https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9 Padlet: A digital literacy text en-us 2018-04-06 01:43:27 UTC 2026-01-08 00:48:08 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Apple.png kmcnamara04 https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249091026
I've used padlet this semester and last semester, so I have become familiar with it over the course of this year. I've only posted onto professors' padlets before, so it was new for me to create my own padlet. I learned how to create a padlet, design it, and make it accessible to my classmates! 

I really liked using padlet for this assignment because I am a very visual person/learner, and it was really helpful to have all of my different thoughts separated into boxes that I could see all at once and jump around them when I got different thoughts. I usually jump around when I am writing a paper, but a lot of the time I get lost or forget what I was going to write because I have to continually find my place again among the paragraphs. 

The only thing that got in the way of my learning was trying to figure out how to separate my thoughts and answer all of the questions that were asked. Since there was a lot of information to respond to, it might have been helpful to have all of the questions numbered so that we could have the option to do a different sticky for each question. My stickies got way too long, and it would have been a better idea for me to break them down more into different stickies, but I was already too far in!

I could see myself using padlet in a classroom like I have used it in college. If students had assignments to read a book, they could easily post summaries, or answer questions all on a class padlet. Then they could respond to their classmates. ]]> 2018-04-06 01:50:57 UTC https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249091026 kmcnamara04 https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249091084
Story 1:
In the reading, the first story about a class blog talked about how students were asked to write about something that interested them. I like how the teacher used some prompts to get students brainstorming about what they could write about, because writing about something that interests you is a pretty generic topic, with so many options to choose from. This blog promoted these student writers to share their work with each other and interact more easily.
The most important takeaway from this story though was how when students' peers are their audience and critics, the digital literacy is more interest-driven.
How:
-Students are more motivated to write about topics that will also be interesting to their peers,
-They find it easier to write about their interests because they are directing it to a peer audience that would relate better and have different input than a teacher.
-The feedback is more helpful sometimes because of the peer-to-peer relationship.
-The social media aspect of the blog makes students want to engage in a friendly way and it feels like socializing or having conversations. This just seems like fun but there's learning at the same time.

Story 2:
"Aren’t we more captivated
when filmmakers (and our students) take risks and
make us think in a different way? Teaching techniques out of context is not a great way to learn
and is, in fact, the opposite of interest-driven learning. My experience working with children in
the video club suggests that we all learn best when trying to solve real problems that are important
to us. This kind of interest-driven, peer-supported work, complete with a shared sense of
purpose and intensive collaborative interaction, was common." 
This quote really summed up the second story to me in a great way. Interest-driven learning needs to be relevant and in-context. When students are working on projects like this video project that they love and have great interest in, it is easier for them to find new questions that they want answers to, and things they want to accomplish. ]]> 2018-04-06 01:51:26 UTC https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249091084 kmcnamara04 https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249091114 The second story really reminded me of a personal experience that I had in school which was a great learning experience. In a middle school science class we worked on a video project a couple of times in a year, and it was one of the funnest projects I remember doing! I could totally relate to the reading about the video project, because it was interest-driven, it was very memorable, and I tried really hard because I enjoyed it so much. I think that projects like this are great because it gives an opportunity for students to choose and take on a role that they can shine in. I loved the project because it gave me an opportunity to be creative, do public speaking, and to be funny. Other members in my group enjoyed different roles like editing, filming, writing, directing, speaking, collaborating, and more. Everyone got a chance to participate and find a role that suited them because of their interests.

I wonder how some of these teachers differentiated their instruction for students. Are there ways that technology is a hindrance for some students learning based on their abilities? Or I guess what are some general negatives?






]]> 2018-04-06 01:51:41 UTC https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249091114 kmcnamara04 https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249097982 There are many ways that writing instruction is affected by these factors. The example that the reading talked about was class, and how most if not all students in the first story didn't have access to internet or computers at home. That affected how the teacher needed to make the most of the time in class to accomplish their writings. It also affected how experienced students were with typing and using computers. They only had one hour of technology class a week to improve their computer skills, but the fact that they had the additional time in class working with computers helped them improve greatly. Multilingualism was also mentioned in this story. Instruction needs to be more scaffolded for ELL students, and I would think other ELL students could help those who struggled more as well. Parents of these students might not speak English fluently either, so these students might need extra help with homework instructions and what to do outside of class. 

Race and gender wasn't discussed in these stories, but it plays a role in what students are interested in or what their experiences have been in life. This affects writing instruction to have projects or writing assignments that can promote some of the experiences students have had, and students can relate to each other and discuss their differences too.

]]> 2018-04-06 02:49:55 UTC https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249097982 kmcnamara04 https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249306965 My middle school science teacher posted our videos we made on youtube, and they're still up! ]]> 2018-04-06 17:11:54 UTC https://padlet.com/kmcnamara04/6zvdvdqxdbj9/wish/249306965