New Literacies In Education By: Christina Stymfal Lianne Fitzgerald Suk T Hong Victoria Louise Leon

Online Classes “ E-learning” or electronic learning was the common name before “online classes”. The Beginning of E-Learning  Distance and E-learning are becoming more vital each year in the world of higher education. Although E-Learning began several years ago there have been many improvements to benefit learning activities in academics.  This site shows the movement before the 1920s. ory/before1920.html ory/before1920.html  By 2006 nearly 3.5 billion students were participating in online learning in the United States.  Examples that are familiar at the University of Arizona: the use of Blackboard and Desire 2 Learn (D2L)

Online Classes Pros  Convenience: learning sessions are available 24/7.  Increased access: students have the ability to learn from professors in various places in the country.  Instant feedback.  Easier for discussions because there is more student-to-student interaction.  You can decide when to complete assignments and readings. Cons  Online classes prevent the ability of face to face interaction.  The lack of social aspects (classroom interaction, one on one time with the professor).  Most forms of communication are written.  Self-paced. You are responsible for checking online to make sure assignments are due by the deadline.  Possible feelings of isolation of questions or technical issues appear in the class.

Blogging Blog is a type of website, maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary or other material such as graphics or videos. Used in education to:  help students clearly express ideas  encourage communication within a blogging community (or online class) Examples: blogger.comblogger.com & wordpress.comwordpress.com

Blogging Pro’s:  Easy way to create a class website  Students gain feeling of ownership  Easy for instructor to know what students think and feel about the class  Easy way to practice and improve writing skills Con’s:  Takes time to keep blog updated  Students may not blog if they are not required to  May be difficult for students with lower computer skills  Could encourage sloppy writing habits similar to and instant messaging

E-books  E-books are electronic versions of regular books that can be purchased as cd’s or even purchased online in a downloadable format and viewed on a computer or a handheld device that supports the file  E-books can even be used for textbooks for college students  Some sites that offer ebooks: Picture taken from

E-books Pros  Easily accessible from any computer  Can search for a specific word in the entire text  Minimizes the weight of carrying around multiple books Cons  Must have access to a handheld device which supports ebooks or a computer  Do not have a hard copy of the text  Cannot be sold back for a fraction of the original price