create video clips for podcasts and blogs. In a very simple sense...you can use video to walk users through a difficult or challenging interface or program.

http://www.screencast.com/t/MyyZLDXHMtT

2. The second example is of Google Docs and the other Google Account features. For our work in the lab we often write collaboratively with each other, and other colleagues. We also frenetically use Google Calendar to keep tabs on each other. Google Accounts does all of this for us. But, in bringing new followers over to this system, we need to give them a quick intro as to what to do. So I created this video for teachers and peers to get that introduction. So...you can use screen captures and Jing to give a walk through of online interfaces.

http://www.screencast.com/t/YPMC4qcDQiN

3. Instance #3 is an image of a search results page. For our work on online reading comprehension we often look at how individuals make choices when they come to the results page of a search engine. Printing out the results page and having students identify and examine the choices being made as they read through is a great activity. But, having a static image that all students can go to online is also helpful...hey, you could build it into an assessment.

http://www.screencast.com/t/ielj9Udnsi6

4. Finally, idea #4 is fueled by a recent situation here in the Lab. I've been looking for a recipe for energy bars. I've been making my own breakfast bars lately...really good might I add. So, some people in our lab cannot eat them. I went online to find a better recipe to make protein rich bars. I created a video of the search, and clarifying search for a recipe.

I would show this video to students to have them critique strategies and skills that I employ while searching for these recipes.

http://www.screencast.com/t/DXnyIcDDTYT

W. Ian O'Byrne

Jing-ing with your friends

As the new semester begins, and I find myself teaching online classes again...I find the need to explain to students and peers how to do something on the computer. I frequently have to post things online, or present directions for PD sessions, or classes. Thanks to the Intel Teach to the Future program, I learned long ago that you need to keep your hands off the person's mouse. It may seem easier than it sounds. But, when instructing someone on the computer, it's very difficult to make them follow a string of commands without just grabbing the mouse and starting the program/copy & paste/resize the graphic or whatever.

One way to combat this and send directions to others in an easy to follow format is screen sharing or even better...a video of the screen capture. You have the ability to showcase a program, or give an assignment to a student.

While watching Merlin Mann's Desktop Tour, I was alerted that I needed to put together a quick snapshot of one of the tools that I frequently use...Jing.

Jing is a great little program, that used to be completely free...you can pay extra for premium features. Up until this point, I've been able to survive on the basic Jing. The program will run on PC or Mac. You also get 2 GB of storage on Screencast.com with your copy of Jing. This allows you to seamlessly create screen tutorials and upload them to your blog, webpage...or email them to peers or students. I'm frequently told that maybe I can do that "Jing Thing" when working in online spaces. This is my attempt to share the knowledge...and lighten my workload. Fingers crossed.

I attached the capture I created for my class, and the Maine Professional Development Collaborative that I'm working with (more on that later). The video is not as fancy as I'd like...but it does the job. I need to work on my podcasting set-up and voice (I want a mic as fancy as Merlin's).

W. Ian O'Byrne

Jing from Ian O'Byrne on Vimeo.

The interface adapting to the user...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

At a recent keynote we were a part of for the ARF Conference, a great question came up near the end of our time online. The question centered around the work in research and classrooms that looks at what is currently happening online, and how students/teachers can work within or mimic those behaviors. The question was...Why do we look at what the Internet is, and not what it could be? Those of us on the panel were stumped.

To help clarify this question in my mind, I'll bring up the aspect of critical evaluation of information online and "hoax" websites. In our work in the TICA grant, and subsequent talks and professional development sessions we've had trouble in finding a foolproof way to help users judge the usefulness and truthfulness of what is found online. Many times the only way to do this is to show the student multiple "hoax" websites and ask them to judge the usefulness and truthfulness of the websites. Usually the assembled crowd doesn't see anything wrong with the websites, until one lonely participant begins to employ the "healthy skepticism" needed to sift through online content. As the presenter, it's fun to sit back and watch as this knowledge sweeps across the classroom/presentation hall. One by one, the students/participants feverishly double check their results, and then find bogus sites of their own. I bring this up because it helps shed light on the question posed at ARF. Through trial and error, we found that this was a particularly powerful way of fully testing an individual's healthy skepticism while sifting through online content. But...why do we have to do this? (I just felt like Carrie Bradshaw typing that last line...)

In the work for the TICA grant over the last year and a half, we looked at strategies and skills we could use to help adolescents search and sift for information online. We focused on building their online reading comprehension skills. Having a student fully understand their question, or the inquiry that brings them to the Internet. Being able to identify keywords of their search topic, and being flexible enough to adapt to the results they get. But, the nature of literacy in light of information and communication technologies, such as the Internet is deictic. It is changing all the time. I believe that what we are teaching them about how to operate, and how to survive online will soon be outdated. Even writing and communicating online is quickly growing, melding and transforming into new forms and variants. Blogging, wikis, video, podcasts...everything is quickly molding into one stream.

So, our work looking at working and learning online may soon be outdated. The users of the Internet didn't evolve fast enough, so the developers of the interface adapted the browser to the needs of the user. Evidence of this can be seen in the evolution of the browser. Not too long ago, if you typed a question into your address bar, the browser would reject your query quizzically. Now, you are quickly redirected to a search results page for what the browser "thinks" you are looking for. This advancement continues as Google and others prepare for the Semantic Web that awaits us.

A recent tour of Google will show the adaptations that have been made for the average user. If you use any of the Google Accounts, the search engine will remember what your interests are, and present you with information that they think suits you. For example, when I search for "twine"...my results are headed off with the online, social web service. Whereas, my step-mother, who has knit christmas stockings for about ten people in our family, will find the "World's Largest Ball of Sisal Twine". Google is also starting to sneak in semantic web results. So, if you simply type in a question into the search window of Google, it will try to answer it. At our talks, my advisor Dr. Leu likes to bring up the question of the height of Mount Fuji, and have students find an answer and double check it with 2 or 3 other sites. The newer results page just spits out the answer of 3,776 meters from the NationMaster.com website. Where is the fun in that? 

As literacy and online technologies converge, educators are left to deduce the impact this will have on students and their futures. Because of the nature of this race, I feel as a researcher as if I'm playing catch-up. As I study and unpack what is happening online, and what my students are doing in all of the "spaces" in which they interact...the rules of the game constantly are changing. The affordances of the technologies and interfaces change even as I write this blog entry. The user experience of working online, at least in this context is changing...because it is easier to change the interface than the user. Aside from obvious questions about the accuracy of the "answer" that is being given...one issue is the accuracy of what the interface has determined your preferences and likes to be.

Is this a good thing?                                         

W. Ian O'Byrne

Why use technology???

ePals Conference - Why use technology? from ePals on Vimeo.

A podcast Greg, Dr. Kari Stubbs and I did with Kevin Honeycutt.

Enjoy...
W. Ian O'Byrne

The Future of the Internet III

Image by Carlos Magaña via FlickrReleased just as the semester was ending, The Pew Internet and American Life Project released another interesting report. We cite the work by this great organization frequently in our publications and presentations.

In the recent report they asked "internet leaders, activists and analysts" what advances they saw in technology as they looked into their crystal ball. I had the privilege of responding to this survey as a result of monitoring the listerv of the Association of Internet Researchers.

The report holds some interesting findings for those of us that research internet and communication technologies, and their place in the classroom. One major result which I didn't find that shocking was that they felt that the cell phone would be the major element of connection to the Internet by 2020. If you look at the way cell phones are used, reused and retooled, especially in Africa...you can see the potential for astronomical growth. The work of Nathan Eagle and our relationship with the mobile device gives you a better snapshot into what can be. Lately, it seems like other nations are pushing the boundaries in relation to what a cell phone can be.

I find my own relationship with my cell phone to advance to my tether to the world online. I find my emails faster, IM more securely, and maintain my schedule on my Blackberry (slowly turning my colleagues over to the world of the Blackberry...). The mobile device allows me to do so much, so much more quickly...and anywhere. And the subject of access is null in relation to working with our children. I have had the privilege of working and teaching in inner city schools my whole career. I have been in the haves and have-nots in relation to technology resources. In my most recent work during the TICA grant, I found that most of the students carried their own cell phone. I also noticed that a large contingent of my students had much better cell phones than me.

The latest report unveils a number of interesting findings as far as what the future of the Internet holds for us. I think if we, as educators can continues to think out of the box, we can take advantage of the tools that our students currently hold in their pockets. What we have to change most of all is how we view the place of the mobile device in the classroom. Educate our students and staff as to what is acceptable use of the mobile device in the classroom. I remember one of my colleagues Irene Hopp my days teaching in Springfield, MA. As Intel Master Teachers we frequently spent time trying to figure out how to effectively embed technology into our district's classrooms. She turned to me at a meeting and said that she really wanted to figure out a way to integrate text messaging into her high school English class. She noticed that the students were hiding their phones under their desks and texting. She recognized the power available there. This conversation happened 10 years ago.

W. Ian O'Byrne

NCTE Video

Hey all,

I have been revisiting a FLIP Video captured by Lisa and have been trying to figure out a way to upload it to the web while bypassing all the rules set up by Picasa, Photobucket and my beloved YouTube.

While I'm still figuring out the best way to accomplish this...please enjoy a video I put together for the NCTE presentation from two years ago in NYC.

Enjoy!!!

W. Ian O'Byrne

The End of the Semester

The semester here just ended. This Fall session was a long, hard trip. Classes, especially the string of Qualitative and Quantitative classes that we've been sweating through here at Neag.

The highlight of the semester...other than pulling A's again...has to be the string of conferences I had the chance to pull off with my friends and colleagues in the field. We had the thrill of presenting at NCTE in San Antonio, NRC in Orlando...and then ARF in virtual Sanibel Island.

NCTE was incredible. I was involved in two great presentations with my colleagues. The first, Allow it to be YouRTube went very well.  The second, I think went even better. I'm beginning to think that I want to start focusing my talks and PD sessions on areas such as poetry or short stories; instead of framing them all on New Literacies and technology. I think I can "talk" to people in different communities by framing my words around their discourse. And then work my technology and New Literacies magic. Feel free to check out my NING page there (more on that later). I included all of the materials there for our YouRTube presentation.

NRC was a homerun. I had the opportunity to present at an invited session about the open response items from the Dispositions Instrument that Greg and I built last year. I really appreciate the invite given by Erica Boling, David Lund and others from the technology committee.

Greg, Lisa and I then presented together. My presentation was about the factor analysis that we ran on the Dispositions of Online Reading Comprehension (DORC) instrument that we created. We presented some initial results and findings. We just found out the other day that just under 10,000 students have taken the DORC....so we should have some new results in the near future.

We wrapped up our whirlwind week in Orlando with the year 3 installment of the TICA talk with our colleagues from Clemson. It's always a blast to work with all of them.

Finally we had a chance to give a keynote with Don, Doug Hartman and Katina Zammit to the American Reading Forum conference in Sanibel Island. The conversations that followed sparked a lot of questions in my own thinking around technology and the work I do.

I'll upload some pics from these talks and the video Lisa took of my invited session. You can all take a look at the fancy outfit my Wife bought for me for my big talk.

W. Ian O'Byrne

Collaborative Online Searching

Image by kk+ via FlickrMost interesting, especially for the IRT model:

Now tools are being developed by Microsoft and other companies that let people at different computers search as a team, dividing responsibilities and pooling results and recommendations in a shared Web space on the browser display as they plan a family vacation, for instance, or research a medical problem.

Meredith Ringel Morris, a computer scientist at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash., has created one of these collaborative tools, SearchTogether, now available in a test version as a free download at http://research.microsoft.com/searchtogether. The program is designed to work within the Internet Explorer 7 browser.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/business/23novelties.html?ref=technology

Oct 1, 2008 Assistive Technology Expo (AT Expo) Wichita, KS

On October 1st and 2nd, Lisa Zawilinski, of the New Literacies Reseach Team, will be a featured speaker at the Assistive Technology Expo (AT Expo) sponsored by the Assistive Technology for Kansans project coordinated by Kansas University Center on Disabilities at Parsons. Their mission is as follows:

"Assistive Technology for Kansans (ATK) helps persons with disabilities find ways to live and work as independently as possible through the use of assistive devices and services. The primary mission of the project is to engage in activities that are designed to result in laws, regulations, policies, practices, or organizational structures that promote consumer-responsive programs that increase access to assistive technology devices and services."

You can find out more about the project and the expo at their website: http://www.atk.ku.edu/atkhome.htm

Attached are the handouts for the keynote and an additional presentation.

Download ATExpo08Keynote.pdf

Download ATExpo08Zawilinski.pdf

Evaluating Webpages for Reliability...

One major component of our research is learning how to teach students strategies to become critical evaluators of what they read on the Internet.   

Here are some resources that outline techniques to use and questions to ask while evaluating information at a website:

From UC Berkeley:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

From Johns Hopkins University:

http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/

Digital Natives

John Palfrey, one of the authors of the book Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives.  The text is a look at the Digital Natives that inhabit our world and the practices that they engage in daily.  Palfrey admits that due to the deictic nature of technology and how it influences our lives, the book is almost obsolete as soon as he finished writing it.  To combat this, the authors worked to help launch a webpage where the combined and growing knowledge abotu Digital Natives could be amassed.

Univ. of Illinois NPR Interview on New Literacies Of Online Reading Comprehension

There is an interview about the work of the New Literacies Research Lab, in a podcast, from the NPR station at the University of Illinois. 

The podcast is available at: http://www.will.uiuc.edu/media/focus080904b.mp3

Blogging at NCTE Shift Happens 08

We have been busy preparing our sessions for NCTE Shift Happens 08. We have some great sessions that will focus on emerging types of communication students use when sharing information they have learned.

Laurie and Lisa will present a session called “HOT Blogs: Using Online Writing Spaces to Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills.”

Ian, Lisa, myself, and another colleague  Sue will present a session on Vodcast or video podcast. This will be a step by step hands-on session planning, creating, editing, and publishing a Vodcast. We will be using Isight, Macbooks, and IMovie.

Until then I share a video Ian made about the bloggin practices at his former high school.
Download blogging_with_the_colts_hqiphone.m4v

NCTE Shift Happens 08

I have been having way too much fun on the NCTE conference NING. It is nice to see NCTE using technologies to build connections between members and give us a place to share what we learn. Out of all the national content organization I find NCTE to be one of the most forward thinking.

I noticed the shift last year in NYC. So many sessions were focused on literacy and technology. Soon after they released a definition of 21st Century Literacies.This was followed up by a conference and then the pathways series. Now NCTE has launched the Ning to correspond with the conference. Check it out and join if you get a chance.

It will be an interesting tool and is already quite active. It will be especially helpful for me. We are expecting our first child in November and  I will not be able to head to San Antonio. I will actually be presenting my sessions via the Ning by using video and discussion. It will be a first for me. Fingers crossed.

Greg