Project 1 Final - Chris Atkinson - EDAD 694

EDAD 694 – Chris Atkinson
Project 1 – Literacy and Technology

ISLCC Standard 2
ISLLC
“We must overcome the awful inertia of past decades (Fullan,

Michael)”. For years the educational system has been stuck in an
industrial mindset while our kids have changed and technologies have
changed the way we all communicate and learn. Therefore, it is time
we change the way we teach, lead, coach, and inspire our teachers.
The goal of my project was to help take literacy 1.0 to literacy 2.0, to
empower language arts teachers to engage students using web 2.0
tools for collaborative communication and work, pushing them to
argumentative literacy and higher order thinking. Of course, all of this
was done while focused on incorporating state standards. The video
below explains my own thoughts on how schools should be thinking:
Using the Indiana Academic Standards, the preexisting curriculum, and

the work the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade teams have been doing in literature
circles I set out to use my expertise in educational technology to help
bring free engaging tools to teachers in order to meet the standards in
a way that reaches the 21st century learner.
ISLCC Standard 2
ISLLC
My role in this project was to work with the district literacy coach
to train teachers on using new web 2.0 tools to foster and authentic
literacy environment where 21st century learners are collaborating,
discussing, and creating together. I held a staff meeting training and
then a workshop with teachers, then offered continual support for
these teachers.
1. How have your assumptions and beliefs been changed?
I think that before I started this internship I had an assumption

that teachers in our Carmel Jr. Highs were really taping into 21st century
technologies to bring literacy to life. I was surprised to see that this was
not the case.
As I talked with teachers, administrators, and the district literacy
coach I began to understand that it has been a process to get teachers
to move into the idea of literature circles and they have now been
looking for ways to fold technology into what they are doing, in order
to engage the 21st century learners before them. I assumed that
teachers at this level in our district were privy to the needs of their
students, technologically speaking, and were being trained to meet
these needs.
Seeing the desire that the teachers and district literacy coach had
I knew that with my background I could be of assistance so I
immediately jumped into this project; hoping that I could help plug the
holes.
Throughout the project I was amazed at the willingness and
openness of all stakeholders involved to integrate technology into their
practice. My assumption was wrong; teachers were ready but
unprepared to integrate technologies into literacy. I think much of this
ISLCC Standard 2
ISLLC
has to do with leadership not casting an appropriate vision for the staff
in this area. The bottom line is “new media demand new literacies”
(Ohler, 2009), and the school leader must be prepared to cast the
appropriate vision and inspire his staff to open up and be willing to
understand that!
2. What ISLLC performances (skills) have YOU developed?
I feel that I have developed several ISLCC performances while

working on this project. I would like to address four specific
performances that were emphasized during my work on this project.
ISLCC S2.P19 states that the school leader should be emphasizing
the use of technology for teaching and learning. Emphasizing
technology was not my principal’s strength, nor the assistant principals
I have worked with. Fortunately this is a strength and passion of mine.
This allowed me to be able to use my skills to strengthen the delivery of
literacy curriculum and hopefully will help to better engage students. I
did this by working with teachers and administrators to create a wiki
and hold professional development on how to use free web 2.0 tools to
engage students in authentic literacy. Below is my wiki and workshop
signup blog post:
• WIKI
• Blog Post Regarding Workshop
While promoting the use of technology to inspire more authentic

literacy I have had to offer ongoing learning opportunities for staff
(ISLCC S2.P9). This can be challenging when there are so many
demanding schedules in the spring so part of what I have done is create
a wiki where resources and tutorials can be held. One thing web 2.0
ISLCC Standard 2
ISLLC
tools can offer school leaders are the ability to bring ongoing
professional development to staff on a more frequent basis.
High expectations for staff and students is crucial to the success of

an organization (ISLCC S2.P3). I really had some high expectations for
training teachers to use web 2.0 tools to enhance instruction and
engage students. The great thing about these expectations, is that they
were nothing new to the staff, being that my supervisor is a high
expectations and a no-nonsense straight shooter. One way that I plan
on communicating expectations in a way that inspires teachers to try
the tools I’m training them to use is by setting up a way o
collaboratively share successes in using these new tools. The wiki is
one medium I can use to do this, I also plan to keep an open line of
communication and support. I think that while leaders take this
approach they show their own passion for something and that can spill
over into staff, helping to maintain that positive expectation
relationship between you and the staff. This is also tied into being able
to cast a vision that is tied to core values and that must be maintained
in a positive school culture.
Another performance that was developed while working on this
project was ISLCC S2.P6: barriers to student learning are identified,
clarified, and addressed. I think that the biggest barrier was not
necessarily the students, but the teachers lack of knowledge of new
web 2.o tools that can be used in the classroom to promote active and
authentic literacy. “Students need to be able to use new media
collectively as well as individually (Ohler, 2009).” If students are to use
new media literacies we need teachers who are willing to let go of an
industrial education and shift paradigms to the 21st century learning.
This old style of thought and unwillingness is a barrier I see in many
schools. One way I tackled this was being enthusiastic about the
potential that new web 2.0 tools bring to the classroom and by
ISLCC Standard 2
ISLLC
reassuring teachers that they can do it and that I would be there for
them when they needed me.
3. Which ISLLC dispositions (attitudes) have YOU developed?
I feel that I have developed several ISLCC dispositions while

working on this project, some of the dispositions I feel that I have
developed most are S2D1: student learning is the fundamental purpose
of schooling, the proposition that students learn in a variety of ways,
S2D3: students learn in a variety of ways, S2D4: lifelong learning for self
and others, S2D5 professional development as an integral part of
school improvement, S2D7: preparing students to be contributing
members of society.
This project helped me to develop my stance on the importance
of professional development for staff and the use of technology in
education. I wanted the staff to truly understand new ways to engage
students into higher level thinking using a variety of web 2.0 tools.
We are in a changing world of education and communication.
This changing world will need visionary leaders who pride themselves in
lifelong learning because this thirst for learning new things must be
modeled to the staff. During the course of this year I have really
worked on fleshing out exuberance for the continual learning process.
Throughout this project I also grounded my thoughts in the fact
that students learn in a variety of ways, and one proficient way to
address this is through the use of technology and web 2.0. We also
want our students to be contributing members of society, and with the
changes in the way we communicate (via web and tech) we need to
prepare are students to use these technologies in order to be
functioning and contributing members of society.
ISLCC Standard 2
ISLLC
4. How will you deal with this differently next time?
TIME! I wish I had more time with the staff to flesh out this
project to more fruition. Since this was my off-level experience the
biggest challenge for a curriculum project of this magnitude was not
being at the school during the bulk of instructional time. I really
wanted to have an ongoing model of professional development for
growing teachers into using technologies with literacy, but I needed to
first establish some rapport and work in conjunction with the literacy
coach at the middle school. If I did this project again I would have
started at this right away and planned some informal trainings to get a
few of the teachers hooked into the ideas I was presenting and then
build off of that following. I think if I would have approached the
project this was I would have allowed myself more time to develop staff
and left a more enduring instructional impression.
None the less this project was a complete success in my eyes, I
was able to have a direct effect on instruction, including the mastery of
Indiana Academic Standards, by offering meaningful professional
development and modeling an exuberance for technology and lifelong
learning.
Artifacts Attached Below Rubric

Want to quickly learn how to use free cutting edge
technologies in the classroom to increase
student engagement?
Please click the link below for more details:
CLICK HERE NOW
Click the Wiki image to be brought to
the live wiki I created on the web for
this project.
NMC Horizon Project: K-12 Edition
2009 Short List
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less
Collaborative Environments
Communication Tools
Personally-Owned Devices
One-to-One Laptop Initiatives
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

Mobiles and Next-Generation Mobile
Virtual Worlds
New Forms of Assessment
Cloud Computing
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

Smart Objects
New Tools for Filtering and Security
Expanded Personal Web
Semantic-Aware Applications
Critical Challenges
Key Trends
2009 Horizon. K-12 Short List DISCUSSION DRAFT—NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION © 2009 The New Media Consortium
Time-to-Adoption: One Year or Less
Collaborative Environments
A growing emphasis on collaboration in education and in the workplace has led to the proliferation of
collaborative environments in online spaces designed to support teams working together. Online collaborative
environments range from shared document editors like Google Docs (http://docs.google.com), to openly
editable websites like wikis, to social networking sites that include profiles and communication tools to add a
sense of connectedness and community along with tools for shared work. Virtual worlds such as Second Life are
also a part of this category.
Collaborative environments are effective virtual spaces for sharing information. Some platforms such as
Facebook allow members to embed user-generated multimedia including video, music, and images along with
text into web pages to share with their network of friends. Online collaborative spaces like Ning or PageFlakes
can be created easily by anyone interested in a particular topic for others interested in the same subject. Some
teachers use online collaborative environments to manage their classrooms and to share resources with other
teachers within a media rich environment. A common feature of all of these applications is a workspace that may
be shared by students and their teachers with fewer geographic and time limitations than a physical classroom.
Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

• Students collect news stories online, share them with their network of friends and offer feedback and
responses to the news media’s perspective.
• Students synchronously collaborate online to create a mind map of course notes from their computer
technology class.
• Teachers expand their professional knowledge through networks of teachers who have a shared affinity
for a particular topic. Since social technology knows no geographic boundaries, it brings teachers who
may be isolated within their schools in contact with people they might never work with otherwise.
Examples
• Voicethread facilitates secure online conversations around a shared document or documents about
which students may comment via phone, voice recording, text, video, or uploaded files:
http://voicethread.com/#home
• With MindMeister, users may edit graphic documents such as mind maps online as a group while
working from a number of Web portals: http://www.mindmeister.com/
• Classblogmeister is a searchable network of classroom blogs and bloggers, both students and teachers:
http://classblogmeister.com/index.php
• Classroom 2.0 uses the Ning online collaboration platform to support teachers interested in integrating
Web 2.0 into the classroom: http://www.classroom20.com
For Further Reading

Collaborative Work Environments
http://thinkofit.com/webconf/workspaces.htm
(Maintained by David R. Woolley, updated September 2008.) This website includes reviews, articles, and
links to services for online collaborative workspaces.
iCue
http://www.icue.com/
This site hosted by NBC presents news stories in a “collectible” format. Students may keep stories or
share them with classmates along with their critical perspectives about the content.
Social Networks in Education

http://socialnetworksined.wikispaces.com/
This wiki site hosts an updateable list of social networks online that are used in school environments.
© 2009 The New Media Consortium DISCUSSION DRAFT—NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION 2009 Horizon. K-12 Short List, Page 1
Communication Tools
Because the nature of work has changed and people are working more remotely, the use of online
communication tools is growing. These same shifts are mirrored in the lives of K-12 students. Programs like
Skype allow free online video conferencing, which many young people already use to communicate with their
extended families. Brief, synchronous online communication through instant messaging and Twitter, a
microblog application, allow real time conversations not bound by physical space or time limits. Meebo, a web-
based instant messaging aggregator, eliminates the need for schools to support software from a variety of
instant messaging vendors by enabling access to different accounts in one interface.
Though many schools are cautious of introducing instant messaging into the classroom where it could be a
distraction to students, the value of these technologies goes well beyond social interaction. Online
communication tools provide students with invaluable experience in remote collaboration that prepares them
for future careers. Desktop video conferencing knocks down classroom walls and brings subject experts and co-
learners from all over the world into the classroom. And when a teacher inserts a chat feature into her classroom
blog or website, suddenly school learning hours extend beyond those of the traditional school day.

• Teachers manage classroom activities even outside of classroom hours through synchronous, two-way
online communication that can provide time-sensitive information about projects and assignments and
reach multiple students at once.
• Content experts in a field of study are invited into the classroom to spend time with students via
desktop video-conferencing, without needing to leave their work.
• Without having to download any software onto the school’s computer, a teacher can place a real time
chat box into a blog entry so that students may comment and ask questions about content outside of
classroom hours.
Examples
• Edmodo is a private microblogging platform that teachers and students can use to manage classroom
assignments and activities as well as for synchronous communication: http://www.edmodo.com/
• The free online telephone and video-conferencing program, Skype, allows students to broadcast
current events to their classroom events and interact with their fellow students about the content in
real time: http://skype.com
• Meebo allows synchronous, online chat from a variety of sources to be dropped into a website or blog
to facilitate class discussion about a topic: http://meebo.com
For Further Reading

Collaboration Tools
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/CollaborationTools/47200
(Cyprien Lomas, Michael Burke, and Carrie Lee Page, EDUCAUSE Connect (White Paper), August 2008.)
This white paper discusses everyday communication tools used by students, ways that students already
use them, and ways that faculty can leverage students’ familiarity with and use of these tools to
collaborate and extend discourse beyond the classroom.
Online Videoconferencing: Web Tools Such as uStream Make Video Broadcasting Accessible
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-34670276_ITM
(Gary Stager, District Administration, June 2008.) This article provides an overview of major online video
technologies used in K-12 classrooms and examples of how they are used.
Skype Interview: Around the World with 80 School Projects

http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/01/10/skype-interview-around-the-world-with-80-schools-project/
This blog post features video of a Skype interview with technology integration facilitator, Silvia Tolisano
who uses Skype to facilitate interactions with 80 schools for her school’s Global Studies program.
Personally-Owned Devices
Personally owned devices such as smart phones, gaming consoles, and netbooks or mini-laptops are fast
becoming ubiquitous features of students’ lives. By connecting with information and each other via these
devices, students automatically model many of the collaborative behaviors valued by teachers in the classroom.
Since many personally owned devices have access to the Internet around the clock, students have the
opportunity for just-in-time learning that connects new knowledge with current experience. Students’ prior
familiarity with such technology means that they are able to learn new concepts in a context that is a common
part of their daily lives, taking advantage of the mind’s natural cognitive scaffolding.
Personally owned devices provide both a shared learning environment as well as the opportunity to address
individualized needs. Audio playback devices allow students to access and review classroom lectures recorded
by the teacher. Portable game consoles have built-in features that allow teachers to upload podcasts,
photographs, and video in other languages, with which students may then interact. Netbooks free students and
teachers to share more assignments online, providing students the functionality and flexibility of personal
laptops at a fraction of the cost. Schools continue to struggle, however, with the challenge of how to ensure
responsible use of such devices as well as with privacy issues for students and teachers.

• Fourth graders in Fort Smith, Arkansas use netbooks to visit national seismological centers online to
track earthquake activity in real time and to plot activity trends using latitude and longitude lines.
• A math class in India uses cell phone cameras to document steps taken as they complete complex math
labs. The images are then turned into class presentations the teacher can review.
• Students in California use the iPod Touch to research and display their multimedia California history
presentations on their classroom TV without the need for projectors or laptops.
Examples
• In a Japanese classroom, Nintendo DS gaming consoles provide practice testing and instantaneous
feedback for students as they hear, see, and apply their English lessons at their own pace:
http://www.nintendo.com/ds
• Apple’s iPod Touch enables Internet browsing and multimedia production capability as well as access to
many free educational applications, all in a compact size: http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/
• Lenovo‘s IdeaPad S10e netbook is designed for classrooms pursuing one-to-one laptop ratios for
students. Weighing less than three pounds, it has a generously sized screen, Internet connectivity,
multimedia functionality and full keyboarding capability. It is also less expensive than a traditional
laptop: http://Lenovo.com
For Further Reading

Handhelds: Getting Mobile. Handheld computers bring K12 classrooms into the 21st century.
http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1638&p=1#0
(Cathleen Norris and Elliot Soloway, District Administration, July 2008.) The authors describe the
identifying properties of personally owned devices, their unique pedagogical value, and the challenges
that integrating such tools into the 21st century classroom bring.
Game Consoles Remain Classroom Rarity

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26199898/
(Jane Clifford, MSNBC, August 2008.) This article describes examples of ways portable gaming systems
and other digital games are being used to facilitate learning in classrooms throughout the world,
including Japan, Scotland, and the United States.
K12 Cellphone Projects Wiki

http://k12cellphoneprojects.wikispaces.com/
A wiki description of several examples of school projects that incorporate the cameras and other
features of typical cell phones owned by students. Many items include links to page descriptions, slide
presentations, or podcasts about the projects.
One-to-One Laptop Initiatives
One-to-one computing refers to the ratio of computers to students and teachers in a learning environment.
Ideally, each learner and instructor has access not only to a computer but also to a well-managed high-speed
network with access to the Internet. One-to-one computing offers students quick access to information and the
most current research on a just-in-time basis as well as a shared network of utilities, many of them free, with
which students may collaborate, create and contribute. Successful one-to-one initiatives, however, are a
function not only of students having access to hardware, but of a strong technological infrastructure, long-term
financial commitment and rigorous ongoing professional development for teachers.
Benefits of one-to-one computing are also specific to the visions schools have for their students. Some teachers
may be attracted to the individuation in student learning plans that one-to-one computing allows, since
individualized resources may be sent directly to students based on their needs. Other teachers may value the
quick feedback students can receive when they submit work to other students for editing. Suggestions can be
tracked via the Internet so that teachers can monitor the work of the writer as well as the editors. With the right
support and commitment, laptop classrooms tend to be more student-centered, project-based, and
collaborative, conditions that also help prepare students for living in the creative economy of the 21st century.

• Irving, Texas teachers find that the direct access to timely information and the collaborative nature of
one-to one-computing helps them meet their goals for integrating problem-based learning.
• Auburn, Alabama students receive teachers’ lecture notes directly on their laptops as they are
generated, allowing students to devote more attention to classroom discussions than to note taking. In
turn, teachers monitor thumbnail versions of every student’s screen on their own computer for
classroom management purposes.
• Students may download iTunesU podcasts of language lessons from their teacher to their laptop, which
they may then review during class or at home at their own pace.
Examples
• Students at Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia are given Apple Macbooks as a tool for
facilitating SLA’s vision of being a student-centered school: http://www.apple.com/macbook/
• In Campinas, Brazil, students use the compact personal Classmate PC for everything from experiencing
simulated explosive reactions to examining cultural costumes: http://www.classmatepc.com/
• As one-to-one computing expands, some manufacturers offer educational seed programs, trials and
discounts to schools as they introduce new products. The Acer Aspire One netbook is an example:
http://www.acer.com/us/k12/k12_landing.htm
For Further Reading

One-to-One Links at Classdrive
http://lgfpms.classdrive.net/29499
This webpage provides a list of one-to-one computing projects and implementation policy suggestions.
Links to studies of how one-to-one initiatives impact student learning are also provided.
Podcast237: Unleashing the Transformational Power of One-to-One Computing in K-12

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/15/podcast237-unleashing-the-transformational-power-of-one-to-
one-computing-in-k-12-cosn-panel/
(Welsey Fryer, March 2008.) This podcast of a panel discussion at the 2008 Consortium of School
Networking (CoSN) conference offers insights for implementing and sustaining one-to-one computing
environments.
Up Close with One to One Computing (Video)

http://news.zdnet.com/2422-13568_22-218682.html
A look at how an art class in Campinas, Brazil, part of one of South America’s largest one-to-one
computing initiatives, uses laptops to complete assignments.
Time-to-Adoption: Two to Three Years
Mobiles and Next-Generation Mobile
Over the past few years, mobiles have undergone a continual transformation, becoming more capable and
flexible with each new release. The ability to record audio and video turned them into tiny multimedia devices;
as storage capacity increased, they became the storehouses of our digital lives; and geolocation, web browsing,
and email has brought much of the functionality of a laptop to the pocket-sized devices. Then, a year ago,
another transformation took place. Devices with touch screen displays appeared on the market. These new
mobiles can access the Internet over the increasingly higher-speed 3G networks or by using wifi, and they can
sense motion and orientation and react accordingly thanks to built-in accelerometers. They can use GPS to
locate themselves and can run robust applications. They communicate with other devices. Most significantly,
their manufacturers are working with the developer community to open up the devices to all the innovation that
third-party developers can bring.
New interfaces, the ability to connect to wifi and GPS in addition to a variety of cellular networks, and the
availability of third-party applications have created an almost entirely new device with nearly infinite
possibilities for education, networking, and personal productivity. The implications for education are dramatic:
the potential for mobile gaming and simulation, research aids, fieldwork, and tools for learning of all kinds is
there, awaiting development.

• Nearly every student carries a mobile device, making it a natural choice for content delivery and even
field work and data capture: mobiles and their networks are virtually everywhere.
• Language learners can install applications on their mobiles that let them look up words, practice
hearing and speaking, and practice writing.
• Detailed reference materials are available for medicine and astronomy; graphing calculator applications
turn mobiles into sophisticated mathematical tools; hundreds of flash card applications are available for
an array of subjects; and Google Earth now can be installed on mobile devices.
Examples
• ChemiCal is a chemical calculation application for the iPhone:
http://www.twssworldwide.com/ChemiCal.html
• The iPhone version of Google Earth includes all the detail of the desktop version and is available in 18
languages: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/introducing-google-earth-for-iphone.html
• Math tools like Kids’ Fraction Fun help students practice skills they are learning in school in a game-like
format on the iPod Touch: http://www.nscpartners.com/kidsmathfun62233
• Poll Everywhere uses short messaging service (SMS) messages to allow student response in place of
expensive clicker systems: http://www.polleverywhere.com/
• Seismometer uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to visualize and measure seismic variation.
http://iphone3g-india.com/detect-earthquake-using-iphone-seismometer-iphone-app/
For Further Reading

How Mobile Is Changing Our Society
http://tarina.blogging.fi/2008/10/18/speaking-at-mobile-monday-amsterdam/
(Teemu Arina, Tarina, 18 October 2008.) This blog post explores the blurring boundary between mobile
devices and computers and the potential future of what we now call mobiles.
iPhone: 3 Features That Will Impact Education

http://www.edutechie.com/2007/06/iphone-3-features-that-will-impact-education/
(Jeff VanDrimmelen, EduTechie.com, 12 June 2007.) This blog post describes three features of the iPhone
– multi-touch display, widgets, and iPhone applications with full Internet access.
Mobile Learning in Classrooms of the Future

http://www.convergemag.com/story.php?catid=421&storyid=108262
(Suren Ramasubbu & Bruce Wilcox, Converge, September 2008.) This article describes the potential of
smart phones to revolutionize K12 education.
Virtual Worlds
Hundreds of educational institutions have chosen to enter the virtual arena over the past few years. Early
projects that drew heavily on real-world forms and practices gradually have given way to more experimental
ventures that take advantage of the unique opportunities afforded by virtual worlds and other immersive digital
environments. Now we are seeing increased use of these spaces for truly immersive forms of learning and for a
level of collaboration that is erasing traditional boundaries and borders rapidly. The technology that supports
virtual worlds is advancing at a rapid rate, paving the way for more realistic environments, connections between
different platforms, and new ways to enter and use virtual spaces. As participation and development both
continue to increase, these environments are becoming ever more interesting spaces with obvious potential for
teaching, learning, and creative expression.
With more widespread use comes increased demand for content and for tools to create content. Since this topic
was first addressed in the 2007 Horizon Report, we have witnessed enormous development in building tools,
climate simulators, physics engines, and the overall capability of these platforms to simulate reality. There is
increasing activity in this space; Gartner, Inc. has estimated that by 2011, 80% of Internet users will have an
avatar in a virtual world, and hundreds of platforms are already available or in development. Given the number
of schools already experimenting with Second Life and other virtual worlds, it is clear that these spaces will
become more common as educational environments in the coming years.

• Virtual worlds have obvious application for distance learning, connecting far-flung learning
communities with each other and with expertise that may not be readily accessible locally.
• Flexible learning spaces, simulations, and alternative experiences allow students to take part in activities
that are difficult to host in real-life classrooms, such as touring a working industrial plant or facility.
• Virtual worlds provide a rich environment for scenario-based learning, allowing learners to interact with
– or even construct – places and objects of historical or scientific significance.
Examples
• The Appalachian Ohio K-12 Second Life Learning Community seeks to create, promote, and support
teaching aids and interactive science experiments in Second Life that are based on state curriculum
standards: http://vital.cs.ohiou.edu/learningcommunity.html
• An immersive experience set in the virtual world of Second Life, Virtual Macbeth takes learners into the
psychological space of the title character: http://virtualmacbeth.wikispaces.com/
• The Virtual Classroom Project at Jokaydia in Second Life is providing a platform for educators to
experiment with designing spaces for learning: http://jokaydia.com/jokaydia-projects/virtual-
classroom-project/
For Further Reading

2008 Metaverse Tour Video: The Social Virtual World’s a Stage
http://www.personalizemedia.com/2008-metaverse-tour-video-the-social-virtual-worlds-a-stage/
(Gary Hayes, PersonalizeMedia, 5 August 2008.) The author visited over fifty virtual worlds; this blog post
includes a video with clips from many of them and a summary of a few observations.
The Future Will Be Better Tomorrow

http://www.christianrenaud.com/weblog/2008/05/the-future-will.html
(Christian Renaud, Christian Renaud’s Weblog, 9 May 2008.) This blog entry makes eight predictions
about developments in virtual worlds over the next 3-5 years.
The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

http://jvwresearch.org/
This online journal launched in July 2008 and features topics such as research, consumer behavior,
culture, and pedagogy as they relate to 3-D virtual worlds.
New Forms of Assessment
As schools embrace collaborative and creative technology tools, students learn — and demonstrate learning —
in new ways, building skills that are increasingly valued by potential future employers. However, it can be
difficult to assess the nature and extent of learning that occurs when students create nontraditional work
products. Further, while skills in information literacy, visual literacy, and multimedia communication are highly
desirable for learners and workers in the 21st century, these proficiencies are not generally the ones measured by
high-stakes testing. When we consider that the tools that support those skills also tend to increase students’
interest and engagement in the learning process, the disconnect is all the greater.
Clearly, new forms of assessment are needed, both to demonstrate in-class achievement and to track students’
progress in the way that standardized testing is currently meant to do. Recognizing this, some schools are
experimenting with new approaches, but the work is far from mainstream at this point. Because of the emphasis
on standards by funding agencies means they cannot be ignored, this often means implementing side-by-side
assessment systems in an attempt to report progress using accepted scales while still evaluating the new skills
students are developing. Such “bolt-on” approaches are likely to be attractive to only the most innovative of
schools.
Several writers have made the case that an ideal form of assessment would employ technology that allows
formative as well as summative assessment of student learning, that involves the student in reflection on his or
her own learning process, and that assesses facility with new tools and skills as well as the discrete content-
based knowledge acquisition that is more easily measured by old methods. Our research did not lead us to any
tools currently in place or under development that would do this however.

• As part of an ongoing study to align new assessment tools with state math standards, two Indiana
schools are using “activity-based” assessment with fifth grade math classes. Teachers and students work
together to review their work with the help of student-oriented formative feedback rubrics.
• In a San Francisco school, new forms of assessment that involve students as peer reviewers help
teachers evaluate the learning that occurs in open-ended, project-based assignments.
• As in the above examples, new forms of assessment open the doors to a wider array of teaching
practices and new learning experiences for students.
Examples
• Wireless Generation produces a tool that helps teachers track reading performance online and then
assess and deliver feedback to handheld devices. Information is automatically updated for teachers to
analyze it and use it to inform instruction: http://www.wirelessgeneration.com/
• Moodle is a virtual learning environment that allows online assessment of student work, including peer
review assessment for students in higher grades: http://moodle.org/about/
• SimpleAssessment is designed to assess technological literacy: http://www.simpleassessment.com/
For Further Reading

Elementary Math Assessment Project (EMAP)
http://crlt.indiana.edu/research/emap.html
(Dan Hickey, Research Project, Indiana University CLRT – 2002-2005.) This is a description of a controlled
experiment of two forms of testing fifth grade student learning in math using traditional assessment
methods and more project-based approaches grounded in formative assessment.
iCTLT Authentic Assessment (Slide Presentation)

http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/CollaborationTools/47200
(TAS, The International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology, Singapore, 2008.) This
session presentation provides a clear working definition of authentic assessment as well as several
examples of ways authentic assessment is working its way into the school environment.
On the Way: Nation’s First Tech Literacy Exam

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=55483
(eSchool News, October 2008.) This article describes plans to have technology literacy become part of
the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation's Report Card, by
2012.
Cloud Computing
The emergence of large “data farms” — specialized data centers that host thousands of servers — has created a
surplus of computing resources that has come to be called the cloud. Aspects of computing that used to be
considered expensive, like disk storage and computing cycles, are now becoming cheap and ubiquitous.
Layered on top of the cloud infrastructure are development platforms that are enabling thin-client, web-based
applications for everything from image editing to word processing to music and video manipulation. Specialized
applications like Flickr live entirely in the cloud; there is no single computer, or even specific group of computers,
that can be pointed to as housing Flickr, Google, or YouTube. To the end user, the cloud is invisible; the
technology that supports the applications doesn’t matter — the fact that the applications are always available is
key.
There are three types of services associated with the cloud. The most straightforward set of services from an end-
user perspective are cloud-based applications that serve a single function, such as Gmail (http://gmail.com) or
Quicken Online (http://quicken.intuit.com/online-banking-finances.jsp). The next tier is one step removed from
this: instead of offering end-user applications, these services offer the infrastructure on which to build such
applications, along with the computing power to deliver them, like Google App Engine
(http://code.google.com/appengine/) or Heroku (http://heroku.com). The final tier of cloud services are those
that offer sheer computing resources without a development platform layer, like Amazon’s Elastic Compute
Cloud (http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/) or the GoGrid (http://www.gogrid.com).

• Cloud-based applications can provide students and teachers with free or low-cost alternatives to
expensive, proprietary productivity tools.
• Browser-based applications are accessible for a variety of computer and even mobile platforms, making
these tools available anywhere the Internet can be accessed.
• The shared infrastructure approach imbedded in the cloud computing concept offers considerable
potential for large scale experiments and research that can make use of untapped processing power.
Examples
• CloudTrip is a fledgling directory of cloud-based applications, sorted into categories:
http://www.cloudtrip.com/index.php?category=Education
• A partnership between SimTone Corporation and Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, will leverage cloud computing technologies to provide students and staff with
virtual computers: http://www.simtone.net/snapbook.htm
• Collections of images can be used for research or learning in a wide range of disciplines; for instance,
histology images on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=histology&m=text
For Further Reading

Computing Heads for the Clouds
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2007/tc20071116_379585.htm
(Aaron Ricadela, Business Week, 16 November 2007.) This article defines cloud computing and describes
ways it is in use by IBM, Yahoo!, and Google.
Down on the Server Farm

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11413148
(The Economist, 22 May 2008.) This article describes the infrastructure of Internet computing and its
implications for the future.
How Cloud Computing is Changing the World

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc2008082_445669.htm
(Rachael King, Business Week, 4 August 2008.) This article describes a perceived shift in the way we think
about computing.
Time-to-Adoption: Four to Five Years
Smart Objects
A smart object is simply any physical object that includes a unique identifier that can track information about the
object. There are a number of technologies that support smart objects: radio-frequency identification (RFID)
tags, quick response (QR) codes, and smartcards are some of the most common. The thing that makes smart
objects interesting is the way they connect the physical world with the world of information. Smart objects can
be used to digitally manage physical things, to track them throughout their lifespan, and to annotate them with
descriptions, opinions, instructions, warranties, tutorials, photographs, connections to other objects, and any
other kind of contextual information imaginable. Thus far, smart objects are awkward to tag and difficult to scan
for the everyday user, but that is beginning to change as manufacturers create user-friendly systems for tagging,
scanning, and programming smart objects.
The vision for the future of smart object technology is a world of interconnected items in which the line between
physical object and digital information is blurred. Applications that tap into “the Internet of things,” as this vision
is called, would assist users in finding articles in the physical world in the same way that Internet search engines
help locate content on the web. Reference materials, household goods, sports equipment: an actual instance of
anything a person might need would be discoverable using search tools on computers or mobile devices.
Further, while looking at an object, a prospective buyer could call up reviews, suggestions for alternate or
related purchases, videos of the item being used, and more, as well as finding out whether something similar lay
forgotten in the garage back home.

• Libraries use smart tags to track books and assist with check-in and check-out.
• Students examining tagged cultural objects brought into the classroom could use handheld devices like
the iPod Touch to call up a wealth of information, including photographs, maps, video and audio
recordings, related to the object they are holding.
• A school- or community-wide scavenger hunt might make use of QR codes or other smart tags to offer
clues for participants and direct them to certain locations.
Examples
• The Illinois Institute of Technology’s ThinkeringSpace combines physical and virtual components to
produce an environment where physical objects, like books, can be annotated with contextual
information that is added manually or retrieved automatically: http://www.id.iit.edu/ThinkeringSpaces/
• Semapedia is a collaborative project that aims to connect tagged physical objects with online
information from Wikipedia using QR codes: http://semapedia.org
• The Attendee Meta-Data Project at the 2008 Hackers on Planet Earth conference was intended to bring
conference-goers together based on shared interests, recommend sessions to attendees, and facilitate
hallway networking: http://amd.hope.net
For Further Reading
Internetting Every Thing, Everywhere, All the Time

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/02/digitalbiz.rfid/
(Cherise Fong, CNN.com/technology DigitalBiz, November 2008.) This article describes the Internet of
things and illustrates some current examples of smart object technology.
The Net Shapes Up to Get Physical

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/16/internet-of-things-ipv6
(Sean Dodson, Guardian.co.uk, October 2008.) This article describes the “Internet of things” and
discusses the technologies involved, as well as considering potential applications for networked smart
objects.
iPhone in Education: Using QR Codes in the Classroom

http://olliebray.typepad.com/olliebraycom/2008/11/iphone-in-education-using-qr-code-in-the-classroom.html
(Ollie Bray, OllieBray.com, 24 November 2008.) The author explains and demonstrates a way to use QR
codes to convey homework assignments to students.
New Tools for Filtering and Security
It is well established that access to the Internet gives students increased access to research materials, global
experts, information, and educational opportunities. The other side of this coin is that students also have access
to material that is less desirable, and from which authorities are expected to protect them. Twenty-one states in
the US have Internet filtering laws that apply to schools or libraries. Currently, many schools and libraries use
Internet filtering software to block access to “undesirable” material, but many of the filtering packages do not
allow subscribers (that is, schools and libraries) to customize the lists of blocked sites. As a result, students may
be prevented from using tools that are of educational value because those tools could also be used to distribute
objectionable material. A related issue is security and privacy — keeping students’ personal information from
being published online, which could endanger their safety; filtering tools address this by blocking sites where
personal information might be posted. This solution potentially keeps useful tools out of students’ hands.
Commercial solutions to filtering are most often driven more by legal concerns than pedagogy, and thus are
more focused on defining limits than access. Educators are beginning to consider alternative options that place
more control in the hands of teachers, libraries, and schools. New, open source tools that allow finer control over
what is blocked and what is allowed are emerging in direct response to that need. A promising new class of
tools focused on blocking content rather than URLs is emerging that makes use of algorithms originally
developed to combat spam. A emerging area of thought driven by Web 2.0 technologies and the increasing
importance of social networking is that filtering strategies should be based on a social contract with users that
focuses on usage guidelines and user responsibility, as such strategies allow both for a looser level of top-down
control, and the possibility of tailoring access to an individual child’s needs and maturity.

As the entire purpose of filtering tools is to block certain content or disable certain user actions, the relevance to
teaching, learning, and creative expression is largely in the inverse. “Less is more” is an emerging area of
thought on the topic, and the questions posed are largely about how far schools should go to limit access to
online content, and who should decide what those limits may be. Most discussions of the topic focus on being
able to make finer-grained choices about what is or is not available to kids in schools, but that is only a
technological challenge on the surface. Of far more import to this topic than the technology that would
support it are the policy considerations that must be tackled school by school.
Where choices are made in the organization about what is and is not available to students, and what aspects of
those choices are to be left to teachers and students are key policy questions that must be addressed. Until they
are, the applications for any of the various technologies for filtering and security are far more about protection
than about teaching, learning, or creative expression.
Examples
• The Kansas Public Library system has implemented an Internet content filter whose blacklist is
maintained by librarians and which is easy for librarians to enable or disable:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/KSL/libtech/kanguard/
• OpenChoice is a research project at the University of Texas at Austin to develop filtering software that
gives schools and libraries control over what content is filtered: http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~choice/
• SquidGuard is a URL redirector that works with Internet proxy software Squid to maintain blacklists of
undesirable websites: http://www.squidguard.org
• DansGuardian takes the approach of filtering content, rather than blocking blacklisted URLs, for a highly
customizable filtering solution: http://dansguardian.org/?page=whatisdg
For Further Reading

Just Give It to Me Straight: A Case Against Filtering the Internet
http://faculty.ed.uiuc.edu/burbules/papers/straight.html
(T. A. Callister, Jr. and Nicholas C. Burbules. Retrieved February 19, 2009.) This article describes Internet
filtering for schools and libraries and makes a case for not doing it in most situations.
State Internet Filtering Laws

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/cip/filterlaws.htm
(National Conference of State Legislatures. Updated 31 December 2008.) This article covers the Federal
Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and discusses state filtering and blocking laws.
Expanded Personal Web
Part of a trend that began with simple innovations like personalized start pages, RSS aggregation, and
customizable widgets, the personal web is a term coined to represent a collection of technologies that confer
the ability to reorganize, configure and manage online content rather than just viewing it. Using a growing set
of free and simple tools and applications, it is easy to create customized, personal web-based environments that
explicitly support one’s social, professional, learning and other activities via highly personalized windows to the
networked world. Online material can be saved, tagged, categorized, and repurposed without difficulty and
without any special knowledge of how web pages are put together. In fact, the underlying technology that
supports the web has all but vanished for most users; all that is necessary is to know which tools to use, and any
task — from creating and distributing class materials, to organizing groupwork and team tasks, to developing a
library of resources that constantly refresh and update themselves — becomes point-and-click trivial.
As a result, students can create customized, personal web-based environments to support their social and
academic activities using whatever tools they prefer. Tools that foster personal and social forms of learning and
expression, though technically unrelated, work together seamlessly without any need for complicated setup,
thanks to open applications programming interfaces (APIs) and easily integrated web feeds. Teachers can easily
create online spaces for their classes that contain just the information they want their students to see, and
students can create — and work in — online spaces that reflect their own interests and studies. The vast
collection of content that makes up the web can be tamed, filtered, and organized, and anyone can publish as
much or as little as they wish: the web has become personal.

• The ease of online publishing gives students a place to voice their ideas, opinions, and research.
• Personal learning environments help students organize their own work as well as manage online
references and resources.
• Personal publishing sites that offer printing services make it possible to create tangible products of
student work, customized and inexpensive textbooks, and more.
Examples
• SmARThistory is an edited online art history resource to augment or replace traditional art history texts:
http://smarthistory.org
• Studywiz Spark is a commercial product that allows teachers and students to create content-based
learning spaces, accessible by computer or mobile device: http://studywizspark.com
• Eduglu is a content aggregator developed for educational use that includes a rating system:
http://eduglu.learningparty.net
For Further Reading

Datagogies, Writing Spaces, and the Age of Peer Production
http://writersatwork.us/sites/Joe_Moxley/Articles/datagogies.pdf
(Joseph Moxley, Computers and Composition, Vol. 25, Issue 2, 2008; pp. 182-202.) This article (PDF, 676k)
suggests that a different kind of teaching and learning takes place in learning communities that use
peer-to-peer technologies.
The Evolution of Personal Publishing

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_evolution_of_personal_publ.php
(Alex Iskold, ReadWriteWeb, December 2007.) This post traces different categories of personal
publishing – blogs, social networks, and microblogs – and posits that each appeals to a different type of
writer and fills a particular purpose in social publishing.
A Widget Onto the Future

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/08/widgets
(Andy Guess, Inside Higher Ed, 8 December 2008.) This article describes widgets — tools for
personalizing online information — and provides examples of some developed expressly for education.
Semantic-Aware Applications
The vision for the semantic web, originally advanced by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, is that eventually it might be able to
help people solve very difficult problems by presenting connections between apparently unrelated concepts,
individuals, events, or things — connections that it would take many people many years to perceive, but that
could become obvious through the kinds of associations made possible by semantic-aware applications. There
are currently two theoretical approaches to developing the semantic capacity of the web. The first is to add
metadata to each piece of content to include information about its context; tagging at the concept level, if you
will. The other approach focuses on developing natural language search capability that can make those same
kinds of determinations without any special metadata.
Semantic-aware applications allow meaning to be automatically inferred from content and context. The
promise of these applications is to help us see connections that already exist, but that are invisible to current
search algorithms because they are embedded in the context of the information on the web. Semantic-aware
applications are still in early development; errors and incorrectly identified bits of content are not unusual.
However, there is a great deal of work going on in this area, and we can expect to see significant advances in the
coming years.

• Semantic portals that aggregate information from a variety of sources could facilitate research; see
http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/sweo/public/UseCases/FoundationBotin/
• A fully-developed semantic web could return results from a topical search with video, images, text, and
other content aggregated and presented in a meaningful way; see
http://learninginmaine.blogspot.com/2008/09/web-30-semantic-web-cometh.html
• Other projected educational uses for the semantic web involve personal learning networks and
personal learning environments, which are envisioned as more dynamic and contextual than what is
available now.
Examples
• TrueKnowledge is a semantic search engine, still in private beta, that is capable of answering questions
as well as linking to web pages that might include the answers: http://trueknowledge.com/
• TripIt is a semantic application that parses travel-related emails sent to it, instantly creating detailed trip
itineraries: http://www.tripit.com
• Twine is a semantic-aware social network organized around topics of interest: http://twine.com
For Further Reading

An Introduction to the Semantic Web
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGg8A2zfWKg
(Manu Sporny, YouTube, December 2007.) This six-minute video explains the idea of the semantic web
in simple terms.
The Semantic Web of Data

http://www.uplandproductions.com/s4/films/trm/ts06/index.htm
(Upland Productions in collaboration with Technology Review, 2007.) In this video (8:24), Tim Berners-Lee
describes his vision for the semantic web.
The Semantic Web in Education

http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/TheSemanticWebinEducation/47675
(Jason Ohler, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2008.) This article introduces the concept of the
semantic web in an educational context and suggests some ways semantic-aware applications might
be used in teaching and learning.
Critical Challenges
1. There is a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual
literacy, and technological literacy. The skills involved in writing and communication have changed from
those required even a few years ago. Students need to be technologically adept, to be able to collaborate with
peers all over the world, to understand basic content and media design, and to understand the relationship
between apparent function and underlying code in the applications they use daily. Questions of assessment and
support of new literacies across the curriculum continue to surface. Teachers, too, need training in these skills in
order to support and guide students in visual communication and learning with technology. Before such
training can take place, we need a fuller understanding of what constitutes new literacy skills.
2. The changing state of pedagogy, curriculum, and teaching practice is an ongoing challenge. As
pedagogy changes — for instance, as more schools turn to project-based learning practices — technology
needs to be integrated with the curriculum in a way that supports new teaching practice. Simply adding
technology to the existing curriculum is not a viable approach. Likewise, technology must effectively support
emerging practice: the current lack of easy-to-use tools for project-based learning, constructivist pedagogies,
mentoring, peer tutoring, team collaboration, and student-driven discovery limits movement beyond the
current system.
3. Students are different, but educational practice and the material that supports it is changing only
slowly. Schools are still using materials developed to teach the students of decades ago, but today's students
are actually very different in the way they think and work. Schools need to adapt to current student needs and
identify new learning models that are engaging to younger generations. Many education professionals feel that
a shift to a more learner-centered model focused on the development of individual potential instead of the
imposition of a body of knowledge would lead to deeper and more sustained learning across the curriculum. To
support such a change, both teaching practice and the tools used in the classroom must adapt. Assessment,
likewise, has not kept pace with new modes of working, and must change along with teaching methods, tools,
and materials.
4. Learning that incorporates real life experiences is not occurring enough and is undervalued when it
does take place. This challenge is an important one in K-12 schools, because it results in a lack of engagement
in learning on the part of students who are seeking some connection between their own lives and their
experience in school. Use of technology tools that are already familiar to students, project-based learning
practices that incorporate real-life experiences, and mentoring from community members are a few practices
that support increased engagement. Practices like these may help retain students in school and prepare them
for further education, careers, and citizenship in a way that traditional practices are failing to do.
5. There is a growing recognition that new technologies must be adopted and used as an everyday part of
classroom activities, but effecting this change is difficult. Technology tools that are part of everyday life for
many students and working professionals should be seen as core tools of the teaching profession that teachers
are required to master as any professional would master the tools of his or her trade. However, making such a
profound shift in a well-established system is a difficult challenge. Professional development, intellectual
interactions with peers, adequate training, and preparation time — all scarce resources for teachers — are
necessary for such a shift to take place.
6. A key challenge is the fundamental structure of the K-12 education establishment. While the focus
remains on maintaining the basic elements of the existing system, there will be resistance to any change in
practice that upsets the status quo. Learners have increasing opportunities to take their education into their own
hands, and options like informal education, online education, and home-based learning are attracting students
away from traditional educational settings. If the system is to remain relevant it must adapt.
7. As we enter the digital age, a new system of ethics is called for. Schools have the opportunity to play a key
role in the development of new citizenship for physical and virtual communities. Schools should engage in a
discussion about identity, privacy, ownership, credibility, and reputation that engages teachers, administrators,
parents, and students as a first step down this road.
Key Trends
1. Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed.
Information technologies impact how people work, play, gain information, and participate in communities.
Increasingly, it is also a component of success in almost every endeavor, as those who can use the technologies
to a greater extent are more likely to advance, while those without access or skills lose out. The digital divide was
once seen as an "earning divide" but is now more of a "learning divide," with those who have access to education
in a better position to obtain and make use of technology than those who do not. Evolving occupations,
multiple careers, and an increasingly mobile workforce are aspects of this trend.
2. Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and
socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives. Technology is impacting our lives, and the lives
of students, in new and expanding ways. Once seen as an isolating influence, technology is now recognized as a
primary way to stay in touch and take control of one’s own learning. Multisensory, ubiquitous, and
interdisciplinary, technology is integrated into nearly everything we do.
3. The web is an increasingly personal experience. We have an unprecedented level of control over online
content, not only in terms of the information and activities that we select, but also in the way they are
represented to us. Students are very familiar with the idea of “skinning” — customizing the look and feel of —
their virtual experiences. They expect and experience personalized content in games and websites that is at
odds with what they find in the classroom.
4. The notion of collective intelligence is redefining how we think about ambiguity and imprecision.
Collective intelligence may give rise to multiple answers, all equally correct, to problems. The notions of
collective intelligence and mass amateurization are redefining scholarship as we grapple with issues of top-
down control and grassroots scholarship. Today’s learners want to be active, connected participants in the
learning process — not mere listeners; they have a need to control their environments, and they understand
that content and knowledge is available at their fingertips.
5. The ways we think of learning environments is changing. Traditionally, a learning environment has been a
physical space, but the idea of what constitutes a learning environment is changing. The “spaces” where
students learn are becoming more community-driven, interdisciplinary, and supported by technologies that
engage virtual communication and collaboration. This changing concept of the learning environment has clear
implications for schools, where learning is the key focus of the space.
6. The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing. Innovation is valued at the highest levels of
business and must be embraced in schools if students are to succeed beyond their formal education. The ways
we design learning experiences must reflect the growing importance of innovation and creativity as professional
skills.
7. Web 2.0 applications continue to grow in popularity in a variety of forms but remain hard to bring into
schools. Tools for social networking, mashing up and sharing digital media, and online communication, along
with personal devices that keep those tools close at hand, are converging with more traditional technologies like
telephones and media players. Students understand and rely on these tools, yet there remains strong resistance
to incorporating them into educational practice. It is likely that with or without formal support, students are
using tools like these for collaboration; if pressed into service, web applications and personal devices could
become powerful enablers for student-to-student communication, tutoring, and personal instruction.
Are Digital Media
Changing
Language?
It’s natural for languages to evolve. But Naomi S. Baron
what should really concern us is the way re instant messaging and
computers and mobile phones are changing

our attitudes toward language. A text messaging killing
language? To hear what
the popular media say, a
handful of OMGs (oh my
god) and smiley faces, along with a
paucity of capital letters and punctua-
tion marks, might be bringing English
to its knees.
Although journalists tend to sensa-
tionalize the linguistic strangeness of
“online lingo,” quantitative analyses of
instant messaging conversations and
text messages reveal that abbreviations,
acronyms, and even misspellings are
comparatively infrequent, at least
among college-age students. For
example, in a study I did of college
students’ instant messaging conversa-
tions, out of 11,718 words, only 31 were
“online lingo” abbreviations, and only 90
were acronyms (of which 76 were LOL).
In a study of college students’ text
messaging, my colleague Rich Ling and
I found a few more lexical shortenings;
yet the grand total of clear abbreviations
was only 47 out of 1,473 words, which
is hardly overwhelming.
Yes, young people sometimes acci-
dentally slip a btw (by the way) into a
school essay. But a recent study by the
THE GRANGER COLLECTION

PHOTO BY KEVIN DAVIS
Pew Internet and American Life Project acronyms into everyday speech is a policing the grammar of the personal
confirms that middle school and high common linguistic process—to wit, messages we construct. What’s more,
school students understand what kind RSVP, AWOL, or ASAP. If a few more the two-word version handily passes
of language is appropriate in what lexical shortenings make their way into spell-check (typically my students’ crite-
context (Lenhart, Smith, & Macgill, general usage, that’s nothing out of the rion for correctness).
2008). What’s more, scholars of new ordinary. URL addresses for Internet sites may
media language, such as David Crystal also be affecting our notion of word
and Beverly Plester, remind us that the Attitudes toward breaks. URLs allow no spaces between
new technologies encourage creativity, words. To create a Web page for selling
which can spill over into school writing linguistic “rules” beauty products, I need an address such
(Crystal, 2008; Plester, Wood, & Bell, as www.beautyproductsonline.com. It is
2008). have shifted. easy to imagine beauty products crossing
the line into beautyproducts in offline
Minor Shifts: Vocabulary Decreased certainty about when a string writing without many people giving the
and Sentence Mechanics of words is a compound, a hyphenated merger a second thought.
Those of us studying electronically word, or one word. This is a more Diminished concern over spelling and
mediated communication (language nuanced proposition. Take the word punctuation. Spell-check, along with
produced on computers or mobile newspaper. Should it be spelled online search engines, may be
phones) have been looking for evidence newspaper, news-paper, or news paper? convincing us that devoting energy to
that mediated language is changing Obviously the first, you say. But histori- honing spelling skills is anachronistic.
traditional speech and writing. To our cally, words tend to begin as separate Even before you finish typing a word
surprise, the list of effects is relatively pairings (news plus paper); gradually containing an error, spell-check often
short. Here are my candidates: make their way to hyphenated forms automatically corrects the word. Simi-
Incorporation of a few acronyms into (news-paper); and eventually, especially larly, if you type a misspelled word (or
everyday language. These days you if they are high-frequency, become phrase) into Google, chances are the
sometimes hear students saying “brb” compounds (newspaper). The journey search engine will land you pretty much
(be right back) to one another when from electronic mail to e-mail, and, for at the same list of sites you would have
they temporarily take their leave. I have many, to email, is a case in point. reached had you been a finalist in the
also overheard “lol” (laughing out loud) Enter computers and the Internet. National Spelling Bee.
in conversations among young people. If I write news paper (two words) in an In the same vein, I am increasingly
However, these neologisms need to be e-mail, no one is likely to correct me, finding that my students have little
put into perspective. Infusion of written because on the Internet no one is regard for apostrophes. (And as we
A S S O C I AT I O N FOR S U P E RV I S I O N AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 43

know, URLs disallow punctuation consistent judgments about linguistic refers to a building, such as the U.S.
marks.) My studies of college students’ usage. Yes, we all make performance Capitol). Why not just ditch one and let
text messages show that “required” errors, but our rule-governed linguistic the other do double duty?
apostrophes (in a word such as doesn’t) brains recognize, perhaps after the fact, My point is not to pass judgment.
only appear about one-third of the time. that we have erred. The issue is that attitudes toward
These effects on vocabulary and Since the 1960s, a constellation of linguistic “rules” have shifted. A wide
sentence mechanics are actually fairly factors have combined to alter our sense swath of educated speakers of English
minor. New words enter languages all of “good” language use (Baron, 2000). (at least American English) simply don’t
the time. As for word separation, Revolutions in school pedagogy began worry about the niceties of such rules
hyphenation, and spelling more gener- replacing teacher-directed classrooms any more. One day it’s may; the next
ally, it helps to take the long view. A with peer review and activities designed day it’s can. So what?
quick check of the Oxford English to foster collaboration. The infamous This attitude reminds me of spelling
Dictionary reveals that lexical practices red pen was now used more to in Middle English, where you would
evolve, and yesterday’s oddity may be encourage intellectual exploration than often find the same word written half a
today’s norm—or vice versa. to correct sentence mechanics. Multi- dozen different ways, all on the same
In studying new media language, culturalism led us to encourage students page. Standardized English spelling
however, I’ve become convinced that not to be judgmental about their peers. didn’t become a reality until nearly the
more fundamental linguistic changes are No longer do we say that Li Po “talks 18th century. By 1750, Lord Chester-
afoot. The shifts I’m talking about are field famously warned his son that
not in vocabulary, spelling, or punctua- “orthography . . . is so absolutely neces-
tion, but in our attitudes toward One day it’s may; sary for a man of letters, or a gentleman,
language structure. that one false spelling may fix a ridicule
the next day it’s can. upon him for the rest of his life.” Today,
Attitude Shift 1: “Whatever” it is difficult to imagine anyone taking
Language is rule-governed behavior: So what? Chesterfield’s admonition seriously. If
That is, languages are constructed spell-check doesn’t catch the problem,
according to identifiable patterns that whatever! Does spelling really matter,
people follow. Native speakers have a strangely”; rather, she is an “English anyway?
mental template of these rules. Obvi- language learner.” Instead of criticizing The shift away from caring about
ously linguistic rules have exceptions Bill from Appalachia (who says “Him language rules or consistency predates
(the plural of man is men, not mans). and me went home”), we note that Bill new media language. It even predates
And rules change over time. (Chaucer speaks another dialect of English. personal computers. However,
would have written “hath holpen” rather Gradually, we have become less computer and mobile-phone technolo-
than “has helped.”) However, we recog- obsessed with correctness and more gies add fuel to the linguistic fire. An
nize exceptions—and change—by refer- focused on tolerance and personal e-mail manual such as Constance Hale
encing our knowledge of rules currently expression. This shift, however and Jessie Scanlon’s Wired Style (1999)
shared within a language community. admirable, has linguistic consequences. encourages writers to “celebrate subjec-
By rules, I don’t mean normative, School is no longer necessarily a place tivity” (p. 9) and to “play with grammar
prescriptive grammar—such edicts as, to instill a sense that linguistic rules (or and syntax. Appreciate unruliness”
Don’t end a sentence with a preposition. even linguistic consistency) matter. (p. 15). Scholars like David Crystal and
This arbitrary “rule” was concocted by Each year, I ask graduate students in Beverly Plester, as I noted earlier, high-
18th-century self-appointed grammar- my Structure of English class if it light the creative potential of text
ians who took Latin, which has no matters whether English continues to messaging. We should not be surprised
word-final prepositions, as their model. distinguish between the words may and to find linguistic free spirits applying
Instead, I have in mind such rules as, can (“May I come in?” versus “Can I similar latitude to everyday speech and
Subjects and verbs need to agree in come in?”). Many of the students fail to even to more formal writing.
number—making a sentence like see why anyone should care. The same
“Cookie Monster eat toast for breakfast” laissez-faire attitude applies to distin- Attitude Shift 2: Control
ungrammatical. If a language commu- guishing between the words capital and Besides amplifying the linguistic “what-
nity adheres to the rule-governed model capitol (the first identifies the seat of ever” attitude, computers and mobile
of language, its members will render state government, whereas the second phones are instrumental in a second
44 E D U C AT I O N A L L E A D E R S H I P / M A R C H 2 0 0 9
attitudinal shift—a change in the degree meeting with students, their mobile engaging in this behavior at least once a
to which we control our linguistic phones ring. A quick glance at the month. And 25 percent reported that
interactions. screen, and then the phone is silenced they fiddled with text-based functions
Human communication has always and slipped into a pocket or backpack. on their phones (such as checking old
involved varying amounts of control. If I “It’s only Mom,” they explain. messages) to evade conversation with
see you coming down the street and Another form of control on mobiles is people they knew.
don’t wish to engage in conversation, I deciding whether to talk or text. I might In each instance, technology
might cross to the other side and start choose to send a text message rather enhances our ability to manipulate our
window shopping. If you phone me and than call to keep the communication communication with others. As the
I don’t like what you’re saying, I can short (meaning, “I don’t want to get arsenal of control devices continues to
always hang up. grow, we increasingly come to see
Contemporary online and language not as an opportunity for
mobile language technologies interpersonal dialogue but as a
ratchet up the control options. On system we can maneuver for indi-
my instant messaging account, I vidual gain.
can block you so you never get a
message through. (I always appear MoM keeps txtN Me bt I Responding to
to be offline, even though I’m cNt blok her or shell Language Shifts
busily instant messaging others.) I Gt >:-( N shut off fb. o In thinking about the effects of
can multitask, talking with you on wel lol dNt tel her new communication media on
the phone while I search for a language, we need to distinguish
cheap airfare online or instant
w@ I sed. between “may fly” language (here
messaging you while I’m today, gone tomorrow) and
conducting half a dozen other changes that are more substantial.
online conversations. If we care that a couple of new
Social networking sites offer acronyms and alternative spellings
additional forms of control. People could make their way into
exercise control in the way they everyday spoken or written
design their pages: Staged photo- language (particularly when it
graphs, exaggerated profiles, and comes to schoolwork), it actually
padded friends lists enable online is possible to just say no. Students
users to manipulate how others see already understand that particular
them. In the words of one under- styles of language are appropriate
graduate, her Facebook page is for one venue but not another
“me on my best day.” (calling a teacher “Mr. Matthews”
These sites also enable users to but using first names for friends).
maintain relationships with friends bogged down in a conversation in They understand (and probably even
without expending much effort. For which I’m obligated to listen to what expect) reminders.
example, young people commonly you have to say”). In cross-cultural Responding to the linguistic “what-
check up on their friends’ activities by research I conducted last year, more ever” attitude is a more complex propo-
viewing their online photo albums or than one-third of the Swedish, U.S., and sition. Parents and teachers need to
status reports, obviating the need for a Italian university students I surveyed understand that young people are not
phone call or e-mail, much less a face- said “keeping the message short” was an the only ones manifesting this attitu-
to-face visit. One popular move is to important reason for texting rather than dinal shift. One of my favorite examples
post a Happy Birthday greeting on the talking. is from the environmentalist and author
Wall (a semi-public message board) of a One inventive control technique is Bill McKibben, who wrote this in praise
friend’s Facebook page without making pretending to talk on your mobile of a book: “Go find a friend and tell
real personal contact. phone when you see an acquaintance them all about this fine book.” We’ve all
On mobile phones, caller ID informs approaching—even someone you like— learned that a singular noun such as
us who’s calling, so we can decide to avoid conversation. In my studies, 13 friend needs to be paired with a singular
whether to answer. Sometimes when I’m percent of U.S. students reported pronoun (here, him or her). Yet Simon

and Schuster had no qualms about on written precision, students generally Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
putting this blurb on a book jacket. will follow your lead. Hale, C., & Scanlon, J. (1999). Wired style:
Principals of English usage in the digital age.
Depending on our pedagogical goals, The issue of control is trickier, New York: Broadway Books.
we might choose to be linguistically because it involves personal empower- Lenhart, A., Smith, A., & Macgill, A. R.
hard-nosed (perhaps pluralizing the ment. Here the battles aren’t about (2008). Writing, technology, and teens.
noun to friends and avoiding the gender acronyms or noun-pronoun agreement Washington, DC: Pew Internet and
question entirely). Or we might admit but about such questions as, Should American Life Project. Available: http://
pewresearch.org/pubs/808/writing-
more casual spoken style into the class- students be allowed to have mobile- technology-and-teens
room, following the general trend today phones in school? or Is it the job of the Plester, B., Wood, C., & Bell, V. (2008). Txt
for writing to reflect informal speech. school to teach online and mobile- msg n school literacy: Does texting and
Before we despair that language is device etiquette? These concerns rarely knowledge of text abbreviations adversely
going to hell in a handcart, we should have easy solutions. However, by under- affect children’s literacy attainment?
Literacy, 42(3) 137–144.
remember two lessons. First, normative- standing that new language technologies
ness in language goes through cycles, have shifted our students’ attitudes
much like taste in music and politics. about who holds the power in linguistic Naomi S. Baron is Professor of Linguis-
All is not lost. And second, regardless of exchange, we will be better prepared to tics and Codirector of the TESOL
the swings that language goes through, understand their perspectives and to Program at American University in Wash-
there is room for individual schools or reach common ground. EL ington, DC. Her most recent book,
Always On: Language in an Online and
teachers to set their own standards.
References Mobile World (Oxford University Press,
Most schools have abandoned teaching 2008), received the Duke of Edinburgh
Baron, N. (2000). Alphabet to email: How
handwriting, but a few have held their written English evolved and where it’s English-Speaking Union English
ground, to the good fortune of their heading. New York: Routledge. Language Book Award for 2008;
students. Just so, if you choose to insist Crystal, D. (2008). Txtng: The gr8 db8. nbaron@american.edu.
Becoming
Network-Wise
Schools can do a far better job of preparing students
for their connected futures online.
Will Richardson
et me tell you how our kids learn about Facebook and MySpace,” the high
L school principal said with a wry grin. I’d just finished up a presentation
on the potentials and pitfalls of online social networks, and I could tell he
was looking to offer a helpful if somewhat sarcastic dose of reality. “They
get a great lesson,” he said, “when I pull them into my office and give
them a good tongue-lashing about the stuff they’re putting up on their sites.” I
chuckled, and so did most in the audience.
“So if that’s your ‘curriculum’ on the topic of responsible online conduct,” I asked,
smiling, “then whose fault is all that not-so-great-stuff the kids are putting up there?”
He thought for a second, then smiled broadly. “The parents!” he exclaimed, and
we all laughed at his deft deflection of the question.
But should we be laughing? The explosion of connective online technologies—
such as blogs, wikis, and the social networking sites so many students love to use
(and, in some cases, abuse)—have given many educators pause as we try to under-
stand and navigate a fast-changing, much more public, collaborative landscape on
the Web. The challenges of keeping up with students as they create and publish in
ever-increasing numbers are daunting, especially when most educators have little
context for those activities in their own lives. But the fact is that students continue to
explore networking online, few of them are being taught how to leverage its poten-
tial and benefit from the deep learning that can ensue.
Their Networked Futures

Leverage these connections they must, for the growing consensus is that much of our
students’ learning lives will be spent interacting in online, virtual networks, forming
groups with others on the basis of their passions and their need to learn, all the while
making complex decisions about whom to connect to, how much information to
share, and how best to achieve both collective and individual goals. In the process,
students will need to build their own curriculums, create their own projects, and
assess their own products and their contribution in creating them. In short, they must
be self-directed, self-motivated, lifelong learners who are network-literate in their
JOHN S. DYKES
creation and participation in these people online, those numbers continue
spaces. to explode. More significant for educa-
This is no small shift, to be tors is students’ intensive participa-
sure, from traditional classroom tion in these social networks.
spaces where the curriculum According to a National School
is fixed before the fact and Boards Association study (2007),
parceled out as the year more than 75 percent of U.S.
progresses in neat, linear students with online access have
pieces; where standardized either a MySpace or a Facebook
tests require little if any self- account. These spaces are an
reflection or interaction with important part of students’ lives,
others; and where work is and their attraction is not going
seldom shared publicly or away anytime soon.
created for the public good. But missing from the usual
It’s a shift that challenges the conversation about social networking
relevance of the traditional class- are the many millions of those who
room in some fundamental ways. connect, collaborate, and learn with one
Learning is no longer primarily fixed in another outside the structure of the
time and space; it can happen anytime “typical” social Web site through their
and anywhere that we are connected— interaction on blogs, Twitter, Flickr, Deli-
in a virtual, asynchronous classroom, Stanford professor Howard Rhein- cious, and many other sites. To be
for example, with self-motivated and gold, a blogger and author of Smart successful in these interactions, which
self-directed people who want to learn Mobs (Perseus, 2002), put it this way: are more representative of the self-
with us. In that context, it forces us to Learning to use online forums, be they directed learning opportunities we now
rethink our physical teaching and social network services like MySpace and have, we must exhibit an increasingly
learning spaces and our roles in Facebook, blogs, or wikis, is not a sexily complex set of skills that apply not only
students’ lives. contemporary add-on to the curriculum— to how we engage with information but
Regardless of the level of discomfort it’s an essential part of the literacy also to how we engage with people
today’s youth require for the world they
that these “epochal” changes (Shirky, inhabit. . . . The way today’s students will online.
2008, p. 17) create for teachers, do science, politics, journalism, and busi-
administrators, and parents alike, not ness next year and a decade from now will The Skills Students Need
addressing these shifts by attempting to be shaped by the skills they acquire in In these self-made, online, networked
simply filter them away or ignore their using social media and by the knowledge classrooms, traditional reading and
they gain of the important issues of
reality is no longer an option. Students privacy, identity, community, and the role
writing literacies are no less important.
will be—and to some extent already of citizen media in democracy. (2008) In fact, we must be willing to expand the
are—living in a world of online inter- scope of literacy in a world where much
actions for which they currently have The Future Is Here of what we read is unedited in the
few learning contexts or models. Like it Considering they barely existed just five conventional sense and where a
or not, we must begin to prepare them years ago, online networks have quickly precursor to building networks is a will-
for their connected futures online. To changed the landscape in terms of how ingness to write and publish online
do that, we must be willing to embrace we connect with others around the using a variety of media. Even the
these new technologies in our own world. The current numbers of people National Council of Teachers of English
practice and add an important expecta- participating in social networks are stag- (NCTE) recognizes the changing shape
tion for learning to our curriculums gering: 250 million on MySpace, 125 of traditional literacy, calling it
and classrooms—namely, that by grad- million on Facebook, and hundreds of “malleable” and suggesting that 21st-
uation, students will be able to create, millions more on such sites as LinkedIn, century readers and writers should be
navigate, and grow their own personal LiveJournal, and LibraryThing (“List of able to not only use technologies effec-
learning networks in safe, effective, and Social Networking Websites,” n.d.). As tively but also “build relationships with
ethical ways. we add on to the already 1.5 billion others to pose and solve problems
collaboratively and cross-culturally” and topic from the New York Times and ences—and is referenced by—credible
“design and share information for global compare those stories with ones they get sites. And they must be able to analyze
communities to meet a variety of in similar feeds from the Times of India the level of writing, the tenor of the
purposes” (NCTE, n.d.). and China Daily. In addition, they could comments, and the authors’ motives,
So how do we do that? use RSS feeds to scour the blogosphere commercial or otherwise, to gauge
to identify expert voices. the veracity and relevance of the
Handling Hypertext information.
From a reading standpoint, we need to Critically Reading Information
acclimate students to hypertext environ- Although having effective skills for Critically Reading People
ments early on and foster an ability to finding and collecting information is Reading people is equally if not more
synthesize relevant bits of information imperative, we also need to make sure challenging because in the practice of
from many diverse sources. We must that students can read as highly trained network building, students must criti-
help them become comfortable reading editors read, looking for truth in both cally evaluate potential nodes in their
electronically distributed texts and the text and the author. If the well- networks. It’s not enough simply to find
conversations that look and feel little like chronicled example of the Pacific North- someone who shares their passion. To
the linear, page-by-page reading that we west Tree Octopus site is any example find good teachers, students must make
do in the paper world. (see http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus), we a habit of asking such questions as, Who
Learning is no longer fixed in time

and space; it can happen anytime
and anywhere that we are connected.
An important way to begin that work have some work to do in this area. is this person? What are her traditional
is by teaching students (and ourselves) University of Connecticut professor and nontraditional credentials? What
to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Donald Leu showed this fictitious site to communities or networks is he a part of?
feeds to subscribe to content creators a group of 25 middle school students, What is the level of her contribution?
who consistently publish relevant and none of whom could discern that the and What is his professional reputation?
interesting information. In addition to site was a hoax, despite the ludicrous Students must be able to answer these
using traditional texts to do research, premise of this endangered species questions satisfactorily by knowing how
students could use RSS feeds to create a struggling through life climbing pine to search deeply online, not just in
consistent stream of news stories, blog trees to avoid capture and being sold as Google, but in databases and content
posts, videos, and photos related to a women’s headwear. Twenty-four of repositories, such as ProQuest or EBSCO
given topic coming to their desktops or the students, in fact, labeled it “very Host.
cell phones, which they can access at a credible.” So, for instance, if a student who is
moment’s notice. Their task then Students must be able to find out who researching global warming happens on
becomes to filter this stream for the most owns a particular Web site; they can do the blog Environmental Economics
relevant and accurate items, using critical- this by using a research service such as (www.env-econ.net), he or she must be
reading skills to follow links and dive Whois.net to access the registration able to not only consider the informa-
more deeply into the information. information. They must be able to assess tion provided about the authors, but also
For instance, students studying the its authority by examining the incoming search beyond the blog for more infor-
effects of global warming could use RSS and outgoing links from and to other mation, reading into the archives,
feeds to subscribe to stories about the sites on the Web to ensure it refer- checking the frequency of postings and

the tone of the comments left by readers, foster their own connections around the of our online practice. For instance, the
all the while attempting to measure the topics that they are passionate about, days of saving great Web sites to our
author’s veracity and contribution. The writing and publishing under their own browser as bookmarks or favorites have
student must be able to make sound names when they are ready. All the passed. Today, we share those great
editorial decisions in terms of whether while, we should attempt to model these online finds using social bookmarking
the blog and its authors are trustworthy behaviors in our own learning, sparking sites like Delicious.com or Diigo.com,
sources of knowledge and learning. conversations about writing online in where others can find them and, subse-
every grade and discipline. quently, find us. In fact, by using RSS
Writing for an Audience feeds, others can “subscribe” to our
We must guide students in sharing their Writing in Multiple Modes bookmarks, finding out what we are
real-work efforts with worldwide audi- Students should be writing in digital reading and, with any luck, enriching
ences, helping them understand the effi- environments in different modes. To their own learning in the process.
ciencies and ethics of publishing in provide instant content, online users can Case in point: As a friend of mine
meaningful ways. Sharing that work is add links—not just to words but to began to collect bookmarks about an
the first step to becoming “findable” photos, digital stories, and videos. Tools upcoming trip to New Zealand, someone
from New Zealand who tracked those
bookmarks saw them coming through
her RSS reader and ended up having a
Students must learn to read as highly long conversation with my friend on
Skype regarding the best places to stay
trained editors read, looking for truth and visit. (Now that’s connection!)
And, as with just about everything
in both the text and the author. else we read or write, we assign our own
organizational schemes or folksonomies
by using keywords or tags that help us
online by others who share our passions. like VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com) (and others) track the most interesting,
(For more on becoming “findable,” see enable audio and video interactions; relevant content out there. So, for
my article “Footprints in the Digital Age” people can comment on an image, docu- instance, if you’re interested in the arti-
in the November 2008 issue of Educa- ment, or video through speech, text, cles and artifacts that contribute to this
tional Leadership.) But although this is a audio files, or video. Flickr (www discussion, you can follow all the book-
positive consequence of the changing .flickr.com), the online photo-sharing marks I’ve tagged with “network_literacy”
online landscape, most schools currently site, enables users to add annotations at http://delicious.com/willrich
don’t want their students to be found at and links directly to pictures, creating /network_literacy. (As of the writing of
all, an attitude that potentially does connected stories and conversations. In this article, I’m at 116 and counting.)
more harm than good. fact, as the word implies, the link makes
Teaching students to contribute and connections happen and networks grow. Engaging Diverse Voices
collaborate online in ways that are both If we continue to simply pass paper back Creating effective networks is more
safe and appropriate requires instruction and forth in our classrooms, we are not complex than simply organizing a group
and modeling, not simply crossing our preparing students for the world they are of like-minded learners with heightened
fingers and hoping for the best when entering. traditional literacies, however. According
they go home and do it on their own. to Stephen Downes (2007), a senior
With younger students, we can create Organized Sharing research officer with the Institute for
opportunities to share with classmates or The work of building personal learning Information Technology at Canada’s
with vetted classrooms from outside the networks is more than just reading, National Research Council, personal
school walls. In the context of those writing, and editing, however. It requires learning networks must be diverse,
connections, we can teach students being able to capture, organize, and open, autonomous, and connected.
about privacy, safety, copyright, plagia- potentially remix and redistribute the Diversity in a learning network is crucial
rism, and the ethics of online communi- best, most relevant information that we because without it we become stuck in an
ties. As they get older, we can help them find—and that means rethinking parts “echo chamber” of like-minded voices.
We must teach students to seek out worldwide audiences.
“critical friends” and voices of dissent In the end, if we fail to get our collec-
who will respectfully challenge their tive educator brains around these shifts,
thinking. We do that by seeking out the if we continue to think that punishing
best, most vibrant communities and students’ uses of these networks is the
conversations; by being willing to best way of teaching them what they
engage and push one another’s thinking need to know to survive in a globally
in civil ways; and by modeling for connected, transparent world, then we
students how we handle the back and are not doing everything we can to
forth in our own learning conversations. prepare them for their learning futures.
Most important, this should happen for And that’s no laughing matter. EL
students in the context of their passions,
where the debate and the engagement References
have real meaning and consequences for Downes, S. (2007, November 4). The
their learning. personal network effect. Half an Hour
[blog]. Available: http://halfanhour
.blogspot.com/2007/11/personal-
Thin Walls network-effect.html
How can we best deliver these literacies Few students are List of social networking websites. (n.d.).
in our classrooms? The reality is that we Wikipedia. Available: http://en.wikipedia
shouldn’t be teaching them as a unit being taught how .org/wiki/List _of_social_networking
_websites
tucked somewhere in the curriculum
under the guise of “information literacy” to leverage those National Council of Teachers of English.
(n.d.). NCTE framework for 21st century
at a time that we think students might curriculum and assessment. Urbana, IL:
be “ready” to acquire these skills. online connections Author. Available: www.ncte.org
Instead, if we sincerely want to prepare /governance/21stcenturyframework?
students to read, write, and edit their and to benefit from source=gs
National School Boards Association. (2007).
way through complex online networks,
we need to make these literacies part of the deep learning Creating and connecting: Research and
guidelines on online social—and educa-
the way we do business as tional—networking. Alexandria, VA:
educator/learners. that can ensue. Author. Available: www.nsba.org
According to Clarence Fisher, a /SecondaryMenu/TLN/Creatingand
Connecting.aspx
teacher in Snow Lake, Manitoba, who Rheingold, H. (2008, October 22). Writing,
regularly connects his students with content, and we can give those works reading, and social media literacy. Now,
other teachers and learners around the real, global audiences by publishing New, Next: The Monitor Talent Group
world, we have to begin thinking of our them online. And before the students Blog. Available: http://discussionleader
classrooms as having “thin walls” leave us, we can let them design and .hbsp.com/now-new-next/2008/10
/the-importance-of-social-media.html
(http://thinwalls.edublogs.org/about). deliver their own curriculums built Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: The
We need to regularly break through the around the passions that they want to power of organizing without organizations.
bricks, starting at the earliest ages. pursue, showing us their network- New York: Penguin Press.
In elementary school, for instance, building prowess in the process.
we can have young readers interview We should help them aspire to the
authors using Skype or have them work that 18-year-old Ethan Bodnar,
create or edit posts at Wikipedia, for instance, has shared over the past Will Richardson is the author of Blogs,
making sure to follow along with the two years around his passion for art Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful
Tools for Classrooms (Corwin Press,
conversations and the other edits that and social media (http://ethanbodnar
2006) and cofounder of Powerful
ensue. As the students get older, we can .com). Ethan’s blog is part portfolio, Learning Practice (http://plpnetwork
use our own networks to connect our part notebook, part idea archive— .com). He blogs at http://weblogg-ed
classrooms to other classrooms to co- and a testament to what’s possible when .com and can be reached at
create and collaborate on projects and we let kids create and publish to weblogged@gmail.com.

Stepping Beyond
William Badke reliability of Wikipedia was only slightly ment, who has now devoted his life to
less than that of Britannica. telling other people how to run theirs.
few months ago, I needed Still, there are some biased or incor-
A to send an urgent message

to a young woman I
barely knew. I didn’t
know how to reach her.
No phone number, no e-mail address,
no address of any kind. So I went on
Facebook, found her profile, and sent
rect entries. How can we determine
whether the information in sources like
Wikipedia is reliable and of sufficient
quality for students to use? In the good
old days (pre-1990), it was relatively
simple. You looked at the authors’
credentials, the reputation of the book
Are Students Prepared?
The uneven quality of today’s informa-
tion is only the beginning of the
problem. Sadly, the average high school
student lacks the skill to assess online
information. Study after study has
shown that high school and university
her a note. To my surprise, she students are overconfident about the
answered a couple of minutes later. She reliability of Web sites and lack the
was having her Facebook messages ability to evaluate them effectively (see
forwarded to her cell phone. The Internet is the Wang & Artero, 2005). In fact, our
As someone who predates the assumptions about the technological
Internet by many years, I’m still biggest revolution abilities of our youth in general may
surprised at what we can do these days. need a rethink. A British study released
The Internet is the biggest revolution in in information since in 2008 found that “the majority of
information since the printing press. young people tend to use much simpler
Never before has so much information the printing press. applications and fewer facilities than
been so freely available to so many many imagine” (University College
people. Not only that, but the average London CIBER Group, 2008, p. 18),
high schooler can run rings around the publisher, or the venue within which an and “the wider availability of technology
technology available—or so the article was published (scholarly journal, and the near blanket exposure to it in
mythology goes. trade magazine, or popular publication). recent years does not appear to have
There were gatekeepers—serious editors improved search performance in any
The New Information Reality who turfed out the trash and published significant way” (p. 22).
Wikipedia is a great example of the new only the worthwhile. Maybe it wasn‘t The wide diversity of information
information reality. Written by almost actually quite as pristine as that, but sources available today—compounded
anyone, with only a cadre of volunteer both teachers and students had some by the common teenage perception that
watchdogs to guard its content, it has concrete measures to determine what all information is equally useful and
become the most frequently used information was worth considering and usable—creates a growing problem. The
encyclopedia in the world. The sheer what was not. typical high school student appropriates
audacity of creating an information No longer. I recently did a Google information (inefficiently) from any
resource of this scope, essentially search on “risk taking.” The first Web number of venues, including YouTube,
controlled by no one and everyone, is site in the result set was the product of a podcasts, and so on; mashes it up; and
mind-boggling. It runs counter to all the British professor who published most of creates projects with little regard for
previous rules about quality control and his work in prestigious journals. The quality, accuracy, or the niceties of rules
gatekeeping; yet, for the most part, it’s second had been created by (or for) a against plagiarism.
pretty reliable. An article in Nature a few self-help guru with dubious credentials A 2003 Canadian survey of 3,000
years ago (Giles, 2005) found that the in mathematics and software develop- incoming university freshmen found
Students need to learn
WIKIPEDIA to navigate the sea of

information that
surrounds them.
that most included inessential words in

searches; used the Boolean operator “or”
incorrectly; could not identify the char-
acteristics of scholarly journals; could
not distinguish between library catalogs
and bibliographic databases; and had
difficulty identifying journal article cita-
tions, knowing when to cite sources,
and evaluating Web sites (Mittermeyer
& Quirion, 2003). These recent high
school graduates’ information skills left
them unprepared for further academic
work.
Clearly, the time to educate students
about the new information reality is in
elementary, middle, and high school.
The ability to work with information,
whether in written, audio, or video
form—to define a problem, understand
the nature of the information available,
use the best tools well to find the infor-
mation needed, and then enlist the
information effectively and ethically to
address the issue at hand—may well be
the most important skill of the 21st
century.1 Yet few K–12 educators keep
information literacy on their radar, let
alone understand how to teach it.
Can Information
Literacy Be Taught?
“Students will pick up information skills
on their own. Just turn them loose in a
good library. They’ll figure it out. What’s
so hard about learning to do research?” I
hear comments like this all the time, and
© ANTONINE SAVOLAINEN
they dismay me. The “information

literacy by osmosis” argument has been
debunked by reams of research showing
that even university students do not learn

how to handle information on their own.
They must be taught (see Gallacher,
Students should think of information
2007). But is that even possible?
One common approach is the library
as a tool to solve a problem rather
orientation or, as librarians call it, the
“one-shot.” This approach devotes an
than as the goal of research.
hour or two to familiarizing students
with the essentials of how to use a approach to instruction, which holds turning students loose, you integrated
library (including a few databases and that when students discover things for information literacy into instruction.
maybe some cautionary instruction themselves and attribute personal
about the Internet). One-shots generally meaning to the subject matter, they learn Help Students Define the Problem
fail to produce much actual learning— more deeply and acquire a more perma- Have your students do initial research
not just because they are brief but also nent knowledge base. Information and then identify one essential question
because they are remedial. They separate literacy instruction has a natural home to answer. In this case, the question
out a learning task from the main in active learning. might be, Of all possible causes of World
curriculum, inject that learning task into War I, which was the most significant?
students, and then bring students back Combining Information Was the murder of the Archduke really
to the curriculum, supposedly inocu- Literacy and History as important a cause of World War I as
lated from information illiteracy. Let’s consider an average high school many people believe? or How could
A more viable approach is to give course covering the history of the World War I have been avoided?
information literacy a foundational role modern world. You reach the early 20th Emphasize that this project requires
in our instruction. This requires us to century and decide to have your students not just to summarize informa-
reorient the way we teach. Most educa- students work in groups to explore the tion, but to analyze it: to sift through
tors are well aware of the active-learning, causes of World War I. Here’s how the events and possible causes to determine
constructivist, student-centered process might look if, instead of simply the most significant one. Students
should think of information as a tool to
solve a problem rather than as the goal
FIGURE 1. Summary of the CARS Checklist for Research of research. It’s not enough to find a
Source Evaluation couple of encyclopedia articles on the
causes of World War I and summarize or
Credibility Trustworthy source, author’s credentials, evidence of quality synthesize the information without
control, known or respected authority, organizational support. adding any real thought of their own.
Goal: an authoritative source, a source that supplies some
good evidence that allows you to trust it. Familiarize Students with
the Available Information Sources
Accuracy Up-to-date, factual, detailed, exact, comprehensive; audience Most students will want to turn first to
and purpose reflect intentions of completeness and accuracy. Google or Wikipedia. If so, they need to
Goal: a source that is correct today (not yesterday), a source understand that they may encounter
that gives the whole truth.
inadequate or biased material. They
should consider alternatives, including
Reasonableness Fair, balanced, objective, reasoned, no conflict of interest,
the library catalog, journal databases,
absence of fallacies or slanted tone. Goal: a source that
and academically credible Web sites.
engages the subject thoughtfully and reasonably, concerned
Using a library catalog (ideally in
with the truth.
digital form), they should look for books
Support Listed sources, contact information, available corroboration, dealing with World War I, any of which
claims supported, documentation supplied. Goal: a source will likely cover causes of the war. The
that provides convincing evidence for the claims made, a library catalog can also direct them to
source you can triangulate (find at least two other sources reference sources—for example, a
that support it). dictionary of modern world history—
where they can find concise material on
Source: From “Evaluating Internet research sources,” by Robert Harris, 2007, Virtual Salt. Available:
www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm. Copyright 2007 by Robert Harris. Used with permission.
their topic.
Broad-based article databases such as
EBSCO’s Academic Search, Gale’s Info- For the library catalog, get students that the material not be used for
Trac, or the Directory of Open Access started with a keyword search for books academic research because it has not
Journals (www.doaj.org) enable students (World War One, First World War, and been peer reviewed. Mr. Duffy does not
to capture credible journal articles, many so on). Then have them open the title provide his qualifications.
of which are available in full electronic link of one of the relevant books in the Then I look for accuracy. Although
text within the database. When students results to get a fuller description. There not updated since 2006, the site does
are used to consulting only Web sites, it’s they’ll find a further link to a subject appear to have factual information. On
worth emphasizing that a peer-reviewed heading (World War, 1914–1918). reasonableness, the site is even-handed,
journal article can be useful in Clicking on this link will give them not prone to talking about conspiracies,
confirming the truth of what the Web access to more books on the same topic, and not taking only one side on issues.
sites say. Finally, support. Although most articles
To pull up credible Web sites, have on the site lack footnotes and bibliogra-
your students go to Wikipedia (“Origins phies, there is an extensive collection of
of World War I”) and scroll to the primary sources—actual documents,
bottom of the article, where they will posters, and so on from the World
find a bibliography and some Web site War I era. The feature articles have
links (including one to a fascinating bibliographies.
simulation game on the causes of the My verdict? Although not peer
war: www.activehistory.co.uk/WW1 reviewed, this site appears to be a
_CAUSES/index.htm). The reference reasonably reliable source for informa-
section of a Wikipedia article is often a tion, especially for primary source mate-
good source to discover the more rial. It is therefore usable with care and
academically sound resources, many of discretion, but not for higher-level
which have been published by more academic work.
traditional or peer-reviewed methods. regardless of what specific terminology is
used in a book’s title. All library catalogs Guide Students in Using
Teach Students to Use These Resources have subject heading searches, and Information Effectively
Most students lack expertise even with many journal databases have a “narrow In addition to locating, gathering, and
Google, let alone with more sophisti- by subject” option. evaluating information, students need to
cated databases. Teach students how to learn how to stick to their goal, capture
use these tools to their advantage (see Teach Students How the good stuff from what they’re reading
Badke, 2008), showing them the value to Evaluate Resources while weeding out the useless, and
of ensuring that their Web site results Students need to learn to ask themselves structure their product, whether it’s a
include sources that have been peer questions about their sources: Who report or a research paper.
reviewed. wrote this? What qualifications do they Straying from the goal is a common
For Google searches, suggest that have? What biases do they have? What is problem. Many projects on the origins of
students try the advanced features, such the level of writing? Does it have notes World War I will devote most of their
as phrase searching, searching with or references? Is the language at a basic space to describing events, failing to
synonyms, or searching only within Web or an advanced level? and so on. A leave enough room for analysis of the
site titles to get more precise results. useful guide to evaluating resources is tensions behind those events, which is
If your library lacks journal databases, the CARS checklist in Figure 1 (Harris, the goal. Students often include extra-
insist that all your students get 2007). neous details that don’t contribute to the
borrowers’ cards for the local public For example, suppose I’ve found a main issue.
library, which generally has access to a Web site on the origins of World War I: In taking notes on the information
database or two. Teach them Boolean www.firstworldwar.com. To evaluate it they find in various sources, students
logic with keyword searching so that using the CARS checklist, I first look at may need to learn how to identify the
they can formulate searches that get credibility. What is www.firstworldwar main ideas and separate those out from
them just the information they need. For .com, and who is behind it? I find a unnecessary details. Here, group work
example, in a journal database, they linked name, Michael Duffy, at the can be used to good effect as each
might use the following search: (World bottom of the page and click on it. This member presents a portion of the gath-
War One or WWI or First World War) takes me to an “About This Web Site” ered material to the others and they
and (cause or origin). page, where I find a recommendation decide together how it all fits.

Analyzing the data in light of the key authority for writing anything comes learning task is to think about informa-
question or goal they are working with from its author. If I pass off an expert’s tion, their skill in acquiring and using
will help students figure out how to writing as my own, then I diminish it, available resources will grow. The result
outline their final products. Students because I can’t reveal who the real will be literate students who are able to
will need to develop an outline before author is. In the process, that piece of handle the demands of our information-
writing or creating their product. For writing loses most of its power. based age. EL
example: I Good research is a discussion: 1For detailed definitions of and standards
Was the murder of the archduke really as “Jones has argued that . . . . But Smith for information literacy, see Standards for the
important a cause of World War I as many disagrees when he says . . . . Both Jones 21st Century Learner (American Association
people believe? and Smith have missed the point, of School Librarians, 2007; www.ala.org/ala
however, because . . .” If I interact with /aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/AASL
I. Introduction—Brief explanation of pre- _Learning_Standards_2007.pdf) and Infor-
WWI events. the writings of other authors rather than mation Literacy Competency Standards for
passing off those writings as my own, I Higher Education (Association of College and
II. The argument that the murder of the
archduke was the main cause. have lots of opportunity to show I’m in Research Libraries, 2000; www.ala.org/ala
tune with the best ideas about the topic. /mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/information
III. Evaluation of that argument. literacycompetency.cfm).
IV. Conclusion. References
The ability to work Badke, W. (2008). Research strategies: Finding
The resulting outline becomes a blue- your way through the information fog (3rd
print to guide the production of the final with information ed.). Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.
Gallacher, I. (2007). Who are those guys:
report, using gathered information as a The results of a survey studying the infor-
tool to accomplish the research goal. may well be the most mation literacy of incoming law students.
California Western Law Review, 44, 1–47.
Teach Ethical Use of Resources important skill of Available: http://works.bepress.com
/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000
Plagiarism is an increasingly challenging
problem for educators and students. If I the 21st century. &context=ian_gallacher
Giles, J. (2005, December 15). Special
can easily pull information from various report: Internet encyclopaedias go head to
Web sites with a simple copy and paste, head. Nature, 438, 900–901.
mashing it up into a research report in I Plagiarism is fairly easy to detect Harris, R. (2007). Evaluating Internet
which few words actually came from me, these days (for instance, through a research sources. Virtual Salt. Available:
why shouldn’t I do it? Web sites are free, Google search), so there’s a very good www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm
Mittermeyer, D., & Quirion, D. (2003).
so they’re available for my use, right? possibility of getting caught. Information literacy: Study of incoming first-
To counter such ideas, it’s important year undergraduates in Quebec. Montreal:
that we teach students directly what The Foundation of Everything Conférence des Recteurs et des Principaux
plagiarism is—for example, with a tool The way to create information-literate des Universités du Québec. Available:
like the tutorial “Plagiarism, eh?” students is to make information study www.crepuq.qc.ca/documents/bibl
/formation/studies_Ang.pdf
(www.acts.twu.ca/lbr/Plagiarism_Short the foundation of all subject matter we University College London CIBER Group.
.swf). We need to convey to students the teach. (2008). Information behaviour of the
following: Instead of simply telling our students researcher of the future (CIBER Briefing
I Easy access to something does not the facts, or even sending them out to Paper 9). London: Author. Available:
mean that I can claim it as my own. If I find the facts for themselves, we need www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents
/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote
leave the impression that someone else’s to help them navigate the sea of infor- _11012008.pdf
words are mine, I’m telling a lie and mation that surrounds them. This Wang, Y. M. E., & Artero, M. E. (2005).
stealing information. I’m also telling the means constantly asking them such Caught in the Web: University student use
world that the words and ideas that questions as, What information do you of Web resources. Educational Media Inter-
come out of our brains do not belong to need to address that question? What’s national, 42(1), 71–82.
us. If that’s true, then anyone can steal the best way to find that information?
William Badke is Associate Librarian,
my words and ideas just like I’ve stolen How will you evaluate what you’ve
Trinity Western University, Langley,
theirs. found? How can you harness that infor- British Columbia, and is the author of
I When I steal information produced mation to provide the best answer to Research Strategies: Finding Your Way
by someone, I separate the author from your question? Through the Information Fog, 3rd ed.
what he or she has written. The When students’ first step in any (iUniverse, 2008); badke@twu.edu.
The Importance of
What will it take for
the next generation to
read thoughtfully—
both in print
and online?
Deep Reading
Maryanne Wolf and Mirit Barzillai advantages and challenges for the present and upcoming
generations, which, if unaddressed, could affect the already
Of the three lives Aristotle speaks of, the life of action, the life of diminishing role of contemplation in our society. Moreover,
contemplation, and the life of enjoyment, we have the two, action these emphases of the digital culture may radically change
and enjoyment, but we lack the other, contemplation. That, I how we learn to read and acquire information. And they may
thought, is why ours is a violent city.
well change how we think.
—John Dunne There is some historical irony here. The ancient Greeks
raised similar concerns during a related historical shift—the
culture can be judged, in Aristotle’s view, transition from an oral to a written culture. As reported by
A according to how it pursues three lives: the life

of activity and productivity, the life of
enjoyment, and the life of
contemplation. As our society
ineluctably transitions from a print-based
to a digital culture, it is important to
examine how this transition influences
Plato, Socrates cautioned his society against learning to read.
He believed that literacy could alter the kind of
memory and probative processes required for
the young to deeply pursue and internalize
knowledge. He worried that the seeming
permanence of writing would delude
young people into thinking that they
these three lives. had learned the “truth,” when they
The digital learner seems particu- had just begun the search for it.
larly well-suited for a life of activity Will factors inherent in the digital
and a life of enjoyment. The medium produce similar issues for
emphases of digital media on effi- today’s young learners? Will the
cient, massive information digital culture produce changes in
processing; flexible multitasking; the more cognitively demanding
quick and interactive modes of deep-reading processes? And could
communication; and seemingly these changes have unintended effects
endless forms of digitally based enter- on the intellectual development of
tainment encourage such lives. These generations to come? We can gain
emphases, however, can be less suited for insights into these questions by examining
the slower, more time-consuming cognitive how the brain learned to read.
processes that are vital for contemplative life and
that are at the heart of what we call deep reading. The Brain—Rewired
By deep reading, we mean the array of sophisticated Human beings were never born to read (Wolf, 2007). We
processes that propel comprehension and that include infer- were born to see, move, speak, and think. Genetic programs
ential and deductive reasoning, analogical skills, critical unfold for each of these functions as the organism interacts
analysis, reflection, and insight. The expert reader needs with the environment.
milliseconds to execute these processes; the young brain Not so with reading. Reading is a new cognitive function,
ENGRAVING © THE GRANGER COLLECTION
needs years to develop them. Both of these pivotal dimensions invented only 5,500 years ago, which translates into about a
of time are potentially endangered by the digital culture’s minute before midnight on the clock of human evolution.
© BROWNIE HARRIS/CORBIS
pervasive emphases on immediacy, information loading, and a Understanding how humans learned to read helps illumine
media-driven cognitive set that embraces speed and can one of the brain’s great, semi-miraculous design features—its
discourage deliberation in both our reading and our thinking. plasticity. This aspect of the brain enables us to make whole
Such a perspective presents a Gordian knot of cognitive new circuits and connections among our older, genetically

English’s orthography, to decoding
hundreds of new words. As a result, in
the beginning, young reading brains
need to activate far more expansive
brain regions than adult brains do.
Gradually, as the expert reading brain
emerges over time, the original reading
route changes to a set of pathways that
are streamlined for decoding and that
can now incorporate ever more sophisti-
cated semantic and syntactic processes
(Sandak, Mencl, Frost, & Pugh, 2004).
The properties of print itself also play
a role in shaping the reading circuit. For
instance, the stability and linearity of
printed text as well as the layers of
thought and composition that it repre-
sents invoke the reader’s complete atten-
tion to understanding the thoughts on
© GALE ZUCKER
the page. Thus, becoming fluent in the
decoding processes enables readers to
allocate the time and attention necessary
programmed structures. In the case of to process the ideas, information, story,
reading, plasticity enables the brain to What we read and intellectual arguments and assump-
form new connections among the struc- tions presented. To be sure, such
tures underlying vision, hearing, cogni- and how deeply comprehension is not simple, nor does
tion, and language. This design feature it develop overnight in terms of clues to
means that the very organization of the we read shape aid understanding. Little is given to the
human brain enables it to go beyond reader outside the text. For that reason,
itself. both the brain readers must engage in an active
This view has fascinating implications construction of meaning, in which they
for the history and future of literacy. If and the thinker. grapple with the text and apply their
the brain has no one programmed earlier knowledge as they question,
reading circuit, then circuitries for require more processing in the temporal analyze, and probe. In the process, they
different languages and writing systems and parietal regions to accommodate learn to build knowledge and go
will not all look the same. An increasing the alphabet’s early emphases on sounds beyond the wisdom of the author to
amount of cross-linguistic imaging data (phonemes) and the rules of correspon- think their own thoughts.
demonstrates exactly that. All writing dence to visual (letter) symbols. In such This latter capacity, which we refer to
systems share some universal structures, a way, the requirements of individual as the Proustian principle (Wolf, 2007),
but some orthographies use different writing systems shape reading circuits in requires great amounts of attention,
structural regions and activation the brain. effort, motivation, active imagination,
patterns (Bolger, Perfetti, & Schneider, The amount and quality of experi- and time—time for the reader and time
2005). ences with written language also shape for the brain, a few hundred milliseconds
For example, the brain of a reader of reading circuits. Fascinating differences to be exact. Depicted in imaging
Chinese requires extensive activation of exist between expert readers and novice research on comprehension, these
visual regions in the occipital areas, a readers, who are just learning to set up milliseconds involved in deep reading
physiological correlative of the cortical their reading circuits. Novice readers in require extensive activation of both
“space” needed for acquiring thousands English must learn a great many hemispheres (Keller, Carpenter, & Just,
of Chinese characters (Tan, Spinks, things—from the not-so-simple alpha- 2001). By the time the expert reader has
Eden, Perfetti, & Siok, 2005). By betic principle, to the varied sound- comprehended a text at a deep level, all
contrast, alphabetic reading brains symbol correspondence rules in four lobes and both hemispheres of the
brain have contributed significantly to comprehension-monitoring skills and
this extraordinary act—a neural reflec- An early immersion self-awareness necessary to fully avail
tion of the many processes involved. themselves of the supports of the Web.
What we read and how deeply we read in online reading Students are often unable to evaluate
shape both the brain and the thinker. whether links will be useful or simply
Physiologically and intellectually, tends to reward distracting (Kamil & Lane, 1998).
human beings are substantively changed Without this knowledge, they may find
by the evolving richness of the neural certain cognitive themselves mired in irrelevant and
networks that we add through our unrelated information.
reading over time. That said, the expert skills, such as As opposed to the relative linearity of
reading brain is not a given. Any printed text, the very appearance of
reading circuit can emerge, including multitasking. digital information at once presents
one that uses only part of its potential.
The Distracted Reader

With digital text, the potential for
creativity, learning, and discovery that
encourage deep thought is immense.
For example, interest in a Shakespearian
play can drive a discovery process that
links the reader not only to the text of
the play and various comprehension
supports, but also to relevant historical
information, videos of the play, discus-
sion groups, articles from noted literary
critics, and artistic interpretations that
may drive deeper reflection.
However, this great gift of easily
accessible, readily available, rich infor-
mation has the potential to form a more
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
passive and, as Socrates put it, an even
more easily “deluded” learner. Although
this is possible within any medium,
online reading presents an extreme of
sorts with its uncensored, unedited from an adjudicated source. both new richness and new challenges
maelstrom of anything and everything Taking advantage, then, of the wealth for the online reader. The fluid, multi-
that is always available and capable of of information that is always just a click modal nature of digital information
diverting one’s attention. away demands the use of executive, enables online readers to become
As the medium itself offers little in organizational, critical, and self- immersed in a subject, both visually and
the way of clear boundaries, standards, monitoring skills to navigate and make verbally. Even as this presentation of
and organization, the ability to discern sense of the information. Thus, even as material in several different modes
these features is a necessary skill for the this hyperlinked environment offers provides the reader with multiple points
online reader—in particular, the ability seemingly endless opportunities to of entry into a subject, it also opens the
to read critically when considering the enhance comprehension through easy door to great distraction. It further
quality of text and the reliability of access to information such as vocabu- requires that the reader understand how
online sources. As Nick Carr opined in lary and background knowledge, to evaluate visual information and make
his article, “Is Google Making Us students typically underuse such oppor- meaning in and across several different
Stupid?” (2008), sources are often prior- tunities (Dalton, Pisha, Eagleton, Coyne, modalities. Indeed, some research indi-
itized on the basis of the number of hits & Deysher, 2002; MacArthur & cates that elementary-age students are
rather than on the quality of informa- Haynes, 1995). This behavior suggests less likely to recall information from a
tion or whether the information comes that readers have not yet developed the source when it is filled with many

pictures and animations in addition to tion. Years of literacy research have
the text (Eastin, Yang, & Nathanson, equipped teachers with many tools to
2006). facilitate its growth (see Foorman &
Al Otaiba, in press). For example, our
What We Stand to Gain— research curriculum, RAVE-O (Wolf,
and Lose Miller, & Donnelly, 2000), uses digital
Online reading has the potential to games to foster the multiple exposures
mold a mind adept at effectively finding, that children need to all the common
analyzing, and critically evaluating and letter patterns necessary for decoding.
responding to information across several Nevertheless, too little attention has
modalities. The participatory nature of been paid to the important task of facili-
the Web may help foster young minds tating successful deep reading online.
skilled in communicating, collaborating, The medium itself may provide us
and creating in new ways. And the with new ways of teaching and encour-
deictic nature of technology (Leu, aging young readers to be purposeful,
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004)— critical, and analytical about the infor-
that is, the almost momentary creation mation they encounter. The develop-
of new modes of representing informa- ment of tools—such as online reading
tion and connecting digitally—may tutors and programs that embed
promote problem solving and lifelong The expert reading strategy prompts, models, think-alouds,
learning for many. and feedback into the text or browser—
However, many of the skills involved brain rarely emerges may enhance the kind of strategic
in maximizing the potential of digital thinking that is vital for online reading
reading, such as choosing the right without guidance comprehension.
search words and locating and evalu- For example, programs like the
ating information, require a host of and instruction. Center for Applied Special Technology’s
decision-making, attention-monitoring, (CAST) “thinking reader” (Rose &
and executive skills. Many of these skills and multiple sources of distraction can Dalton, 2008) embed within the text
are known to develop later in life. For short-circuit the development of the different levels of strategic supports that
example, young children, who are slower, more cognitively demanding students may call on as needed, such as
concrete in their thinking and who are comprehension processes that go into models that guide them in summarizing
just learning to discern fact from fiction, the formation of deep reading and deep what they read. In this way, technology
are less likely to successfully navigate thinking. If such a truncated develop- can help scaffold understanding (Dalton
the online world and understand all it ment occurs, we may be spawning a & Proctor, 2008). Such prompts help
has to offer. culture so inured to sound bites and readers pause and monitor their
An early immersion in reading that is thought bites that it fosters neither crit- comprehension, resist the pull of super-
largely online tends to reward certain ical analysis nor contemplative ficial reading, and seek out a deeper
cognitive skills, such as multitasking, processes in its members. As technology meaning. For example, in the CAST
and habituate the learner to immediate visionary Edward Tenner (2006) Universal Design Learning edition of
information gathering and quick atten- remarked, it would be a shame if the Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”
tion shifts, rather than to deep reflection very intellect that created this new tech- (http://udleditions.cast.org/INTRO,
and original thought. The immediacy nology was threatened by it. telltale_heart.html), questions accompa-
and volume of available information nying the text ask readers to highlight
may well delude new learners into Encouraging Deep words that provide foreshadowing in a
thinking they have what they need to Reading Online given passage; to ponder clues about the
know. From a pedagogical perspective, Here lies the crucial role of education. narrator as a character in the story; and
when information seems so complete, Most aspects of reading—from basic to use a specific reading strategy (such
what motivation is there to go beneath decoding skills to higher-level compre- as visualize, summarize, predict, or
and beyond it? From a cognitive neuro- hension skills—need to be explicitly question) to better understand a
science perspective, the digital culture’s taught. The expert reading brain rarely passage.
reinforcement of rapid attentional shifts emerges without guidance and instruc- Well-designed WebQuests can also
Kamil, M. L., & Lane, D. (1998).
help students learn to effectively process
information online within a support
The requirements Researching the relationship between
technology and literacy: An agenda for
framework that contains explicit
instruction. Even practices as simple as
of individual writing the 21st century. In D. Reinking, M. C.
McKenna, L. D. Labbo, & R. D. Kieffer
(Eds), Handbook of literacy and technology:
walking a class through a Web search
and exploring how Web pages may be
systems shape Transformations in a post-typographic world
(pp.321–341). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
biased or may use images to sway
readers help students become careful,
reading circuits Keller, T. A., Carpenter, P. A., & Just, M. A.
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young minds develop some of the key Leu, D. J., Kinzer, C. K., Coiro, J., &
aspects of deep reading online. an analytical, probative approach to Cammack, D. (2004). Toward a theory of
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revisited: Universal structures plus Rose, D., & Dalton, B. (2008). Learning in
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for the development of the full panoply Mapping, 25, 92–104. (Eds.), Building usable knowledge in mind,
of the slower, constructive, cognitive Carr, N. (2008). Is Google making us brain, and education. Cambridge, UK:
processes that invite children to create stupid? Atlantic Monthly, 301(6). Available: Cambridge University Press.
www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google Sandak, R., Mencl, W. E., Frost, S. J., &
their own whole worlds in what Proust
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called the “reading sanctuary.” & Deysher, S. (2002). Engaging the test: basis of skilled and impaired reading:
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Dalton, B., & Proctor, C. P. (2008). The
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in use 3,000 years ago, was preserved Leu (Eds.), Handbook of research on new dummies. The New York Times, p. 12.
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Handbook of Emerging
Technologies for Learning
George Siemens
Peter Tittenberger
March, 2009
Contents
Introduction 1
Change Pressures and Trends 4
What we know about learning 9
Technology, Teaching, and Learning 14
Media and technology 21
Change cycles and future patterns 25
New Learners? New Educators? New Skills? 28
Tools 41
Research 51
Conclusion 53
Preface
Over the last decade, in seminars, conferences, and workshops, Peter Tittenberger and I have had
the opportunity to explore the role of technology in transforming learning.
From conversations during these engagements, a set of concerns has emerged:
1. Educators express interest in improving their teaching and learning practices, particularly
emphasizing the need to improve engagement of learners (online or in-class).
2. While concerned about improving teaching and learning, educators generally resist:
a. Advanced pedagogical discussions that are not readily transferable to the online or
face-to-face classroom
b. Technology-heavy hype and suggestions that the social element of learning can
somehow be replaced.
This Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning (HETL) has been designed as a resource for
educators planning to incorporate technologies in their teaching and learning activities.
HETL has been developed for a workshop delivered to Athabasca University faculty and reflects
several years work with Peter at the Learning Technologies Centre at University of Manitoba.
Distance and online universities such as Athabasca, are well positioned to play a bridging role
between tradition and emergence in transforming higher education. Universities that recognize the
value of online learning and are able to “get the model right”1 will be well positioned to respond
creatively to developing change pressures.
To extend the dialogue on the concepts expressed in this book, and to ensure information is
current, a wiki has been set up to solicit feedback, contributions, reactions, and present updates:
http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/etl
This workbook also supports and leads into the Certificate in Emerging Technologies for Learning
(http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/blogs/cetl/) offered by University of Manitoba’s Learning Technologies
Centre and Extended Education.
George Siemens
March, 2009
University of Manitoba
Introduction:
Transformative Change...
Higher education is in the midst of transformative (but exciting) change. Over the next decade,
the practices of teaching and learning “will undergo fundamental change”2 as universities and
colleges respond to global, social, political, technological, and learning research trends. A duality
of change – conceptual and technological – faces higher education. Large-scale transitions, such
as were evident in the democratic revolutions across Europe in the late 18th century (conceptual)
and industrial revolution in the late 18th and early 19th century (technological), transform the large
institutions of society: government, education, and religion.
Today, the duality of conceptual (new models of education, advancement of social learning theory)
and technological (elearning, mobile devices, learning networks) revolutions offers the prospect of
transformative change in teaching and learning.
Education and fragmented information
The aim of education to “arm every single person for the vital combat for lucidity”3 appears more
difficult in a world of hyper-fragmentation, reflected in the development of the Internet and in the
breakdown of traditional information structures such as newspapers, journals, and books.
How is education to fulfill its societal role of clarifying confusion when tools of control over
information creation and dissemination rest in the hands of learners4, contributing to the growing
complexity and confusion of information abundance?
We now differently relate to information. The roles of experts (educators) and novices (learners)
have been altered substantially. What once involved mediators and experts (journals, books,
encyclopaedias) can now be handled informally through the aggregated actions of many
(Wikipedia, blogs, ebooks).
Coherence and Fragmentation
As little as ten years ago, information was generally pre-packaged in the form of a textbook, a CD,
a newscast, a newspaper, or a course. Not any more. The subtlety of the transition leaves many
unable to see its depth.
Information can now be acquired in any manner desired by the individual. Learners piece together
(connect) various content and conversation elements to create an integrated (though at time
contradictory) network of information. Our learning and information acquisition is a mashup. We
take pieces, add pieces, dialogue, reframe, rethink, connect, and ultimately, we end up with some
type of pattern that symbolizes what’s happening “out there” and what it means to us. And that
pattern changes daily.
The fragmentation of information (Image 1) has resulted in an emphasis on individuals creating

personal frameworks of coherence to understand sources information. Control over personal
coherence making has significant implications for higher education.

Image 1: Information Fragmentation and Coherence
The Information Cycle
The creation of information is now largely in the hands of individuals. The growth of user-generated
content prompted Time Magazine to declare the 2006 person of the year to be, well, you – the
individual contributing to video sites, blogs, and wikis. While information creation has always been
possible for individuals (such as providing a letter to the editor in a newspaper), the barriers are
now significantly lower.
The packaging of information has been altered as well. While not everyone has aspirations of
creating content, everyone has interest in organizing and packaging information. The use of news
feed aggregators gives learners greater control in how they experience learning content. Services
like iGoogle, Google News, tags, and numerous others, permit learners greater control over the
type of content they encounter. Instead of content being pre-packaged, information can today be
packaged according to the needs and interests of each individual learner. As a result, different skills
are required of learners (Image 2). Making sense of fragmented information through networks of
peer learners offers an indication of future learning tasks and even pedagogical models.
Image 2: Fragmentation, Wayfinding, and Sensemaking

The validation of information has also experienced change over the last decade. Wikipedia – an
online encyclopaedia where anyone can contribute – presents an alternative mode of information
validation (“the many”) from what is used in education (“the expert”). Instead of relying on experts,
Wikipedia (and sites like Digg) rely on the activity of many to discuss and validate information. The
aggregated actions of many, according to this view, are more effective than the actions of a few
privileged experts5.
The dissemination of information still retains many of the attributes long valued in education: peer
review and critical discussion. Unfortunately, the long process of traditional scholarship is no longer
suitable when information is developing at an accelerated rate. Online journals (such as Innovate
and IRRODL) are helping to reduce the timelines of writing and publication. PLOS One has adopted
a peer review and annotation model after publication, not only prior to. New models of scholarship
will permit individuals a greater role in the formation of ideas, rather than only encountering the
ideas after publication6. These alternative models of information dissemination place sustained
pressure on scholarship in higher education7.
The sharing and publication of information is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Online journal
systems such as OJS, blogs and wikis, enable more rapid sharing of information and research than
higher education has encountered to date. The use of conferencing tools – Elluminate and Adobe
Connect – permit a more timely sharing of research.
The accreditation of the learner with regard to information has not experienced significant pressure
to date. While alternative models have been used (Microsoft and Oracle certification for example)
the model of accreditation in higher education remains firm. The advancements of “community-
validated experts” – such as eBay and Amazon - have not altered how competence is determined in
formal education.
Changes to the information cycle (from creation to validation) are at the core of change in higher
education.
Learners have increased educational opportunities due to the internet’s affordance of connectivity.
What once rested under the control of a privileged expert or organization is now under the control
of individuals. Even the organization, sequencing, and structuring of information is now largely
under the control of individual learners.
Content is generally viewed as something that learners need to cognitively consume in order to
learn. But learning is like opening a door, not filling a container. Content can be created through
the process of learning, not only in advance of learning. And increasingly, content co-creation and
re-creation (building on and using the content created by others to create something new) are
becoming the norm for online participants.
Is Technology Effective for Learning?
Research indicates that “effective [distance education] depends on the provision of pedagogical
excellence”8 and limited variability in results indicates “no significant difference” in Distance
Education (DE) and face-to-face learning (though calls have been made for greater variability
in research methods including discourse analysis and learner interviews)9. Attitudes toward e-
learning, as “reflected by scholarly and academic reviews, range from neutral to positive”10, indicate
DE courses offer similar effectiveness to traditional instructional approaches.
While learner control is desirable, “dramatic tension” (provided by course designers and
instructors) is required “in order to sustain a high level of participation”11. Athabasca University
faces an additional challenge of keeping learners motivated and engaged while permitting them the
freedom to progress at their own pace, often in isolation from, and absence of social interaction
with, peers.
Unfortunately, in many universities “web technology...[is]...primarily used for support of logistical

processes rather than for pedagogical change”12

Change Pressures and Trends
On Change and Becoming
Jean Baudrillard13 offers a distinction between change and becoming that informs the discussion of
technology and educational change:
We are changing our system of values, changing all our identities, our partners, our
illusions, and so on. We are obliged to change, but changing is something other than
becoming, they are different things. We are in a “changing” time, where it is the moral law
of all individuals, but changing is not becoming. We can change everything, we can change
ourselves, but in this time we don’t become anything. It was an opposition put forth by
Nietzsche, he spoke about the era of chameleons. We are in a chameleonesque era, able to
change but not able to become.
This quote gets to the core problem in changing schools, colleges, universities, or corporate
training. Organizations recognize that they are facing tremendous change pressures and are
grasping for clarity on what they are becoming (or will become).
While many of the change pressures are well beyond our control, education has always played a
dual role in society:
• Emergence: Reacting to emerging trends, adjusting our approaches to influence learners,

etc. Those who advocate for “teaching to the millenials” see this part of education’s role.
Our task here is primarily about understanding our learners, embracing their tools, and
trying to speak their language. That’s why educators zealously try to use blogs, wikis,
Facebook, iPods, etc. The mindset is: if they use it for fun, maybe we can get them to use
it for school. This is not a bad idea with technology and curriculum (i.e. change what and
how we teach to prepare learners) but a disastrous idea when applied without thought to
learning environments.
• Tradition: Influencing and transforming society in pursuit of “higher ideals” and a vision of
equality and democracy in the rights of all people. Piaget, Illich, and Freire have contributed
their voices in a call to make education more equitable, more accessible, and more
reflective of the nature of learning. Theorists like Papert suggest learning requires “active
doing” not lecture-based telling. Vygotsky, Wenger, and others emphasize the importance
of social, cultural, community, and historical components to learning. Engestrom, building
on the work of Vygotsky, suggests activity theory as a means of framing desirable education
models. We can add almost indefinitely to the list of theorists, activists, politicians, and
business people calling for education reform (Toffler and Gates, for example, both suggest
education is fundamentally flawed in its architecture).
Transforming the University
David Poole suggests that we “live in the era of the transforming university”14. Consider the
following:
• Europe’s Bologna Process15 places increased attention on the state’s role in universities.
• Enrolment in online learning is growing at a significantly faster pace than traditional higher
education16.
• The internet is “changing traditional behaviour” as daily activities (shopping, playing
games, research) are increasingly done online17. Canadians, in particular, enjoy high levels
of broadband connectivity18 and make extensive use of the internet for social, information,
and entertainment purposes19.

Higher education’s response to change pressures must be holistic, attending to the varying needs
of stakeholders. E-learning does not function in isolation. Multiple stakeholders are involved in the
credibility and success of elearning: learners, employers, instructors, higher education institution,
accreditation bodies, and so on20. The growth and value of elearning is directly related to the ability
of institutions to attend to the needs of each stakeholder member.
Pressures of Change
Change pressures impacting the future design of education can be grouped into four broad
categories:
Image 3: Trends influencing the future of education
1. Global: Global change pressures are large-scale phenomenon such as global warming,
globalization, economics, changing “power centres” (the economic and political
development of BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India, China) countries, population growth and
demographic shifts (aging population of developed countries such as Japan, US, Canada,
and many European countries), and so on. Global shifts impact all aspects of a society.
Higher education has limited influence over these trends but must be aware of these
developments to ensure long term survival. For example, universities in developed
countries are responding to reduced enrolment (driven by slowing population growth in
traditional learner markets) by seeking international students21. The hegemony of higher
education in western countries is also being challenged22, raising the need for increased
university partnerships between established and emerging economies. Universities are “at
a historical juncture, transitioning from the industrial era to the information era, and from a
national perspective to a globalized one”23.
2. Social and political: Societal and political factors also contribute to the future of
universities. Networks are now seen as potential means of societal and institutional
organization24. The participative, democratic ideals of open source software are reflected
in scholarship (PLoS ONE) and open educational resources. The process of knowledge
production is moving to more social models (“socially distributed knowledge production”25)
as businesses and organizations are placing greater emphasis on distributed teams and
collaboration. Emphasis on information and knowledge economies results in greater
prominence of creative work in contrast with traditional manufacturing work26.
3. Technological: Technology has become more prominent in most aspects of society. The
participative web (also known as web 2.0), mobile phones, social networking services, and
netbooks have given individuals greater control over information creation and sharing.
Information services like Google Search, Google Scholar, GPS-enabled devices, and e-
books, are improving access and communication for learners. Technological innovations in
bandwidth, storage, processing speed, and software directly impact education27, creating
new opportunities for learner-learner/educator and learner-information interactions.

4. Educational: Educational change pressures are those specific to higher education. Global,
social, and technological change factors impact higher education, but research specific to
teaching and learning provides greater direction into how the process of learning should
best be facilitated. In particular, the development of learning sciences28 as a field offers
promise in assisting administrators, educators, and designers in creating effective learning
environments. However, as with new and emerging fields, the emphasis on sciences creates
some unease among educators. Some researchers have turned to complexity theory to
advance education, suggesting that emphasis be placed on the whole system rather than
reductionist views often found in “mainstream science”29. Increased collaboration in a
model of “interlocking partnerships among researchers, among universities, and across
international borders”30 promises a new model of not only “what it means to be an
academic” but also “what it means to be an academic institution”. Many tools are now
available for educators to open wide the doors to learning, reducing barriers to information
access and to increase the opportunities for learning with colleagues and peers from
around the world. As more information is freely available online (OCW, Open Yale, Open
Learn and numerous related projects), tools of collaboration grow in prominence (wikis and
blogs), and means of discovering and networking with others (social network resources)
become more popular, substantial change can be expected in education.
Finding new points of balance
Global, political, social, technological, and educational change pressures are disrupting the
traditional role (and possibly design) of universities.
Higher education faces a “re-balancing” in response to growing points of tension along the
following fault lines:
1. Education/business: More than a century of calls for academic reform have not generated
substantial change. The current technological revolution promises greater impact, though it
raises questions about “the ends and purposes of education” and “what we are doing and
trying to achieve in our educational practices and institutions”31.
2. Accreditation/reputation: Competence in rapidly changing fields like information

communication technology is often tied to reputation, not accreditation. Software
developers and online community forum members (on sites like Digg and Slashdot) gain
prominence and reputation through writing high quality code and providing insightful
forum/community contributions. The growth of collectives (where members rate and
filter contributions as well as services like Technorati or Google Search that provide an
algorithmic valuation of contribution) that measure the competence of individuals presents
an opportunity for universities to augment existing accreditation methods with ones that
acknowledge contributions outside of academic activities.
3. Transformation/utility: The ideal of education as a model for developing individuals

capable of preserving and advancing democratic ideals and rights of individuals is
somewhat at odds with a utilitarian view (learning for employment). With certain regions
reporting that universities are increasingly autonomous from the state, but pursuing
“closer engagement with industry”32, the question of humanity vs. utility balance in higher
education is far from settled.
4. Research/responding: The internet allows “academics and students in higher education

institutions with fewer resources”33 access to research and information previously only
available at well-funded institutions. Technology and the prominence of mobile devices
and social networking services in the personal lives of learners has not been matched
by the adoption of educational technology in universities34. This gap raises an important
question: how rapidly should universities respond to larger social and communication
technology trends in society? Current research on the impact of communication technology
on learners and the learning process is still underdeveloped. Researching vs. responding to

societal trends will be a challenging field for academic institutions to navigate.
5. Formal/informal: With the exceptions of initiatives such as Prior Learning Assessment and
Recognition35, learning is generally only formally acknowledged when occurring under the
aegis of schools and universities. Yet, as has always been the case, many important skills
are developed outside of classrooms. Learning occurs through volunteering, hobbies, work-
based, communities of interest, political and social activism, and raising or being a part of
a family. As expressed by the Canadian Council on Learning, limitless dimensions36 exist in
our learning.
6. Open/Closed: Open source has moved from software to politics/business/education.

Closed, “locked-down” learning management systems, journal articles, and research stand
in stark contrast to openness in journals like IRRODL and personal learning environments.
The struggle between open/closed, free/proprietary will continue as a major point of
tension in business and education in the foreseeable future.
7. Expert/Amateur: Can a group (or network) of amateurs duplicate what experts do? In spite
of controversy about the validity of information, Wikipedia is one of the most popular web
sites. Amateur-produced information is generally easily accessible (in language and format),
whereas expert-produced information is often inaccessible (in language and format).
8. Hierarchy/Network and Command/Foster: Leading network theorists (Barry Wellman37,

Albert-László Barabási38, Duncan Watts39, Manuel Castells40, and Yochai Benkler41) promote
networks as the model for organizing society. Hierarchical command and control models
are limited in their ability to respond to complex interactions and information abundance.
When applied to education, this line of reasoning suggests that networked models of
learning will replace existing curricular models.
9. Pace/Depth: The growth of information worldwide42 influences how individuals interact

with content. Extensive time, effort, and commitment are required to develop expertise
in a field43. Continual change and distraction may contribute to developing expertise
in managing high flows of information, but may not develop particular subject matter
expertise as extensive thought is not applied to the content itself (only the process).
10. Epistemology/Ontology: Rapid growth of information requires higher education to change

its focus from knowing (epistemology) to being (ontology)44 (see Image 4). For example,
Harvard’s new “core curriculum”45 focuses on attributes and qualities of learners, rather
than particular knowledge elements.
Image 4: Shifting from Knowing to Being
Firm Foundations
Academics, and particular administrators, face the difficultly of determining appropriate responses
to broad change pressures. Growing hype over the last five years suggests “web 2.0” or the “read/
write web” are of sufficient force to require universities to alter the process of curriculum creation
and teaching and learning. Caution is required in this regard.

The stability of higher education is often cast as a negative by individuals seeking reform. Yet
this stability ensures that false, often expensive, missteps are avoided. Administrators have
an opportunity to look beyond the current instantiation of change, and focus instead on the
foundational change itself. Many tools currently under the web 2.0 banner will likely fade and be
replaced by new innovations.
What serves as a suitable foundation for considering change?
Humanity, through creation of new technology and processes, demonstrates a long timeline of
change in (see Image 5):
• how individuals are able to create and interact with information (language, Gutenberg,
Internet) and,
• how individuals are able to interact with each other and function in distributed (often
social) networks.
Image 5: Long timeline of change in information creation and individual control46
The foundational change in how information is created, shared, and disseminated (with greater
control assigned to individuals) forms the basis on which organizations can build new systemic
structures.

What we know about learning
Over the last century, educator’s understanding of the process and act of learning has advanced
considerably. In the early 20th century researchers viewed learning through the lens of
behaviourism – relegating the inner workings of the mind to the status of a black box, seeking
instead to focus on observable and manipulate-able external behaviours. This view served well the
industrial age in which it developed – the information age was still decades in the future.
As researchers and educators probed more deeply into the process of learning, the weaknesses of
behaviourism became evident. How can depth of understanding be discerned under a behaviourist
model? How are emotions and learner motivation accounted for in behaviourism? Since the mid
20th century, cognitivism and constructivism have developed as learning theories to address the
weaknesses of behaviourism. In the last decade learning sciences have advanced sufficiently
to provide educators with a fairly well developed body of research, that can be used as a guide
in making decisions about developing learning activities and approaches for effective learner
engagement. Learning sciences are an interdisciplinary science, bringing “together researchers in
psychology, education, computer science, and anthropology”47.
A review of existing literature on learning reveals four broad components and three distinct
processes through which these components are enacted. The components (detailed in Image 6),
include:
• Social. Learning is a social48 process. Knowledge is an emergent property of interactions

between networks of learners.
• Situated. Learning occurs within particular situations or contexts. Both “learning and
cognition...are fundamentally situated”49, raising the importance of educational activities
mirroring actual situations of use.
• Reflective. Learners requires time to assimilate new information. Learners require the
“opportunity to reflect on, defend, and share what they have learned if it is to become part
of their available repertoire”50
• Multi-faceted. Learning incorporates a range of theory, engagement, “tinkering” or

bricolage, and active construction51.
Image 6: Learning and Process
The social, situated, reflective, and multi-faceted aspects of learning are expressed through various
educational approaches:
• Self-paced. Reflected in traditional distance education models relying on open enrolment

• Guided. Increased assistance (through tutors or instructors) provided to learners. May be
self-paced in an open enrolment model or through a paced (fixed start/end date)
• Cohort. With peers - paced and guided
Social software can play an important role in self-directed distance education environments52,
allowing learners the freedom of self-paced instruction with the social support of contact
with peers. Through forums, blogs, social networking tools such as ELGG, and others, a sense
of connectedness to other learners can be fostered that is currently lacking in many distance
education programs.
Distributed Knowledge & Cognition
All the knowledge is in the connections

David Rumelhart
Knowledge is distributed across a network that includes people and objects. To navigate, make
sense, and come to understand (even grow and advance) knowledge, the process of cognition is
also distributed across networks,53 and includes “interactions between people and with resources
and materials in the environment”54. Building an airplane is a complicated task, involving engineers,
electricians, managers, and others. The capacity to build an airplane is realized when special
knowledge domains and skills are connected.
Participatory sense-making – the view that learners coordinate activity in “interaction, whereby
individual sense-making processes are affected and new domains of social sense-making can be
generated that were not available to each individual on her own”55 - is particular valuable in a
networked world. The personal network an individual has created (which can include blogs, trusted
experts, communities, informal learning tools like online search) plays a vital role in his/her ability
to make sense of changes and trends. The network, in essence, becomes a filtering agent assisting
educators and learners to make sense of, and manage, the incessant waves generated by an
increasing sea of information.
Attrition
Attrition – particularly in online and distance learning – may be minimized through increased
attention on the components of effective learning. The importance of engagement (“creating habits
of mind”56) and motivation cannot be overstated as foundational to learner retention. In traditional
institutions, attrition can be reduced when students are academically and socially integrated
with the institution of study57. The need for social contact is arguably more important online
that in regular face-to-face institutions. In addition to high levels of self-motivation, appropriate
institutional support, and access to needed learning resources, distance (and online) learners need
to “develop interpersonal relationships with peers, faculty, and staff”58.
Existing centralized learning models (learning management systems) are conceptually mismatched
to the distributed, social, situated, and personal agent views of learning. Social software may
provide a better model for educators to consider, as it places greater emphasis on “self-governed,
problem-based and collaborative learning processes”59.
Limitless Dimensions of Learning
The full spectrum of learning (Image 7) - formal, informal, simulation, mentoring, performance
support, self-learning (awareness of self and thinking habits), and communities - must be attended
to by the educational process. Learning as capacity-development emphasizes attention to each of
these domains. An engineer working in a distributed team requires different learning assistance
10
than a salesperson making contact with a new client. Classroom and course-based learning are only
a single aspect of a broad spectrum of learning needs. To date, universities have focused on formal
education. With increased attention, in corporations and society, being paid to lifelong learning,
and with the advancement of prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR), it is conceivable
that universities will begin acknowledging a broader spectrum of learning experiences than they
have in the past.
Image 7: Limitless dimensions of learning
Connectivism and Networked Learning
“Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and
both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.”
E.M. Forster, 1910
Given the increasingly complex world of information, and the social, multi-faceted dimensions of
learning, it’s appropriate to address new views of learning and teaching.
Net pedagogy has been suggested as a means to consider the “changing landscape of teaching and
learning online”60.
Connectivism61,62 has also been suggested as a model of learning in an age defined by networks.
Networks and connections are deceptively simple. It would not appear that the formation of
a simple connection has the capacity to reverberate across a network, rewriting both form
and function. And yet it does. Latent semantic analysis suggests that “people have much more
knowledge than appears to be present in the information to which they have been exposed”63, or
put another way, the addition of a new element of information yields a greater impact than what
exists within the information itself.
New information (a node) creates a ripple effect altering the meaning of other nodes within a
network. A new node of information results in new connections, which in turn results in new
knowledge, and thereby increased understanding on the part of the learner. Knowledge is a
function of connections and understanding is the emergent shape of the network.
What is connectivism
Connectivism is the view that knowledge and cognition are distributed across networks of people
and technology and learning is the process of connecting, growing, and navigating those networks.
What does it mean to say that learning is networked? Learning can be described as a network on
three separate levels (see Image 8).
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1. Neural level – the formation of neural connections as new stimuli, input, and experiences
shape the physical development of the brain64. Research suggests connections and
networks are prominent in memory formation and activation65. Knowledge and learning
are not held at any particular point in the human brain. Instead, they are distributed across
numerous sections. Knowledge is an emergent attribute of patterns of neural connectivity.
2. Conceptual level - within a discipline or field of knowledge. Key concepts of a field – those
which are foundational to the knowledge of a discipline – are networked in structure66.
Novice learners seeking to develop advanced understanding of a discipline do so through
the formation of conceptual connections similar to those held by experts within the field.
3. External. The formation of networks has been significantly aided through the development
of participatory web technologies. Blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, and social networking
sites, raise the capacity of individuals to connect with others, with experts, and with
content. Understanding, in a networked sense, is an emergent element related to the
shape and structure of the learner’s personal information and social networks. The
development of RSS as a means of aggregating information and mashups as a means
of combining information in various contexts, contributes to the external formation of
networks which in turn assist learners in forming accurate conceptual relationships within
the field. High levels of participation in social networks, especially with younger learners,
“suggests new ways of thinking about the role of education”67.
While network attributes are similar in all three levels of networked learning, a node, however,
differs in each instance. A node in a neural network is a neuron. In a conceptual network, a node
is an idea or collection of ideas (networks can serve as nodes when connected to larger network
structures). In an external network, a node is a person, an information source, or similar entity
capable of accepting connections and thereby participating in a network.
Image 8: Connectivism
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Expertise
“More than anything else, being an educated person means being able to see connections so as
to be able to make sense of the world and act within it in creative ways. All of the other qualities
that I’ve just described—listening, reading, writing, talking, puzzle-solving, seeing the world
through others’ eyes, empowering others, leading—every last one of these things is finally about
connecting.”
William Cronon
Developing expertise requires sustained attention and focus, a concept at odds with the rapidly
changing, sometimes transient relationships many individuals have with information. Educators
must balance what is known about the development of expertise with the motivational aspects of
new technologies and the innovative (sometimes motivating) uses of these tools.
Expertise is “largely a matter of amassing considerable skills, knowledge, and mechanisms that
monitor and control cognitive processes to perform a delimited set of tasks efficiently and
effectively”68.
Is a simple connection sufficient? Numerous taxonomies (Fink, Wiggins, Bloom) indicate that
knowledge and learning can be characterized by gradients, levels, and stages. Perhaps we have
been conditioned to expect something as complex as learning to require a complex process or
explanation. But what if forming a connection is enough? What if learning is as simple (for the
purposes of most educators) of getting learners to form diverse networks representing divergent
viewpoints and cultures? What if exposing learners to rich networks of content and conversation is
sufficient? The learners will, after all, begin to “play”, make sense, interact, and grow in knowledge
and understanding.
A second component requires consideration: the depth and quality of learning in a network.
Sometimes learning involves forming networks and connections at a basic Level (often with the
intent of creating awareness of related fields which may impact our own area of expertise). This is
weak tie learning. Learning in this instance is defined by creating connections to peripheral fields
or simply interacting briefly with new information and then moving on. Strong tie learning, on the
other hand, involves more time, effort, expertise, and sustained focus. Geetha Narayanan defines
this as slow learning where emphasis shifts from speed to depth and wholeness of learning69.
Sometimes educators want learners to gain an awareness of factors, other times we want them
to interact with elements in order to understand deeply. Sometimes educators want learners to
develop knowledge for foundation building. Different knowledge-network connections, defined
by strength of the tie, result in different depth of learning. Perhaps “only connect” is still (almost
100 years later) a sufficient motto. Perhaps the elimination of barriers to connection is the greatest
systemic challenges our institutions face. And the role of teaching is one of guiding, directing, and
curating the quality of networks learners are forming.
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Technology, Teaching, and Learning
Technology is concerned with “designing aids and tools to perfect the mind”70. As a means
of extending the sometimes limited reach of humanity, technology has been prominent in
communication and learning. Technology has also played a role in classrooms through the use of
movies, recorded video lectures, and overhead projectors. Emerging technology use is growing in
communication71 and in creating, sharing, and interacting around content72.
Learning Management Systems
In late 1990’s, learning management systems (LMS) such as WebCT and BlackBoard became fixtures
of many campuses. Faculty members who had previously relied on web pages for posting course
notes, resources, and links, started utilizing the increased functionality of LMS. In addition to
providing course resources and notes, faculty and students could interact in discussion forums and
live chats.
Technology and software have the potential to reduce the separation between learner, instructor,
or resources. Interactive activities, tutorials, and other learning activities, have moved beyond
the four walls of a classroom. MIT’s iLabs offer an innovative approach to online lab experiments.
Students from around the world can (and do) conduct experiments in MIT’s labs from their own
school, classroom, or home.
Personal Learning Environments
Social technologies have been developing rapidly for several years - to the point where the
loose collection of many tools is often seen (and used) as an alternative to an LMS. Through the
use of Google Docs, Skype, blogs, wikis, podcasts, flickr, YouTube, del.icio.us and other tools,
academics can provide a rich learning experience often exceeding the static experience of an LMS.
Unfortunately, to participate in these multi-tool learning experiences, often described as “personal
learning environments”, learners require a high degree of technical proficiency and comfort in
online environments.
A few tools to consider in adding functionality to, or replacing an LMS:

- Blogs
- Wikis
- Skype or other voice over IP tools
- Second Life or virtual world interactions
- Voicethread – multiple perspective dialogue centred on an artefact
- Integrated suites or classrooms (Elluminate)
- Discussion forums: within an LMS or an external application
- Text chat: IM, IRC, chat rooms
- Image-based discussions (Flickr)
- Group-based software (Sharepoint or Groove)
- Informal: Google Groups, mailing list software
- Social networking tools: Facebook, ELGG
- Social bookmarking: del.icio.us
As with other aspects of teaching online, the security or privacy of the conversation is an important
consideration. Tools such as blogs, del.icio.us are often open for others to read. Many learners (and
educators) may find this freedom disconcerting. LMS developers are beginning to include social
tools for interaction in secure environments. Similarly, group-based software (such as Sharepoint)
can be configured to require authentication in order to read or contribute.
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Is technology neutral?
Debate surrounds the question of whether technology is neutral on non-neutral. Researchers and
theorists express two broad, polar opposite, views73:
• Technology is neutral, to be used as a tool

• Technology is non-neutral, embodying philosophies and ideology
Within educational technology, the affordances (action potential) of particular tools suggest the
latter perspective is more accurate. The choice to use a particular technology also reflects an
accompanying world view or existing mindset. Using an open system (such as blogs and wikis) in
comparison to a closed tool (LMS) is a reflection of values.
Teaching with Technology
Early adopters of new technology often employ a grassroots approach – using resources outside
of formal institutional support. This model is effective for individuals with high technical skill or an
interest in innovating and reforming teaching practices.
Successful organizational e-learning initiatives require support and strategic ownership74.

Grassroots innovation frequently encounters organizational barriers. Adopting a department-level
view of elearning is important in creating learning material, creating a support infrastructure,
allocating resources, and building a “comprehensive program of continuing professional
development”75.
Many of the principles of effective instruction online are similar to classrooms. Chickering and
Ehrmann76 advocate for seven key “good practice” elements in online instruction:
1. encourages contact between students and faculty
2. develops reciprocity and cooperation among students
3. encourages active learning
4. gives prompt feedback
5. emphasizes time on task
6. communicates high expectations
7. respects diverse talents and ways of learning
While the above list can be augmented to include affordances inherent to technology (handling
technology, integrating into teaching activities, or fostering dialogue with distributed learner
groups), they suffice as an introduction to the similarity of teaching well with technology and
teaching well in a classroom.
What traits and mindsets are required to successfully teach with technology?
Research mindsets required by academics to succeed in their discipline are also important in
teaching with technology. Through an ongoing cycle of personal research, theory and practice,
educators are able to create an approach to technology that fits within the scope of their discipline,
and the expectations of learners.
Teaching successfully with emerging technologies requires:

• A spirit of experimentation
• Willingness to engage learners in the creation of learning resources (co-creation of content)
• Willingness to “let go” of control and content presentation approaches to teaching
• Tolerance of failure
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Augmented, Blended, and Online Learning
Teaching with technology can be viewed as gradients within three broad categories77:
1. Augmented – the use of technology to extend a physical classroom. This may be as simple
as incorporating web quests into student work, or the use of an online discussion forum.
In a traditional university, the learners still meet regularly with faculty in classrooms. In
distance education system, such as Athabasca University, existing paper-based courses
could be augmented through online forums or blogs.
2. Blended – technology partly replaces in-classroom learning. Part of the course is face-
to-face and part is online. For example, the instructor may initiate a course with a series of
classroom lectures, with the rest of the course held online. In distance education programs,
online resources such as video and podcasts could be added to existing distance materials.
3. Online – technology entirely replaces face-to-face classroom teaching or paper-based

distance education. Fully online programs often employ a learning management system
to assist designers and educators with managing student grades, interaction, and content
delivery.
Augmenting classrooms
Integrating new tools into existing teaching activities can appear as a formidable challenge.
Educators prepared to experiment can move into the process at a pace of personal comfort. An
“all or nothing” mindset is not helpful. Small steps are often the best approach for both educators
and learners. Augmenting traditional classrooms and distance education courses with emerging
technologies is one such approach.
Instructors can move content acquisition activities (which learners can do on their own), such as
read a text or listen to audio lectures, online so class time can be spent on dialogue and learning
activities. Online quizzes can improve the learner’s ability to self-assess as well. Completion rates
for advanced readings can be improved as well if learners are required to complete a short quiz in
an LMS, for example, based on readings. These short quizzes may contribute to the overall course
mark and provide motivation for learners to read material in advance of class discussions.
Classes can also be augmented through the use of online discussion forums, web quests, a class
listserv, blogs, and group-work in wikis. The primary intent of augmenting classroom instruction
is to increase effectiveness of learning by providing contact with experts, diverse viewpoints, and
dialogue.
Blended learning
Blended learning occurs partly in a classroom (or paper-based in distance education institutions)
and partly online. In contrast with augmented learning – where regular scheduled classes are held
– blended learning may include an initial face-to-face class, followed by several weeks of online
classes, and a wrap up face-to-face class.
Online classes may be synchronous (real time) or asynchronous (time delay).
Synchronous tools include:
• Virtual class tools (like Adobe Connect or Elluminate). These tools are integrated
suites, for presenting content (via PowerPoint), application sharing, polling, shared
whiteboard, web-browsing and other functionality.
• Chat or instant messaging. Chat can occur within a tool like Moodle, or in stand alone
applications like MSN messenger or IRC.
• Voice over IP – through the use of free tools like Skype or GoogleTalk
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Asynchronous tools include:
• Discussion forums (in an LMS or online platforms)

• Email, commonly with listserv (like Mailman) or group-based lists like Yahoo or Google
Groups
• Blogs or wikis for reflection or collaborative writing
Online Learning
Courses delivered completely online may be offered through platforms like Desire2Learn,
Moodle, or Blackboard (for content presentation, discussion, and evaluation) or offered through a
combination of blogs, emails, podcasts, and group-based activities (for example, Yahoo Groups).
Fully online courses offer challenges not evident in augmented or blended models. A common
concern expressed by learners in online courses is the sense of isolation from other learners
and instructors. This challenge can be addressed through utilization of social technologies and
collaborative learning.
For example, if an online course is cohort based or has a set start and end date (in contrast to open
enrolment) activities can be utilized which allow learners to dialogue about course content. Each
week can include a variety of content resources (readings from a text or online, podcast, online
video), combined with personal reflection (comments to a discussion forum), group activity (web
quests, collaborative writing in a wiki), and interaction with the instructor (synchronous chat or
skype call or email).
Regular virtual office hours (in Elluminate, on Skype, or Second Life) offer another opportunity for
educators to increase social contact with learners. Learners can enter a chat space (or if you have
access to a virtual classroom, audio can be used) and ask questions and clarify concerns. Podcasts
are also an effective means of adding audio to a course. Even a short weekly podcast review can
provide a strong sense of connection to an instructor.
While the online medium has many affordances it also has many “lost affordances” over physical
classrooms. As discussed, sense of isolation, learner expectations and experience, and other factors
are important for educators to consider in their design and delivery of online courses. Continual
experimentation and reflection will produce a model that works well for the individual educator,
learners, and subject matter.
Move to Facilitation
Learning online or at a distance is a different experience from learning in classrooms. When the
physical cues and processes are eliminated, it is imperative that the instructor reviews course
material and learning activities to ensure clear communication (consider having a colleague or
student review the material or pilot the course before initial offering so potential challenges can be
attended to in advance of delivery). In a face-to-face course, confusing sections of an assignment
can be easily clarified by approaching an instructor after class. Online, small questions, combined
with a sense of isolation, can rapidly develop into high level of learner frustration.
Seymour Papert suggests two broad approaches to learning: instructing or having students actively
involved in doing78. While this view may be a bit narrow for the diverse disciplines found in higher
education, it provides an important dichotomy between instructor and learner involvement.
Effective learning online requires an instructor to focus less on lecturing and content presentation,
and more on assisting learners in creating personal learning or knowledge networks. Through
access to resources and experts, learners are guided to explore content and ideas, and engage
actively in conversation with each other, the instructor, and often, members of the larger discipline.
Learners actively “forage for knowledge”, instead of passively consuming knowledge dispensed by
the instructor.
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Use of facilitative learning techniques does not negate the value of lecture. Lectures (via video
or podcast), when appropriately used, are a valuable tool in the process of learning. But instead
of being viewed as a primary tool, lectures are a tool in the toolbox of instructors. The nature of
the particular learning task determines the best approach. For example, if basic content is being
presented, a lecture may be an effective approach. If learners are being asked to evaluate and
synthesize certain aspects of a discipline, conversation, discussion, and group learning may be the
best option.
Same tools in the instructors learning tookit include:

• Lecture
• Course readings
• Web quests
• Group exploration
• Group presentations to the larger class
• Podcasts or video files available online
• Learner membership in online communities in a particular subject matter
• Learners contacting experts in the field via email or interview (Skype, for example)
• Collaborative wikis with other educators
• Blogs as reflective journals
• Contribution to Wikipedia to ensure accuracy
• Use of social book marking to connect with other disciplines and related concepts
(the creation of a personal learning network or web)
This list is only a starting point. Educators can add, refine, and adjust the balance of instructor
presentation with learner exploration in a manner that works best for a particular course. Enlarging
learning opportunities to include online resources provides a richer, connected model of learning
that often permits learners to stay connected to a community even after completing a course or
program.
Teaching and learning activities
Teaching and learning activities fall into four areas:
• Dissemination – the provision of key material relating to a particular course. Through

lectures, video, readings, audio recordings, and more recently, simulations, learners are
exposed to the key components of a course. Whether handled in a traditional presentation
model (like a lecture) or with more recent approaches (which begin to blend content
presentation with learning activities, such as problem based learning)
• Discussion – in a teaching context, involves direct learner to educator contact (learner to

learner discussion is classified as a learning activity). This dialogue is important to move
learners toward higher order thinking, or what corporations are increasingly calling “deep
smarts” – a combination of experience and sustained participation in a particular field of
study.
• Discovery – directly involve the learners in “doing” – as individuals or as a group. The

activities generally arise from the content within a course. The purpose of a learning
activity is to assist learners in forming deeper understanding of subject matter. A biology
lab, for example, involves the practical (and thereby, more meaningful) application of
textbook theory.
• Demonstration - is often perceived as separate from the act of teaching. However,

assessment can provide valuable additional learning. Through the use of formative
assessment techniques, learners can self-assess their understanding, and instructors can
evaluate their teaching approach.
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When contrasted with the activities of the mechanical, electronic and digital eras, these four
activities are achieved in different ways and with the prominent tools of each era.
Mechanical age Electronic age Digital Age

Dissemination Course content provided Course content provided by Course content provided
by the teacher using the teacher using overhead by the teacher using
Presentation the blackboard and the projectors, slides, films and PowerPoint, web sites,
teacher to textbook. Delivered the textbook. Delivered cds, dvds, videos,
learners. through lecturing and through lecturing, talking computer applications,
talking. Students take and presentation. Students and the textbook.
hand written notes. take hand written notes. Delivered through
Prepared notes handed Prepared notes handed lecturing, talking and
out (typewriters, stencils, out (electronic typewriters, presentations. Students
gestetner, mimeograph). Xerox). take notes on laptops or
PDAs. Prepared notes
made available on the
network.
Discussion Talk to teacher in class, Telephones expand the Learners have direct
or during office hours. speed (instantaneous) and and instant access to a
Communication Talk to students outside remove geographic limits range of communication
from teacher to of class. Write a letter. but introduce a mediated tools and applications
learner and learner Mechanical media limit experience. from email, bulletin
to learner. the speed and geography boards, chat, social
limits the scope. networking, webcams,
voip using a wide range
of devices, mobiles,
gaming platforms,
computers. Geography
no longer a barrier
to communication.
All communication
mediated.
Discovery Additional course Experiments use electronic Learners have direct
content available equipment. and instant access to
Discovery through the library. a range of resources
encompasses all Science labs, and learning activities
those activities experiments, and field that far exceeds what is
that learners trips are scheduled as found in the classroom:
engage in to part of courses. web searches, database
expand their searches, digital
learning beyond resources, virtual
the classroom. laboratories, simulations,
These may virtual environments,
be scheduled augmented reality.
activities such Libraries become a
as experiments, secondary source of
labs, field trips, information as they
or independent are constrained by
investigation - speed, scope and scale
research. (although the Library 2.0
movement is trying to
address this).
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Demonstration By learners in labs, tests Increased use of technology Online labs (MIT), move
in demonstrating to authentic assessment,
Demonstration competence (similar to eportfolios
is most often instructor use of technology
seen in the form to teach)
of formative
and summative
assessment.
Assessment
activities are
designed to
demonstrate
mastery or
understanding.
Teaching in online environments increases the workload and responsibilities for many educators
as new conceptual views and technical skills are required. Isolation and depersonalization impacts
educators as well as learners, creating concerns about burnout in online faculty79. Most academic
considerations of engagement focus on learners and ignore the needs of faculty. Opportunities also
exist for organizations to utilize social software to also improve the faculty sense of connectedness
to peers.
IRIS Model of Moving From Innovation to Systematization
The process of innovating differs from the process of systematizing learning innovations (see
Image 9). Innovation is concerned with exploring “what is possible” and pushing the boundaries
of existing practices and views of teaching and learning. To determine the impact and suitability
of innovations in various educational contexts, a cycle of research and implementation must be
employed. During these stages, educators are focusing on answering questions like “how does it
work?” and “what is the real world impact?”. Insight gleaned from research and implementation
then leads to the formulation of a systemic approach to duplicating teaching and learning.
Confusion often results in organizations when an innovator expresses “what is possible” and is met
with an organizational response of “we can’t duplicate that”. Innovations expand what is possible,
but in most cases, before broad implementation, additional research and contextual analysis is
required.
Image 9: IRIS model of learning technology implementation
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Media and technology
A transition from epistemology (knowledge) to ontology (being) suggests media and technology
need to be employed to serve in the development of learners capable of participating in complex
environments.
A quick review of media selection and design-related concerns provides a glimpse of current
thinking in media and technology:
• Cognitive load theory states that brains process different media differently (even by
different channels – i.e. audio and images), resulting in “instructional implications of this
interaction between information structures and cognitive architecture”80.
• A focus on “perception and action rather than memory and retrieval” produces a “very
different conceptualization of instructional design”81. Using technology for active learning
requires different approaches than when used for knowledge acquisition.
• Complexity of situated learning is reflected in the view that “real-world situations are
much more complex and ill-structured than most instructional systems reflect, and that
these underlying biases and assumptions in the design of instruction lead to poor
learning”82
• To be successful in implementing educational technology, designers and educators must

balance learning needs, context, and affordances of tools83. Selecting one media format
over another is not sufficient. Holistic views of media, learners and context are
required.
• Instead of emphasizing media and technology selection (as tied to particular learning
outcomes or intended tasks), contextual analysis may be a more critical first task84.
• Problems arise with online learning in universities when there is a “lack of fit between a
policy and its context, namely, the organization and the actors within it”85. Even universities
advocating use of technology have a limiting barrier in place (bureaucratic procedures for
setting up an online course, limited student support resources, lack of a strategic plan for
technology use).
• The traditional role of education as planned enculturation is at odds with the view that
knowledge emerges “as human beings participate in the world”86
Media: A vehicle or an influencer?
Theorists have debated media effectiveness from two opposing views:
1. That media do not influence learning and are “mere vehicles that deliver instruction”87.
Methods employed by designers are of primary importance.
2. That media do influence learning as they have certain “cognitively relevant characteristics”
and may influence the “ways learners represent and process information”88.
Recent research in multimedia learning suggests that tools do influence learning because the
human brain processes different media in different ways89, supporting the cognitively relevant
characteristics of media and technology.
Affordances
An affordance is the action potential of a technology, where “attributes of something in an

environment” relates to “an interactive activity by an agent”90. This view of media seems to better
account for the range of technologies available today and their potential uses.
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Transactional control suggests that given a choice in the selection of software and processes,
learners, may fulfill “a teacher role of providing control over the learning trajectory”91. In contrast
to designed learning paths, social software that facilitates interaction with peers, has the potential
to provide emergent learning paths.
Many media formats are available to designers of learning materials (for elearning, classroom
learning, or any stage on the continuum). Selecting media requires determining the most effective
manner to presents the learning material and foster interaction in order to achieve intended
learning goals.
Process
The following are the steps involved in selecting media type to achieve learning outcomes:
1. Clarify the learning intent. What will the student be required to do/demonstrate/produce
at the conclusion of the lesson/module/unit?
2. Evaluate media affordances - What is possible with different technologies, given the
current context.
3. Select media based on availability, expense, time, expertise, and general considerations
(bandwidth, technology (i.e. do learners have video/sound cards))
In addition to matching the affordances of particular media to the requirements of a particular

learning activity, the characteristics (and context) of learners must also be considered92.
Media characteristics need to match the requirements of the learning outcome. In some cases,
circumstances (time, expense) may not allow the selection of the most desirable technology, but a
clear understanding of learning activities and media traits can still ensure quality learning.
Effective learning is linked to media characteristics and learning context. It is useful to remember
that sometimes, text is still the best way to learn, and that no tool is perfect for every situation.
Text
Text is the venerable back bone of learning. Paper, digital, manuals, online chats, discussion
questions, blogs, and wikis are examples of text. For most learners, this is still the area of greatest
comfort (possibly because they’ve spent decades in text-based learning). With elearning, text still
remains central but can easily be enhanced through simple graphics and audio. The biggest benefit
of text: surveyable and portable. Drawback: it’s overused and abused.
Positives Negatives Uses

Surveyable Overused Simple to complex
Easy to produce Passive learning activities
Low bandwidth 100% learner motivation Suited to synthesis/
Familiar Time lag evaluation
Many readers Ideal for reflection
Not much
specialization
Audio
Audio has been a component in distance education for decades. Many colleges/universities had
departments strictly focused on duplicating audio resources for distance learners. Today, podcasts
have revived interest in audio for learning. Tools such as Skype are valuable for instructors
to hold two-way audio-based learning sessions. Voice-to-text translators allow learners with
underdeveloped typing skills to contribute more to text chats. Audio pronunciations (foreign
language terms) can also be very useful for learners. Biggest benefit: auditory learners/speed.
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Drawback: learners can tune out.

Two-way interaction
Easy to tune out Across spectrum
Enrich a text only course May need professional Presentation
Useful for explanations, “voice” Explanations
accessibility, pronunciations Extended audio needs to Dialogue
Great for auditory learners be indexed – time/expense Analysis
Speed – faster than typing
Synthesis
(and less inhibitive)
Visuals
The Internet is a visual medium, and as bandwidth improves, it will become more so. One of the
biggest values of visuals is the ability to liven up existing text through the use of graphics, diagrams
(“picture is worth a thousand words”), and digital pictures. Flickr and web-based photo sharing are
popular uses of social media. Benefit: visual learning. Drawback: expense/quality trade off.

Abundance Can be poor quality Digital pictures
Low cost (if using clip Motion/animation can be Graphics – Internet
art/digital camera) expensive Graphic artist –
Versatile – use for any Time consuming designing
learning task Involved if using graphic Enriches text – “picture
Low bandwidth (if artist is worth a thousand
done right) words”
Enrich learning Animations
material
Video
Digital, streaming, and two-way video over the Internet offer distance education opportunities to
improve the quality and personalization of the learner experience. Services such as YouTube and
blip.tv allow instructors to easily share video introductions to new courses or demonstrations of
lab setups, etc. Benefit: visual/personal. Drawback: can be expensive, especially if professionally
produced.

Visual Specialized team – i.e. Demonstrations
Personal medium producer, editor, camera Explanations
Many viewers/large Expensive Lecture
audience Not easy to modify Complex – i.e. whiteboard
Detail complex tasks Sequential, difficult to – physics problem solving
Ability to review survey Two way (expensive) –
Increased variety Passive instructor observes student
– CD, Streaming
Games and Simulations
Games and simulations promise effective, engaging, and situated learning. Benefit: re-usable, self-
paced. Negative: simulations are expensive to create and virtual worlds (such as Second Life) can be
complex, requiring time for new users to acclimate.
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Simulation Expensive Demonstrations
Self-paced Time consuming Knowledge
Re-usable Complex to design Broad knowledge
Team based Team based Practice complex skill in safe
Memorable Added complexity for environment
Game-like – learners Synthesis
“edutainment”
Lectures: F2F or Online
Classroom lectures are a prominent fixture of education. Now with the tools such as Elluminate,
Articulate, Camtasia and Adobe Connect, similar interaction can occur over the Internet. Benefit:
effective and familiar. Drawback: expense

Highly interactive Only synchronous Full spectrum of learning
Familiar – students Expensive Main determinant of success is
and instructors No “knowledge” the skill of the instructor
Effective trail (classrooms)
Proven history Limited audience
Can incorporate other size
media Not surveyable
Integration
Each media type and format has its own strengths and weaknesses. Yet, using the media with
affordances that are mismatched to intended learning tasks can be a frustrating experience for
the learner. Proper integration of media formats presents students with rich, varied learning, and
minimizes the weaknesses of each format.
Positives Negatives Use

Combine best features, Instructors have to Various
minimize weaknesses combine tools to achieve learning and
Enriched learning outcomes opportunities
Asynchronous “Ideal” elearning tool
Synchronous doesn’t exist yet
Complexity
High skill required
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Change cycles and future patterns
It is not uncommon for theorists and thinkers to declare some variation of the theme “change is
the only constant”. Surprisingly, in an era where change is prominent, change itself has not been
developed as a field of study. Why do systems change? Why do entire societies move from one
governing philosophy to another? How does change occur within universities?
Change is rarely a linear process. Reflecting on major revolutions (French, American, and Industrial)
a pattern of the characteristics of change emerges. Change is a process of reacting to pressures,
catalysts, pushback, and negotiation (see Image 10).
Image 10: Cycles of Change
1. Change pressures – change is ongoing. In most instances, organizations are able to adapt to
change without systemic redesign. For example, universities have to date adapted practices to
reflect changing external environments through use of learning management systems and in-
classroom technologies (LCD projectors, PowerPoint).
2. Catalyst – periodically, change pressures are of such a substantial nature that a catalyst can
set off a cascade effect of reforms, ultimately transforming an entire system. When external
environments (political, economic, social, and technological) are fundamentally different
from the design of organizations, accommodation is no longer possible. Systemic change is
required. The political, industrial, and social revolutions of the 18th century in America and
Europe are illustrations. Monarchical models of government were incapable of meeting the
growing democratic calls of the French population. Colonial rule was fundamentally opposed
to the desire of self-governance in America. Catalysts can occur rapidly (such as an event
that mobilizes a population) or slowly over a period of many decades (such as the industrial
revolution).
3. Resistance – a catalyst for change calls into question existing practices and organizational
design. Those with power are reluctant to acquiesce. Resistance to new or transformative
approaches can be expected. Resistance may involve attempts to control through legal,
political, or financial means. The music and recording industries sought first to control
innovation, and have only more recently reacted with fundamental change (Hulu embodies
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the spirit of experimentation in response of disruptive trends in the traditional field of
television programming).
4. Counter pressures – many change initiatives are slowed, or even halted, due to resistance by
those with existing power and control. However, when change pressures are of a significant
level, resistance is at best a temporary setback (consider the re-establishment of the French
monarchy for a short period in the 19th century). As organizations and individuals align
practices and systemic design with the nature of external factors, transformative change is
enacted.
5. Sustained change and innovation – sustained change and innovation is a by-product of

periods of uncertainty, where systems react to, resist, and respond to change pressures.
Broad scale changes - where societies and corporations morph into new entities - are rare.
When they do occur, a period of uncertainty and even confusion ensues. Organizations built
on existing value generation models (such as General Motors, newspapers) must conceive a
new role and a new identity. For many, this change is difficult as existing mindsets prevent
the recognition of a new value basis. Some organizations, like IBM in the 1990s, are able to
create a compelling vision of the future as well as a strategy of response. Most, however, are
bypassed due to their inability to respond to disruptive changes.
Current trends – globalization, economic turmoil, creative work and the networked design of
organizations, are exerting pressure on organizations to rethink their approach to learning. The
catalyst for systemic reorganization of learning and development may be found in the current
constellation of change pressures. Resistance and counter pressures will be mounted, but
reorganization – either by recreating our field or being subsumed by another - as a response to
major trends seems likely.
Process of Education
Higher education offers three value points for learners (see Image 11):
1. Content
2. Interaction
3. Accreditation
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Academic institutions often post education content online without charge (open educational
resources). Interaction around educational content is occurring, with increasing frequency, in
online forums, blogs, online conferences, and virtual worlds. Given the free and open nature of
online learning opportunities, accreditation is, for now, the last competitive value point universities
provide for learners.
Image 11: Content, Conversation, and Evaluation
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New Learners? New Educators? New Skills?
Moore argues that fluency with technology must be linked to specific disciplines. The implication is
that disciplines and their specific content might use technologies in varying ways for learning: “in
order to use domain-specific digital information in beneficial ways, students must simultaneously
demonstrate (technological fluency) and information literacy related to domain competencies.”93
National Survey of Student Engagement’s 2007 report advocates for high impact activities where
learners “interact with faculty and peers about substantive matters”94. High impact activities
increase learner engagement and results in greater success in learning. EDUCAUSE Center for
Applied Research reports many younger students prefer an appropriate balance of technology and
face-to-face contact with faculty95. Even though technology enables greater learner control and
autonomy, learners generally value social contact and faculty guidance, especially when entering
a new field or course of study96. A model of learning is required that addresses the apparent
dichotomy between faculty guidance and learner self-direction.
Are younger learners different from previous generations? While younger learners often use
more technology, existing research97, 98does not support the notion that learners differ based on
generational distinctions.
Being Literate
Calls for reform to the balance of power between educators and learners have been made by
numerous theorists and activists, including Dewey99, Friere100, and Illich101.
In online environments, personal agency on the part of learners - “to influence intentionally one’s
functioning and life circumstances” 102– is particularly important. The cues and guiding elements of
physical environments and traditional academic schedules are often lacking online.
New literacies (based on abundance of information and the significant changes brought about
technology) are needed. Rather than conceiving literacy as a singular concept, a multi-literacy
view is warranted103. Use of aggregators, reading and visualizing data, mashing up various types of
information, and recognizing new patterns in existing information are key skills.
Additional key skills required today include104:
Staying focused on important tasks while undergoing a deluge of

Anchoring
distractions.
Filtering Managing knowledge flow and extracting important elements.
Building networks in order to continue to stay current and
Connecting with each other
informed.
Interacting at a human, not only utilitarian, level…to form social
Being human together
spaces.
Creating and deriving
Understanding implications, comprehending meaning and impact.
meaning
Evaluation and authentication Determining the value of knowledge…and ensuring authenticity.
Altered processes of validation Validating people and ideas within an appropriate context.
Critical and creative thinking Questioning and dreaming.
Pattern recognition Recognizing patterns and trends.
Navigate knowledge Navigating between repositories, people, technology, and ideas
landscape while achieving intended purposes.
Balancing what is known with the unknown…to see how existing
Acceptance of uncertainty
knowledge relates to what we do not know.
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Contextualizing Understanding the prominence of context…seeing continuums…
(understanding context ensuring key contextual issues are not overlooked in context-
games) games.
Minimal or guided learning?
Kirschner, Sweller & Clark question the tenets of problem-based learning105, highlighting the
unsettledness of the debate between instructor or learner control in learning activities. They argue
that the constructivist views of learning are accurate, but the “instructional approaches suggested
by constructivists” are not necessarily effective. Of particular concern for the authors of the paper
is the degree of instructor (or expert) presence during the learning process. They assert that
minimal guidance is not as effective as guided instruction due to different approaches evident in
how experts function (epistemology) in a domain and how learners best learn.
Gardner states that the distinction between an expert and novice is found in the how information
and ideas are related to each other: “But shorn of their connections to one another, to
underlying ideas, to a disciplined way of construing this pile of information, facts are simply “inert
knowledge””106. The conceptual network of an expert is more richly connected, nuanced, and
diverse than that of a novice.
In contrast with strong guidance, Sugata Mitra details an experiment he conducted in India (now
commonly known as the “hole-in-the-wall” experiment) where he placed a computer with an
Internet connection in a wall facing a ghetto107. Within days children aged 6-12, with minimal
education and limited understanding of English, were able to browse the web and perform
other tasks – such as drawing - on the computer. The self-taught, minimally-guided nature of the
experiment led Mitra to the conclusion that children do not require direct instruction to acquire
basic computer literacy skills.
Research by Darken and Sibert on “wayfinding”108 explores a similar theme of the learner-in-
control approach to learning; how participants in large virtual worlds orient themselves in their
environments in order to achieve certain tasks or arrive at certain locations. With wayfinding, the
effectiveness in achieving objectives for learners/participants is determined by the design and
incorporation of environmental cues. Whether self-directed and initiated (Mitra’s research) or
aided through advance consideration of design (Darken and Sibert), it is clear that many learning
objectives can be achieved without direct guidance.
The concern of minimal guidance in learning is compounded by the growth of online content
created by amateurs. The criticisms levelled at knowledge sources created by the self-organizing
“masses” are often applied to the concept of learner-directed activity. Two significant challenges
arise when considering learning as being largely under the control of learners themselves. The first
is generally found in some variation of “how will the learners know what they need to know?”.
The second relates to the rapid decentralization and distribution of most of societies channels of
communication - newspapers, television, radio, and, more recently, academic publishing – and
raises concerns of how learners are to make sense of information in a field that is fragmented and
distributed, rather than well organized and coherent (such as information found in a traditional
textbook).
Personal learning environments (PLEs) offer a future model of learning that incorporates a greater
range of tools, largely under the control of the individual. PLEs are “not a piece of software...[but]
an environment where people and tools and communities and resources interact in a very loose
kind of way”109.
The Role of Educators in a Networked World
The role of the educator and the process of instruction have been under pressure to change for
over a century110. While camps, as discussed, often fall into conflict on principles of minimal or
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guided instruction and instructivism or constructivism, the nuanced and complex nature of learning
suggests each approach may have value in different contexts.
Several educators have put forward models of educator and learner roles and interaction in a
technologically enabled era:
• John Seely Brown’s notion of studio or atelier learning
• Clarence Fischer’s notion of educator as network administrator
• Curtis Bonk’s notion of educator as concierge
• George Siemens’ notion of educator as curator
Atelier Learning
John Seely Brown draws inspiration for his atelier model of learning from artists and architects
and describes learning as “enculturation into a practice”111. An art studio is generally an open
space where students create their paintings, sculptures, and other art forms in full view of fellow
artists. The “master” is then able to observe the activities of all students and can draw attention
to innovative approaches. Students are not limited to learning based solely on the expertise of the
instructor. The activities of all students can serve to guide, direct, and influence each individuals
work. Blogs are particularly amenable to the atelier model of learning. For example, a class on
creative writing – where each students posts their work in their own blog – permits the educator to
highlight (and comment on) exceptional instances of writing. Students are able to read each other’s
work and gain insight from both instructor and their fellow students.
Network Administrator
Clarence Fisher, blogger and classroom teacher, suggests a model of “teacher as network
administrator”112: Just as our mind is a continuously evolving set of connections between concepts,
so our students and their learning can become placed at the centre of a personal learning network
which they construct with our help. Helping students to gain the skills they require to construct
these networks for learning, evaluating their effectiveness, and working within a fluid structure is a
massive change in how the dynamics of classrooms are usually structured.
In Fisher’s model, a primary task of the educator is to assist learners in forming connections and
creating learning networks. As learners encounter new information sources, they are encouraged to
critically evaluate the source’s suitability as part of a holistic and diversified learning network. Gaps
in the learning network are addressed by both learner (self-directed by active participation in the
network and through self-reflection) and educator (through evaluating, with the learner, the nature
and quality of the learning network (external) and how key concepts are related and understood
(conceptual)).
Concierge Learning
Curtis Bonk presents a model where the educator is a concierge directing learners to resources
or learning opportunities that they may not be aware of. The concierge serves to provide a form
of soft guidance – at times incorporating traditional lectures and in other instances permitting
learners to explore on their own. He states:
We need to push students into the many learning possibilities that are ripe for them now.
Concierges sometimes show you things you did not know were available or possible. Teachers
as concierges can do the same things. We need to have quick access to such resources, of
course, but as this occurs increasingly around the planet, so too will we sense a shift from
prescribed learning checkboxes toward more learner designed programs of study. Now the
Web of Learning offers this chance to explore and allow teachers to be their tour guides113.
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Curatorial Learning
Curatorial Learning114 acknowledges the autonomy of learners, yet understands the frustration of
exploring unknown territories without a map. A curator is an expert learner. Instead of dispensing
knowledge, he creates spaces in which knowledge can be created, explored, and connected. While
curators understand their field very well, they don’t adhere to traditional in-class teacher-centric
power structures. A curator balances the freedom of individual learners with the thoughtful
interpretation of the subject being explored. While learners are free to explore, they encounter
displays, concepts, and artifacts representative of the discipline. Their freedom to explore is
unbounded. But when they engage with subject matter, the key concepts of a discipline are
transparently reflected through the curatorial actions of the teacher.
Blending Expertise and Learner Control
The four models presented above share a common attribute of blending the concept of educator
expertise with learner construction. The concerns of instructivist and constructivist education are
addressed in the focus on connection forming in learning. Whether seen as master artist, network
administrator, concierge, or curator, the established expertise of the educator plays an active role in
guiding, directing, and evaluating the activities of learners.
Sensemaking, Wayfinding, and Pattern Recognition
Knowledge is not only internally held and socially negotiated, but a function of context, voice
(annotating the work and thoughts of others), and distributed across the networks we create.
Knowledge, therefore, does not neatly fit into traditional taxonomies (innate, interpreted, or
constructed), but functions instead across a larger more complex (and interdependent) cloud.
Taxonomies are the fertile soil of dogma. To resist classifications and constructions is to enlarge
the potential for new understandings reflective of the challenges experienced by learners and
educators today. “People think together and engage in collaborative activities by continuously
trying to understand each other’s motives, understanding and ideas”115.
Sensemaking Tools
Sensemaking is not a task of isolation. It is “an emergent property of social interaction”116. Our
ability to created shared patterns of understanding attest to the social nature of making sense
of our world. Due to advancements in technology and global consciousness software itself can
now create a space where the connections between entities cease to be simply a conduit for
information, but become part of the sensemaking space.
As a simple metaphor, an oil pipeline serves the function of transporting oil. It is valuable only to
the degree that it delivers oil. Today’s social software tools add an additional dimension beyond
transporting information. These social tools have essentially become the space, not the conduit
for sensemaking. The value of connections formed exceeds the value of the particular information
and knowledge flowing through a network at a particular time. Unlike the oil analogy provided,
software tools exist not to transport knowledge, but have become the value point themselves.
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Image 12: Responding to information abundance
A few examples may assist in clarifying this concept. Individuals who read blogs often rely on feed
readers (aggregator software which “visits” the blogs an individual has subscribed to, and returns
any changes since the last visit). Feed readers permit individuals to follow dozens (even hundreds)
of blogs. While the blogs selected are important to the reader, the real point of value rests on the
creation of a personal learning network. The aggregated network of blogs and other news sources
is the key element in learning – a framework for participatory sensemaking and network filtering
(Image 12) - not the content experienced at a particular time.
Learning Activities
Littlejohn and Pegler in Preparing for Blended e-Learning outline five learning activity techniques
based on Laurillard’s Conversational Model. They produce the following matrix (reformatted)117:
type of
technique
learning what is it? media forms technologies tools
(how)
activity
CMAP, Hot
concept Potatoes,
processing mapping, word Google, Office
narrative brainstorming, processor, Products,
lectures,
media - buzzwords, presentation Social
assimilative DVD’s or
managing and crosswords, software, text, Bookmarking,
reading texts
structuring defining, mind image, audio, Blogs, Wikis,
information maps, web video Pageflakes,
search Google
Reader
an
virtual worlds,
environment
simulations, models, Second Life,
adaptive that changes modelling
games simulations, MMORPG
according to
games
learner input
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electronic
whiteboards,
email, online
reasoning,
asynchronous discussion bulletin
arguing,
or boards, boards,
coaching,
synchronous chat, instant skype, IM,
communicative discussing debate,
discussions, messaging, Facebook,
discussion,
chats, text voip, video Social
negotiation,
messages conferencing, Bookmarking,
performance
web Blogs, Wikis
conferencing,
blogs, wikis
artifact,
creative
book report,
applications
thesis, essay,
(image
creating, exercise,
editing, InDesign,
producing, journaling,
CAD, design Photoshop,
writing, literature
learners software) YouTube,
drawing, review,
productive producing computer Google
composing, multiple
something aided Video, Office
synthesizing, choice
assessment Software,
remixing, questions,
tools, Sketch
mashups puzzles,
electronic
portfolio,
learning
product, test,
environments
voting
case-study,
practising,
experiment,
interactive applying,
laboratory,
activities mimicking, virtual lab, Google Earth,
field trip,
experiential that focus experiencing, 3D immersive MMORPG,
game, role-
on problem exploring, environment Second Life
playing,
solving investigating,
scavenger
performing
hunt
New options to create and share information (through aggregation and visualization) have
significant implications. How we as educators teach, present content, allow learners to interact with
content, and how we keep content sources current require new approaches. For many educators,
however, the task may appear onerous or too complex.
Tools like Google Alerts (which generate email updates of topics you are interested in or currently
tracking) provide a starting point. Or perhaps setting up a NetVibes account and following a handful
of blogs or journals in your field is a more suitable beginning point. If visual imagery is important,
create a flickr badge to pull photos from an account into a web page.
Small scale experimentation - with high payback - can be motivating. Adopting and exploring
additional tools and concepts is more inviting once you’ve had success with certain tools.
Thinning Walls and Extending Learning
Technology extends the classroom (see Image 13) walls and thins the structure of courses. Experts
and resources outside of the university are readily available for educators to use for example, in a
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psychology course directing learners to view a presentation of the Stanford Prison Experiment is
much more vivid and meaningful than reading an article about the experiment alone. Technology
can open doors closed by geographical distance or time.
Image 13: Extending courses
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Implementation
Planning the use of technology in teaching and learning requires consideration of numerous
factors: context of use, traits and characteristics of learners, matching media format to intended
learning activities, and so on. This section will explore key considerations for educators in planning,
developing, and teaching with technology
Getting Started with Technology
New technology is adopted more rapidly when cast in the “context of...existing teaching and
learning activities.”118 A simple framework of the traditional activities of teachers and learners
serves as a useful starting point.

Teacher Role Learner Role
Communicate Read/listen
Assess Present a point of view
Provide feedback Search/collect/analyze information
Observe Practice
Present information Create
Organize activities Respond
Each of the educator and learner tasks can be augmented through use of different technologies.
For example, educators can provide a short lecture via a podcast, learners can respond to course
materials through a blog post or through a short recording in a tool like Jing.
Planning technology use in your next course
The use of technology for learning and instruction requires demarcation between what learners
can (and should) do for themselves and what the instructor (and designer) should do for learners.
Traditionally, in a lecture format, the instructor provides motivation (scheduled class time)
and content in pre-planned units according to the course’s relation to the program of study. As
information has become more public and distributed, the role of instructor as organizer and
dispenser of information has shifted. Learners can readily access online lectures, articles, podcasts,
and other resources to augment the information provided by the instructor.
Media have certain affordances which define their potential use. When applied to learning,
certain activities can be utilized to greater effect when appropriate matching occurs between: the
technology used, the learning desired, the context of use, the learner experience, the instructor
experience, and the nature of content.
While designing a rich interactive software application to demonstrate key learning points may be
desired, reality may dictate peer-to-peer discussions online are the main options due to budget
constraints. Or, the use of an LMS might enable the management of content, but development time
restrictions dictate the use of blogs combined with online lectures.
Planning the effective use technology for learning requires a careful:

1. Evaluation of context
2. Determining depth of technology integration
3. Attributes of technologies planned for use and suitability to subject matter (see previous
discussion on media selection methods for promoting intended learning)
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4. Evaluating planned technologies against principles of learning
Evaluating Context
Evaluating context requires a consideration of numerous elements and environments that influence
both design and delivery of a particular learning task, activity, or program.
Traditional instructional design (ID) captures many of these elements (ADDIE, Dick and Carey, CDT
(Merrill)). The very intent of instructional design, however, is its weakness – namely making explicit
intended learning and planning clear, concise approaches to achieving intended outcomes. Clearly
defined learning assumes “things won’t change” (content, nature of interactions, changes in related
disciplines which impact the information being discussed) between the point of design and the
point of learning.
Instructional design has in the past been broadly concerned with designing the learning/experience
and not as concerned with the environment or context. Yet, the context of learning is in continual
flux - as presented by numerous learning theories – including situated cognition, activity theory,
constructivism and connectivism. Participative technologies contribute to additional contextual
fluctuation.
Consider, for example, frequently held views on ID analysis process119:

1. Needs assessment
2. Relevant characteristics of learners
3. Characteristics of work setting
4. Job, task, and content
These analyses then lead to the formation of learning (performance) objectives, determining
measurements, sequencing, specifying instructional strategies, and designing instructional
materials. The process is involved, detailed, and deterministic in orientation.
The Reality
In reality, however, most implementations of technology in classrooms are far less structured than
dictated by instructional design. The previous experience of learners, world events, changes in
technology, culture of a department, and numerous other factors strongly impact the effectiveness
of the designed content and learning intended. Many departments (academic or corporate) do not
subject learning design to rigid analysis and structured planning.
The development of new programs, training sessions, workshops, or courses (all terms which
continue to carry the notion of start/stop learning which has long been the focus of instructional
design) are served by flexible approaches as reflected in established research (though increased
attention should be paid to context of implementation). For many learning environments, however,
a less structured and more fluid approach is needed.
David H. Jonassen (1991) suggests a key point of failure in Instructional Systems Technology (IST)
relates to “fundamental IST processes, such as task analysis, behavioral objectives, criterion-
referenced evaluation and mathemagenic strategies all reflect a behaviorist tradition”120.
Teaching for Learning
As discussed in the introduction, the use of technology for learning can be seen as a continuum
with three key marking points:
1. Augmented – the course takes place in a traditional classroom setting, but technology is
used to enhance the learning experience. The following are examples:
a. Pre-readings or post-course discussions occur online
b. Use of powerpoint to present content
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c. Use of online self-review quizzes or interactive activities to allow learners to explore key
ideas
d. Podcasts or video lecture recordings of experts in the field for learners wishing a deeper
understanding of subject areas
2. Blended – the course takes place partly face-to-face and partly online. Examples include:
a. Live online lectures with synchronous tools such as Elluminate, iVocalize, or Connect
b. A face-to-face (f2f) class, with several weeks of online discussion, followed by a wrapup
f2f class
c. A short-term residency at the beginning (and middle or end) of a certificate or degree
program, with the balance of learning activities occurring online.
d. Course readings conducted before class time and lectures made available in podcast
form, with reduced class time used for discussion of course content.
3. Online – the course takes place entirely online with no face to face contact. Examples
include:
a. WebCT, Blackboard, Moodle, or similar learning management system used
for content presentation, interaction, gradebook, and other online activity
b. Use of a blend of tools – blogs, wikis, Skype, discussion forums – to present content and
foster learner-learner interaction
c. Use of live online lectures with virtual classrooms (Elluminate) supporting either an LMS
or blend of tools approach
d. Use of podcasts, video lectures, and free online resources with either an LMS or
blend of tools approach
What types of activities and resources are required for plan and organize new technology
initiatives? Five important steps are involved for individual educators or larger department online
learning initiatives:
1. Planning tools
2. Creating content
3. Planning for and fostering interaction
4. Evaluating learners and recording grades
5. Managing digital resources
1. Planning Tools and Inter-team communication
Developing online activities and resources requires consideration and planning.
A complete online learning development team would consist of (Image 14):
• Instructional designer
• Graphic artist
• Programmer
• Media specialist (audio/video)
• Subject matter expert
• Usability specialist
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Image 14: Online Learning Development Team
To coordinate the activities of different team members, planning tools and communication
guidelines are critical. Most learning and technology projects, however, will not be initiated with a
full development team. Regardless of whether the development team consists of a single faculty
member or a learning development team, planning tools are important in ensuring deadlines are
met.
Beyond ensuring achievement of goals and meeting deadlines, project management tools serve to
create a knowledge trail for subsequent development (or developers), project costing (based on
resources used and hours required), and determination of contributions from other departments,
faculties, or resource providers.
When using a project management approach to learning activity and resources development, it
is particularly important for an individual to be assigned to maintaining the project timeline and
ensuring goals are consistently met. Teams also require clear communication in terms of meetings,
responsibilities, and project protocols (communication, budget codes, decision making).
Even small single-course technology implementations benefit from the development of project
guidelines and timetables. Upfront planning and resource considerations can significantly increase
the likelihood of project success.
2. Creating (and finding) Content
Tools for creating content for online learning have improved significantly over the last few years.
Articulate Presenter, Audacity, Engage, Flash, Jing, and Camtasia are tools that novice users can
master in a short period of time.
In addition, the increased proliferation of freely available online learning resources provides an
opportunity for educators to link to, rather than create, many educational resources. Projects such
as MIT’s OpenCourseWare initiative, Connexions, OpenLearn, and others often provide excellent
materials, videos, or podcasts. Additionally, textbook publishers often provide valuable tutorials or
simulations.
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3. Planning for and fostering interaction
The prominence of social technologies has created an opportunity for educators to increase the
level of learner-learner and faculty-learner dialogue. Interaction can occur around ideas, content,
or simply open discussions. Supporting online learning, like the development of online courses,
requires a team-based approach, consisting of (Image 15):
• Instructors
• Technology support
• User-accessible help resources (such as tutorials)
• Tutors
• Learning development support (to provide learners with remedial or learning skills
development support)
• Administrative support (grades, enrolment, course status)
Image 15: Teaching Online Support Team
4. Evaluating learners and recording grades
Many learning management systems offer basic testing/quizzing tools as well as a gradebook for
instructors to record learner performance. Other tools (such as Grademark: http://www.turnitin.
com/static/grademark.html) often integrate with existing LMS software.
Articulate Quizmaker (http://www.articulate.com/products/quizmaker.php) allows simple Flash-

based quizzes, and tools such as Mobile: PodQuiz Maker: http://podquizmaker.com/ or iQuizmaker:
http://www.iquizmaker.com/ allow educators to create quizzes for mobile devices.
Gradebook tools which integrate with existing LMS’ are particularly valuable in managing student
progress (especially when integrated with campus-wide student information system).
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5. Managing digital resources
Management of digital resources is an important consideration often overlooked by elearning

developers. Numerous open source and proprietary software tools are available to assist in this
process. A few considerations:
- Plone
- Atutor
- Microsoft CMS
- Eedo Force Ten
- DSpace
Content management systems, when implemented across a department or institution, can

eliminate duplication of content and increase access to resources when needed. Many academics,
however, are reluctant to contribute personal resources to publicly-available repositories.
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Tools
Frameworks for Sense Making
Frameworks are often utilized to give shape and form to nebulous ideas and concepts. Even a few
days spent reading literature on emerging learning technologies reveals an overwhelming array:
Twitter, blogs, wikis, podcasts, identity and presence tools, synchronous classrooms, and so on.
Making sense of these tools requires a framework. Making sense of the information that flows
through these tools requires yet another framework. And, using these tools for teaching and
learning requires a third.
Frameworks are a particular way of seeing. As such, a framework is incomplete – it fails to capture
a holistic perspective. While this is an inconvenience, it is necessary to take a certain perspective
in order to begin to make sense. A holistic perspective is perhaps largely unattainable, but can be
approached through the use of multiple perspectives. For the purpose of this text, new tools will be
presented based on how they contribute to the changed information cycle.
Defining Social Software
A defining trait of social software today is the ability to speak into the context others have created.
For example, a newspaper editor is able to project a certain voice (i.e. the slant of a publication)
on political or social events. Feedback from readers is limited to letters to the editor – a context
again controlled by the editor. Social tools permit individuals – through annotations (PLoSOne,
StumbleUpon) and discussions – to have a voice. The ability to speak directly into the context of
others reshapes and redistributes power in message control.
New technologies can be grouped by their affordances – action potential – in six categories (see
Image 16):
• Access resources
• Declare or state presence (as currently online or in declaring physical proximity through
GPS)
• Expression through tools such as Second Life or profile features of most social networking
site
• Creation of new content and resources through blogs and wikis
• Interaction with others through asynchronous and synchronous tools like discussion
forums, Twitter, Skype, ELGG
• Aggregation of resources and relationships through Facebook, iGoogle, or NetVibes.
Each tool possesses multiple affordances. Blogs, for example, can be used for personal reflection
and interaction. Wikis are well suited for collaborative work and brainstorming. Social networks
tools are effective for the formation of learning and social networks. Matching affordances of a
particular tool with learning activities is an important design and teaching activity.
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Image 16: Affordances of emerging technologies
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Blog
What is it?
A blog is a basic web page with posts presented in reverse chronological order. Posts can be
retrieved via an RSS reader (such as Google Reader), negating the need to visit the blog.
Google uses its blog to communicate new products or offerings. CNN uses blogs as an alternative
news source. NASA has a launch blog. Well known people like Dave Barry, Scott Adams (Dilbert),
and Tom Peters use blogs as well. Even the president of Iran has a blog. Blogs figured prominently
into the last American president election, providing candidates with another venue to connect with
voters.
The simplicity of blogs is deceptive. Blogging enables unique opportunities for educators to
improve communication with (and between) learners, increase depth of learning through
reflection, and enable the formation of diverse viewpoints and perspectives. Perhaps most
importantly, they enable educators to connect with each other.
How does it work?
Prospective bloggers can sign up with an online services – such as Blogger or Eduspaces – or
download software to a server and host their own blog (Movable Type or Wordpress).
Posts can be made through a desktop application (such as Microsoft’s Live Writer) or through the
interface accessible with a web-browser.
Blogs generally allow readers to provide comments. Due to spam, many bloggers use anti-
spam measures such as holding comments in moderation or requiring commentators to enter
information (often a captcha) to verify a person, not a script, is entering the comment.
How can it be used for teaching and learning?
Blogs are simple tools for learners and educators to use in teaching and learning. Educators can use
a blogs to update learners on course activities, post reflections on in-class or online conversations,
and to share journal articles and related course resources.
Learners can use blogs to reflect, connect with others, use as an e-portfolio or journal, and
comment on important posts made by other learners.
Wikis
What is it?
Wikis - or more broadly, collaborative writing on the web- have captured the interest of business
leaders and academics. Well known, and increasingly referenced, is Wikipedia.
A wiki is basically a simple web page that anyone can edit. At least that’s the standard description
or what wikis were when first started. The openness of wikis has encountered the reality of human
behaviour (or more precisely - spam). Wikis are chaotic, informal knowledge spaces. Wikis enable
individuals to create a collective resource. Whereas blogs enable individual voices, a wiki over-
writes individuality.
The messiness of wikis can be intimidating to newcomers. Why do people contribute? What
motivates individuals to spend time editing and proofreading sites? What about vandals who
simply delete text? But wikis are not without governance or management. Wikipedia has extensive
resources available on how to handle concerns arising from community conflict. Democracy and
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openness drive actions in this space.
How does it work?
Wikis can be remote hosted (such as PBWiki, WetPaint, or collaborative Google Docs) or hosted
by an institution – such as MediaWiki or the wiki feature in Moodle. Wikis can be open - where
anyone can create an account and edit - or closed - requiring approval from a site administrator.
Edits may be handled through simple editing with wiki markup (similar to HTML) or a Word-style
formatting bar (in hosted wikis such as PBWiki).
Wikis, like any tool for learning, are limited in use primarily by the creativity of the instructor or
designer. Common uses include:
• Course notes
• Course syllabus
• FAQ
• Collaborative writing and group work
• Brainstorming
• Inviting experts (whose work may/may not be the focus of the wiki) to review
completeness of learner wikis
• Content creation with educators from other universities/schools
Social Bookmarking
What is it?
Social bookmarking is a way to store and organize bookmarks (favorites) on the web. Having
bookmarks on the web means they are accessible from any computer with an internet connection
and a browser.
How does it work?
Bookmarks can be posted to services such as Delicious directly through the website or through a
browser toolbar. When saving a webpage, users can tag the resource, select it for private/public
view, and share it with others in a network. The use of a specific tag will allow others with similar
interest to discover shared resources. Services like Diigo and Stumble Upon allow users to rate, tag,
and comment on specific web pages (comments are only visible to other users of the service).
In addition to organizing personal information, social bookmarking is a useful tool for sharing
information, articles, and learning resources. For example, a course can be assigned a specific tag,
and the contributions of all learners can result in a useful collection of resources.
Social bookmarking is valuable for researchers. Writing an article? Researching an industry? Slaving
away on your dissertation? Delicious can be used to keep track of all the source materials and
commentary. Or, a special tag can be used for an assignment or group work to easily gather all
bookmarks.
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Audio & Podcasting
What is it?
Podcasting is the distribution of audio online through RSS. Technology has developed to the point
where an educator can record and distribute audio files with only a computer, a microphone, and
internet access.
Of particular potential in audio is the increased use of different audio tools for easy collaboration
(such as Seesmic or Voice Thread). While podcasting is generally a one-way flow, collaborative
audio creation around images adds the learner’s/listener’s voice to the exchange.
How does it work?
Podcasts can be created with Audacity, Odeo, Garage Band, or digital voice recorders. Audio files
can be shared via services such as PodBean, iTunes, or plugins for blogging software (such as
Word Press). As with blogs, learners can subscribe to RSS feeds of podcasts. Learners can listen to
podcasts on a computer or iPod (or similar audio device).
Podcasts can be used to:

• Record lectures
• Include external presenters
• Evaluation and feedback
• Learner created reflections and interviews
• Interviews with notable contributors to a particular field
• News or course-related updates
• Short introductions to new subject areas
Image sharing (with Flickr)
What is it?
Flickr is a web-based image sharing tool.
How does it work?
Learners can upload, tag, share, annotate, and discuss images and photos. Images can be licensed
under Creative Commons license, allowing for varying levels of use. Groups can be formed around
topics and themes. For example, a conference can set up an image group and all attendees can post
and share images. Individual images can geotagged (tagged by location) – useful experiencing (from
a local perspective) different parts of the world. Images can be annotated so individual components
within the image can be described.
Flickr can be used to:

• Share photos within a class, school, department, faculty, college or university.
• Set up a group for a courses - share photos with group members
• Architecture/visual arts groups can use the geo-tag feature to share images/locations, etc.
• Work with international students - i.e. stimulate discussions on countries of origin
• World issues - a map for students - i.e. making it seem like more than a map by using
photos and linking to real-life images
• Traveling - flickr journey - share with family, classmates
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• Field research
• Use for building community in distance education - i.e. students share images of
themselves, where they live, etc. “introduce yourself in flickr” - where you live, work, etc.
• Use in Telemedicine for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
• Use in Anatomical Pathology for diagnostic consultations.
Video
What is it?
The last decade has seen the web transition from a text-based medium to a multi-media platform
with audio, video, and greater interactivity. For educators, this presents a great opportunity to add
diversity and variety to courses.
While video-taped lectures have been common on university campuses for decades, the increased
bandwidth available to most computer users has opened the door for a new approach to extend
lectures - enabling learners to view missed (or not fully understood) lectures at their convenience.
How does it work?
Video in education runs a spectrum from easy-to-create “talking heads” (recorded with a web cam)
to edited professional quality resources. Easy to create video – with a web cam, Flip Video, or video
recorder – are more accessible to individual educators than studio-produced recordings.
After videos have been created and edited, they can be uploaded to a university site or posted on a
public site such as YouTube or blip.tv.
Video can be used for:

• Short demonstrations
• Incorporate video from experts
• Incorporate video developed by other institutions/organizations as open educational
resources
• Add recorded presentations of conferences (like TED Talks) as curricular resources
• Pre-class videos to place future lectures into context
• Use videos to review key concepts discussed in class (for learner review or to augment
lectures)
Open Education Resources
What is it?
Open educational resources (OERs) are not tools of the same nature as others in this section, but
are included here due to their potential to influence higher education.
While LMS’ were gaining acceptance in education, discussion of digital learning resources (largely
under the banner of “learning objects”) grew to an almost fevered pitch. Proclamations of learning
object repositories as the future of learning abounded. Institutional, discipline-based, provincial,
national, and even international groups established repositories for their members. Unfortunately,
the idea was too new, or perhaps more accurately, too unlike what educators were comfortable
with. While discussions raged on the value (economical and pedagogical) of learning objects, many
repositories gently slid into obscurity. A few remained - MERLOT most notably - but many moved
to more institutional repositories of educational resources (like DSpace), rather than self-contained
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learning objects freely available to the larger academic community.
While interest in learning objects has somewhat abated, interest in OERs has grown. OERs are
materials made freely available online for educators and learners to use, repurpose, and extend.
MITs OCW initiative raised questions about the value of content. MIT, in making course resources
freely available, expressed a view that the economic value point for learners is found in faculty and
learner interactions and accreditation not in academic content.
How does it work?
Institutions make learning resources available for others to use or view. Different licensing schemes
influence appropriate use (many, for example, limit for-profit use of resources). As materials are
accessible online, educators can link to and incorporate simulations, videos, lectures, and other
learning activities. Depending on licensing assigned to OERs, educators can incorporate, revise,
improve, and extend resources.
Publicity generated by large institutional OER initiatives (MIT, Open University, OpenYale,
Connexions) overlooks an important grassroots development: collaborative content development
through wiki sites like Wiki Educator.
OERs have numerous opportunities for teaching and learning:

• Incorporate videos, lectures, and other materials in existing courses
• Design learning activities around improving existing resources in public sites such as Wiki
Educator
• Make resources freely available online (for example, a wiki textbook written by students).
Microblogging
What is it?
Microblogging involves sharing resources and engaging in short conversations with other users of
the service. Twitter, Tublr, and Plurk are popular examples.
How does it work?
With Twitter and Plurk, users are limited to maximum responses of 140 characters (including spaces
and punctuation). Accounts can be setup without charge. Social networking consists of adding
friends (which means you follow their updates/posts) and interacting with others. The key question
in Twitter is “what are you doing”. Conversation ranges from meaningless – “I just finished a cup of
coffee” – to meaningful “My partner just had a baby”. Twitter enables the creation of strong social
networks by sharing the “small details of life” that are often only experienced by people in physical
proximity. Blogs lack the immediacy and personal communication found on Twitter. In additions to
posts being displayed on a public timeline (or, if you wish to only share with your network, privacy
settings are available), direct messages (of 140 character length) are possible.
The social dimension of Twitter can be overlooked when focusing on the triviality of many “tweets”
(posts). Sample uses in education include:
• Ask learners to “follow” notable thinkers in a particular field
• Forming social networks with other learners
• Sharing resources
• Follow conferences within a field of study
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• Track current events
• Participate in conversations with experts in a discipline
• Provide an alternative avenue for student-instructor interaction
• Provide class updates and reminders
Social Networking Software
What is it?
Social networking has been popular in various forms since the development of the internet.
Social networking was initially the domain of early adopters or sub/counter-culture individuals.
Newsgroups, WELL, and other online “communities” formed with the participants who possessed
a degree of technical competence and ability to accept communication untethered from physical
contact. As the web developed and grew in prominence, other tools of informal social connections
- such as blogs - developed. The audience was again largely confined to a subset of society, often
limited by technical skills or the ability to tolerate the conceptual shift of transparency in an open
forum.
In the late 90’s/early 2000’s, social networking sites became more popular with the development of
sites such as Friendster. These sites allowed people to create a profile and begin to form a network
of connections with others from around the world. The development of sites such as MySpace,
Orkut, and more recently, Facebook, moved social networking from the sub-culture domain to
mainstream. The ease of use and ability to connect with others of shared interests resulted in rapid
adoption.
How does it work?
Social networking sites are often integrated suites of tools with functionality similar to blogs,
Twitter, Flickr, discussion forums, etc. Users create an account on a networking service and fill
out their profile. Through site search, users can form connections with other people. Information
– images, status updates, event invitations, emails, videos – can then be shared with “friends”.
Educators are afflicted with a desire to use what is popular within society. This is largely rational
- after all, if students are comfortable with computers, mobile phones, or certain web applications,
why not leverage their existing skills with technology for teaching and learning? In some cases,
however, different tools are used for dramatically different purposes. For most people, Facebook
is a social space, used for informal conversations, building and maintaining relationships, and the
voyeuristic tendency of profile surfing. The value of Facebook for formal teaching and learning is
unclear. While learners will likely use Facebook to create small networks, study groups, or use its
communication tools for arranging study times or clarify assignment requirements, formal use in
college-level instruction may be too much of a stretch for learners.
danah boyd, is more blunt121: “In their current incarnation, social network sites (SNSs) like Facebook
and MySpace should not be integrated directly into the classroom...I have yet to hear a compelling
argument for why social network sites (or networking ones) should be used in the classroom. Those
tools are primarily about socializing, with media and information sharing there to prop up the
socialization process (much status is gained from knowing about the cool new thing). I haven’t even
heard of a good reason why social network site features should be used in the classroom.”
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Web Conferencing
What is it?
Webconferencing is used to facilitate group meetings or live presentations over the Internet.
In its simplest form its text messaging, at its most complex, it’s videoconferencing combined
with application or desktop sharing. What is common to all forms of webconferencing is that
they are synchronous communication (real time) tools using computers and the internet.
Most webconferencing programs now have recording capability which allows you to save your
conference for later playback.
The advantage of webconferencing to videoconferencing is that webconferencing can be accessed

from anyplace that has a computer with the appropriate software and an internet connection.
Unlike traditional videoconferencing, expensive videoconferencing equipment is not required
and the technical overhead to ‘operate’ a webconference is much lower. The disadvantage to
webconferencing is that the quality of video in videoconferencing systems is usually superior.
How does it work?
Desktop webconferencing or online classrooms can be managed through services like Elluminate
or Adobe Connect. A typical service will include an interactive whiteboard, text chat, audio, video,
polling, application sharing, web browsing, filesharing, and presentation (Powerpoint) tools.
Presentations can be recorded and used for future playback. Elluminate Publish! can be used to
create podcasts or Flash videos of Elluminate presentations.
Webconferencing software has numerous uses:

• Group meetings
• Virtual classes
• Office Hours
• Grad students meeting with mentors
• Guest lecturers
• Recording classes or meetings
• Online conferences
Aggregation
What is it?
Blogs, news, social bookmarks, academic journals, Flickr images, and YouTube videos produce a sea
of information that threatens to inundate us to the point of paralysis. How can learners manage
these disparate sources of information in meaningful ways? With more technology of course!
Tools like iGoogle, NetVibes, and Google Reader give learners control of information. By subscribing
to blogs, journals, Moodle forums, and other online services, learners can bring together
meaningful resources.
How does it work?
Many websites are now producing RSS or web feeds. RSS stands for really simple syndication (or
rich site summary, depending on who you ask). It is simply an XML file that can be read by software.
An aggregator skims the site and updates any information added since the last visit to the site.
Essentially, RSS allows information to come to you (through an aggregator) instead of you having to
go to the information. If you are following 20 different websites in your field, and they all produce
an RSS feed, an aggregator visits the sites and retrieves new content and displays it in a browser or
49
on your desktop RSS reader (depending on the type of aggregator).
Aggregators (and the RSS information sharing structure as a whole) differ from email in that the
emphasis is on pulling in resources of interest. Email, in contrast, is a push technology. Through
RSS, resources are intentionally solicited, whereas anyone can send an unsolicited email. By pulling
in information (versus having it pushed), we have greater control over the quantity and type of
information we encounter.
Creating personal learning environments
Learners can follow key thinkers in a field (blogs)
Learners (and educators) can subscribe to academic journals
Games, virtual worlds, and simulations
What is it?
Virtual worlds and games are common topics discussion in educational conferences. Most
educators have at minimum, indirect experience with games - whether through conversations with
students, the activities of their children, or their own personal use of virtual games.
Virtual games - such as World of Warcraft - generally involve the achievement of a certain goal,
such as mastering a game level. Virtual worlds, in contrast, are environments where individuals
can interact with each other, but may not necessarily be focused on achieving a particular goal.
Traditional video game systems – XBOX and PS3 – now offer online gaming as well.
Second Life has received considerable attention from educators over the last several years. SL
provides an alternative learning experience to a traditional online course, as learners interact with
peers and educators through avatars, explore course material (often in a more interactive manner
than only reading text), and express personal learning through visual means.
Simulations are particularly valuable as a learning tool in providing learners with a situated
experience that is more cost effective than actually performing the task (such as flying). Simulations
can be expensive to design and administer.
How does it work?
Games, simulations, and virtual worlds are all distinct. Discussion here will be confined to Second
Life. After a user has created an account (free version is available, but to participate in the “Linden”
economy, a paid account is required), she can modify her avatar (appearance, body type (or non-
human), accessories, etc.). She can then form a social network by adding friends, participating in
chat (audio or text), attending conferences, concerts, clubs, and other activities. Users can rent/
purchase living spaces, vehicles, build homes, and almost any other activity that is possible in their
“first life”.
Games, virtual worlds, and simulations have many academic uses, including:
• Simulating real experiences (nursing and medical uses in Second Live)
• Interactions in 3D environments (valuable for architecture (design), psychology (human
behaviour), and other fields)
• Galleries – art and other exhibits
• Programming and scripting
• Building objects – tables, chairs, furniture, buildings, etc
• Study social behaviour (ethics considerations are important in this instance)
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Research
Evaluating the effectiveness of technology use in teaching and learning brings to mind Albert
Einstein’s statement: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts
can be counted”. When we begin to consider the impact and effectiveness of technology in the
teaching and learning process, obvious questions arise: “How do we measure effectiveness? Is it
time spent in a classroom? Is it a function of test scores? Is it about learning? Or understanding?”
Much research has been conducted on how modalities, distance, and models of education
influence the quality of learning. This research is commonly cited as the no significant difference
phenomenon. Joy and Garcia argue that the research is fundamentally flawed - the emphasis on
technology and media is misplaced.
Instead:
[P]ractitioners should adhere to their time-tested instructional design strategies, regardless

of the medium they choose. It is widely accepted that learning effectiveness is a function
of effective pedagogical practices. Accordingly, the question for researchers, instructional
designers, and consumers of ALNs ought to be: “What combination of instructional strategies
and delivery media will best produce the desired learning outcome for the intended
audience?”122
Carol Twigg, suggests education technique is lagging behind technological development123. As

McLuhan has stated, we use new tools to do the work of the old. The challenge with this often
repeated assertion - namely that we are on the precipice of a complete shift in our framework
of education - is that research, by its nature, is not necessarily concerned with trends. Research
is intended to describe phenomenon occurring now and ways to unearth or discover important
principles on which we can base subsequent action and research.
It is clear that teaching and research in fields of educational technology have yet to achieve
required balance. Arthur Levine provides perhaps the most comprehensive analysis in recent
memory in his systemic exploration of the research failings of education in general124.
Randolph125 views learning and technology research across a full spectrum of resources and
approaches, indicating the need for educational technology researchers to broaden their view of
research as well as improving the quality of activities within the field. Numerous other researchers
and organizations have emphasized the concerns of research on the use of technology in
education. Terry Anderson has similarly called for a significant shift in the research methodology of
technology-enabled learning, focusing on design-based models126. He details the need for quality,
relevant research:
“An essential component of effective strategic change is an active research and development
component of the system designed to insure that pedagogical, technological, sociological,
political and commercial changes and opportunities are both developed and exploited within
that system. These insights from effective research and development, originate both from
within education domains as well as being imported from related disciplines”127.
Design-based research (DBR) has been suggested as a solution to the difficulties facing research
quality, relevance, and impact. DBR is particularly appropriate for exploring emerging educational
technologies because128:
1. It focuses on interventions in real contexts
2. it involves partnerships between practitioners, students and researchers
3. It is iterative as context and technology changes
4. It is emergent as insights are gathered and developed into principles and patterns.
Distinctions between traditional (predictive) research and DBR are detailed in Image 17.
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Image 17: Design Based Research129
Additional important readings on research in educational technology include:
• Toward a Pan-Canadian e-Learning Research Agenda130
• International Perspectives on e-Learning: Mapping Strategy to Practice131
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Conclusion
The use of technology for learning is influenced by developments in numerous fields: technology
itself, global trends (market economy growth, changing immigration patterns, intellectual shifts to
emerging economies132), societal trends, and trends within educational research.
Much of the change in education over the last several decades has been defined by discussion
of content. Should we teach more math? Science? What about ethics? How should we teach?
Lecture? Problem-based learning? It seems that much of educational reform has been concerned
with determining the content of education, rather than the model and process of learning design
and delivery in a technology infused world.
The “arranging of deck chairs” approach requires reconsideration. The change pressures faced in
education today (and society as a whole) are much deeper than a shift in content or in pedagogy
alone will meet. Leaders and administrators are faced with the task of redefining the role of the
academy in a world of constant change and hyper-connectivity.
For individual faculty members and departments, greater use of emerging technology can serve
as an important bridging process between the traditional role of education and the not yet clearly
defined future. Active participation in the ecology of perpetual change provides organizations with
the capacity to sense, recognize, and respond to emerging patterns.
Through a process of active experimentation, the academy’s role in society will emerge as a
prominent sensemaking and knowledge expansion institution, reflecting of the needs of learners
and society while maintaining its role as a transformative agent in pursuit of humanity’s highest
ideals.
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____________________________
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Let’s
Talk
2.0
o understand what the term ucts or promote ready-made, static
T
Whether it’s Web 2.0 or literacy 2.0 means, it’s neces- artifacts.
literacy 2.0, it’s a whole sary to think of it as a new For example, Ofoto—Web 1.0—was
mind-set—or a new ethos— designed to sell digital-to-paper photo
new way of thinking. as well as a new practice. processing to users. This venture did
To begin, however, it’s useful to look at not have staying power. In contrast,
Michele Knobel the concept of Web 2.0 as opposed to Web 2.0’s Flickr is a user-generated
and Dana Wilber Web 1.0. content management system designed
Web 2.0 describes a business model simply as a host for photo sharing. It
whereby Internet companies actually accrues its revenue through site-based
provide a service rather than sell prod- advertising. Web 2.0 businesses use
Three Components of 2.0 hosting spaces; second, in terms of
A Web 2.0 ethos values and promotes tapping into distributed expertise and
three interlocking functions or practices: knowledge. User-generated content sites
participation, collaboration, and distri- like YouTube.com and AnimeMusic
bution. Amateurs and hobbyists can Videos.org have facilitated a significant
participate in the production of media shift for everyday people, from simply
on an unprecedented scale, thanks to consuming media to actively producing
online services for managing user- media for real and interested audiences,
generated content and increasingly no matter how small or esoteric.
affordable editing software. The Internet Access to distributed knowledge and
makes room for all kinds of interests and expertise occurs by means of the
affinities, and more and more online Internet’s extended networks and in
services are making it possible for people affinity spaces online. Groups formed
to leave comments, review posted work, around shared interests can collate and
and respond to others’ opinions in truly disperse information online to help
participatory ways. Blogs and their those who might otherwise not have
Outside school, many students are

accomplished authors, filmmakers,
animators, and recording artists.
comment functions are a case in point, access to such knowledge (for example,
as are fan fiction sites and their provi- in health issue support groups or alter-
sions for reviewer feedback. native news reporting groups). These
Online multiuser writing and remix same networks also make it possible for
spaces support collaboration. Wikis; users to access a range of information
collaborative blogs; massively multi- about and opinions on new develop-
player online games; Creative Commons ments in any number of fields.
music and video archives that encourage
users to remix existing works (see From Web 2.0 to Literacy 2.0
http://ccmixter.org); and free or almost- The new ethos of Web 2.0 holds true for
free communication media (for example, literacy 2.0. The “twoness” of literacy
enabling services—such as the Google Internet telephony and instant 2.0 signals that it is meaningfully
suite of services, YouTube, Wikipedia, messaging) all support varied forms of different from literacy 1.0 or analog
and the like—that live on the Web joint text production or provide the forms of literacy. People are appropri-
rather than on individual computers; means for completing complex tasks ating digital applications, networks, and
that is, they are part of our “Webtops” even when working with relative services; and they are developing ways
and not our desktops. strangers. of reading, writing, viewing, listening,
The shift to Web 2.0 is not simply the The third component, distribution, and recording that embody this 2.0
development of new ways of doing operates on two dimensions from a Web ethos. Literacy 2.0 necessarily involves
things, as in an upgrade. Rather, it’s an 2.0 perspective: first, on the scale of extensive participation, collaboration,
entirely new worldview (Lankshear & sharing resources and relationships and the distribution of expertise and
Knobel, 2006). made possible by digital networks and “intelligence,” along with widely

Literacy 2.0: Online Resources
Blogger (www.blogger.com): A free blog hosting dispersed access to human and informational resources.
service. Within this orientation, 2.0 literacies challenge how schools
traditionally have valued a single author laboriously working
Delicious (www.delicious.com): A free social, alone to create a unique text. Literacy 2.0 recognizes that
Internet bookmarking service. although there will always be varying levels of innovation,
producing something truly new or original is impossible; all
Fanfiction.net (www.fanfiction.net): A public affinity
our cultural resources build on what’s gone before. The success
space devoted to writing and reviewing fan fiction.
of sites like Fanfiction.net speak directly to the pleasure that
Freeplay Music (www.freeplaymusic.com): Music many people obtain from working collaboratively to produce
and sound effects with user-friendly copyright. written texts that build on or remix existing texts.
Fanfiction.net makes it possible for people to post stories
Jing Project (www.jingproject.com): A free applica- they’ve written themselves or in collaboration with others
tion that enables you to capture whatever’s happening and receive reader feedback on their narrative structure,
on your computer desktop as a video with voiceover. writing style, spelling, and grammar. Authors within this
space can then change and adapt their narratives in response
Google Docs (http://docs.google.com): A free to reviews or even open up a dialogue with reviewers to
collaborative, but private, writing space; it lends itself to explain plot points, character development, and so on
setting up fan fiction writing and reviewing in schools (see Black, 2008).
where privacy concerns rule out the use of Remixing popular culture artifacts does run the risk of
Fanfiction.net. infringing copyright, especially when the results are made
public rather than kept private (Lessig, 2008). To date, media
KeepVid (www.keepvid.com): Enables you to down- companies have turned a blind eye to fan fiction and other fan
load a copy of videos from such sites as YouTube.com.
remixing practices like machinima; game modding (that is,
NewLits.org (www.newlits.org): A professional modification); manga fan art and fansubs (programs in a
development wiki focused on new literacies and digital foreign language that fans have translated and subtitled); and
technologies for middle school educators. anime music videos. The game industry actually sees value in
modifications that fans make and is releasing games with
Ning (www.ning.com): A free social networking components that support modding and remixing.
service that users can tailor to specific group needs. Addressing remix in school is ideal for teaching students to
be savvy about copyright laws and to use Creative Commons
OurMedia (http://ourmedia.org): A free hosting site resources wisely in their work (Knobel & Lankshear, 2008).
for images, texts, and video and audio clips. It is dedi- Creative Commons copyright licenses enable creators to specify
cated “to spreading grassroots creativity.” the conditions under which others can reuse their work—for
example, the work cannot be reused, or it can be reused with
PB wiki (http://pbwiki.com/academic.wiki): A free
attribution but not for profit, and so on. Science fiction author
wiki platform.
Cory Doctorow has made his latest young adult novel, Little
Podomatic (http://podomatic.com): A free hosting Brother (TorTeen, 2008), freely available for downloading and
site for podcasts. remixing under a Creative Commons license (see
http://craphound.com/littlebrother).
Shambles (www.shambles.net/web2): A one-stop
portal for accessing a range of Web 2.0 applications and Experts Outside School
services. Affinity spaces, such as fan fiction writing sites, embody the
ways in which distributed knowledge and expertise can
VoiceThread (www.voicethread.com): A user- support users’ development in a given field. AnimeMusic
generated content hosting site that enables users to Videos.org is another case in point. Anime are Japanese
leave audio and video comments on posts. animated cartoons; an anime music video—or AMV—is a
series of short clips from various anime videos synced to a
Zamzar (www.zamzar.com): A free online file conver-
specific song. The largely amateur nature of AMV remixing
sion program.
means that immediate access to needed resources and profi-
cient guidance is often limited. The discussion forums on the
site make it possible for users to obtain help with transitions
and slide effects, clips they need for finishing a project, sugges-
tions for how to troubleshoot a software glitch, feedback on a
work in progress, and so on. Newbie and expert AMV
remixers contribute what they can to help one another create
good videos.
Affinity spaces like this one illustrate the ethos of 2.0—what
it means to read, write, view, listen, and record as well as to
collaborate, participate, and share distributed knowledge and
expertise. Literacy 2.0 is not simply an upgrade from literacy
1.0—it’s truly a paradigm shift.
Three years ago, when he was 15, Dynamite Breakdown
began making anime music videos (Knobel, 2008). Dynamite
has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and
Literacy 2.0 challenges how

schools traditionally have
valued a single author working
alone to create a unique text.
describes himself as mostly getting Bs and Cs in high school.

But he’s an expert in creating anime movie videos.
To create his AMVs, Dynamite taught himself how to copy
or download anime clips and how to use Windows Movie
Maker to stitch his selected clips together, sync them to a
chosen song, and add transitions and effects to his developing
video. He spends hundreds of hours creating AMVs and
working on experimental pieces. (Anime music videos typi-
cally include commercial songs and clips ripped from DVDs.
So far, this approach to remixing has not been involved in any
copyright infringement issues. Nevertheless, AMVs are fertile
ground for discussing copyright issues with students.) won the popular choice award at the 2006 Los Angeles Anime
Early on, Dynamite made good use of a range of anime fan Expo. The video has been viewed more than 500,000 times on
forums to obtain tips on getting the most out of his video YouTube alone.
editing software; now he is able to help newbies with technical Countless cases like these occur outside classrooms—and
and narrative advice. He reads review comments that people contrast with what these same students do literacy-wise in
leave about the AMVs that he posts to his YouTube and school. Outside school, many students are accomplished
AnimeMusicVideos.org accounts, and he uses the comments authors, filmmakers, animators, and recording artists. They are
section to explain why he used a particular effect or transition. concerned with the quality of their work and the meaning it
He also reviews and comments on others’ videos. conveys. They spend hours tinkering with their media text or
Dynamite’s anime music video, “Konoha Memory Book,” artifact in response to peer feedback obtained online. In short,

many young people’s online literacy Online Resources” on p. 22). girl, Sakura, from the popular anime
practices engage them in exactly the A useful resource for teachers is the series Card Captor Sakura, becoming
kind of learning that educators value, in wiki (a Web site that any number of friends with the wizard Harry Potter.
terms of quality of work, narrative people can edit and add to). Students The story might focus on how they use
power, character can use a wiki to compile and present a their magic together to defeat foes.
development, logic, and concept local history study; they can embed One study (Black, 2008) showed how
development. archival photos and videos, create hyper- high school students honed their
Literacy 2.0 is grounded in achieving linked pages that focus on different narrative and English language skills
authentic purposes and completing aspects of local history, post oral history by writing for a real audience on
meaningful tasks. Unfortunately, it interview podcasts they’ve conducted, Fanfiction.net, posting their narrative
doesn’t mesh well with such practices as publicly, and then refining it in response
book reports, comprehension questions, to feedback.
leveled reading tasks, and weekly Literacy 2.0 is not about using
spelling tests that students are asked to Literacy 2.0 Microsoft Word for word processing,
do in school. using PowerPoint for a presentation, or
means students projecting a computer screen onto the
Promoting Literacy 2.0 wall of a room. It’s about making the
in the Classroom take the reins. most of online resources and staying true
It is crucial to realize that literacy 2.0 to the ethos of Web 2.0. EL
means students take the reins. Students Authors’ note: Colin Lankshear contributed
can help one another master new soft- advice and input to early drafts of this text.
ware programs, create engaging alterna- and edit one another’s writing in
tive assessments, and make the most of progress (see, for example, References
Black, R. (2008). Adolescents and online
collaborative online spaces. Lesson plan- http://newlits.org/index.php?title= fanfiction. New York: Peter Lang.
ning shifts from focusing on teacher Witness_to_History). Knobel, M. (2008, March). Studying anime
delivery of content to designing collabo- Collaborative class blogs are helpful in music video remix as a new literacy. Paper
rative projects that tap into cross- any subject area. For example, students presented to the American Educational
curricular content, abstract concepts, can use a class blog to discuss graphic Research Association annual conference,
New York.
and learning in meaningful ways. Proj- novels they are reading, reflect on Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2008). Remix:
ects might include podcasting local oral project progress, or share resources The art and craft of endless hybridization.
histories or developing a series of docu- they’ve found on a topic of interest (see a Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy,
mentaries about the health of the local grade 2 collaborative blog at 51(2), 22–33.
environment. This is far different from http://allaboutbears.blogspot.com). Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2006). New
literacies (2nd ed.). New York: Open
having students use PowerPoint to Students can also write their own blogs, University Press.
present content obtained from books with readers leaving comments on inter- Lessig, L. (2008). Remix: Making art and
and through Google, which is nothing esting posts. The college students of one commerce thrive in the hybrid economy. New
more than Literacy 1.0 in digital getup. of the coauthors (Wilber, 2007) main- York: Penguin.
Bringing literacy 2.0 into classrooms tain individual blogs as part of their Wilber, D. (2007). MyLiteracies: Under-
standing the Net generation through Live-
may also require developing, with courses; their posts suggest that they
Journals and literacy practices. Innovate
students’ help, savvy ways of working think more deeply and become more Journal of Online Education, 3(4). Available:
with or around school filters that block personally involved in the class and the www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view
access to many collaborative and partici- topics covered because they are blogging. =article&id=384
patory online sites. For example, if Fan fiction is another way to leverage
Flickr is blocked, students can try using literacy 2.0 practices in the classroom. Michele Knobel (knobelm@mail.montclair
Dotphoto.com. Fan fiction refers to narratives that remix .edu) is Professor and Dana Wilber
(wilberd@mail.montclair.edu) is Assistant
Web 2.0 has developed a range of free elements of a favorite book, movie,
Professor in the Department of Early
participatory, collaborative, and distrib- anime, television show, and so on, to Childhood, Elementary Education, and
uted resources that educators can use in create a “new” story. For example, a Literacy Education at Montclair State
their classrooms (see “Literacy 2.0: student might write about the magical University, Montclair, New Jersey.
Orchestrating
the Media Collage
Being able to read and write multiple forms
of media and integrate them into a meaningful
whole is the new hallmark of literacy.
Jason Ohler
t is no coincidence that the words letter and literacy look alike. When the concept of
I a literate person arose centuries ago, it referred to those few who were considered
educated, precisely because they “knew the letters.”1 To this day, the prevailing
definition of a literate person is still someone who has the ability to read, write, and
understand words.
Yet the word literacy rarely appears by itself anymore. Public narrative embraces a
number of specialty literacies, including math literacy, research literacy, and even citizen-
ship literacy, to name a few. Understanding the evolving nature of literacy is important
because it enables us to understand the emerging nature of illiteracy as well. After all,
regardless of the literacy under consideration, the illiterate get left out.
At the epicenter of the evolving nature of literacy is digital literacy, the term du jour
used to describe the skills, expectations, and perspectives involved in living in a techno-
logical society. How has digital literacy evolved in the 25 years since digital tools began
appearing in classrooms? And how can we make it more responsive to our present needs?
Writing What You Read

Modern literacy has always meant being able to both read and write narrative in the
media forms of the day, whatever they may be. Just being able to read is not sufficient.
For centuries, this has meant being able to consume and produce words through
reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking. But the world of
digital expression has changed all of this in three respects:
I New media demand new literacies. Because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, widely distrib-
uted new media tools, being literate now means being able to read and write a number of
new media forms, including sound, graphics, and moving images in addition to text.
I New media coalesce into a collage. Being literate also means being able to integrate
emerging new media forms into a single narrative or “media collage,” such as a Web page,
blog, or digital story. That is, students need to be able to use new media collectively as
ILLUSTRATIONS © STEPHANIE DALTON COWAN A S S O C I AT I O N FOR S U P E RV I S I O N AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 9

well as individually. others: make the final media product many centuries, audiovisual informa-
I New media are largely participatory, appear smooth, effortless, and natural. tion took roughly one century, and
social media. Digital literacy requires that “Writing media” compels reflection Web narrative took about 15 years.
students have command of the media about reading media, which is crucial in Thus, a new dimension of literacy is
collage within the context of a social an era in which professional media now in play—namely, the ability to
Web, often referred to as Web 2.0. The makers view young people largely in adapt to new media forms and fit them
social Web provides venues for indi- terms of market share. into the overall media collage quickly
vidual and collaborative narrative Second, literacy, as well as citizen- and effectively.
construction and publication through ship, requires us to be able to navigate
blogs and such services as MySpace, the mediascape during a time in history Eight Guidelines for Teachers
Google Docs, and YouTube. As student in which the lag time between being A strong case can be made that
participation goes public, the pressure able to read particular media and being commanding new media constitutes the
to produce high-quality work increases. able to write in those media is current form of general literacy and that
Being able to actively create rather shrinking so dramatically. Historically, adding the modifier digital is simply not
than just passively consume new media new media first appear to the vast necessary anymore. Whether or not this
is important for the obvious reason that majority of us in read-only form is the case, digital literacy warrants a
it teaches literacy and job skills that are because they are controlled by a rela- central focus in K–12 learning commu-
highly valued in a digital society. But tively few technicians, developers, and nities. Eight guidelines can help
two less obvious reasons are equally distributors who can understand or teachers promote the crucial skills asso-
important. afford them. The rest of us only evolve ciated with digital literacy.
First, hands-on media creation plays into writers once the new media tools
an important role in the development of become easy to use, affordable, and 1. Shift from text centrism
media literacy, which I define as the widely available, whether these tools to media collage.
ability to recognize, evaluate, and apply are cheap pencils and paper or in- General literacy means being able to
the techniques of media persuasion. The expensive digital tools and shareware. read and write the media forms of the
act of creating original media forces However, the lag time between being day, which currently means being able
students to lift the hood, so to speak, able to read media and being able to to construct an articulate, meaningful,
and see media’s intricate workings that write in those media is shrinking navigable media collage. The most
conspire to do one thing above all quickly for the non-elite. Text took common media collage is the Web page,
but a number of other media constructs often be a digitally distracted world. effective contributors to the collective
also qualify, including videos, digital Those worried about the fate of text narrative of the Web.
stories, mashups, stand-and-deliver in the era of the media collage can rest The second reason that writing is
PowerPoint presentations, and games assured that writing is more important important in the era of the media
and virtual environments, to name a than ever for two other reasons that collage is that it is almost always the
few. might not be immediately apparent. pathway to effective media creation.
As part of their own intellectual First, crafting text for the Web high- Digital stories, movies, documentaries,
retooling in the era of the media collage, lights the importance of written expres- and many new media narrative forms
teachers can begin by experimenting sion by recasting it in a more compact, require clear, concise, and often highly
with a wide range of new media to concise form. Although essays are still of creative writing as a foundation. The
determine how they best serve their consequence, when we encounter them saying, “If it ain’t on the page, then it
own and their students’ educational on a Web page they often appear as ain’t on the stage” is just as true today as
interests. A simple video can demon- walls of text, unscalable to all but the it was before the digital world arrived.
strate a science process; a blog can few who are truly inspired by their
generate an organic, integrated discus- content. In contrast, effective blog or 3. Adopt art as the next R.
sion about a piece of literature; new Web page writing requires using visually I have witnessed more digital art taught
by computer-savvy teachers than by art
teachers. To understand how dire this
The act of creating original media situation is, imagine computer techni-
cians rather than language arts instruc-
forces students to lift the hood and tors teaching writing because of the
former’s advanced understanding of
see media’s intricate workings. word processing technology.
As we consider the shift away from
text centrism, it is clear that many of the
media in the form of games, documen- differentiated text, which makes on- skills needed to command the new
taries, and digital stories can inform the screen reading easier by using a number media collage would, by today’s school
study of complex social issues; and so of formatting conventions, most notably standards, fit best into an art
on. Thus, a corollary to this guideline is the 6 Bs: bullets; boldface; breaks; curriculum, where concepts of color,
simply, “Experiment fearlessly.” boxes; beyond black and white (using form, and collage are part of the
Although experts may claim to under- different font colors); and “beginnings” everyday narrative. Unfortunately, art—
stand the pedagogical implications of (providing the first paragraph of a including music, drama, and the other
media, the reality is that media are longer piece and a hyperlink to the rest, arts—is largely viewed by K–12 educa-
evolving so quickly that teachers should rather than forcing readers to scroll tion as, at best, an elective, and at worst,
trust their instincts as they explore what through what they may consider to be fluff to discard when money gets tight
works. We are all learning together. lengthy, irrelevant material). and No Child Left Behind bean counters
Both essay writing and blog writing bring high-stakes testing pressure to
2. Value writing and reading are important, and for that reason, they bear on school communities. Digital
now more than ever. should support rather than conflict with literacy demands that we treat art as the
When we write, we think. We slow each other. Essays, such as the one you next R, just as important as the tradi-
down and reflect as we struggle to are reading right now, are suited for tional 3 Rs. This is one of the most
synthesize, clarify, and communicate. detailed argument development, pivotal shifts in literacy that the digital
This struggle has always been a part of whereas blog writing helps with prioriti- age has inspired, and we should not
writing, but it is amplified within the zation, brevity, and clarity. The under- deny our students these important
context of the social Web, in which we lying shift here is one of audience: Only literacy skills.
must also become active readers and a small portion of readers read essays,
editors of one another’s materials and whereas a large portion of the public 4. Blend traditional
mindful contributors to group expres- reads Web material. Thus, the pressure and emerging literacies.
sion. Effective writing has a new kind of is on for students to think and write Our throwaway culture is unrelenting in
importance for students in what can clearly and precisely if they are to be its desire to make room for the new at

the expense of the old. However, a well- Stories, on the other hand, use a more play some part in reinventing literacy.
rounded approach to the new media creative, nonlinear information The new media collage depends on a
collage requires blending a number of construct composed of the elements of combination of individual and collective
literacies, both traditional and emerging, tension, transformation, and resolution. thinking and creative endeavor. It
into a cohesive narrative. The result is that stories engage us and requires all of us to express ourselves
Currently, many media collages are communicate with us in ways that clearly as individuals, while merging our
based on the four components of “the reports do not. expression into the domain of public
DAOW of literacy”: Digital, Art, Oral, The demands of digital literacy make narrative. This can include everything
and Written. Being able to understand clear that both research reports and from expecting students to craft a
and blend the best of the old, recent, stories represent important approaches collaborative media collage project in
and emerging literacies will become a to thinking and communicating; language arts classes to requiring them
hallmark of the truly literate person. students need to be able to understand to contribute to international wikis and
Of the four components of the and use both forms. One of the more collective research projects about global
DAOW, oracy—the ancient literacy of exciting pedagogical frontiers that warming with colleagues they have
speaking and listening—deserves much awaits us is learning how to combine never seen. What is key here is that
more focus than it currently receives. It the two, blending the critical thinking of these are now “normal” kinds of expres-
sion that carry over into the world of
work and creative personal expression
Students need to be able to use new media beyond school.
collectively as well as individually. 7. Develop literacy with digital tools

and about digital tools.
In practical terms, access to citizenship
is central to many of the media collage the former with the engagement of the is largely a function of literacy. This is
forms currently in wide use, including latter. The report–story continuum is not a new concept. Jefferson wrote copi-
storytelling, narrated documentaries, rich with opportunity to blend research ously about the need for an educated
movies, PowerPoint presentations, and and storytelling in interesting, effective and literate public if democracy was to
even games and virtual realities. And it ways within the domain of new media. succeed. What is new is that the tools of
is central to leadership as well. After all, literacy, as well as their effects, are now
we often look for evidence of leadership 6. Practice private and a topic of literacy itself.
in the way that people speak to others. participatory social literacy. Students need to be media literate to
In the mid 1960s, Marshall McLuhan understand how media technique influ-
5. Harness report and story. explained that conventional literacy ences perception and thinking. They
As new media emerge that must be caused us to trade an ear for an eye, and also need to understand larger social
incorporated into the media collage, the in so doing, trade the social context of issues that are inextricably linked to
need for metaforms of narrative to bind the oral tradition for the private point of digital citizenship, such as security,
them together becomes more acute. view of reading and writing. To him, environmental degradation, digital
One kind of metaform can be described television was the first step in our equity, and living in a multicultural,
by a continuum that is bounded by “retribalization,” providing a common networked world. We want our students
report on one end and story on the social experience that could serve as the to use technology not only effectively
other. basis for dialogue in the global village.2 and creatively, but also wisely, to be
In their most stereotypic forms, However, television told someone concerned with not just how to use
reports and stories differ in terms of else’s story, not ours. It was not until digital tools, but also when to use them
information structure, use of creativity, Web 2.0 that we had the tools to come and why.
and level of audience engagement. full circle and produce and consume Topics such as the environmental
Reports are typically linear information social narrative in equal measure. Much effects of living a technology-enhanced
presentations that employ little of the emerging nature of literacy is a lifestyle and the social costs of the
creativity and inspire little emotional result of inexpensive, widely available, digital divide provide important subject
engagement, focusing instead on objec- flexible Web 2.0 tools that enable matter for project-based learning that
tive research and critical thinking. anyone, regardless of technical skill, to involves science, social studies, and
other curriculum areas. Having students Digital fluency is much more of a the side rather than the technician
research the personal, local, and global perspective than a technical skill set. magician.
implications of these issues will help Teachers who are truly digitally fluent Now more than ever, students living
them place technology within the larger will blend creativity and innovation into in the overwhelming and often
perspective of community and re- lesson plans, assignments, and projects distracting world of technical possibility
evaluate their idea of what it means to and understand the role that digital need the clear voice of a teacher who
be successful. Having them address tools can play in creating academic can help them develop literacies that
these issues in school will show them expectations that are authentically will be important to them for a lifetime.
that the goal of education is to produce connected, both locally and globally, to Now more than ever, students need
not only capable workers, but also their students’ lives. teachers who can help them sort
caring, involved, and informed neigh- through choices, apply technology
bors and citizens. Teachers as Guides wisely, and tell their stories clearly and
Although some teachers are genuinely with humanity.
8. Pursue fluency. excited about the emerging nature of My advice to teachers concerned with
During the industrial age, the desire for literacy brought about by powerful digital literacy? Focus on expression
literacy for the masses was for basic digital tools, others feel overwhelmed— first and technology second—and
literacy—just enough to enable most some to the point where they are everything will fall into place. EL
people to operate the machines that the prompted to leave the profession. It is 1 Harper, D. (2001). Online etymology
fluent few designed and developed. But my fervent hope that they don’t leave. dictionary. Available: www.etymonline.com
in an era in which literally anyone with Their students need them. /index.php?term=literate
a laptop and an Internet connection can Teachers don’t have to be advanced 2 McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding
be a well-educated entrepreneur, we technicians. Their students tend to be media: The extensions of man. New York:
need to look beyond general literacy to fearless adopters of new technology who McGraw-Hill.
fluency. have the luxury of time and well-
Fluency is the ability to practice developed informal learning communi-
literacy at the advanced levels required ties to keep up on the latest and greatest
for sophisticated communication within happenings in the world of technology. Jason Ohler is a speaker; digital
social and workplace environments. What is important is that teachers humanist; author of Digital Storytelling in
Digital fluency facilitates the language of become advanced managers of their the Classroom: New Media Pathways to
Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (Corwin
leadership and innovation that enables students’ talents, time, and productivity. Press, 2007); and President’s Professor
us to translate our ideas into compelling Teachers need to be able to articulate of Educational Technology at the Univer-
professional practice. The fluent will standards of quality and provide feed- sity of Alaska, 1108 F. St., Juneau, Alaska
lead, the literate will follow, and the rest back that students can use to meet those 99801; 907-796-6427; jason.ohler@uas
will get left behind. standards. They need to be the guide on .alaska.edu.

Plagiarism
in the Internet Age
Using sources with integrity is dragged out once more to accuse and punish the guilty.
Teachers warn students not to copy—or else—and present
complex. The solution is teaching them with citation guides and the trinity of techniques to
skills, not vilifying the Internet. write using others’ research without plagiarizing: quoting,
paraphrasing, and summarizing. The onus then falls on the
students, who are expected to use these techniques well,
Rebecca Moore Howard and Laura J. Davies
assuming that they know how to do so.
In an age when students gravitate to online sources for
any teachers see plagiarism as a simple, research—and when tremendous amounts of both reputable
M black-and-white issue. Teachers often bring

up the topic at the beginning of a research
paper unit, discuss it in one classroom
period, and never say the word plagiarism
again unless students are caught copying, when this term is
and questionable information are available online—many
have come to regard the Internet itself as a culprit in
students’ plagiarism. Some teachers go so far as to forbid
students from researching online, in the mistaken assump-
tion that if students are working from hard-copy sources
only, the problem will
disappear.
We believe that an
approach far different from
either warnings and punish-
ment or attempts to curtail
online research is warranted.
Teachers who wish to
prevent plagiarism should
devote extensive instruction
to the component tasks of
writing from sources. This
instruction should focus on
the supposedly simple tech-
nique of summarizing
sources, which is in truth
not simple. Many students
are far from competent at
summarizing an argument—
and students who cannot
summarize are the students
most likely to plagiarize.
Our argument may seem
innocuous, but it
profoundly contradicts
widely shared attitudes.
Most approaches to
confronting plagiarism start
from the premise that it is
something to prevent simply
by imparting information
and “getting tough.” A
didactic children’s book and
accompanying instructor’s
manual that we saw recently
exemplified this premise.
The book told the tale of a
young student who
unknowingly plagiarizes by
copying information from
an online source into her
report on the American
Revolution. The teacher in
this tale uses the incident to
teach students that using
others’ words without attri-
bution is a serious crime. He
then emphasizes to students
the importance of citation and source integration techniques
and enlists the school librarian to model how to cite outside The Internet is at most
works used in a piece of writing.
Instructional materials like these imply that teachers can a complication in a
stop inappropriate use of sources through three strategies:
(1) teaching students from early grades the nuts and bolts of long-standing dynamic.
crediting all sources they use; (2) designing plagiarism-proof
assignments that spell out how works should be cited and
that include personal reflection and alternative final projects that creating a technically perfect bibliography is enough.
like creating a brochure; and (3) communicating to students I Acknowledge that teaching students how to write from
that you’re laying down the law on plagiarism (“I’ll be on the sources involves more than telling students that copying is a
lookout for this in your papers, you know”). crime and handing them a pile of source citation cards.
However, good writing from sources involves more than Students don’t need threats; students need pedagogy. That
competent citation of sources. It is a complicated activity, pedagogy should both teach source-reading skills and take
made even more complex by easy access to a seemingly limit- into consideration our increasingly wired world. And it
less number of online sources. Any worthwhile guide to should communicate that plagiarism is wrong in terms of
preventing plagiarism should what society values about schools and learning, not just in
I Discuss intellectual property and what it means to “own” terms of arbitrary rules.
a text.
I Discuss how to evaluate both online and print-based The Blame-the-Internet Game
sources (for example, comparing the quality and reliability of Many commentators point to easy accessibility of a plethora of
a Web site created by an amateur with the reliability of a information on the Web as a chief cause of student plagiarism.
peer-reviewed scholarly article). Researcher Sue Carter Simmons (1999) quickly dispels that
I Guide students through the hard work of engaging with myth: Students have been systematically plagiarizing since at
and understanding their sources, so students don’t conclude least the 19th century. Doris Dant’s 1986 survey of high

school students, conducted well before What Will Work izing his or her authority, and erasing
the Internet became a cultural phenom- Start with Values. his or her identity. That student is
enon, confirms this finding: Eighty Teachers need to focus attention on the missing an opportunity to become a
percent of the high school students entire set of activities involved in using better researcher and writer and is prob-
Dant surveyed reported having “copied outside sources in writing. Review with ably not learning whatever the assign-
some to most of their reports,” although students the values and precepts that ment was designed to teach.
94 percent said they had received are still valid in the era of literacy 2.0.
instruction in attribution of sources. One of these precepts is that through Guide Students in Online Research.
The Internet is at most a complication formal education, people learn skills Many of us must first learn methods of
in a long-standing dynamic. they can apply elsewhere—but taking online research ourselves. We know the
However, certain principles of good
features of online research, but we may
research may affect not be experienced in
how plagiarism creeps applying those princi-
into writing, and it’s ples to an online envi-
little wonder that ronment, and we can’t
educators are alarmed assume that students
by the potential of the are, either.
Internet to encourage How much unattrib-
unlawful copying. The uted copying from
Internet offers a host of online sources, for
downloadable text for example, derives from
nefarious cheaters and poor source selection? If
desperate procrastina- students don’t know
tors alike. And because how to find good
text can be easily sources online, they will
appropriated through enter a search term in
cutting and pasting, it Google and look only at
is easy for well-inten- the first few sources
tioned students to over- that come up.
look the boundaries between what they shortcuts lessens such learning. Consulting only general sources, and
themselves have produced and what Educators should also communicate therefore going no deeper than a general
they have slid from one screen (their why writing is important. Through understanding of the topic, students
Internet browser) to another (their writing, people learn, communicate “can’t think of any other way to say it,”
word-processed document). As the with one another, and discover and so they copy.
writer leaps ahead, brainstorming establish their own authority and iden- Teachers should also address how to
creatively while reading various online tity. Even students who feel comfortable use Wikipedia as a source rather than
sources, he or she may not pause to with collaboration and uneasy with banning it. Even if it’s forbidden as a
insert quotation marks and citations, individual authorship need to realize source, many students will consult
fully intending to do that later. And that acknowledged collaboration—such Wikipedia because it provides a starting
“later” never comes. as a coauthored article like this one—is point for research on an unfamiliar
Little wonder, too, that educators are very different from unacknowledged use topic. Students who don’t know how to
turning to a combination of severe of another person’s work. The line dig deeper have their hands tied
punishments for infractions and auto- between the two is not always bright, because they can’t cite a significant
mated plagiarism-detecting services but it does exist. source of their research—and then they
such as Turnitin.com to discourage These values and precepts are at risk are busted for plagiarizing from
inappropriate copying from online when student writers plagiarize. A Wikipedia. It may be more useful to
temptations. But trying to legislate the student who plagiarizes is undermining assign a research project for which you
wired world simply won’t work. his or her community’s ethics, jeopard- tell students to begin with Wikipedia
but then guide them in how to find risk of inappropriate copying. A writer skills, students are ready to work on
more varied, deeper sources of informa- who works only at the sentence level summarizing. Similar pedagogy can be
tion using library databases such as must always quote or paraphrase. The used for this exercise. How long and
EBSCO, LexisNexis, or ProQuest to paraphrase will sometimes veer too challenging the source text is will
verify Wikipedia’s claims. You can make closely to the language of the source, depend on the level of students’ educa-
this project entertaining by beginning and quotations may accumulate in such tion, but students should be guided
with a Wikipedia entry you have chosen quantity that the writer feels the need to through identifying key terms and
for its flaws or incorrect information. conceal some of them, for fear the paper major ideas, with the goal of being able
For example, according to the New York will sound too much like a tissue of not just to restate an idea but to under-
Times, actor/director Clint Eastwood, a quotations (which indeed it is). stand a text so well that they can
happy omnivore, was shocked to compress it by at least 50 percent.
discover that the Wikipedia entry on These practices are essential to
him said he followed a vegan diet Students don’t need successful researched writing and are
(Headlam, 2008). also excellent techniques for critical
threats; students reading. If we fail to teach these skills,
Teach Summarizing. our students will always be in peril of
K–16 teachers must spend more time need pedagogy. plagiarism, notwithstanding all the
teaching students how to read critically pricey plagiarism-detecting software we
and how to write about their sources. Teachers often forget how difficult employ and all the threats we make. EL
Rodrigue, Serviss, and Howard (2007) summarizing another writer’s argument
studied papers written by 18 college is. Miguel Roig (2001) demonstrated References
sophomores in a required research that even professors who are expert Dant, D. (1986). Plagiarism in high school:
writing course, reading not only the 18 writers have difficulty summarizing A survey. English Journal, 75(2), 81–84.
Headlam, B. (2008, December 14). The
papers but also all the sources cited in texts on unfamiliar topics. How great, Films Are For Him. Got That? The New
them. The researchers discovered that then, is the task confronting our York Times, p. AR1.
all the papers included some mis- students, who regularly read texts on Rodrigue, T., Serviss, P., & Howard, R.
handling of sources—absence of unfamiliar topics? We could assign only (2007, November). Plagiarism isn’t the
citation, absence of quotation marks, easy, familiar texts, but that would bring issue: Understanding students’ source use.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of
paraphrases too close to the source the educational project to an abrupt the National Council of Teachers of
language—and some mishandling was halt. Our task is instead to teach English, New York.
extensive. More significant, they found students strategies for entering and Roig, M. (2001). Plagiarism and para-
that none of the 18 papers contained participating in the challenging topics phrasing criteria of college and university
any summary of the overall argument of and texts that we assign them. professors. Ethics and Behavior, 11(3),
307–324.
a source. Many student writers para- Such instruction might begin with
Shirley, S. (2004). The art of paraphrase.
phrased adequately, restating a passage techniques of paraphrase. Sue Shirley Teaching English in the two-year college
in their own language in approximately (2004) has developed a series of steps 22(2), 186–189.
the same number of words, but none of through which she takes college Simmons, S. (1999). Competing notions of
them used fresh language to condense, students. She begins by explaining that authorship: A historical look at students
by at least 50 percent, a passage from a inserting synonyms is not paraphrasing. and textbooks on plagiarism and
cheating. In L. Buranen & A. Roy (Eds),
source text of a paragraph or more in She then guides students in studying a Perspectives on plagiarism and intellectual
length. When these student writers did passage and identifying its key words property in a postmodern world (pp.
use a longer passage, they did so by and main ideas that must be retained to 41–54). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
copying the entire paragraph, with or paraphrase the passage. Shirley shows
without citation. her students poor paraphrases of the Rebecca Moore Howard is Associate
These sophomores at a well-regarded passage for them to critique. Finally, she Professor in the Writing Program at Syra-
cuse University, in Syracuse, New York;
college worked at the sentence level has them write their own paraphrase of
rehoward@syr.edu. Laura J. Davies is a
only, selecting and replicating isolated a 50- to 100-word source passage that doctoral student in composition and
sentences and weaving them into their they themselves choose. cultural rhetoric at Syracuse University;
arguments. This puts the writer at great With well-practiced paraphrasing ljdavies@syr.edu.

Rethinking
Online
Reading
Assessment
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
might expand their range of reading assessment practices to

Online and offline reading tap capture the skills and strategies students need to comprehend
different skills. Assessment information in the digital age.
techniques must take those Difference 1. Students need new skills.

A typical book-based reading assignment asks students to
differences into account. read a common text, answer questions about the main ideas,
and respond to these ideas through writing, art, or class
Julie Coiro discussion. In contrast, a typical Internet-based reading
assignment requires students to generate appropriate search
lthough the No Child Left Behind legislation requests, sift through disparate sources to locate their own
A makes it virtually impossible for schools to

avoid thinking about how to measure reading
comprehension, few educators or policymakers
have considered how Internet technologies
affect conventional thinking about reading assessment. Even
fewer have tackled the issue of how schools might reliably
measure the new skills required to comprehend online text.
texts, synthesize the most reliable and relevant information
within those texts, and respond with online communication
tools such as an e-mail message or blog post. Sifting through a
vast field of information to find the best sources becomes inte-
gral to the reading task.
To complete online reading assignments well, students
need new skills beyond those currently measured by stan-
Over the last seven years, as a member of the New Litera- dardized tests of offline reading comprehension (Coiro,
cies Research Team (see www.newliteracies.uconn.edu 2007). In addition to using conventional knowledge of vocab-
/team.html), I have analyzed recordings of hundreds of ulary and informational text structures, skilled online readers
adolescents engaged in reading for information on the can efficiently use search engines, navigate multilayered Web
Internet. Preliminary evidence from these analyses reveals that sites, and monitor the appropriateness of their pathway
reading comprehension on the Internet differs from tradi- through a complex network of connected text (Coiro &
tional reading comprehension in at least five important ways. Dobler, 2007). Moreover, high scores on some online reading
Let’s examine these differences and consider how teachers tasks correlate weakly with high scores on a standardized test

of traditional reading comprehension using such tools as e-mail, blogs, or (1) locate relevant information using a
skills (see Leu et al., 2008). Cases are wikis. search engine, (2) verify information
emerging in which a high-achieving Figure 1 shows a series of online with at least one other source, (3) effi-
offline reader appears to be a low- reading tasks integrated into “ORCA- ciently communicate electronic Web
achieving online reader and vice versa. Iditarod,” an online reading comprehen- addresses so the receiver can quickly
In other words, we can no longer sion assessment that might be used return to the appropriate location, and
assume that a standardized assessment during a middle-school unit on the (4) critically evaluate the information’s
of a student’s offline reading compre- Iditarod sled dog races held in Alaska. accuracy.
hension ability will adequately measure You can explore the online version of Other fruitful tasks are to explore a
important skills that influence online this assessment at www.surveymonkey Web site to determine the author’s
reading performance. .com/s.aspx?sm=nA_2bGnBO2W8OlN purpose and how that purpose might
So, how might teachers determine maQQWo0sA_3d_3d. influence the site’s claims. Asking ques-
which students are proficient in online Teachers can use software like tions like, Does the site provide factual
reading and which students require Camtasia (www.techsmith.com information? or Does the site try to sell
more support? One suggestion is to /camtasia.asp) or I Show U (http://store you something? helps students gauge
incorporate curriculum-based measures .shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html) author intent. (See www.ascd.org/ASCD
of online reading ability into classroom to create a video recording of students’ /pdf/journals/ed_lead/el200903_coiro
_author_intent.pdf for a sample activity
investigating a Web site’s purpose.) You
Sifting through a vast field of information might have students read and respond
to posts representing multiple view-
to find the best sources becomes points on a simulated online discussion
board.
integral to the reading task.
Difference 2. Dispositions
assessment practices. These measures, actions and voices while they complete toward the Internet affect
called online reading comprehension the ORCA, just as if the teacher were online reading abilities.
assessments (or ORCAs) are more than watching over their shoulders. An Positive attitudes about reading on the
compilations of static reading passages online tool such as Quia (www.quia Internet are key to learning in a digital
and multiple-choice questions trans- .com) or Survey Monkey (www.survey age. Certain attitudes, self-judgments,
ferred into a Web-based environment. monkey.com) can automatically compile and beliefs about the Internet are posi-
A curriculum-based ORCA is designed student responses. Teachers can play tively related to effective strategy use
to capture “real-time” online reading back the video recordings to better when reading challenging online texts.
skills and strategies. understand how students accomplish or For instance, higher-performing online
My colleagues and I piloted a series of struggle with online reading compre- readers display persistence, flexibility, a
six ORCAs with hundreds of U.S. 7th hension tasks. healthy sense of skepticism, and confi-
graders in language arts and science To develop this kind of assessment, dence as they navigate rapidly changing
classrooms. We found these assessments teachers should begin with a Internet texts. Lower-performing online
collected valid, reliable scores of online curriculum-based unit of study, such as readers give up easily and are less open
reading comprehension performance homelessness or human body systems. to alternative strategies, less apt to ques-
(Coiro, Castek, Henry, & Malloy, 2007). Construct short challenges within the tion information they encounter, and
What does a curriculum-based online online quiz interface that direct students less confident in their ability to use the
reading comprehension assessment look to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and Internet without help (Coiro, 2008; Tsai
like? Generally, an ORCA engages indi- communicate information online (for & Tsai, 2003).
vidual students in a series of three to example, “Use the Internet to locate the Web 2.0 technologies (such as open-
four related information requests posted record time for the Iditarod dog sled source and social networking sites) and
in an online quiz interface. Students race and who set it. Report your answer, emerging learning standards demand
toggle between the online quiz and the tell where you found it, and explain that online readers be personally
open Internet, where they locate, criti- how you know the information is productive, socially responsible, and
cally evaluate, and synthesize the accurate”). able to collaborate with diverse team
requested information or share ideas To complete this task, students must members both face-to-face and online
Difference 3. Students often
FIGURE 1. Screenshot of Directions for ORCA-Iditarod seek answers on the Internet
collaboratively.
Anyone who watches a group of
students engaged in online research will
notice that they often work collabora-
tively or seek help from others online.
Adolescents, in particular, might use
instant messaging to quickly share or
solicit a Web site address or post their
question on a blog to learn what others
think about the issue before composing
a response.
Unfortunately, students’ skills at
collaborative online inquiry are rarely
captured with traditional assessments
that evaluate reading performance indi-
vidually and without online assistance.
Teachers need new assessments that
capture such 21st-century abilities as
strong interpersonal communication
skills, an understanding of what kind of
This online reading comprehension assessment measures 7th graders’ team dynamics foster high-quality
ability to use the Internet to locate, critically evaluate, synthesize, and
outcomes, an appreciation of differences
communicate online information.
in cultural practices and work patterns,
and the ability to respond appropriately
to peer feedback (Afflerbach, 2007; Part-
(American Association of School Librar- readers, as opposed to circumstances nership for 21st Century Skills, 2007).
ians, 2007; Partnership for 21st Century that cause anxiety or frustration. Although there are few existing
Skills, 2007). Accomplished Internet By analyzing responses to these models to guide future efforts in this
readers are expected to not only gain surveys, teachers can identify students area, schools should at least begin to
new knowledge from their reading, but who might benefit from guided online consider alternative measures that eval-
also confidently generate and share reading experiences that will build uate group collaboration and produc-
knowledge with other members of a their confidence or increase their tivity and readers’ ability to seek help
globally networked community. capacity to work collaboratively within from a globally networked community.
To better understand students’ electronic communities. For example, a School leaders might benefit, for
instructional needs in this area, teacher might explicitly show a student example, from discussing the theoretical
consider having students complete a who lacks confidence in judging Web and practical issues involved in
short survey of their online reading site authors’ expertise how to locate the designing, using, and interpreting scores
dispositions at various points in the “About Us” button on Web sites and on assessments of group collaboration
year. Survey items might ask students scan the information provided for rele- (see Webb, 1995). In addition, members
to rate the value of the Internet for vant details about each author’s past of New Zealand’s University of Teaching
research or its potential—relative to work experiences. Later, the teacher Development Centre (2004) provide a
printed information sources—to pique could designate this student as one of useful list of critical questions and
their interest in reading tasks. (See the class experts in online critical evalu- guidelines to consider before finalizing a
www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals ation skills and encourage classmates program assessing student group work.
/ed_lead/el200903_coiro_survey.pdf for having similar difficulties to seek help
a sample survey of online reading from the student. Over time, taking on Difference 4. Reading processes
dispositions.) Ask students to elaborate an “expert” role will foster the student’s should inform reading instruction.
on circumstances under which they self-efficacy as a competent online Among skilled online readers, a typical
view themselves as capable Internet reader. product from a reading session includes

a synthesis of relevant and reliable infor- tion technologies are doing. To help
mation gleaned from two or three Web students realize their potential as citi-
sites as well as a set of Web site zens in a digital age, we need to contin-
addresses (URLs) that accurately refer to ually reconsider and expand what it
the information’s sources—in other means to be a skilled online reader.
words, a trail of effective processes. Subsequent revision and reconfiguration
However, the process trails of students of online reading comprehension meas-
who have difficulty reading online are ures will need to realistically keep pace.
more often an uninformative sentence Obviously, changes in online texts
like, “I couldn’t find anything about and their associated reading compre-
that.” hension practices will make it extremely
A useful alternative strategy is to play difficult to establish the reliability of
back certain students’ online video scores over time or the validity of scores
recordings to access real-time data about from one online reading context to the
what they were doing (for example, next. But rapidly changing technological
generating keywords or navigating innovations will make it easier for
among Web sites) when their online teachers to collect, score, and interpret
reading comprehension began to break data in practical ways that inform class-
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
down. View examples of online reading room instruction. For example, a
videos at www.newliteracies.uconn computer-based assessment program
.edu/reading.html and www.new might soon be able to process electronic
literacies.uconn.edu/coirodissertation. provides a specific reference point for scores from an ORCA to generate graph-
A quick review of these online where in the online reading process a ical maps showing how a student’s
recordings, for instance, highlights the group of students, or one reader in performance in each dimension of
fact that many adolescents do not actu- particular, needs the most support. In online reading comprehension evolves
ally use a search engine or type in an age of data-informed instruction, we over the year.
keywords to launch an online query. do a disservice to our students by not So, how should educators move
Instead, they use a “.com strategy”; they using readily available technologies to forward with attempts to measure
type a whole question or phrase into the help determine how we can best online reading comprehension in a
address bar at the top of an Internet prepare them for the challenges of climate of constant change? One idea
browser, add “.com” to the end, and Internet reading. might be to consider new types of adap-
hope for the best. Similarly, process data tive assessment designs that enable
reveals three disturbing trends: Difference 5. The nature of teachers to easily revise portions of
(1) many students don’t look down the reading comprehension is assessments of online reading like the
page of search engine results; they just changing because of digital ORCA described here rather than design
click on the first link; (2) although technology. an entirely new measure. A second
students sometimes attempt to locate The ultimate challenge in assessing strategy might be to encourage policy-
information about a Web site’s authors online reading comprehension is that makers and measurement specialists to
to evaluate their level of authority, they online texts, tools, and reading contexts grapple more deeply with issues of reli-
often give up when they can’t find such will continue to change rapidly as new able and valid assessments of reading in
information easily; and (3) some technologies emerge. Until recently, a digital age.
students—apparently unaware of simple definitions of reading comprehension But, while we’re waiting for test
copy/paste strategies for transferring were grounded in at least 20 years of designers and policymakers to pay
Web site addresses from one location to theory and research that informed attention, I recommend that we accept
another—retype lengthy URLs letter by educators’ thinking about how to the inevitability of change and think
letter, which often leads to mistakes. measure reading comprehension. more creatively about how to measure
When teachers spot such processing Although new comprehension theories literacy and learning with online
errors, they get key information that and practices have certainly emerged reading as part of the picture. Yes, this
helps them better understand which over the years, few have altered the type of thinking is difficult. But as
online reading skills and strategies their nature of literacy as quickly as the teachers tackle these new challenges, we
students struggle with. This information Internet and other digital communica- should model the kind of flexible,
ence, Orlando, FL. (pp. 37–68). Chicago: National Council
collaborative problem solving we hope
Coiro, J., Castek, J., Henry, L., & Malloy, J. of Teachers of English.
students will adopt to help them tackle (2007, December). A closer look at meas- Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2007).
a rapidly changing digital world. EL ures of online reading achievement and Life and career skills. Route 21. Tucson,
school engagement with seventh graders AZ: Author. Available: www.21stcentury
References in economically challenged school skills.org/route21/index.php?option=com
Afflerbach, P. (2007). Understanding and districts. In D. Reinking (Chair), Devel- _content&view=article&id=11&Itemid
using reading assessment. Newark, DE: oping Internet comprehension strategies =11
International Reading Association. among adolescent students at risk to become Tsai, M-J., & Tsai, C-C. (2003). Information
American Association of School Librarians. dropouts: A three-year IES research grant. searching strategies in Web-based science
(2007). AASL standards for the 21st century A symposium presented at the annual learning: The role of Internet self-efficacy.
learner. Chicago: Author. Available: meeting of the National Reading Confer- Innovations in Education and Teaching Inter-
www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aasl- ence, Austin, TX. Available: www.new national, 40, 43–50.
proftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm literacies.uconn.edu/iesproject/documents University of Teaching Development Centre.
Coiro, J. (2007). Exploring changes to reading /NRC2007AssessmentPaper.doc (2004). Group work and group assessment:
comprehension on the Internet: Paradoxes Coiro, J., & Dobler, E. (2007). Exploring the UTDC guidelines. Victoria, New Zealand:
and possibilities for diverse adolescent comprehension strategies used by sixth- University of Wellington. Available:
readers. Unpublished doctoral disserta- grade skilled readers as they search for www.utdc.vuw.ac.nz/resources/guidelines
tion. University of Connecticut, Storrs. and locate information on the Internet. /GroupWork.pdf
Available: www.newliteracies.uconn Reading Research Quarterly, 42, 214–257. Webb, N. M. (1995). Group collaboration in
.edu/coirodissertation Leu, D. J., Zawilinski, L., Castek, J., assessment: Multiple objectives, processes,
Coiro, J. (2008, December). Exploring the Banerjee, M., Housand, B., Liu, Y., et al. and outcomes. Educational Evaluation and
relationship between online reading compre- (2008). What is new about the new Policy Analysis, 17, 239–261.
hension, frequency of Internet use, and literacies of online reading comprehen-
adolescents’ dispositions toward reading sion? In A. Berger, L. Rush, & J. Eakle Julie Coiro is Assistant Professor of
online. Paper presented at the annual (Eds.), Secondary school literacy: What Reading at the University of Rhode
meeting of the National Reading Confer- research reveals for classroom practices Island; jcoiro@snet.net.

What Research Says About…
Jane L. David
Teaching Media Literacy

edia literacy is making a comeback, assignments online, digital media literacy skills
M spurred by students’ access to un-

limited information on the Internet.
Can schools provide the skills students need to
are vastly underrepresented in the curriculum
for all but the most advanced students (as,
indeed, are offline critical-thinking and reading-
become media literate in a digital world? comprehension skills).
Advocates of digital media education agree
What’s the Idea? that reading online demands different skills than
The Internet has kindled a resurgence of interest reading print-only texts does. They differ,
in media literacy. With vast amounts of informa- however, on the extent to which training in the
tion at students’ fingertips, educators and new literacies should go beyond procedural
parents worry about students’ ability to make learning—how to use search engines, read
sense of what they encounter. Can students URLs, identify Web site publishers, and so on—
learn to recognize bias, track to include more cognitively demanding tasks
down sources, and cross-check that teach sound critical judgment and sense
information? making.
Media literacy in the past tended
to focus on alerting students to What’s the Research?
stereotypes, advertising, and prop- Research on teaching digital media literacy is in
aganda and on protecting them its infancy. Scholarly research moves at a snail’s
from undesirable influences. pace compared with the speed at which infor-
Today’s digital media literacy mation and communication technologies prolif-
encompasses many additional erate. The current research does, however,
topics, from using search engines, provide ample evidence of the growing need for
to creating Web sites and online media literacy instruction that targets the added
profiles, to participating in social cognitive demands posed by the Internet.
networking. One of the most basic Survey results confirm that students are
strands of media literacy emphasizes the skills increasingly online both in school and at home.
and knowledge students need to locate and crit- Four years ago, 87 percent of U.S. students ages
ically assess online content. 12–17 reported using the Internet (Hitlin &
Rainie, 2005); and almost half of students ages
What’s the Reality? 8–18 reported going online in a typical day
Although some countries (notably Canada, (Roberts, Foehr, & Rideout, 2005). In a 2005
England, and Australia) have made progress in survey of 7th graders in urban Connecticut
integrating media literacy into the school middle schools and rural South Carolina
curriculum, schools in the United States gener- schools, roughly one-third of the students
ally have lagged behind (Hobbs & Frost, 2003). reported that they were required to use the
U.S. students may learn something about evalu- Internet for a school assignment at least once a
ating sources in research paper assignments and week (Internet Reading Research Group & New
learn to recognize propaganda in social studies, Literacies Research Team, 2006). In the years
but that’s often the extent of their media literacy since these surveys, use has undoubtedly
instruction. Even though students are spending continued to grow.
more and more time on the Internet and Researchers find that reading for under-
teachers increasingly expect their students to do standing online requires the same skills as
offline reading, including using prior results for any given search (Fallows,
knowledge and making predictions, plus 2005).
a set of additional critical-thinking skills Such research clearly establishes the
that reflect the open-ended, continually need for online media literacy, yet very
changing online context. For example, few studies have addressed how to teach
online readers play a more active role, the topic most effectively. Researchers
selecting links rather than turning and educators describe examples of
pages, and they often must interpret media literacy instruction from kinder-
visual images to make sense of what garten through college, but evaluations
they are reading (Coiro & Dobler, of these efforts are rare (Hobbs, 2004).
2007). The RAND Reading Study Group Hobbs and Frost (2003) investigated
(2002), citing several studies, suggests a media literacy course that was inte-
that students who are proficient online grated into a yearlong high school
readers are not necessarily proficient English curriculum. Seven 11th grade
offline readers and vice versa. English language arts teachers, three of
whom attended a weeklong institute on
teaching media awareness, selected texts
More and more to use in common and developed
assignments that included analysis of
students spend more television shows, news, and political
speeches along with classic and contem-
and more time online. porary literature. Although based on
offline rather than online media literacy,
Unlike reading assigned textbooks, the study found that explicit media
reading online challenges students to literacy instruction increased both tradi-
make judgments about the reputability tional literacy skills, such as reading
and validity of the information they see. comprehension and writing, and more
Researchers who directed several specific media-related skills, including
hundred college students to three bogus identification of techniques various
Web sites about fictitious nutritional media use to influence audiences.
supplements found that half of the
students lacked the skills to identify the What’s One to Do?
trustworthiness of the information, yet Educators face enormous challenges in
most thought they had strong research preparing their students to be critical
skills (Ivanitskaya, O’Boyle, & Casey, online readers. For the most part, the
2006). teaching of critical-thinking skills is not
Choosing appropriate search engines, part of the regular curriculum, and
following relevant links, and judging the printed text is still considered the main-
validity of information are difficult chal- stay of school reading. Moreover, many
lenges, not only for students of all ages, recent studies identify persistent barriers
but also for most adults, including to integrating new technologies into
many teachers. More than half the instruction, including lack of training
adults surveyed in Great Britain were and help for teachers and insufficient
not able to use search engines or data- access to functioning technology
bases at a basic level (Buckingham, (Cuban, 2002; Zhao & Frank, 2003).
2007). In the United States, almost two- Yet more and more students spend
thirds of a national sample of adults more and more time online. Rather than
doing online searches were not aware of ignoring this fact of life, educators and
the difference between paid and unpaid education policymakers should embrace
search results and believed that search it. From video games to social networks,
engines provide fair and unbiased incorporating what students are doing

online into the school curriculum holds .pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Searchengine competencies of information age students:
great, and perhaps the only, promise for _users.pdf Results from the Interactive Online
Hitlin, P., & Rainie L. (2005). Teens, tech- Research Readiness Self-Assessment
keeping students engaged in learning.
nology, and school (Data Memo). Wash- (RRSA). Journal of Medical Internet
By integrating elements of digital media ington, DC: Pew Internet and American Research, 8(2), e6.
literacy into their instruction, teachers Life Project. Available: www.pewinternet RAND Reading Study Group. (2002).
can influence how well students criti- .org/pdfs/PIP_Internet_and_Schools_05 Reading for understanding: Toward an R&D
cally assess content, both online and .pdf program in reading comprehension. Santa
Hobbs, R. (2004). A review of school-based Monica, CA: RAND. Available: www
offline. EL
initiatives in media literacy education. .rand.org/multi/achievementforall/reading
American Behavioral Scientist, 48(1), /readreport.html
References 42–59. Roberts, D. F., Foehr, U. G., & Rideout, V.
Buckingham, D. (2007). Beyond technology: Hobbs, R., & Frost, R. (2003). Measuring (2005). Generation M: Media in the lives of
Children’s learning in the age of digital the acquisition of media-literacy skills. 8–18 year-olds. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser
culture. Malden, MA: Polity Press. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(3), Family Foundation. Available:
Coiro, J., & Dobler, B. (2007). Exploring the 330–355. Available: www.reading.org www.kff.org/entmedia/7251.cfm
online reading comprehension strategies /publications/journals/rrq/v38/i3/abstracts Zhao, Y., & Frank, K. A. (2003). Factors
used by sixth-grade skilled readers to /RRQ-38-3-Hobbs.html affecting technology uses in schools: An
search for and locate information on the Internet Reading Research Group & New ecological perspective. American Educa-
Internet. Reading Research Quarterly, Literacies Research Team. (2006). Survey tional Research Journal, 40(4), 807–840.
42(2), 214–257. Available: www.reading of Internet usage and online reading
.org/publications/journals/rrq/v42/i2 (Research Report No. 7). Washington,
/abstracts/RRQ-42-2-Coiro.html Jane L. David is Director of the Bay Area
DC: Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Cuban, L. (2002). Oversold and underused: Department of Education. Available: Research Group, Palo Alto, California;
Computers in the classroom. Cambridge, www.newliteracies.uconn.edu/iesproject/r jld@bayareareseach.org. She is the
MA: Harvard University Press. eports/SurveyReport_CTSC_comparisons author, with Larry Cuban, of Cutting
Fallows, D. (2005). Search engine users. .pdf Through the Hype: A Taxpayer’s Guide to
Washington, DC: Pew Internet and Ivanitskaya, L., O’Boyle, I., & Casey, A. M. School Reform (Education Week Press,
American Life Project. Available: www (2006). Health information literacy and 2006).
T h e P ri n c i p a l C o n n e c t i o n
Joanne Rooney
TeachingTwo Literacies
t a recent family gathering, the teenagers So how can we teach to two literacies at once?
A demonstrated their new technological

toys to somewhat skeptical relatives.
This was the first time some of the adults had
We must approach this task with three mind-sets.
First, we must continue to encourage stu-
dents to relish good books, cherish the beauty
tried text messaging, Facebook, chat rooms, of expressive writing, and communicate through
wikis, or nings. The experience triggered fears powerful (and correct) language. We must en-
in parents, aunts, uncles, and especially grand- sure that our students communicate about
parents like me who hope that children will al- something worthwhile, whatever media they’re
ways curl up with books and fall in love with using. It is one thing to acknowledge the valid-
reading the way we did. Instead of ity of digital tools, but this acknowledgment
plunging into books for enlighten- shouldn’t keep us from pushing students to
ment, however, youngsters now communicate around meaningful issues.
exchange information across state “Yo! Wuz up?” does not substitute for thought-
and national boundaries, seem- ful communication!
ingly ceaselessly. Second, as we redefine “literacy,” we must ex-
Just as Gutenberg’s invention of amine longstanding teaching traditions and
the printing press transformed the abandon a few. Presenting textbooks as students’
process of learning, digital tech- primary source of information, relying on end-
nologies are revolutionizing the of-chapter tests, and asking learners to fill in the
way people read and write. Yet, blanks or write spelling words three times are a
educators of my generation hope few practices educators should question.
that in addition to following blogs Third, principals and teachers should em-
and instant messaging one another, brace a rock-solid belief that reading, writing,
today’s students will also relish such experiences and thinking are what we do in school. A “literate
as reading a great book, writing a personal let- school” centers itself on the meaning, beauty,
ter, or memorizing a poem. and power of the written word. Language
Although the nature of how people read and should be everywhere in school and infused
communicate is changing, the ability to under- into all curriculums, including math, science,
stand, use, and appreciate the written word re- and art. Only when school leaders articulate this
mains the core quality of an educated person. “language everywhere” mind-set and act on it
Schools are caught in a paradox: They are ex- intentionally will it become reality.
pected to incorporate nontraditional methods of
gathering information and communicating into Keeping Schools Language-Rich
instruction, yet they remain accountable for Although no silver bullets exist, nine practices
students’ mastery of traditional skills. should help keep schools saturated with rich
language and thinking, whether students access
Two Literacies and Three Mind-Sets that language through traditional or digital
It’s obvious that technology is reshaping stu- means.
dents’ reading and writing practices, with or I Create opportunities to emphasize reading
without educators’ intervention. Our challenge and writing schoolwide. For example, during a
is to teach students to be truly literate in two “poetry week” in one school, older students
languages—those of the pre- and post-digital read their poems to younger ones, young stu-
worlds. dents illustrated their poems, and a published
poet gave a reading and helped students
compose poetry.
I Establish school-sponsored chat
rooms or blogs on which students are
expected—and guided—to discuss cur-
rent national or international events.
I Create a space in school for silent
reading. One school offered a parent-
created “loft” in which kids could
stretch out and read books undisturbed.
I Urge teachers to explore taking up
digital tools that transform literacy prac-
tice while still valuing skills and mind-
sets associated with print-based literacy.
Discussion groups centered on articles
in this issue of Educational Leadership
might be a good start.
I Create voluntary teacher book
groups. Some schools invite parents to
join these groups, allowing parents and
teachers to interact as adult thinkers.
I Encourage students and teachers to
keep electronic journals (keeping pri-
vacy issues in mind).
I Hire teachers who read and write in
both traditions of communication. Ask
candidates to talk about their favorite
books, but also explore candidates’
skills in helping students read and write
well with digital tools. Teacher evalua-
tions should reflect the expectation that
instruction will incorporate powerful
language, in both traditional and digital
media.
I Model good literacy in both the old
and new languages. Take pains with
your own writing. Create a blog or chat
room through which you communicate
with students, parents, and teachers.
I Teach parents the importance of
reading to their children.
Students have already crossed over to
a new way of reading and writing. They,
no doubt, will remain our best teachers
as we struggle with new technological
tools. But students have incalculable
amounts to learn from us about the
beauty, awe, and power of language. EL
Joanne Rooney is Codirector of the

Midwest Principal’s Center; joanne
7084@aol.com.

The Best of Both
Three modes of literacy learning
capitalize on technology’s strengths
while mitigating its shortcomings.
Margaret Weigel and Howard Gardner
eading performance among member library. Because such content is
R U.S. adolescents and young

adults has declined sharply
during the last two
decades. So has the
amount of voluntary reading these
groups do. Simultaneously, use of the
new digital media is on the rise
often not captured and indexed by
Google and Yahoo, your students aren’t
likely to come across many of these
professionally produced articles and
reports.
What they will find is the more acces-
sible text on sites posted by companies,
(National Endowment for the Arts, organizations, or individuals. This mate-
2007). The same students who snub rial is democratic in origin, written by a
traditional literary works and genres range of contributors with different
now spend an average of four hours a specialties and strengths. Often free of
day online—browsing Web sites, the careful ministrations of editors,
playing video games, and text online content can be fictitious, lack
messaging one another (Rideout, appropriate citations, be poorly written,
Roberts, & Foehr, 2005). and be authored by anyone ranging
How can schools respond to these from Emile Zola to Anonymous. The
troubling trends? The wise educator style of most online text resembles a
needs to incorporate the benefits of the periodical rather than a book; text is
new digital media while guarding written in short bursts and is read even
against their pitfalls, including the threat more quickly (Gioia & Iyengar, 2008).
to literacy levels. In addition, there is no guarantee that a
page you visit today will be at the same
Online Reading online address (or even online at all)
versus Offline Reading tomorrow. topics quickly and easily—combined
Reading online differs from reading Online content is rarely limited to with the 24/7 access to a wide range of
offline. For one thing, the content text on a page. Even the most well- useful information—can facilitate active,
students find online is likely to be intentioned reader may be tempted by engaged learning. On the other hand,
dramatically different from offline the siren calls of Web links, compelling the same feature can tempt readers to
content. Although newspapers, maga- visuals, buttons, advertisements, and hop from point to point, distracted from
zines, research organizations, and other enticements that garnish most the original task, creating what Seymour
academic journals are posting their Web pages. This graphic seduction can Papert (1994) called the grasshopper
content on the Web, much of this lead the reader down two radically mind. Guiding this peripatetic mind may
content requires an online subscription, different paths. On one hand, the be the primary challenge of educators in
a password, or paid access through a opportunity to explore and switch the digital era. Here, we look at three
Literacies
thoughtful researcher can find what he
or she needs online and can easily
pursue individual interests and new
ideas.
The writing process has been trans-
formed as well. Index cards, piles of
notes, and multiple handwritten drafts
have given way to word processing
programs that enable writers to merge
notes, drafts, and outlines seamlessly;
edit as they go; retrieve deleted
Digital tools have

transformed the
way we do research
and write.
passages; reorder entire paragraphs;
change selected words; incorporate
tables and visual images to back up
one’s point; and even customize formats
and self-publish. Edited drafts are no
longer unintelligible, ink-stained
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
messes. Put simply, this increased ability

to write and edit fluently has freed
students to focus more on expressing
what they want to say.
powerful modes of literacy learning that appropriate, individually meaningful way. This increased personal freedom does
can capitalize on technology’s strengths The new digital media can help to translate come with pitfalls, however. Educators
while mitigating its shortcomings. some of the goals of this student-driven need to be on the lookout for papers
approach into reality. whose professional appearance masks
Constructivist Learning For example, digital tools have poor writing and shoddy research.
The constructivist approach to literacy already transformed the way that we Further, the combination of easily acces-
assumes that students are naturally conduct research and write and, sible online text with the ability to
motivated to read and write; the role of accordingly, the way we think about manipulate text and graphics digitally
schooling is to provide them with the composing and editing text. A genera- can lead students to lift sentences, para-
tools and guidance they need to acquire tion ago, research papers involved graphs, or even entire papers without
literacy skills in a developmentally frequent trips to the library; now, a proper attribution.

Our research suggests that the the group. Ned had consistently strug- teaching strategy benefits from smaller
majority of students are honest and that gled with reading and writing assign- class sizes as well as peer mentors, class-
those who resort to plagiarism either ments, but his realization that other room aides, or technology support staff
feel pressured by other commitments or Goodie Mob fans would read and to assist students who become frustrated
consider the assignment of little interest comment on his online writing moti- or distracted.
to them. The best way to guard against vated him to expand his literacy activi- It can also be difficult to contextualize
dishonest practices is to assign inter- ties. He read articles about the group students’ extracurricular interests within
esting work, examine interim drafts, members both online and offline to state curricular standards. Educators
allow a reasonable amount of should ensure that external
time for completion, and interests imported into the class-
encourage students’ natural room setting are both develop-
curiosity to drive the process. mentally and pedagogically suit-
able, and that they are not too
Informal Learning idiosyncratic. Alvermann does
Until recently, whether at home not mention Ned’s long-term
or in school, students’ informal progress in developing literacy
learning was generally limited to skills. Did his engagement with
information gleaned through written texts drop off again after
television, books, and maga- he moved on from his rap group
zines. Now students can pursue Web site, or was he turned on to
a myriad of personal interests literacy activities more generally?
through digital media. For virtu-
ally any interest you can Social Learning
imagine, you can probably find a New digital media have a
Web site. A sports fan, for powerful ability to link students
instance, can find copious infor- across time and space, capital-
mation on his or her favorite izing on their natural desire to
team or player on ESPN.com. socialize with peers. Online
A fan of the TV show Heroes can social learning experiences can
visit its official Web site engage students and expose
(www.nbc.com/Heroes) to watch them to new individuals and
episodes or read original fan ideas. Wikis are one popular
fiction based on the program’s way to connect students with
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
characters and storylines. An their classmates—or with other

adolescent helping to plan a classrooms from around the
family trip to China can find block or around the globe.
information on that country’s Jimmy Wales, one of the
history, people, holidays, climate, ensure accuracy in his Web site content, founders of Wikipedia, claims that wikis
cuisines, etiquette, and much more at he reflected on and analyzed their lyrics, help users cultivate “writing skills and
WikiTravel (http://wikitravel.org and he wrote letters to the rappers social skills by learning about group
/en/China). The Web can be a rich themselves. consensus and compromise—all the
resource for following your passions. The potential pitfalls of such an virtues needed to be a reasonable and
Teachers can use the new media to approach include the challenge of productive member of society”
incorporate students’ interests into the keeping students focused on a given (Oatman, 2005, p. 54).
formal curriculum, making learning learning task. When they are working An example is the award-winning Flat
more interesting, personal, and relevant. independently online, students may Classroom Project wiki (http://flatclass
For instance, educator Donna Alver- gravitate toward inappropriate or irrele- roomproject.wikispaces.com), which
mann (2001) describes how she capital- vant content. As with any instructional enables students from around the world
ized on her student Ned’s passion for approach that empowers students, to study and discuss topics related to
the rap group Goodie Mob by encour- educators need to be comfortable relin- Thomas Friedman’s best-selling book
aging him to start his own Web site on quishing a measure of control. This The World Is Flat (Farrar, Straus, and
Giroux, 2005). Participating schools hail activities that involve computers and the requires several leaps of faith by educa-
from all parts of the United States, as Internet. tors—faith in their students, faith in
well as from Australia, China, Austria, themselves, and faith that they will have
and Qatar. During each cycle of the Flat Moving Forward into support from their administration when
Classroom Project, student teams in the Digital Classroom needed. Assuming that these leaps land
different countries partner to create a If we looked into a classroom using the on reasonably firm ground, the new
thematic wiki page on a topic related to new digital media effectively, what digital media’s affordability, ease of
the book; they share their completed might we see? In one typical classroom, access, and breadth and depth of
projects with their fellow participants students are working on a series of text- compelling content provide powerful
online. In addition to learning about based and multimedia materials resources that educators have at their
globalization, students glean larger centered on their neighborhood’s disposal in today’s classroom. EL
lessons about differences among history. They have interviewed some of Authors’ note: The work reported in this
cultures from working with fellow the neighborhood’s older residents in a paper was made possible by grants from
students who may hold different view- local nursing home, uploaded the inter- Judy Dimon and the John D. and Catherine
points and exhibit different strategies for views to the project’s online wiki, and T. MacArthur Foundation. Carrie James and
accomplishing their task. converted the audio recordings of the Celka Straughn provided useful comments.
References
Alvermann, D. E. (2001). Teaching as
persuasion: The worthiness of the
For virtually any interest you can imagine, metaphor. Theory into Practice, 40(4),
278–283.
you can probably find a Web site. Gioia, D., & Iyengar, S. (2008, August 12).
Reading on the Web: What we know and
don’t know. Brittanica Blog. Available:
www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/08/readi
Collaboration can be difficult to interviews into downloadable podcasts ng-and-the-web-what-we-know-and-
dont-know
sustain, however. Online communica- available to the general public. With the National Endowment for the Arts. (2007).
tions have their own set of challenges help of their teacher and school admin- To read or not to read: A question of national
that differ from those involved in face- istrators, the students have contacted consequence (Research paper #47). Wash-
to-face or telephone interactions. select school alumni for Web-based text ington, DC: Author. Available:
Without the markers of facial expres- interviews as well. www.nea.gov/research/ToRead.pdf
Oatman, E. (2005). Make way for wikis.
sions, voice, or body language, even The variety of tasks enables everyone
School Library Journal, 51(11), 52–54.
innocent exchanges online can be to participate in a facet of the project Papert, S. (1994). The children’s machine:
misread and misinterpreted, which they find particularly interesting; the Rethinking school in the age of the computer.
sometimes leads to serious misunder- range of roles also acknowledges New York: Basic Books.
standings (Walther & Bazarova, 2007). different variants of literacy, including Rideout V., Roberts, D. F., Foehr, U. G.
Breakdowns in any link of the chain of visual literacy and interpersonal (2005). Generation M: Media in the lives of
8–18 year olds. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser
technology—computer terminals, communication. Through this activity, Family Foundation.
Internet connection, financing—can the students are honing their writing Walther, J. B., & Bazarova, N. N. (2007).
quickly derail an online collaboration if and interviewing skills and gaining a Misattribution in virtual groups: The
there is no backup plan in place. And broader understanding of their commu- effects of member distribution on self-
finally, online groups of garrulous nity. They are not simply reading or serving bias and partner blame. Human
Communication Research, 33(1), 1–26.
adolescents can devolve into purely repeating stories; they are constructing
social collectives. their community’s histories and locating
The wise educator will allow partici- their place within such histories. Margaret Weigel is Project Manager,
pants adequate opportunities to get Through activities like this, the new Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of
acquainted with their colleagues, prefer- digital media offer students powerful Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts;
617-495-0615; margaret_weigel
ably in an offline setting or through real- incentives to engage with material. But
@pz.harvard.edu. Howard Gardner is
time multimedia contact. And an on-site much depends on how educators Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Educa-
technical specialist who can trouble- employ the Web’s breadth of content to tion, Harvard Graduate School of Educa-
shoot any problems that might arise is engage students’ interests. tion, Cambridge, Massachusetts; 617-
an invaluable asset as one embarks on Using technology to teach literacy 496-4929; hgasst@pz.harvard.edu.

The Joy of When their audience is
Blogging the whole world, students

are motivated to be the
best writers they can.
Anne P. Davis
inspired students to want to continue to
and Ewa McGrail learn and blog about it. As the blogging
teacher (Anne) and a university
group of smiling and eager researcher (Ewa) who assisted with the
A 5th graders bustles into

the school’s computer lab
to check the latest
comments that seem to
magically appear on their blogs. A
feeling of excitement crackles through
the air as the sounds of clicking keys
project, we noted several key strategies
that made this project successful.
Anni Argues for Water

I strongly believe that we need a water
fountain at my school’s playground. . . .
First reason we need a water fountain is
because when we get thirsty we don’t have
and oohs and ahs from the students fill to run upstairs. The water fountain will be
the lab. The joy of learning surfaces as closer to use. . . . The second reason we
students exclaim, “I have five need a water fountain is because it is
comments!” “I heard from someone in healthy to drink water after you run or
New Zealand.” “I got my third comment exercise.
from Lani.” “I heard from a teacher in In this post, Anni argued persuasively
Canada.” “I can’t believe a high school for water fountains on school play-
student likes my writing.” grounds.1 She gave detailed reasons
These 5th graders in a suburban supporting her case, and her post
elementary school in southeast Georgia sparked many responses. Donna, a
have been engaged in a yearlong blog- teacher in Australia, explained that water
ging project whose purpose was to fountains are called “bubblers” in
create a space for the students to Australia and that each school has rows
converse about what they were learning of bubblers outside for student use. She thought among several university
in class and beyond. The entire 5th also provided another reason to support students who had not thought about the
grade class of 16 students meets weekly Anni’s reasoning: “Adequate water need for water fountains on school
in a blogging project designed to consumption is required for optimal grounds. Anni has planted an idea that
improve their reading, writing, and brain function!” may carry these conversations to others.
communication skills. Cordelia, a university student, added
What brought about this kind of that “an outside water fountain would Defining Blogging
learning? It did not just happen. The also eliminate (get rid of) hallway misbe- Weblogging, or blogging, is a venue for
classroom teacher, instructional tech- havior.” In her comment, Cordelia gave writing in which an author or group of
nology specialist, and blogging teacher Anni additional support for her argu- authors post their work to Web pages
had to create a purposeful learning envi- ment and taught her a new word (elimi- that display their posts in reverse
ronment for blogging and build a nate) that can substitute for a colloquial chronological sequence. Blogs can be
community that fostered respect and phrase (get rid of). Anni’s post provoked read by anyone with an Internet connec-
tion, although bloggers can set them up (a book created on a blog) that a This post illustrates how Eddie
to be accessible only to those who have previous cohort of students produced. connected within-school education to
been given a password. We chose to Student groups brainstormed the things the world beyond the classroom as he
leave our blogs open, giving students a they had learned about blogging and explored a question that intrigued him:
worldwide audience. created visual representations of their How do you think the things around
Most bloggers set up their blogs to learning. you are made? A high school math
allow their readers to leave comments, After students explored the blogging teacher, Mr. Kuropatwa from Canada,
and they also link to other blogs they basics, they were ready to start writing was drawn to Eddie’s post. He agreed
like. These features encourage social on their own blogs. To get students that “math is everywhere. Even in our
networking and community building started, we gave them writing prompts own bodies,” provided Eddie with a
that covered current events, topics they lengthy response about various mathe-
were learning about in class, books they matical concepts, and invited him to
were reading, and passions they perform a series of experiments to
pursued. Students could also write explore his new learning. He gave an
persuasive pieces, like Anni’s post on example of math in real life by
Writing and replying to comments

was a favorite part of the process and
was usually the first thing students
did when they came to blogging class.
water fountains. We did not require a discussing the Parthenon in Greece and
certain number of posts, but most the golden ratio. Eddie then undertook
students posted once a week, during the some independent research on
blogging class. Wikipedia to further his knowledge on
To encourage students to make these new concepts.
thoughtful comments on their classmates’
posts, we also gave them comment starters Building a Blogging
© STEFANIE FELIX
such as “I wonder . . .,” “After reflecting Learning Community

on your post . . .,” “Another thing An essential component of setting up
to consider is . . .,” and “I don’t this blogging community was thoughtful
understand . . . ” . Students could choose preplanning that included recruiting
(Boiling, 2006; Huffaker, 2006). Anni’s how frequently to make comments and readers from outside the school who
post on water fountains, for example, which blogs they wanted to comment were willing to regularly comment on
elicited comments from older students on. Writing and replying to comments student posts. Recruits included
and from the other side of the world. was a favorite part of the process and students in Ewa’s university classes,
The 5th graders in our project were was usually the first thing students did students in other blogging classes,
introduced to blogging by discussing the when they came to blogging class. retired teachers, and readers of Anne’s
first post on a class blog that Anne estab- professional blog. These commenters
lished to instruct the class and share Eddie Explores Math understood the goals and purposes of
what they were learning throughout the Math is one of the most complex languages the project and set the stage for other
project. The post guided students on a in the world although it doesn’t seem like a readers who later found the student
Web quest through which they explored language. Believe it or not we use math blogs and joined the conversations.
the writing process and read student everyday. How do you think the things To prepare students to make their
blogs, wikis on blogging, and a “blook” around you are made? Everyone uses math own contributions to the blogging
in the world, even other cultures.

community, we discussed uncomfortable, they were to
how successful bloggers not FIGURE 1. Photo People minimize their screens and
only develop their own immediately report concerns
unique voice but also to the teacher.
acknowledge others’ voices
by quoting and linking to Reflecting and
other blogs and responding Celebrating
to readers’ comments. As our Reflection on learning was a
students mastered these prac- crucial component of conver-
tices, they began to move sations on the blog as
from peripheral to full partic- commenters asked probing
ipation (Lave & Wenger, questions. But dialogue in
1991). They posted and the classroom was also essen-
commented more often and, tial. Students needed practice
more important, offered their and guidance from their
own ideas and questions. To affirm blogging successes, teachers posted student teachers to learn to be clear,
They requested and photos, labeled with their blogging success stories. convincing, and precise.
embraced feedback, following Freewriting, as recom-
Peter Elbow’s (1981) advice mended by Peter Elbow
to “use the power of an audience to (1981), helped student bloggers with
your benefit instead of letting it get in
Once students began “getting meaning clear” (p. 39) in their
your way” (p. 4). heads before they wrote their blog posts.
Once students began posting, their
posting, their Discussions about the meanings of
readers contributed ideas and sugges- words and language choice became
tions and, like Cordelia in her response
readers contributed important. The process of reflecting on
to Anni’s post and Mr. Kuropatwa in past posts and comments from their
response to Eddie’s post, informally
ideas and suggestions. readers and seeking guidance from their
introduced students to new words, teachers helped students establish and
concepts, and different points of view. and language usage had a “purpose and sustain dialogue that led to learning.
They also provided links for students to a point” (Peterson, 1998, p. 75). In general, expectations were high,
further their understandings and and teachers reinforced their belief in
frequently asked students for clarifica- Staying Safe the students’ ability to meet and even
tion and elaboration of their ideas. Because students’ blogs were available surpass their expectations. Teachers
They posed questions to get the for outsiders to view, we carefully celebrated student achievements on the
students thinking and respectfully reviewed guidelines for safe and respon- class’s blog and displayed “photo people
pointed out grammar and spelling sible blogging. According to Huffaker’s pictures” (see fig. 1) in the classroom
mistakes. By doing so, the larger blog- (2006) analysis of teen blogs, adoles- each week to acknowledge individual
ging community made learning about cents tend to disclose a great deal of accomplishments. This celebratory tone
language a creative, exploratory, and personal identifying information online. showed students that their teachers and
joyful process. Issues of safe, responsible use of the peers valued their efforts.
Students came to understand that Internet need to be addressed directly
grammar, punctuation, word choice, and systematically in the classroom, and Student-Directed Learning
style, and syntax were not just a as early as elementary school. Although the pedagogy was purposeful
“teacher thing” but rather the means for In our classroom discussion on safe and orchestrated, our learning activities
effective communication. Students were and responsible blogging, we advised were open-ended and full of choices.
motivated to write well on their blogs students not to reveal personal identi- Students could pursue answers and
so that their posts could attract fying information. If they received direct their own learning. Not everyone
comments; learning about grammar anything online that made them feel was doing the same thing, but all were
on a path to explore, experiment, and ences: Creating reading and writing opportu- grammar in context. In C. Weaver (Ed.),
test their own understandings. As they nities that support learning (pp. 123–127). Lessons to share on teaching grammar in
Markham, Ontario: Pembroke. context (pp.67–94). Portsmouth, NH:
considered reader comments and
Brooks, J. G., & Brooks, M. G. (1993). In Heinemann.
learned to express their own points of search of understanding: The case for
view, students had to deal with confu- constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Anne P. Davis (adavis@gsu.edu) is Infor-
sion, uncertainty, and not always having ASCD. mation Systems Training Specialist and
an immediate answer. Brain research Elbow, P. (1981). Writing with power: Tech- Ewa McGrail (emcgrail@gsu.edu) is
indicates that growth is enhanced when niques for mastering the writing process. New Assistant Professor of Language and
York: Oxford University Press. Literacy at Georgia State University in
students move beyond their comfort Huffaker, D. (2006, February). Teen blogs
zones and into the unknown (Brooks & Atlanta.
exposed: The private lives of teens make
Brooks, 1993; Jensen, 1994). Blogging public. Paper presented at the American
lends itself well to this kind of explo- Association for the Advancement of
Science, St. Louis, MO. Available:
EL o n l i n e
ration, and our blogging class revealed For more on how teachers
www.davehuffaker.com/papers/Huffaker-
the possibilities and promise of such 2006-AAAS-Teen_Blogs.pdf can implement blogging in
learning. EL Jensen, E. (1994). The learning brain. San the classroom, see “Reader
1 Student posts are in original unedited Diego, CA: Turning Point. Responsiveness 2.0” by
form. Student names are pseudonyms. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Monica Mohr and Jennifer
learning: Legitimate peripheral participation.
Orr online in the March 2009
References Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge
Boiling, E. (2006). Blogs: Collaboration Press. EL at www.ascd.org/el.
online. In J. Rowsell, Family literacy experi- Peterson, S. (1998). Teaching writing and

Pe r s p e c t i ve s
The World at Our Fingertips

A million times a day someone tries some new social tool: someone in Mozambique gets I Teach students to search, evaluate,
a new mobile phone, someone in Shanghai checks out the Chinese version of Wikipedia, summarize, interpret, and think and
someone in Belarus hears about the flash mob protests, someone in Brazil joins a social write clearly.
networking service. (p. 295) “The pressure is on for students to
—Clay Shirky in Here Comes Everybody1 think and write clearly and precisely if
they are to be effective contributors to
r, to bring the reality close from others, and accomplish community the collective narrative of the Web,”
O to home, someone you

know—or maybe it’s
you?—takes a picture with
a cell phone, then posts it
on Flickr for faraway relatives to view.
Later that day, you browse the month’s five
most-read articles from Educational Leader-
actions is changing. Or, as someone said
when we were planning this issue of
Educational Leadership, “Literacy—it’s not
just learning to read a book anymore.”
This issue of Educational Leadership is
dedicated to looking at what this new 2.0
literacy entails; how it differs from, yet
Jason Ohler (p. 8) observes. Teachers
should be expecting their language arts
students to craft collaborative media
collages and their science students to
contribute to international wikis. “What
is key here,” he writes, “is that these are
now ‘normal’ kinds of expression that
ship, then post a comment on ASCD’s relies on, the skills of traditional literacy; carry over into the real world of work
Inservice blog about one of which new possibilities and and creative personal expression beyond
them. In the evening, you challenges it raises—including school.”
view a movie—maybe how to counsel the multi- “Students will be—and to some extent
Frost/Nixon—then look it up tasking student and how to already are—living in a world of online
on Wikipedia to read the foster the endangered capacity interactions for which they currently
consensus on how factual the to read deeply; and finally, have few learning contexts or models,”
movie really was. where and how literacy 2.0 Will Richardson (p. 26) tells us:
After that, you might check should fit in K–12 curriculum Teaching students to contribute and
out an appliance you are and instruction. collaborate online in ways that are both
interested in buying and view Several of our authors safe and appropriate requires instruction
photos of what is available (pp. 9, 20, 32, 42) offer and modeling, not simply crossing our
and get advice from owners and prices context for and insight into the rise of this fingers and hoping for the best when they
go home and do it on their own.
from dealers. Then, if you have time, you’ll new media. The 2.0 media are creating a
tap into your social activist network, to common social experience for all of us, We mustn’t be fearful or label this new
decide whether you want to join in the much like television did. Unlike print and reality a fad just because we don’t
political action that the group is urging its audiovisual media by themselves, however, possess fluency with the media yet. We
members to take. the new social media make it possible for must instead remember how much our
After all that, you might then go check anyone to play some part in reinventing kids need us to teach them the old
on your middle schooler to find out literacy. The tools enable even those with literacy skills and facilitate the learning
whether he is doing his homework. When little technical skill to not just passively of the new. As Jason Ohler writes, “Now
you find out he isn’t, you may also find out watch someone else’s story unfold on a more than ever, students need teachers
that he is playing a game in Second Life, screen but to join with others and produce who can help them sort through choices,
texting, IMing, or using social media that their own stories, art, collages, reports, apply technology well, and tell their
you did not know existed. Or—a bright research, and experiments, and share them stories clearly and with humanity.”
scenario—you find out that learning how with real and interested audiences.
to use those new social media wisely and Among our authors’ guidelines for
well is his homework. promoting the skills crucial to using social
New communications tools are now media well:
—Marge Scherer
supporting group interaction and group I Value reading and writing more than
actions in ways they have never done ever; 1 Read ASCD staffer Meg Simpson’s
before. As a result, the way we communi- I Blend digital, art, oral, and written review of Here Comes Everybody at www.
cate, read, write, listen, persuade, learn literacies; and ascd.org/el.

Special Report
Deborah Perkins-Gough
Video Games
and Civic Engagement
ideo games are part of the lives amount of game playing teens do and
V of almost all teens in the United

States today. Are the effects of
this ubiquitous game-playing negative,
their civic activities and attitudes.
But certain kinds of game play do
appear to foster higher levels of civic
positive, or neutral? engagement. The social context of gam-
According to a national telephone ing offers opportunities for “civic gam-
survey by the Pew Internet Project, 99 ing experiences,” in which players have
percent of boys and 94 percent of girls opportunities to help or guide other
ages 12–17 play computer, Web, players; learn about problems in soci-
portable, or console games; and 50 per- ety; think about moral or ethical issues;
cent play such games daily. The survey help make decisions about how a simu-
report, Teens, Video Games, and Civics, lated community, city, or nation should
examines the extent and nature of be run; and organize game groups or
teens’ game playing and sheds some guilds. The survey found that teens
light on the relationship between this who have had these civic gaming expe-
activity and young people’s civic riences report much higher levels of
participation. civic and political engagement than do
The survey found that the most pop- teens who have not had these kinds of
ular games among respondents are Gui- experiences. For example, they are
tar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire, more likely to go online to get informa-
Dance Dance Revolution, Tetris, Grand tion about politics or current events, to
Theft Auto, and The Sims. Thus, teens raise money for charity, to say they are
are not simply playing violent first- committed to civic participation, to ex-
person shooter or action games: Their press an interest in politics, to stay in-
favorites include other genres, such as formed about current events, and to
rhythm, sports, puzzles, and simula- participate in protests, marches, or
tions. (However, boys are much more demonstrations.
likely than girls to name a game rated These results suggest that video gam-
M [Mature] as one of their favorites.) ing need not be an isolating, nonsocial
Although most survey respondents activity for teens. It depends on the
play games by themselves at least occa- kinds of games young people play—
sionally, gaming is often a social experi- and some kinds of social gaming con-
ence for teens. Three-quarters play nections may even encourage positive
games with others (either in the same civic engagement.
room or by connecting online) at least To access the report, go to
sometimes. Given this social compo- www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_
nent of gaming, the report explored Games_and_Civics_Report_FINAL.pdf.
whether game playing affected teens’
civic lives. The answer was no. The sur- Deborah Perkins-Gough is Senior
vey found no significant relationship, Editor, Educational Leadership; dperkins
either positive or negative, between the @ascd.org.
T h e L e a rn i n g L e a d e r
Douglas B. Reeves
Three Challenges
of Web 2.0
here’s no doubt that Web 2.0— who assured 1960s and 1970s high
T the social and technological phe-

nomenon that enables users to
generate content, interact, and share in-
school students that knowledge of For-
tran and COBOL would guarantee their
career success, when actually a study of
formation across borders—can be a logic, English composition, and a cou-
force for good in the world of educa- ple of other languages might have been
tion. I’ve contributed to and worked more helpful.
with many Web sites that enable educa- Educators must distinguish between
tors to share and deepen best practice: promoters who are attached to short-
for example, www.AllThingsPLC.info, a term ideas and partners who see tech-
site for educators seeking nology as a means to an
information about profes- end—enhanced learning.
sional learning communi- There is a crying need for
ties. ASCD brand-neutral analysts,
(www.ascd.org) is an in- advisors, and consultants
ternational leader in pro- who will help school sys-
viding free research, tems evaluate alternatives
practical applications, in technology and who
and—through its Inser- are unambiguously dis-
vice blog—opportunities connected from advocacy.
for educator-to-educator
discussion on the Web. High Touch versus High Tech
My enthusiasm for collaborative Education is a relationship-based enter-
Web-based content is tempered, how- prise. Technology allows users to create
ever, by concern about the following and sustain “relationships” by elec-
three challenges, which education lead- tronic means, but such relationships
ers and policymakers should consider lack the high-touch connection inher-
as they develop policies and practices ent in voice-to-voice and face-to-face
to integrate the Web into professional interaction.
practice and student learning. The lack of personal relationships in
the context of Web 2.0 is a problem be-
Partners versus Promotion cause of the high level of trust needed
Today’s technology advocates are some- between content contributors and
times reminiscent of the character in users. The closer the personal connec-
the film The Graduate who fervently in- tion, the harder it is to engage in deceit.
sisted to young Benjamin that the fu- As a New Yorker cartoon caption put it,
ture lay in “one word—plastics.” They “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re
promote a particular piece of software, a dog.” In education, where fact-free
interactive Web site, or digital device as debates too often hold sway, personal
if it were an enduring key to success credibility and multiple sources are es-
rather than a transient tool of the mo- sential. These components are more
ment. These are the successors of those likely to be present when a real name, a

real face, and a real person are associ-
ated with the claims and advice offered
on the Web.
Filters versus Fountains

I teach a debate and speech class in
which students must regularly research
and argue different sides of public pol-
icy questions. The class is held in the
school library every Friday, and students
sit within a few feet of reference vol-
The Web is
nonjudgmental,
which is both its
strength and
its Achilles heel.
umes that would answer their questions

about the United Nations Charter, the
Social Contract, or the Emancipation
Proclamation. Yet they remain transfixed
by thousands of Google hits, preferring
to wade through the electronic chaff to
find a few grains of wheat. Oppressed as
they are by a teacher who finds
Wikipedia an insufficiently credible
source without supplementary docu-
mentation, my students sometimes
work longer and less efficiently with a
search engine than they would have by
consulting a carefully chosen reference
book.
The Web is nonjudgmental, which is
both its strength and its Achilles heel.
Although my skepticism about
Wikipedia is sure to elicit criticism from
Wikivangelists, the online encyclopedia
is the best illustration I can offer of the
dilemma between filters and fountains.
Although some Wikipedia articles in-
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
American Public University . . . . . . . . .73

877-777-9081 www.apus.edu
America’s Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C3

877-530-2716 www.americaschoice.org
Argosy University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

800-377-0617 www.argosy.edu
ASCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25, 82
clude secondary source citations, others 800-933-2723 www.ascd.org
reflect solely the purported expertise of
Bisk Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
the contributors and editors.
800-605-5346 www.bisk.com
In a recent Atlantic Monthly article,
BudgetText . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85, 87, 89
Nicholas Carr asks, “Is Google Making
888-888-2272 www.budgetext.com
Us Stupid?”1 Carr fears that our contin-
California University of Pennsylvania . .83
ual interaction with information on the
724-938-4000 www.cup.edu
Web may be “chipping away our capac-
Delta Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
ity for concentration and contempla-
800-258-1302 www.delta-education.com
tion.” It may be creating students who
Exemplars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
believe that research means cutting and
1-800-450-4050 www.exemplars.com
pasting until the teacher’s page require-
Eye on Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
ments have been met instead of distill-
888-299-5350 www.eyeoneducation.com
ing the essence of an argument. Such
students confuse data with knowledge Fielding Graduate University . . . . . . . .94
800-340-1099 www.fielding.edu
and thus lose the opportunity to apply
intellectual filters in a manner that re- Foundation for Educational
Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
flects critical thinking. Today more than 609-860-1120 www.featraining.org
ever, students need guidance to turn the
Friendship Public Charter . . . . . . . . . . .53
Web’s deluge of information into mean- 202-281-1700 www.friendshipschools.org
ingful knowledge.
Harvard Graduate School . . . . . . . . . . .73
617-495-3414 www.gse.harvard.edu
Keep the Human Connection
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning . .47
As we embrace the advantages that Web 617-351-5000 www.hmco.com
2.0 offers for schools and students, let’s
Indiana Wesleyan University . . . . . . . . .6
remember that online interaction will 765-677-2710 www.indwes.edu
never replace the human connections
International Learning Corporation . . .86
that underlie the most powerful educa- 866-343-5189 www.ilcmail.com
tion. Think for a moment about your
National ScienceTeachers Association . .2
best teachers and most inspiring lead-
703-243-7100 www.nsta.org
ers—the ones who challenged you to
Northcentral University . . . . . . . . . . . .88
be better than you thought possible.
866-776-0331 www.ncu.edu
Did they equip you merely with the
Recorded Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
most efficient way to learn many things,
410-535-5590 ww.pluggedintoreading.com
or did they provide essential insights
Safe and Civil Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . .C4
that helped you make sense of what
541-345-1442
you learned? It still takes a person to www.safeandcivilschools.com
accomplish that kind of teaching and
School Improvement Network . . . . . . . .1
learning. EL 866-835-4185
1Carr, N. (2008, July/August). Is Google www.schoolimprovement.com
making us stupid? The Atlantic Monthly. Seton Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Available: www.theatlantic.com/doc 800-313-9833
/200807/google http://education.shu.edu/execedd
Solution Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C2

812-336-7700 www.solution-tree.com
Douglas B. Reeves is Founder of the
Leadership and Learning Center; 978- UMUC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
740-3001; DReeves@LeadAndLearn.com. 800-888-8682 www.umuc.edu

Project 1 Final - Chris Atkinson - EDAD 694

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Project 1 Final - Chris Atkinson - EDAD 694

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EDAD 694 – Chris Atkinson

Project 1 – Literacy and Technology

“We must overcome the awful inertia of past decades (Fullan,

Using the Indiana Academic Standards, the preexisting curriculum, and

1. How have your assumptions and beliefs been changed?

I think that before I started this internship I had an assumption

2. What ISLLC performances (skills) have YOU developed?

I feel that I have developed several ISLCC performances while

While promoting the use of technology to inspire more authentic

High expectations for staff and students is crucial to the success of

3. Which ISLLC dispositions (attitudes) have YOU developed?

I feel that I have developed several ISLCC dispositions while

4. How will you deal with this differently next time?

Artifacts Attached Below Rubric

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

Social Networks in Education

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

Skype Interview: Around the World with 80 School Projects

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

Game Consoles Remain Classroom Rarity

K12 Cellphone Projects Wiki

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

Podcast237: Unleashing the Transformational Power of One-to-One Computing in K-12

Up Close with One to One Computing (Video)

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

iPhone: 3 Features That Will Impact Education

Mobile Learning in Classrooms of the Future

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

The Future Will Be Better Tomorrow

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

iCTLT Authentic Assessment (Slide Presentation)

On the Way: Nation’s First Tech Literacy Exam

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

Down on the Server Farm

How Cloud Computing is Changing the World

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

Internetting Every Thing, Everywhere, All the Time

The Net Shapes Up to Get Physical

iPhone in Education: Using QR Codes in the Classroom

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

State Internet Filtering Laws

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

The Evolution of Personal Publishing

A Widget Onto the Future

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

For Further Reading

The Semantic Web of Data

The Semantic Web in Education

computers and mobile phones are changing