Okay well this week's questions a little difficult for me to answer as I missed last week's class SO please feel free to steer me in the right direction where you see I need it!
1. What is the place of print literacy in the digital era?
My understanding is that print literacy is the 'old school' type of literacy where texts, narratives, reports etc are in hard copy print. Based on this definition of print literacy, its place in the digital era is well founded. There is and I dare say always will be, a need for printed materials. There is something about the tactile experience of holding a book or document that cannot be replaced by softcopies, it generally feels 'safer' to have or to also have a hard copy. Also, digital literacy relies on the skills developed in print literacy -such as reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing skills.
2. What is the place of netspeak/textspeak in the classroom?
I guess, when the learning objective is to be able to formulate short, succinct sentences netspeak/textspeak are viable vessels to do this. It is also a practical experience in context language - when and where to use 'playground talk', 'formal language' and 'netspeak language' conventions.
3. What is the place of hypertext literacy in the classroom?
Hypertext - I am gonna have to clarify what this one is! Clarified....it's like wikipedia where a whole slab of text has various hyperlinks embedded within it which redirect you to learn more about a word/term or about a topic contained within the document. One hypertext document that I have read which standout in my memory is a government water document talking about the various catchment regions, water usage policies, natural estuaries etc AND the hypertext was sooo useful - because of the genre of the document a lot of technical terms and specific policy names were discussed, so with the hypertexts I could easily look up the definition of terms and what various water policies were about. I will also mention that if I was well versed in water industry speak then the hypertext would be quite annoying as the blue underlines do detract from the flow of the document.
I found this YouTube clip useful:
4. How might you use chat/IM in education?
4. How might you use chat/IM in education?
Chat and Instant Messaging (IM) are examples of rapid, multi directional communication with backchannel conversation results in continuous partial attention. Chat and IM might be a good forum for students to ask the teacher quick questions about the course or homework rather than using emails.
5. How might you use microblogging in education? How might you use polling in education? I believe that microblogging, polling, chat/IM are all vehicles to facilitate critical literacy, reflective thinking and practice of grammar, spelling and exposure to technology in a useful, meaningful way. In comparing such tech literacies with print literacy, I guess the main difference is 1. the integration of ICT (obviously) 2. the synchronous style which enables follow-up questions and/or rebuttal and 3. the ability to connect with other students or professionals who cannot be physically in the school for a discussion. I'm sure there are many more - so I'll have to do some research and revise this discussion during the week. Research done - Microblogging provides up-to-date information that is of an immediate currency. Information can be spread 'virally' and can extend classroom time by enabling access to the teacher or peers out of school hours - therefore the extension is of a spacial and time nature. Furthermore, Chat and IM facilitates interaction and collaboration on homework, sharing knowledge of upcoming events, ideas and is another forum for students to practice their print literacy skills.
Polling can be used in education to gauge how students feel about e.g. changing an assignment due date, to gain feedback on a range of topics. However, I can see the potential for cheeky students to run amok and post unsuitable comments etc. This is where responsible cyber citizenship needs to be actively reiterated and the essence of the citizenship delivered. For example, if you post inappropriate comments we will not be able to use this kind of technology in class OR set-up an approval setting within the poll so that inappropriate comments can be cached before they go public.
See the left side bar for a poll I created!
Oh and I can't sign off without saying how utterly shocked I was to find out today that textspeak is NOT adversely affecting spelling and literacy. So I was even more schocked to find out that there is overwhelming research finding that there is a positive correlation between the use of text or netspeak and literacy proficiency. Take it from the horse's mouth - watch this
