Sunday, January 31, 2010

Internet Reading and Diversity in the Classroom

Internet Reading

This article was really interesting to me! I liked how it started off with two different student perspectives. This got me thinking about how I felt about technology and literacy. Their new definition of literacy is very interesting to me “literacy skills necessary for individuals, groups, and societies to access the best information in the shortest time to identify and solve the most important problems and then communicate this information.” Is there really a need for literacy to be fast? I think as long as we eventually find the answer then it is good. I don’t necessarily think that time should be a part of a literacy definition because I know that I can read and comprehend but it takes me awhile.

Some nuggets that I think that we should talk to the class about is the three things that a person needs to be successful as an internet reader.

  1. A reader must be able to handle the amount of text that can be found on the internet.
  2. A reader must be able to handle all of the distraction that can be found around the text while reading. A reader has to find the important parts of the website and focus on them.
  3. The text of the Internet is expository so the reader must have a large vocabulary and be able to deal with different formats that the text might be in.

*Readers have to realize that the Internet is continually changing as new research and information comes out. So website that were useful before may be deleted or revised and the reader has to take that into account. Whereas a book will always read the same way and always have the same information. New books are written to include the new information found.

*Internet readers need to use strategies that they used for printed text for the text found on the internet. Such as:

            1. Draw inferences

            2. Ask questions

            3. Active prior knowledge

            4. Monitor comprehension

            5. Repair comprehension

            6. Determine important ideas

            7. Synthesize

*When students read on the Internet literacy and technology connect. The same techniques that are used to comprehend text are used to comprehend expository writing on the Internet.

 

Diversity

The noteblog that we are suppose to write about this week is interesting to me because I feel as though we haven’t read very much about it or talked about in class. But I’ll just give a few ideas of what I think and have seen in the classroom. Every student no matter his or her race comes from a different background. We could have two white boys in the classroom that were raised completely different and we as teachers need to figure out every students background. I find that when you meet students for the first time that you should have some questions prepared for the students to answer independently. This helps the teacher gain a small glimpse of where each student is coming from. I have also found that students are very proud of the holidays that they celebrate and enjoy talking about what they do on these days and why. So I think it is interesting to have a whole class discussion on the different holidays that are celebrated by the students. If this is done in the beginning of the year then the teacher can make sure to include the holidays in his or her classroom. I also think that gaining a personal relationship with each student is very important. A teacher needs to find time to talk with each student one on one throughout the year and have him or her share different things that are on their mind. Always have the students explain why they think the way they are thinking so that you know where they are coming from. I also enjoy listening to the way that other people think about the same problem or idea. Each person thinks about things completely differently so hearing new ideas get the students minds moving and it allows the teacher to see how the students comprehend the topic! Allowing students to choose their own research topics or books shows a lot about whom they are. This is an easy way for a teacher to see what the students are interested in so that these topics can be added into lesson so the students become more interested. Having students write daily journals allows the teacher to understand what is going on in their life. This could also help explain a student’s behavior in the classroom. I’m not sure if this is what the question is asking but this is what I came up with!

2 comments:

  1. I really like the example you used about two Caucasian boys coming from different backgrounds and experiences. I think so much of our emphasis is placed on different races or the ethnicity of our students being the diverse perspectives, but even students of similar nationalities will have diverse perspectives and backgrounds. Each child has unique experiences to explain and share, so it is vital that we honor their ideas and opinions in the classroom to not only learn about them as people, but also as academic learners. Great idea about having question prepared for the students upon first meeting them, or based around holidays! I don't think enough teacher's do this, and it is important to incorporate this into our appreciation of diversity!

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  2. After reading your post, I got to thinking...since you incorporated both the ideas on internet reading and diversity together, I wonder if a child's background (i.e., their ethnicity, religion, gender, class,etc.) has any affect on their abilities to acquire technological literacy? For instance, would a boy be a better "internet reader" than a girl? Or, would a Hispanic girl be a better "internet reader" than an African-American girl?

    Just something to think about! what do you think?

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