reading

E-Books: The Controversy Part Two

Keywords: reading, e-readers, e-books, reading comprehension
The second major controversy surrounding e-books and reading comprehension is that e-books make it harder to remember what you just read.    Author Maia Szalavitz of Time Magazine explores the connection between print texts, e-books, and retention of information.  I have read several studies that suggest no difference, but the study Szalavitz cites mentions that the "landmarks" and "context" that...

E-books: The Controversy Part One

Keywords: technology, e-readers, e-books, reading comprehension
We know that e-books have many benefits:  accessibility, ease of use, portability, etc.  They can be wonderful for students with specific learning needs, and many of our very own teachers *love* their e-readers   Students do too!   So, what's the controversy? The first argument is that e-books actually impede children learning to read because parents interact differently when reading an actual...

Reading in the Shadows of Strangers

Keywords: collaboration, reading, text, ebooks
(This is reposted from my blog) Like many of you, I am sure, I remember saving money in college by buying used books. I really hated the concept of using someone else’s books for class because I always wanted a pristine copy of the textbook or novel that I could mark up as I saw fit. Instead, I had to deal with someone else’s version of main ideas and interesting points highlighted in (mostly)...

Another Possible Use for Cell Phones

Keywords: reading, cell phones, connected learning
It is no secret that I am working on a book about cell phones.  I will not go into a lot of details because I don't want to give anything away.  When one writes informational text, there is a certain amount of research that has to be done. I have been actively engaged in reading Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning by Lisa Nielson and Willyn Webb and Toys to Tools:...

Examples of Connected Learning Activities

Keywords: composition, reading, college, social media, library, connected learning, Harry Potter, YOUmedia
I’ve been talking about connected learning for several weeks now, trying to define the model and think about how it might work in the college classroom. This week, I shared three specific activities that demonstrate what goes on in a Connected Learning project: The Harry Potter Alliance Virtual Community/Social Media Class YOUmedia at the Chicago Public Library All these examples focus on a text...

Criterion: Promoting the Standard

Keywords: assessment, machine scoring, machine reading, ELL, ideology
CC-2560951576_b15f9125cf_m.jpg In this study, Anne Herrington and Sarah Stanley review a computer program designed to 'read’ and respond to student writing. They focus on the ideology of language that drives the program and find that the program “enacts an arhetorical view of writing, a homogeneous view of English as a single-standard dialect, and an error-focused...

"Automated Writing Instruction: Computer-Assisted or Computer-Driven Pedagogies?"

Keywords: feedback, assessment, computer scoring, machine scoring, machine reading
CC-5329133932_40915faf65_m-2_0.jpg In this essay, Beth Ann Rothermel describes the heavy marketing of machine-reading programs to K-12 administrators and teachers. She argues that these programs narrow and constrict the work of both writer and teacher. With machine-reading programs, she writes, teaching and learning become "formulaic and asocial." PDF of Rothermel'...

"Always Already: Automated Essay Scoring and Grammar-Checkers in College Writing Courses"

Keywords: assessment, machine scoring, machine reading
CC-113105623_04d73c049d_m-2.jpg In this essay, Carl Whithaus argues that computers are already involved in our students' writing practice, as spell- and grammar-checkers are part of all word-processing programs. He argues that we should explore the potential of the computer as reader, rather than rejecting it out of hand. He describes one of these programs,...

Literacy in Our Lives

Keywords: literacy, collaboration, reading, text, identity, mentors, Flip Cameras
What happens when high school freshmen discuss "reading," "text," and "identity" and are given Flip cameras to communicate to a methods class of pre-service English teachers what they see as their identities as readers and writers? "Literacy in Our Lives" as an activity grew out of the "Motives for Reading" Unit in The Teachers' Strategy Guide: Reading in a Participatory Culture" (slated to be...

Why is this Important for Us as Teachers of Reading and Writing?

Keywords: transmedia reading, transmedia writing
To be effective consumers of transmedia content, students need to have a firm understanding of narrative structure. An understanding of characters and plot is essential in understanding the form a story takes. Teaching students how to deconstruct text will increase their understanding of story and allow them to reconstruct and repurpose it to generate their own content. Drawing upon what students...

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