EDLA615 Language Arts and Technology

Assignment #1: Create an account with Gamestar Mechanic or Flowlab. Examine and explain how other teachers are using games in classrooms, particularly ELA. Gamestar Mechanic is a game and community designed to teach kids the principles of game design and systems thinking in a highly engaging environment. Gamestar mechanic is used by teachers where it caters to ages 7-14 years old but is open to all ages.The features in Gamestar make it effective for students to play their game as home and be flexible to play in educational settings as well. Designing games in Gamestar builds on: 1) Solving problems skills 2) Motivation for STEAM Learning 3) Effectively implementing ICTs in classroom related curriculum and lesson plans 4) Writing and storytelling in relation to ELA content area. With games enhancing motivation, fun, and engagement within and outside the classroom, it can be integrated into a design of digital-media literacies. With students being able to design games, it leads to...

Write a paragraph on how ELA teachers can use Edmodo to enhance their ELA instruction. ELA Teachers can use Edmodo to enhance their ELA instruction by utilizing the Edmodo quiz builder or pool features to assess students’ learning during or after a unit of study. In addition, Edmodo can help students understand specific literacy events by reenacting them through role playing activities in Edmodo. Edmodo also encourages students to practice their language skills, spelling, grammar, and place students in small groups and have them post their work to their group for peer review and feedback. When it comes to mobile learning, Edmodo can be integrated into the classroom to make learning interactive and be helpful in facilitating project based learning in your classroom by leveraging Edmodo’s small group feature. Also, Edmodo can give the opportunity for students to explore different classrooms in the world by connecting to different classrooms and deliver differentiated content in an EL...

Assignment 2-1  Read the two articles  Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practices of New Literacies  and  Using Social Networking Sites to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Science Classroom  and share your Reader Response thoughts on the blog. According to to the articles  Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practices of New Literacies  and  Using Social Networking Sites to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Science Classroom , new literacies skills should be common in classrooms using ICTs in a creative and productive way to enhance teaching and learning. With the evolution of ICTs, inquirely learning can be facilitated on different levels. However it is important for teachers to have the responsibility to integrate ICTs into the curriculum while being proficient in ICTs while providing meaningful educational ways in the learning context. According to Leu, "The  traditional  defin...

Learning Task and Assignment #2 Minds-on “New Literacies Definition and Components” Watch the video and the PPT slideshow ( http://www.slideshare.net/skwang/new-literacies-elearn-2010-hsu-v2 )  and  answering the following questions Which ideas from the video reflect what the ELA teachers you interviewed are currently doing to integrate technology with their literacy instruction?     The ELA Teachers that I interviewed are currently using ICTs for researching information and synthesizing information to answer questions which relates to the ideas from the video. With using the search engine when it comes it literacy instruction, it has been effective in the classrooms in order to locate information. With integrating technology with their literacy instruction, students are able to communicate to others by using Google Documents on a shared documents during group projects and using Skype to communicate as well during group projects when completing assignments o...

    Assignment#1 Read the article,  The Impact of Using Blogs on College  Students' Reading Comprehension and  Learning Motivation , and reflect on the article read on your blog. (Nov. 8, by midnight)       Assignment# 2  Use the  Initial draft for final keystone.do c  guide,  Talk   to the ELA teachers to   get inputs   from them and    work  on the draft keystone lesson implementation and evaluation project .   Share   the draft on Blackboard Discussion Board. (due Nov. 7, by midnight). NOTE: Guidelines, rubric, and sample project are in the Assignments Folder. Assignment #1:   According to the article The   Impact   of   Using   Blogs   on   College   Students’ Reading   Comprehension   and   Learning   Motivation , authors Hsu and Wang have highlighted the effectiveness of instruction and correlation of r...

Read the article and write a reflection of what you’ve learned from it (post it on blog) Create a  Voice Thread  (post it on your blog) and invite your peers to collaborate on editing or annotating or commenting (using text or voice).  Voice Thread: https://voicethread.com/share/11763299/  When it comes to meeting the needs of students, differential instructional teaching is important for both teachers and students in terms of education. According to the article, Using VoiceThread to Promote Learning Engagement and Success for All Students by Stein Brunvand and Sara Byrd, “innovative technological tools, programs, and software can be used to promote student engagement, motivation, and ultimately enhance the quality of the learning experience for all students.” Educational strategies to aim for a more desire to learn, teachers should implement innovative technological tools, programs, and software to promote student engagement, increase motivation, e...

Assignment#2 (due on Blog) •     Create an avatar in  Second Life , explore the environment, take a screenshot and share with class on blog. •     Discuss with ELA teachers and list ways to incorporate Second Life in ELA instruction, applying the concepts of multimodality to the teaching of ELA. When I discussed with a Grade 2 ELA Teacher, a Grade 1 ELA Teacher, and a Kindergarten ELA teacher on ways to incorporate Second Life in ELA instruction here is a list of ideas we came up with during the discussion: 1) Instructors can assign students to create an avatar in an independent or group setting and select a destination based on a country they will be assigned to to a research project on. For instance, if a student selected Japan, he/she would personalize an avatar based on the culture of Japan and find destinations on SL in Japan where the avatar can teleport to in his project and share with the class. 2) Instructors can assign students to hav...