Literacy Now

Literacy researchers such as Dick Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen have spent their professional careers proving through research that children who do not have access to books simply won’t read much outside the school setting and better readers typically read more and continue to improve, while their lesser accomplished peers lag further and further behind. No one understands this problem more than classroom teachers such as Justin Minkel, who is continually in search of viable options for getting books into the hands of readers who need them the most.

In a massive ConnectED Initiative to address the pervasive problem of text access in low-income households, U.S. President Barack Obama launched a comprehensive Open eBooks (also known as electronic books) effort in spring 2016, delivering more than 250 million dollars’ worth of digital reading material to elementary, middle school, and high school readers for free. More than 1.5 million student/family access codes for the Open eBooks app were requested during the two-week launch of Open eBooks, which is just a fraction of the number of students this initiative is meant to reach.

Providing access to electronic books is of paramount importance within a national landscape where Internet availability and access to smart devices has exploded in recent years. A 2016 study published by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation found that in U.S. households surveyed with children ages 6–13, 85% of families below the poverty line owned a smart device (tablet or phone). In addition to personal smart device ownership, ConnectED’s focus on digital device access via schools or public libraries has resulted in Open eBook access opportunities for most U.S. students.

Accessing Open eBook’s high-quality books and educational resources is a multistep process initiated through the Open eBooks Get Started page. After clicking Create an Account to Shop via the First Book Marketplace site, adult participants request Open eBook free codes for as many children as they serve. The Digital Learning tab across the top of the First Book Marketplace site provides a drop-down menu for collections grouped by age. Participants select each collection for which they wish to have code access and add it to their shopping cart, which upon checkout costs them nothing.

An organizational preview of Open eBook collections could help consumers to wade through popular elementary grades book series, new and award-winning novels, nonfiction, and young adult titles spanning a wide range of interests and topics. Selections from multiple publishers are culturally diverse, and some are available in multiple languages. There are also accessibility provisions for special needs readers. Few picture books or pre-K–K titles are currently offered. Users can select 10 titles at a time.
With so many still unaware of the program, First Lady Michelle Obama is spearheading the Open eBooks initiative to inform and enlist all eligible Open eBook participants, including adults who work with in-need students in schools, libraries, clinics, shelters, out-of school programs, early childhood programs, and military family services. With this outreach, hopefully it won’t be long before all children have access to books.

Terry S. Atkinson is an associate professor for the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education, and History Education at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG). 

It’s fall in an election year, and my eighth-grade students will soon be researching controversial issues relevant to the political conversation. Most of their reading about these issues will be online, and not all of those sources will be reliable. For many years, researchers like Coiro, Coscarelli, Maykel, and Forzani (2015) have found that students struggle to determine the reliability of web sources. Evaluation requires thoughtful examination, and students often overlook the factors that matter most to a site’s reliability.

 

As a teacher, media specialist, and literacy researcher, my opinion on what works to encourage effective online source evaluation has evolved. I began teaching the use of evaluation checklists, but my secondary students rarely transferred these to other information-seeking tasks. I tried acronym-based strategies for memorizing questions or inquiry processes. These were certainly more streamlined, but students still didn’t own the process the way I wanted them to.

Recently I’ve tried another approach for teaching web evaluation to secondary students. It follows these central principles:

Reliability is not black and white; it is almost always gray. 

Most sources fall on a continuum between ideal and completely unreliable. Teaching students this important concept prepares them to expect complexity in the evaluation process.

Whether a source is reliable will depend on your purpose.

Although a site might be perfect for exploring an unfamiliar issue, it may not be the best source for evidence to support a reasoned argument. I teach students to define their purpose clearly and judge reliability in the context of it.

Different sources are held to different standards.

The problem with one site may be its lack of source information; another may be the author’s lack of expertise; still another may be a site’s affiliations. I consider again and again the reliability of the source and the most important things to notice. This reorients the inquiry wholly in the mind of the student, who must determine for herself or himself what most affects the reliability of the source at hand. It’s a difficult task, so we use two logical sentence prompts to scaffold students’ investigation: “I notice...” and “I wonder…” At this stage, we’ll often divide into pairs to share and compare our noticings and wonderings.

Discussion is essential!

Once students have examined sites individually or in pairs, we conduct a class discussion (in my class, a Socratic seminar) opening with the essential discussion of noticing and wondering. If necessary, I prompt students to examine what the group missed, but students usually challenge each other’s thinking:  Did anyone click on this author’s bio? (It includes nothing suggesting expertise on the topic.) Did anyone follow the source links? (They all take us to the same research study.) Did anyone notice who funded this research on cell phones? (It was sponsored by a phone service company.) What could be problematic about that? As students sort out answers to the essential question, they practice and internalize the habits of thinking that thoughtful evaluation requires.

Practice, practice, practice!

Students examine a variety of sites independently and participate in a handful of group discussions about those. Finally, they apply their evaluation skills in an independent inquiry project.

By the end of this unit my students begin to approach the evaluation process differently—noticing, wondering, questioning, and investigating. As one student proclaimed, “I’ll never look at a website the same way again!” 

Angie Johnson is a technology integrationist, media specialist, and language arts teacher at Lakeshore Middle School in Stevensville, Michigan. National Board Certified in 2002, she has been an educator for over 25 years and is currently a doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG). 

Do you love Bette Davis? Do Tia and Tamera Mowry bring back childhood memories? Perhaps Kevin Costner strikes your fancy? Would you like to see them all together at your own convenience? Check out storylineonline.net.

Storyline Online is one of two literacy education initiatives sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) Foundation, whose vision includes belief “in a world where all artists can realize their dreams and all children are empowered to create their own.” SAG-AFTRA not only supports its professional members as they navigate life as performance artists, but also provides public outreach through BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) and Storyline Online. (BookPALS provides volunteer performers to read aloud in Title I classrooms throughout the United States.)

With the sponsorship of Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), Storyline Online provides opportunities for parents, children, and educators to listen to and view children’s classic storybooks read aloud by professional actors and actresses 24 hours a day. Each book is selected to appeal to the imagination and interest of children in grades pre-K to 5. The website features 30 read-aloud stories including memorable titles such as Knots on a Counting Rope, Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge and Thank You, Mr. Falker. Activity guides developed by a literacy specialist offer a summary of each story, activities to extend the read-aloud experience, and information about the author, illustrator, and the actor who performs the read-aloud.

Storyline Online read-aloud books can be viewed on YouTube, but in the event a school system blocks this website, the viewer can click on the Select Player button to access the video on SchoolTube or My VR Player. When viewed on YouTube, closed captioning is available. Each year, the Foundation works with publishers to add three or four new books to the collection. Future plans include offering bilingual stories, with an English–Spanish book coming soon.

With over 6 million views a month representing readers from over 228 countries and territories, Storyline Online offers a go-to resource for all those interested in promoting children’s literacy. And, if you love Storyline Online, be sure to check out additional digital resources in Dawn Poole and Whitney Donnelly’s blog post entitled “A Wealth of Digital Aids for Early Readers.”

Joan A. Rhodes is an associate professor and cochair of the Early/Elementary Education program at Virginia Commonwealth University.

There is no doubt that students who enter our classrooms are consumers of technology. They are most often using their phones to download apps to play games and communicate with other students (and sometimes their parents) through texting. If they need to know something, then that information is just a search away. The bottom line is that the idea of staying connected is such a central part of their lives that they cannot fathom what it would be like to not have that type of access. Our job as teachers is to help our students harness technology resources as a means of communicating what they are learning.

Over the past 20 years or so, educators have pushed for meaningful integration of technology into classrooms. A major challenge for us is to decide what that meaningful integration should look like. Is it simply reading information online? Is it taking notes about what we learned by word processing? Is it creating a slideshow or podcast that shares that information? Is it drawing pictures to represent key ideas (and the list goes on)? Our answer to all these questions is yes! What brings this answer to light in the classroom would be intentional planning and careful consideration of the required skills we want students to own by the end of the process, which then makes it possible to integrate technology in meaningful ways. By asking our students to read and evaluate information, write down key evidence, and respond and create as a means of sharing new knowledge, we are providing them with the opportunity to research, record, and report about what they have learned. In this column, we share with you a possibility in which technology can be integrated into science and English language arts (ELA) teaching and learning activities. Enjoy!

Studying the wetland biome

This example illustrates how technology can be integrated into a science unit on biomes. Student exploration of the wetland biome provides numerous opportunities for reinforcing ELA skills, especially Common Core State Standards Speaking and Listening Standards, Writing Standards, and Reading: Informational Text Standards.

Research!

Begin a study of the wetland biome by using the iBiome app. This app supports students as they gather information about the wetland habitat, research species that live in the wetland, investigate marshes, and create an environment where plants and animals flourish. As students explore iBiome, they can be specifically charged with defining what is meant by a wetland as well as describing key features and characteristics.

Students can also view a video about types of wetlands at UntamedScience. This video gives an overview of a wetland as well as a description of types of wetlands. Add in a review of wetland information at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), and students now have multiple sources to locate information about this particular biome.

Record!

As they explore the iBiome app, the Untamed Science video, and the NCEAS website, students could record their new knowledge by using Popplet. This Cloud-based software enables students to create a concept map that details what they are learning about the wetland biome. The concept of teamwork could be promoted by having students work in groups to explore various types of wetland biomes (e.g., marsh, swamp, bog, fen), types of animals, or types of plants.  Groups could also be tasked with recording more about what they learned by downloading pictures of their designated focus (i.e., types of wetlands, animals, or plants), inserting the pictures into a PowerPoint slide, then adding text box labels to identify key parts of each picture as it relates to their topic. Last, students could word process a script that describes what is included in their slide and use Audacity to create a podcast recording of what they learned.

Report!

Once the slide is completed, it could be saved as in .jpg format and imported into a class site on Glogster that shares each group’s work. Once students add their podcast to their Glogster slide, your class will have a Glogster site that shares what they have learned about the wetland biome. Wrap up this biome exploration by having each group orally present their findings to the rest of the class.

Although we have posed this idea using a science focus, this same triad of research, record, and report is effective within any content area. This three-part process enables students to be critical consumers of technology and of all that it offers. It can be used for both short-term and long-term research projects and allows students to use technology as a means to a robust end rather than simply the end being the entertainment of the technology itself. It requires students to engage in the process of rigorous reading and writing and gives them an authentic scholarly route with which to use their “native technology” skills.

Kimberly Kimbell-Lopez is a professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University. She has been an educator for over 25 years, and her areas of expertise include literacy and technology. She can be contacted via e-mail at kkopez@latech.edu. 

Carrice Cummins is a professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University. She has 40 years’ experience as an educator with primary areas of interest in comprehension, content area literacy, and teacher development. She served as the 2012–2013 president of the International Reading Association. She can be contacted via e-mail at carrice@latech.edu.

Elizabeth Manning is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University. A veteran K–8 teacher of over 25 years, her areas of interest include content area literacy, writing workshop, and curriculum design and development. Dr. Manning can be contacted via e-mail at lmanning@latech.edu.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

As a person in the technology field, I have seen adults missing incredible opportunities to connect with their children using technology. So I was thrilled to learn about the success of Pokémon Go. Aside from reading about the game, I knew it was a big deal when I heard a waitress complaining about it in Las Vegas recently during our family trip. She told me how ridiculous it was for her to see adults glued to their phones trying to catch the ridiculous-looking creatures. I shared with her that I play the game with my boys. By the end of our conversation, she expressed interest in getting the game to play with her children for its numerous benefits.

The success of Pokémon Go represents the inclusive nature of technology. The game blurs the boundaries between subjects such as literature, geography, history, and even physical education. The game informs players of the name of the landmarks, provides numerous opportunities for players to learn about the history of such landmarks, and encourages players to move about in the real world. Furthermore, players learn to negotiate group dynamics as they battle each other in teams. In essence, it truly augments the real-life experiences of players by adding literacy skills of being able to read the world around them. When our students can read the world, we know they are truly literate. Pokémon Go allows students to read the world they live in.

What’s fascinating to me is that the game is inclusive of all types of players! Clearly, adults and children alike play the game. Many of my colleagues and friends report playing the game with their children. Even as a school administrator in charge of discipline, I have used my experience with the game to create positive connections with my students. When my students know that not only do I play the game but also am willing to seek their advice as to how to play the game better, it creates an interesting power dynamic beneficial to both parties.

By being able to teach me how to play the game, students have shared more about who they are and what they know. I observed my own children using a more authoritative voice with me as they instruct me on how to improve my game. Even as they excoriated me for being an incompetent player, I could see their pleasure in their ability to coach me in the gameplay. As a high school teacher, I often capitalize on the desires of my students to help me become more technologically proficient or improve at playing digital games. By allowing the students to become the experts in a situation, teachers can help students to learn better. After all, when you teach something to others, you can learn more.

Most important, I think Pokémon Go illustrates what we know of teaching and learning. Teaching and learning have always been a form of augmented reality. Teachers have been able to help the students to augment their reality without technology. For decades, if not centuries, students get a sense of what it was like for Michelangelo to create the murals in the Sistine Chapel beyond the painting itself in an art history class. In an English class, students learn what Shakespeare meant when he said, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players” with proper assistance from their teachers. Now with digital tools, a teacher can augment such reality more efficiently. It is no surprise that Apple is doubling down on augmented reality.

At the end of our Vegas family trip, we visited Hoover Dam. My boys and I caught numerous Pokémon while learning about the historical landmarks around us. I like to think I improved my eye–hand coordination skills, which my younger boy might disagree with as he was the one tasked to assist me every time I missed a creature. I also learned more about the features of my smartphone as my older boy showed me. And how about the number of steps I took while attempting to catch as many creatures as possible with my boys? But, most important, I was able to talk to my two boys during the entire vacation, which was an augmentation of my reality as a mother. Wouldn’t you agree?

Kip Glazer is a native of Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to the United States in 1993 as a college student. She holds California Single Subject Teaching Credentials in Social Studies, English, Health, Foundational Mathematics, and School Administration. In 2014, she was named the Kern County Teacher of the Year. She earned her doctorate of education in learning technologies at Pepperdine University in October 2015. She has presented and keynoted at many state and national conferences on game-based learning and educational technologies. She has also consulted for Center for Innovative Research in Cyberlearning and the Kennedy Center ArtsEdge Program.