Amazing blogs

It is amazing how teacher education programs across the globe are making a pedagogical shift in response to the changing needs of education in the 21st century. Imagine lecturers who are not even assigned or qualified to teach the "technology in education" course are now required to infuse new technologies as part of the course modality. Research has consistently shown that 'stand alone' courses such as technology in education do not adequately prepare student teachers to effectively use technology in their classroom practice. So here I am.

In this Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum course that i am teaching this summer, student teachers are to expected to identify strategies for using technology to enhance content area literacy instruction. Rather than creating their personal blogs, students were encouraged to retrieve the blog they had maintained in their technology in education course. I used the work they had done to discuss possible ways that they can incorporate blogs in content area instruction. It was enlightening to see that students had already embedded videos that focused on relevant content they are expected to teach.

I also introduced them to another web 2.0 tool- the web quest. They looked at a few, however they need to continue their search to identify appropriate existing web quests that they can adapt/use in their lessons. Here is one web quest they found quite illuminating and appropriate (left).

Exploring the Potential of Blogs in Effective Content Area Literacy Instruction

Incorporating Web 2.0 tools in teacher preparation programs has become an imperative for effectively preparing pre service and in service teachers for practice in today's digital world. The proliferation of a wide range of technological tools has made it possible for both teachers and students to collaborate on projects, share ideas and experiences and develop their analytical and critical literacy skills beyond the walls of the classroom.

This week I intend to help primary school student teachers develop greater familiarity with a few tools such as blogs, web quest, wikis etc and to explore the potential that these tools have in enhancing content area literacy at the elementary level. They have been participating in an online threaded discussion board, as seen in the link on the left

Today, they will be setting up their personal blogs and hopefully create their first post.

Web 2.0 Making its way into DTEEA

Teacher educators, teacher trainees as well as classroom teachers have demonstrated a keen interest in exploring the potential that blogging and the discussion board have in enhancing their pedagogical practices and student learning. This mounting interest in web 2.0 tools is imperative to teacher preparation programs such as ours at the Division of Teacher Education and successful classroom practice. Ultimately the goal is to equip both teachers and learners with the requisite skills needed for life in this ever changing digitized landscape.

Meanwhile some teacher educators are going the 'blended' way (incorporating both asynchronous and the traditional face to face teaching methodology). students in training are experimenting with the affordances provided by blogs to enhance their learners' traditional reading comprehension and writing skills and at the same time developing their digital literacy skills. The new literacies are gradually taking center stage at the Division of Teacher Education and in some of our primary and secondary schools.