Week 6 - Reading Practical Strategies: The Participatory Classroom

Practical Strategies: The Participatory Classroom: Web 2.0 in the Classroom 

Asselin, M. & Moayeri, M. (2011). Practical Strategies: The Participatory Classroom: Web 2.0 in the Classroom. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years 19(2).

1.How can schools meaningfully support the development of all students' new literacies; particularly those literacies engendered by Web 2.0 that foregrounds interactivity and collaboration around shared content?

Schools would have to start by making technology such as Web 2.0 available or accessible to all students. This may not mean everyday for every class, but the school will need to have an adequate amount of computer labs, mobile labs, and iPad labs to meet the needs of all students. Once the school has obtained the necessary technological requirements - schools will need to successfully train all educators on what new literacies are and how they can be met in the classroom. There should be a clear explanation between the two Mindsets and how teachers should gear their lessons towards Mindset 2. With the technology being available and teachers being properly trained on how to use the technology - schools should not have a problem supporting the development of new literacies. 

2.Why should schools engage students in the new literacies engendered by Web 2.0?

Schools should engage students with these new literacies because the build necessary collaboration skills that are key components in the cluture that drive political, social, and economic life today. These skills will help our students be better citizens in the furutre and succeed in the work world. As educators our goal should be to prepare our students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in our society. 

3.What are the differences between new literacies and conventional literacies?

New literacy offers more opportunities for the learners. New Literacy is the ability to locate, invent, and share the knowledge that the student has acquired through an activity. New Literacy is collective rather than individualized, emphasizes collaboration over individual production. New literacy allows others to view and learn from that of another. There is a more collaborative aspect to this new form a literacy. New literacy also focuses greatly on the technological advances and 21st century learning as well. New literacy is the visual, auditory and textual content produced into a multimodal production. Conventional literacy is simply a basic for of a visual, auditory, or textual production of information without the ability to combine the three. 

4. Provide your own example of a classroom use of Web 2.0 that promotes a "Mindset One" approach and a classroom example that promotes a "Mindset 2" approach (the examples do not need to be from your own teaching or learning experiences; you can make them up).

Mindset 1 - (Example 1)An educator wants to complete a review - the educators uses PowerPoint to create a Jeporady Game. The Jeporady board is displayed over the projector. Students are divided into groups and play the game reviewing key componets. (Example 2) An educator gives the students a question in which they must find information, students research the internet, locate information, and create a paper to report their findings. 

Mindset 2 - (Example 1) Students are provided with a workplace scenario - such as they must locate an image on the internet to perform photo editing techniques to as part of the completion of a skills section being learned in the class. Students use the internet to search for an image, save the image, properly cite the image and begin restoration or photo editing techniques. Students use the internet and previously learned skills to create a blog or add a post to their blog. In the blog posting students include the location of the photo, proper citation, reasoning for choosing the image, and all photo editing techniques done to the photo. Students will also insert the original image and the edited image into a blog. For a final part of the assignments students will be required to view each classmates blog and comment on one photo editing technique that was done to the photo and what they like or dislike about that technique - students may also ask questions about how a certain effect was obtained.