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Citation: Karen Spear on TikTok. TikTok. (n.d.). https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT81bqTMx/

Summary: In the TikTok, an AVID teacher demonstrates an example of her student's using Pixton to illustrate a goal they want to reach. Through the example, viewers can see how Pixton can be used to implement avatars and home settings to communicate non-academic feelings and experiences directly from students to teachers.

Analysis: While the goal of the assignment outlined in the example in the TikTok is somewhat academic by nature, the TikTok exemplifies the basic capabilities of Pixton as well as illustrates the potential for accessing a student's funds of knowledge. For example, in one of the comics shown in the video, a student illustrates their goal of going to college through a conversation between the student and their parents, which provides the teacher with insight not only into what the child's specific goal is but also provides knowledge in regards to the student's home life, their hopes/anxieties, and helps the teacher craft an understanding of their student as a person that exists outside of school. The TikTok expands on Resource #3, which was the program Pixton itself, by providing real life examples in order to foster a more complete and tangible understanding of what Pixton makes possible in regards to gaining access to a student's funds of knowledge. This resource is helpful and really solidifies the trajectory of our research and driving question in that we were looking for real world applications that can allow teachers to gain access to student's funds of knowledge. Through the program Pixton and, more specifically, the TikTok, you can see how Pixton can be used and applied in a classroom setting to provide insight into a student's home life and create a space to engage with and draw out student's funds of knowledge through technology.

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1.9K Views, 64 Likes, TikTok video from Karen Spear (@k.spear): "@fun_in_fourth @pixtonedu #pixton #pixtonhigh #comic #teachersoftiktok #avid". original sound - Karen Spear.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlbFC8cGV80

Citation: Klassroom. (2018, October 4). Download Klassroom for free!. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlbFC8cGV80

Summary: The video gives a broad overview of all of the simple functions Klassroom is able to accomplish. It shows the app in the video prompting those watching it to see in real-life what the application will look like when

Analysis: This informational video gives a very brief overview of the specific function Klassroom provides that are all free such as viewing the teachers latest post, receiving and answering private messages, receiving post notifications, being able to inform teachers of an absence or delay. Features also include consulting old posts from teacher, filtering posts by categories, and many more inapp included resources such as events, homework, latest comments, etc. All of these features encourage teachers and parents to be more interactive in communication between one another about their student/child’s school and home life. For instance, one of the categories available to message a teacher about is special care. This allows for the parent to message the teacher about any possible hometroubles, possible learning difficulties, a child not sleeping well the night before, or any other personal information about the child’s life that could possibly affect their academic integrity. This directly relates to Funds of Knowledge because it is giving the parents and teachers the intended resources to be more involved in the opposing life that they usually are not present in. The teacher is given information about the students personal life in order to implement it into the classroom and while the parent is consistently staying updated on in school life, and given resources to inform teachers.

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Citation: Poole, A. (2017). Funds of Knowledge 2.0: Towards digital Funds of Identity. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 13, 50–59.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.02.002

Summary: This article explores the concept of funds of knowledge and compounds on it by introducing the concept of “funds of identity,” which are presented as an evolution of funds of knowledge. Poole uses the theoretical framework of funds of knowledge and the emerging theories of funds of identity to explore how educators can uplift these concepts within their classrooms through digital means. Poole argues that digitisation within the classroom in terms of students' social identities can help draw out, construct, and cultivate funds of identity.

Analysis:

Poole explores criticisms of funds of knowledge as being inconsiderate of children’s sometimes difficult or violent homelifes, focusing on “light” or positive ways to approach funds of knowledge. Thus, the concept of funds of identity seeks to not negate but rather work in unison with funds of knowledge to better understand the whole child based on their household community and homelife as well as their personal identities.

Potential strategies for uncovering funds of identity often include visual forms such self-portraits, artifacts, and a “significant circle” (3.2) which can be translated well through technology and other digital media forms.

Poole touches on digital literacies and the “digital divide,” which is significant in the context of connecting school and home. Poole explores the disconnect between older and younger generations' relationships to digitisation, but argues that students' increased digitisation has led to better identity construction and definition. Therefore, educators should embrace technology as a form of accessing funds of knowledge and identity for their students as it caters to student abilities.

“Offline and online identities are inextricably linked and intimately tied to emotions,” (4.3). This section and quote explores the importance of utilizing digital mediums in an effort to craft students’ funds of knowledge and identity in order to create a strong tie between school and home.

Poole exemplifies his argument through the description of an “avatar project,” in which students create a digital avatar and online learning environment to tap into students’ funds of knowledge and identity. I think this is a really interesting way to gain access to students’ funds of knowledge and identity through a digital medium and can be applied both as an online learning environment as well as an online social environment that is created for use between students, educators, parents, etc.

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Citation: Klassroom. (2018, March 3). Parents - teachers communication reinvented. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1lsJS_M5rQ&t=55s

Summary: The video is a brief, and informational video about the basic overview of Klassroom as a whole. It gives the idea of what Klassroom is used for, and how it is easily accessible to all parents and teachers especially in the manner of constant, flowing communication between the two.

Analysis: Klassroom is an online tool created for teachers by teachers (specifically for younger grades). It is a free mobile app available for any Apple and Andriod product that includes in-app purchases to give different updates and subscriptions, however all of the core features are free. The app allows for teachers to upload updates, photos, events and documents about the children throughout class giving the parent constant feedback from their children and teacher; no matter the familial status (divorce, live in different locations, only one parent is the primary contact, etc.) parents are capable of accessing information about their child at any time. Parents can inform teachers of an absent or delay in arrival at any point from anywhere. Also, there is a private message feature that allows parents and teachers to contact one another directly, schedule appointments, ask questions, or simply ask for updates. The application keeps for the personal information of the teacher and parents to remain secure by not having to share personal phone numbers or emails. The app is described as being simple to use with basic instructions and commands in order to complete a task. The teacher is able to send a mass message to all of the parents while keeping responses in individual areas in order to keep with the idea of security of private information. By using this app, at the beginning of the schoolyear, the teacher can send out a mass message asking questions about the child’s home life, familial situations, the language used at home, the cultures and religions practiced, and so forth (FOK). Parents can then respond privately about their specific situations and give information that will be useful for the teacher to know as they create lesson plans and begin to build a relationship with their students while being sensitive to their lives outside of school.

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Klassroom, parents - teachers communication reinvented

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Citation: ClassTag. (2022, November 10). Planning activities with classtag [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/QsALVQJPGsI

Summary: This video is Part 4 in ClassTag’s New Teacher Bootcamp series on YouTube. ClassTag is a technological parent-teacher communication tool that remains free of charge and translates text into over 100 different languages. The digital tool creates an online community where parents and teachers can view assignments and calendars and make regular posts in the home feed. In this video, ClassTag demonstrates how the online platform can be used to easily connect with parents about activities occurring inside the classroom, so that the teacher can inform, invite, and request volunteers. For example, the narrator in the video posts an announcement about a Fall Carnival to the online community. The narrator includes in the description that all families are welcome and includes the date, time, and location. There was an option on ClassTag to host any event/activity posted virtually through Google Meet. Additionally, the narrator is also able to request volunteers for games at the carnival. Lastly, the narrator creates an announcement featuring this information so that families will be notified about the post, as well as given the ability to see the event post and RSVP. This video clearly demonstrates the power of ClassTag to not only communicate with parents about their students but to involve them in the classroom community as well.

Analysis: ClassTag is a powerful tool that allows for communication between parents and teachers that is not solely limited to conversations about academics and behavior. ClassTag allows teachers to welcome parents into the community of the classroom, both digitally and in real life. With the “Activity” feature that is highlighted in the video, teachers have the ability to invite parents to join the class. I find the example in the video of inviting the students’ parents to the classroom exciting because of what I imagine this gathering of the parents, students, and teacher allows for. If the teacher is able to meet with the parents of his or her students outside of the academic context, the teacher and the parent will be able to engage in natural conversation that allows for the teacher to gain access to the funds of knowledge of her students, as well as gain the trust and respect of the parents, which will allow for more open communication to continue. Another feature of the website that intrigued me was the volunteer sign up option, and for many reasons. Firstly, it allows for every parent to have the opportunity to sign up for a volunteer spot, so that the same volunteers are not always the one being asked. Also, I imagine this tool could be beneficial when attempting to plan activities such as culture-share or career presentation days, which are rich with the students’ funds of knowledge. For parents who do not have the time to attend the at-school activities, the virtual activity option is a fabulous way to host casual events online where these parents are able to attend and build relationships with their child’s teacher, so that funds of knowledge can be shared. There may also be parents struggle with communication due to language barriers. The 100+ language translations that ClassTag offers will allow these parents to feel involved and engage with the classroom community. Additionally, the language translation feature also give the teacher insight to the culture of the student. The largest challenge that ClassTag seems to pose is communication with families that are without technology at home. This definitely seems like quite a big challenge, as it would exclude the parents and the child from the classroom community. However, I do wonder how realistic a family without any form of technology would be in 2023, especially considering there are many public places in which technology can be accessed. Although this barrier exists, ClassTag offers many opportunities for parent-teacher communication in which funds of knowledge can be accessed and used for class instruction and involvement.

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Citation: Pixton.com https://app.pixton.com/#/ideas

Summary: Pixton is a digital tool for teachers and students where they can create avatars, set them up inside a "classroom", and create narrative comics for both educational and social use.

Analysis: Pixton is a really interesting program in that both students and teachers can create their own avatar's that can eventually be used to create comics to be used for academic purposes or socially and culturally responsive lessons. For example, one of the comic templates that can be used is called "A Day in My Life" where students (or teachers!) can create a comic that shows themselves (their avatars) going through their day, with completely customizable characters (which means they can include family, friends, pets, etc.), settings (their bedroom, church, extracurriculars, etc.) and dialogues. A software/lesson such as "A Day In My Life" on Pixton is a really creative, interactive, and unique way for teachers to gain access to students' funds of knowledge by providing students with the space to tap into their home lives, what is important to them socially and culturally, and do so in a way that engages students and teaches through tech. Another exmaple of a comic template is called "Why I Missed School," and is a space for students to create a comic the explains why they weren't in school. Not only would something like this tap into a student's literacy and narrative skills, but more importantly can be shared with the teacher to give insight into why the student was absent, potentially sharing information that could tap into a student's funs of knowledge. Perhaps, if the student was absent due to a religious holiday or a family event, Pixton allows the teacher to gain access to and connect with the student on a non-academic level. What is most interesting about Pixton is the endless ability for customization, which allows not only the students but teacher and even parents to be present within the digital space of Pixton. Furthermore, Pixton offers more than just comic templates by also providing students and teachers with the ability to create their own comics from scratch, which can be used as a way for students to provide insight into their lives outside of school through the narrative medium of a comic, providing students with an engaging, creative outlet and teachers with potentially unlimited possibilities for accessing their students' funds of knowledge. Pixton is particularly unique in it's ability to create digital classroom community that merges the academic classroom as a whole as well as the student individually, giving teachers and students an opportunity to practice narrative skills through individual interests and backgrounds in an effort to bridge the gap between home and school through a digital medium.

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Log into the world's most popular comic and storyboard creator.

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Citation: Falloon, G. (2010). Using avatars and virtual environments in learning: What do they have to offer? British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(1), 108–122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00991.x

Summary: This article explores the concept of virtual learning environments and, specifically, the use of avatar and virtual self representations within the classroom as a mode of transferring traditional learning to a virtual environment. The article focuses heavily on the use of avatar programs (namely, MARVIN) as a tool to assist in classroom communication and academic understanding, denoting its customizable nature through the necessity to draw on self-identifications.

Analysis:

At the beginning of the article, Falloon states that avatars are “‘online manifestations of the self in a virtual world, and are designed to enhance interaction in a virtual space’” (109). While the article focuses on the effect of avatars on academic achievement and engagement, prefacing the article with this definition is integral to support for avatars/virtual learning environments in their ability to enhance communication, whether it be for academic purposes or as it applies to gaining access to students funds of knowledge to bridge gap between home and school.

Virtual learning environments are beneficial for expanding the range and variety of communications that can occur in a classroom community and “can adapt and grow to meet users needs” (109). What is unique about a virtual environment is its ability to be customizable and adaptable to both the individual child’s needs and the context of the classroom environment.

While the software MARVIN is used as a storytelling tool that is representative of the student (a way to gain funds of identity), the principles of the MARVIN software can be translated in such a way that connects the cultural and homelife values and knowledge that a student holds and both transfer and intertwine them with the school environment, providing a more complex way for teachers to access a students funds of knowledge.

“The students found working in the avatar-based environment provided them with a flexible and creative medium within which they could construct their knowledge representations” (114) → the article demonstrates how using avatar programs and operating within a digital learning environment/community works particularly well to engage with students’ identities and personal knowledge to cultivate interest within the classroom and connect student interest/homelife to school.

The students in the MARVIN study were tasked with using the software to complete an IBL project about their city. Implementing MARVIN in the classroom/project revealed a “strong sense of social responsibility” (117) in regards to the students city, which illustrates how a virtual learning environment/community can tap into students' cultural and community knowledge and create a sense of community, responsibility, and connection within schoolwork.

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FOK

https://www-tandfonline-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/doi/full/10.1080/00220272.2010.511275

Summary:

Funds of knowledge: knowledge about household functioning, development, and well-being that gives access into children’s interests in a way that remains respectful of their families, communities and cultres.

Analysis:
- As children engage with teachers, families, and other adult figures, knowledge of literacy, math and science begin to adapt without the need of formal teacher instruction

Throughout the study, teachers often chose whose and which interests would be addressed during spontaneous interactions.
- An example of this was described when asking individual students what they did on the weekends. A boy, Tom, he spoke innately about fishing on the weekends with his Uncle, yet during playtime at school he often migrated towards the trucks and construction gear because he wants to be an engineer in the future like his Uncle (an engineer). It is important to communicate not only adopted practices (like enigneering), but also other interets the child has which can be adopted and noticed by peers.

- This study had other categorizes such as family based, centre based, and community based funds which broke down different perspectives in which children should be interviewed and teachers should be knowledgeable about in order to create a more specificed, individual, and interesting learning environment for students. In reference to community based funds, "Outside the family and centre settings, children participated in a range of social and cultural events. Sometimes funds of knowledge were recognized and extended in the centres. However, other experiences and/or what children revealed in conversations that occurred during these events were not always appreciated and acted on by teachers" (4.1). In order to have a classroom that offers insight into children’s lives and relates to their own experiences, it creates not only a more interactive setting but also a more personable and relatable learning experience for students.

Citation:

Helen Hedges, Joy Cullen & Barbara Jordan (2011) Early years curriculum: funds of knowledge as a conceptual framework for children’s interests, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 43:2, 185-205, DOI: 10.1080/00220272.2010.511275

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Citation: Kajamaa, A., Kumpulainen, K., & Rajala, A. (2018). A DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT MEDIATING STUDENTS’ FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWLEDGE CREATION. Studia Paedagogica (Brno), 23(4), 49–66. https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2018-4-3

Summary: This research aimed to analyze the effect of utilizing technology in the form of the FUSE Studio on allowing students to access their funds of knowledge in the school setting. Additionally, this research aimed to analyze how funds of knowledge benefit students regarding knowledge formation and content creation. Researchers from the University of Helsinki in Finland headed this research. At a city-run public school in Finland that houses 535 students and 28 primary school teachers, the FUSE Studio was offered as an elective course option. The FUSE Studio is a digital creative design environment full of many challenges for the students to choose from, where the teacher acts as a facilitator. The makings and creations of 94 9-12-year-old students were collected and analyzed after one semester. This research is about how the FUSE Studio allowed students to access their funds of knowledge in school through technology, as well as the type of knowledge creation that accessing their funds of knowledge allowed.

Analysis:

The researchers in this study focus on connecting the students’ “personal out-of-school funds of knowledge into the school context” (p.61). To do so, the researchers utilize a technological tool, the FUSE Studio, so that teachers are able to allow students a space to bring their funds of knowledge into the classroom.

In order to collect data for this study, the researcher utilized video cameras, as well as field notes, that captured and recorded the individual student and group work from FUSE Studio for one academic year. In addition to the recordings of the work being done in FUSE Studio, the researchers also recorded the student-student and student-teacher interactions regarding the content creation being done in FUSE Studio, so that the process of knowledge creation stemming from the students' funds of knowledge could be analyzed.

The findings of the research suggested that students’ ability to access funds of knowledge during school allowed for three different types of learning processes: 1) vertical knowledge maintenance, which is “referring to the top-down nature of the knowledge creation” (p.59), 2) horizontal knowledge breaking, which “refers to the bottom-up/student-driven nature of the knowledge creation, based on student-centeredness and the student's own initiative” (p.60), and 3) knowledge expansion, in which students begin to think futuristically, or outside-of-the-box.

In all knowledge creation scenarios, the researchers observed that the students used their funds of knowledge, suggesting that technology, in the form of the FUSE studio, was influential in gaining access to the student's funds of knowledge, as well as building a bridge between home and school knowledge.

The research also found that the teacher plays a huge role in allowing the students to access their funds of knowledge even while they are using technology to do so. If the teacher shuts down the mediation between home and school knowledge, the child cannot bring their funds of knowledge to the school setting. Teachers must act as an encouraging guide in order to allow for this bridge between expertise to be built.

One of the main challenges faced in this study is the cultural beliefs about how schools should be run, and how learning should occur. Some schools may have pushed back against changing how education occurs in their buildings. Additionally, digital tools for educational purposes may not be welcomed with open arms in all schools.

The research for this study occurs in a Finnish school. Access to FUSE Studio may not be translated successfully to all schools. Additionally, students in other schools may not have access to technology outside or inside of schools, and I wonder if the knowledge regarding how to use technology may act as a setback for knowledge creation for other students.

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FOK Through Tech with English Learners

Summary: Technology is extremely influential specifically in the enrollment of English Learners in the educational system in the US. The cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds of students reflect the need as well as challenges of entering the classroom digitally while being proficient in English. Technology (including computers, IPads, IPods, net textbooks, tablets, etc.) have proven effectiveness as a learning tool in order to support language and content learning outside of a formal classroom setting to enhance engagement in material, especially for English Learners. Due to different ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds, coordination between the school/teacher and student/parent is imperitive when implimenting and providing technology in order to be used properlly and given the correct machinery in order to complete this remote mode of learning. Parental involvement in activities, monitoring children’s schoolwork/homework, and speaking about student’s progression in school is an important accomodations schools need to be aware of when it comes to English Learners as some may be unfamiliar with this mode of learning, and it is proven that it is a critical impact of parent’s backgrounds for teachers to adapt different modes of learning and understanding when it comes to different students (FOK).

Analysis:

Technology based FOK: This study followed the parents perceptions when it came to young English Learners language learning experience in different socioeconomic backgrounds through technology.

Six immigrant families randomly selected in the Midwest (Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, and Cambodian families) and the participants ranged n how long they lived in the US, and how many children were at home.

Advisors visited the homes of each participant in order to learn more about the students’ families, cultures, conversations with family members, and asking questions, “to gain better insight into the social and cultural ways of knowing are presented from the parents’ perspective” (3.2.1). They interacted with families and students asking questions about the family history, cultural background, educational experiences, careers, personal interests, community environemts, expectations educationally for their children, experience with technology, and opinions of their children using technology.

“Interacting through mobile technology with their children at home was beneficial to building harmonious family relationships” (5.1).

Though some families with less understanding of technology or less comfortable with the idea of learning from an online platform, almost all of the families studied ended up buying themselves or their children mobile phones, or other forms of technology.

“The findings showed that technology has infiltrated the young ELs' daily lives with the rapid development of social economy and has become one inseparable part of their daily lives” (6).

Overall, parents were eager to support their child’s education in English through mobile technology because of the affordability, immediacy, and interactivity of the technology. Not only were students learning through this mobile technology at home, but they introduced their parents to technology, showed other students at school their tech instigating conversation in English, and just making learning faster and more attractive in general.

FOK allowed for advisors and teachers to provide more assistance, and interjection when it came to students who had parents less familiar with education, the language, or that did not fully understand the avenues that could be offerred through technology. Without FOK these students would not have been provided the same opportunities as students learning English with parents who were aware of the available opportunities such as online tutors or supervision.

The study as a whole didn’t only show the positives, but also the hesitations some parents had towards technology which affected their child’s view on using the tech to learn.

Citation: Yan Chen, Hayley J. Mayall, Cindy S. York, Thomas J. Smith,

Parental perception and English Learners' mobile-assisted language learning: An ethnographic case study from a technology-based Funds of Knowledge approach, Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, Volume 22, 2019, 100325, ISSN 2210-6561, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2019.100325. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210656118302794)

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Parental perception and English Learners’ mobile-assisted language learning: An ethnographic case study from a technology-based Funds of Knowledge approach

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The purpose of this ethnographic case study is to examine the parents’ perceptions regarding young English Learners’ (ELs) mobile-assisted language le…

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Citation: Bradbury, J. (Host). (2018, February 12). Turning parents into partners | learn why you should check out @classtagme today (No. 12) [Audio podcast episode]. In The TeacherCast App Spotlight. TeacherCast. https://www.teachercast.net/captivate-podcast/classtag-2016

Summary: This is the twelfth episode of the series “App Spotlight” by Jeff Bradbury, who owns the podcast “The TeacherCast.” The goal of this podcast is to educate educators about educational technological resources. In this episode, Jeff discusses the educational tech tool ClassTag. Jeff, who formerly worked as a school teacher, interviews both Vlada Lotkina, founder of ClassTag, and Renee Angle, a 4th-grade teacher who uses ClassTag in order to discover the benefits of this technological tool for teachers. ClassTag is a virtual tool for teachers and parents to communicate with each other, allowing parents to be on board with their student’s schoolwork and behavior, as well as build a relationship with the teacher and get involved in the classroom.  While Vlada Lotkina dives into the purpose and goals of ClassTag, Renee Angle gives insight into the benefits of implementing ClassTag in the classroom. The primary points that Lotkina and Angle offer about ClassTag is that it allows teachers to spend less time tediously communicating, to communicate with parents about assignments and school/classroom events, to record which parents actually read the message, allows parents to conveniently set how many notifications they receive from the app (unless the teacher uses the “urgent” setting on a message, in which all parents will be notified regardless of settings), allows parents to easily and freely sign up, and that parents genuinely enjoy using ClassTag. The main message of both Vlada and Renee is that using ClassTag allows teachers to form a partnership with their students’ parents.

Analysis: In this podcast episode, both the founder of ClassTag (Vlada Lotkina) and an avid user of ClassTag in her actual classroom (Renee Angle) offer nothing but wonderful things to say about how great ClassTag is as a means of communication between teachers and parents, as well as how beneficial it is that the tool allows for relationships to be built through this communication. Our driving question posits, How do teachers leverage tech to gain access to funds of knowledge? Funds of knowledge, which has to do with a students knowledge regarding their background (culture, lifestyle, home life, etc.) typically can be given insight to by the student’s parents. As ClassTag is a technological tool that allows teachers to directly communicate with parents about many different things (academics, behavior, classroom events, etc.), it seems that this could be a technological tool teachers could leverage to gain access to funds of knowledge.

Many of the assertions about ClassTag that Lotkina and Angle made give insight into how ClassTag allows teachers to build relationships with parents, which allows teachers to use ClassTag as a means of bridging the gap between school and home by obtaining information about their students’ funds of knowledge. One of the features of ClassTag that the pair discuss is the ability for teachers to know which parents read the messages. This helps teachers gain access to the student’s funds of knowledge, as it provides insight into which families may have a busy home life, or perhaps limited access to technology at home. Additionally, the pair share that parents are able to adjust their settings to send them a summary of the posts from the week if they are very busy and/or just do not want to read all the messages at once. They add that if necessary, the teachers can override this setting, if something very important that all parents must be aware of pops up. As a result of this setting, parents are pleased because their space and time is respected, but if something is urgent, they will be notified by the teacher. This builds respect and trust between parents and teacher, allowing a relationship in which conversations giving insight to funds of knowledge can be more readily had, to grow. And of course, the ability to communicate with parents about anything on ClassTag allows for great access to funds of knowledge!

This information was collected from the founder of ClassTag and a teacher who uses and is a fan of ClassTag. This guarantees that the information about ClassTag is trustworthy and real. It also suggest that the implementation of ClassTag in a real classroom could be very successful. In regards to how this analysis will inform our research overall, I believe that it allows us to designate a specific form of technology (ClassTag) that will allow teachers to gain access to funds of knowledge about students through parents, which is something that our prior research has suggested. This analysis gives us an example of a tangible piece of technology that will gain access to funds of knowledge.

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Welcome to the TeacherCast Podcast. In this episode, Jeff sits down with Vlada Lotkina, founder of ClassTag and Renee Angle, a 4th-grade teacher to discuss how teachers can shave hours off of their workweek by using the effective communication struggles found in ClassTag.

About ClassTag

ClassTag is a web and mobile platform co-developed by teachers, families and parent engagement experts to specifically increase parent engagement based on research-based practices, helping teachers turn parents into partners by simplifying all communications and scheduling, motivating parents to get involved and guiding them to success.

Links of interest

About Guest

Vlada Lotkina is a co-founder and CEO of Classtag. She is a former Fortune 500 Executive and a Wharton MBA. She is very passionate about education and helping parents be a powerful force to unleash their children's potential.

Renee Angle is a 4th Grade Teacher in Idaho. She has been teaching for three years and is a general education teacher teaching all subjects. She is a National Elementary Honor Society advisor for students in grades 4-6 at her school. This is a second career for Renee after a successful 20 year management career in the retail lumber industry. Renee knows every student can learn and looks forward to discovering students' talents with them. Renee believes student achievement in the classroom increases when parents are active participants.

Why ClassTag?

The ClassTag approach was co-developed by teachers, families and parent engagement experts to specifically increase parent engagement based on research-based practices and is an opinionated platform that early results show helps teachers leap over parent engagement barriers and turn parents into partners.

Specifically, ClassTag helps teachers:

Set and manage high and clear expectations with parents

Move from transactional engagement to relationship-building activities

Create simple and meaningful ways for parents to support learning

Reduce amount of effort required with automation and consistent system

Get visibility into the level and type of family engagement

Through this approach, ClassTag has a staggering 90% parent participation rate on the platform.

Game changer for what teachers expect, how they adjust their strategies and, most importantly, an amplifier for student success.

Contact Me

Recorded July 20, 2016

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Turning Parents into Partners | Learn Why You Should Check Out @ClassTagMe Today!

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Welcome to the TeacherCast Podcast. In this episode, Jeff sits down with Vlada Lotkina, founder of ClassTag and Renee Angle, a 4th-grade teacher to discuss how teachers can shave hours off of their workweek by using the effective communication struggles found in ClassTag.

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Citation: Chen, Y., Carger, C. L., & Smith, T. J. (2017). Mobile-assisted narrative writing practice for young English language learners from a funds of knowledge approach. Language Learning & Technology, 21(1), 28–41. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2017/chencargersmith.pdf

Summary: This research aims to analyze how technological writing tools, such as the app Penultimate on the iPad, allow elementary English Language Learners (ELLs) to strengthen their narrative writing skills. Additionally, the research focuses on the goal of investigating how incorporating the ELLs funds of knowledge allows for this strengthening to happen. Researchers at Northern Illinois University conducted a case study in which 5 ELLs aged 9-13 participated in a 4-week long mobile-learning experience catered toward narrative writing. Two participants, a Chinese girl in the United States on an extended visit and a Mexican-American boy, were heavily analyzed, as they were both in 7th grade, so similarities and differences could easily be compared. The iPad and the writing app, Penultimate, are mobile-assisted language learning, which allows for more accessibility to technology than computer-assisted language learning. Researchers conducted at-home interviews with the families of the participants to assess their funds of knowledge. Then they assigned a writing task based on an exciting aspect drawn from this information. With the use of pre- and post-essays, the researchers were able to analyze both writing skill and enjoyment level development that occurred as a direct result of practicing narrative writing through technological tools. This research is about how young ELLs developed their narrative writing skills through technological tools by using a funds of knowledge framework to build the guidelines of the assignment.

Analysis:

Various forms of data collection occurred over the course of this study. At-home interviews and observations were done to create a rough draft of the students’ funds of knowledge. A pre-essay completed using pen and paper was collected before the introduction of technological tools, and a post-essay using the iPad and Penultimate was collected afterward. The students were then subjected to a 15-minute interview to obtain their perspectives on the experience. Not only were funds of knowledge collected from the at-home interviews and assessments, but also form the post-essays, in which the students lengthened their essays and made various creative choices (illustrations, font, text-color changes, etc.) beaming with their funds of knowledge. Although I think these post-essays are fabulous ways to gain access to funds of knowledge through technology from the student, I do wonder if there are ways to use technology to gain access to funds of knowledge from parents as well.

The findings of this research implicated that the students found writing about topics directly linked to their funds of knowledge more interesting. Additionally, the research identified that the post-essays using the technological tools significantly improved “language-production, support/elaboration, and organization dimensions” (p. 34). However, focus did not change. Lastly, the post-interviews revealed that the students enjoyed writing the post-essays much more, but sometimes found it to be unnatural, in addition to expressing that their parents did not want them on the iPad for long periods of time.

One of the main challenges in this study is that ELLs from only two first languages (Chinese and Spanish) were studied. In addition to the small amount of language diversity, the two representative ELLs (Liliana and Larry) spoke English prior to the study. Would the results of this study be significantly impacted when increasing the diversity of language, as well as increasing the diversity of English previously learned?

One small finding of the study that I found fascinating is that the two representative ELLs had very differing technology access at home, Liliana with lots and Larry with none. Despite this, both ELLs quickly transitioned to using the technology after a brief introduction and showed a significant increase in motivation. This makes me wonder if the accessibility of technology is really a threat to the implication of technology for gaining access to funds of knowledge.

This study focuses on participants who are ELLs. ELLs experience an increase motivation to write, as well as a significant increase in their writing skills when writing with the iPad and Penultimate. Would native English speakers experience the same? Would this be as beneficial to a general education classroom, or only a designated ELL class? Is there a way to use these tools and similar assignments to curate a motivating and challenging assignment to students at different English levels?