Chapter 7 New Literacies, Old Standards for Excellence Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2009). Background Knowledge: The Missing Piece of the Comprehension Puzzle. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Define the term “new literacies” Discuss the tools and purposes for utilizing new literacies Examine ways to support students as they search for, evaluate, and determine the relevance of digital information Today’s Purposes

Redefining New Literacies The literacy skills needed to learn from, compose with, and communicate within digital sources The ability to extract information from these sources Includes information literacy, 21 st - century learning skills, multiliteracies

Moving From Tools to Purposes SearchingStoringCommunicating SharingCollaboratingListening ProducingPresentingNetworking

Moving From Tools to Purposes Searching Google Yahoo Bing Storing MP3 players Flash drives Servers Communicating Text messaging Twitter Video conferencing Sharing YouTube Blogs Vlogs Collaborating Wikis VoiceThread Google Docs Listening Podcasts Streaming media RSS feeds Producing Garage Band iMovie Presenting PowerPoint Keynote Wimba Networking MySpace Facebook Ning

Table Talk Many students consider themselves to be “tech- savvy” because they can operate tools. However, they often have difficulty with using them purposefully. What strengths and areas of need to you find your students possess?

Print comprehension strategies do not automatically transfer to digital text (Leu, et al., 2005) Background knowledge is critical to new literacies Made worse by unequal access to experiences in the classroom and outside of it that build background knowledge Reading Comprehension and New Literacies

Searching for information Evaluating information Determining the relevance of information Background Knowledge Needed for a Digital Age

Searching for Information Leu (2008) calls locating information a “circuit-breaker skill” Inefficient search and analysis skills can interfere with a student’s ability to locate accurate information Makes students vulnerable

Examples of Faulty Search Techniques Looking for information on endangered species… Jay types endangeredspecies.com and got a plant nursery in California Mariah types endangeredanimals.com and gets a referral site with no information Andrew types turtle.net and gets a software company in London

Use quotation marks for phrase searches (“Alaskan glaciers”) Use negative terms to eliminate unwanted information (Police -music eliminates all references to the band) Limit by site operator (site:gov yields only results by government agencies) Model searches in front of your students! Teach Students How to Search Effectively

Table Talk How do you teach your students to search for information? What are their common errors?

Evaluating Information Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus (a series of bogus websites) 47 of 53 seventh graders thought it was a real creature because of the website (Leu et al., 2007) Even when told it was a fake website, they clung to this belief Just because it’s on the Internet, doesn’t mean it’s true!

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

Plan: Set a purpose and develop a mental plan. Predict: Predict where a reading choice may lead. Monitor: Monitor after making a choice. Evaluate: Evaluate the relevance of the choice (Coiro & Dobler, 2007). Determining Relevance of Information

Table Talk How do you ensure that students know how to search for, evaluate, and determine the relevance of information on the Internet? In what ways are these the same as, and different from, print texts?

Using New Literacies to Build Background Knowledge Students search for, evaluate, and create information daily using relevant technological tools and literacy processes that are integrated into classroom learning. Students search for, evaluate, and create information regularly and in the company of peers in and out of the classroom. Their own technology tools are off-limits. Students regularly use technology to gather and evaluate information, but rarely to create new digital products. Some technology is sanctioned for classroom learning, but only to gather information. Technology is seen as a separate and limited function, with an emphasis on tools. Students must go to another area of the school to use these tools. Assessing Your Practice Use the rubric to determine your goals for building background knowledge in your classroom.

Building Your Own Background Knowledge Check out the most current research on reading comprehension and new literacies, led by Don Leu and his team at the University of Connecticut: Watch a 15-minute video on information literacy produced by UCLA at index.html index.html Take a look at the resources Google provides for teachers at html html