Computers for Literacy: Making the difference?

Starting from the premise that literacy is a set of practices situated within particular contexts, and that any practice of literacy always involves technologies which affect its forms and use, this paper draws on three diverse examples of classroom and curricular practice, in order to explore how particular forms of cultural difference are being produced through different practices of literacy pedagogy. One form of literacy pedagogy uses drill-forskill programs via information and communication technologies (ICTs) for reasons of efficiency. Where such programs are used, they may promote assimilation in several overlapping forms. In a second form of pedagogy ICTs are used for enhancement or amplification. But even a liberal constructivist environment may lead to the reproduction of a schooled sameness - of information, types of text, and the literacy practices that teachers and students accept as the norm. A third pedagogical approach encourages transformation through new genres and new hypermedia literacy practices. Where a curriculum is driven by teachers' intentions to negotiate difference explicitly, they and their students may use ICTs to manipulate texts, knowledge and positions for comprehending and composing. Nonetheless, given the complex relationships among teachers, students, classrooms and ICTs, no practice is likely to be 'pure' or certain in its effects. Partly for these reasons teacher educators need to help pre- and in-service teachers to be scrupulous in analysing the role of ICTs in pedagogic work with least-advantaged groups of students.     

Making stories mean; making meaning from stories: The value of literature for children

is the author of numerous books and articles on the study and teaching of Children's Literature, including the forthcomingRepresenting Native Peoples in Children's Literature (Oryx Press).     

外国语言教育中的新读写能力研究综述

经济全球化,尤其是文化全球化影响了人们交流和表达意义的方式,这就要求重新认识社会生活中的读写能力和实践。新读写能力研究理论认为读写能力不仅仅是中性的、技术性的认知技巧,更应该是个体参与社会过程中表达和交流的各种符号资源、知识类型和社会实践的综合运用能力。目前,世界多个国家和地区开展了基于新读写能力研究的教学实践活动。     

Making Phonics Work: its Role within Literacy Acceleration

Few people would challenge the need for children to be systematically taught the phoneme-grapheme correspondences of English as part of their acquisition of literacy – that is, to be taught some phonics. The issue is not whether, but how phonics should be taught. Tony Lingard here makes an excellent case for an approach which stresses analogy and embeds phonics work within a balanced literacy programme.     

Ways with Visual Languages: Making the Case for Critical Media Literacy

Teaching is a stressful profession. The causes are many but solutions are available to help the teacher cope. The author offers thirteen practical suggestions to manage stress.     

新读写能力研究及其对我国外语教学改革的启示

随着信息和通信技术的发展,新读写能力研究理论扩大了对读写能力概念的认识,认为读写能力不仅仅是中性的、技术性的认知技巧,更应该是个体参与社会过程中表达和交流的各种符号资源、知识类型和社会实践的综合运用能力。目前,新读写能力研究理论已广泛运用于教学活动中。国外新读写能力研究理论和实践对我国外语教学改革具有一定的借鉴意义和启示作用。     

媒介素养：交互媒介环境下家庭文化素养的新课题

本研究是质性分析和量化数据相结合,结果显示家庭媒介素养整体发展现状处于中等偏下水平,发展现状令人担忧。家长的媒介素养能力明显跟不上社会发展的脚步。家长在媒介管理、媒介获取与媒介应用三方面都显著偏弱。家长的受教育水平与其媒介素养显著正相关,社会对家庭媒介素养能力的整体培养没有给予足够的重视。营建良好家庭媒介氛围,鼓励提高家长自身媒介素养,通过亲子共识、共视、共享媒介,培养家庭成员具有健康的媒介批判能力,使其能够充分利用媒介资源自我完善,参与社会共同发展。     

A Stitch in Time: Skills for the New Literacy

This article examines the relationship between moving image study and English, with particular reference to understandings of the practice of editing. Starting from the premise that English teachers support the study of moving images in their subject, the article interrogates the kind of knowledge and understanding, and the range of skills which are implicated by editing. It ends by calling for a recasting of English in tune with the changes ‐ and convergences ‐ that new digital technologies are already heralding.     

From Science Studies to Scientific Literacy: A View from the Classroom

The prospective virtues of using history and philosophy of science in science teaching have been pronounced for decades. Recently, a role for nature of science in supporting scientific literacy has become widely institutionalized in curriculum standards internationally. This short review addresses these current needs, highlighting the concrete views of teachers in the classroom, eschewing ideological ideals and abstract theory. A practical perspective highlights further the roles of history and philosophy—and of sociology, too—and even broadens their importance. It also indicates the relevance of a wide range of topics and work in Science Studies now generally absent from science educational discourse. An extensive reference list is provided.     

Twitteracy: Tweeting as a New Literacy Practice

Abstract

This article defines Twitter ^tm ; outlines the features, affordances, and common uses; and conceptualizes “tweeting” as a literacy practice, comprising both traditional and new literacies, and impacting both informal and formal learning settings. Also provided is an overview of traditional and new literacies, and insights from a scan of the research literature to date on tweeting as a literacy practice. The authors outline areas for inquiry and the challenges to conducting such research.     

新农村建设不可缺少的软件:媒介素养

在我国,由农业社会向工业社会、信息社会同步转型的现代化进程中,传播媒介将对社会各个方面发挥极大的影响。媒介素养已成为新农村建设不可缺少的软件,因此急需提高传播者和农村受众的媒介素养。     

Living the stories we tell: The sociopolitical context of enacting teaching stories

This article draws from two separate classroom-based studies of early career teachers that yielded overlapping findings about the diminished opportunities teachers and teacher educators have to construct sophisticated stories about the complexities of classroom life and the ongoing process of learning to teach. The teachers' stories represent the intersection of research, policy, and practice, illuminating contradictions between teachers' beliefs about teaching and what they were able to enact in their classrooms. These findings may be leveraged to support teacher educators to support teachers to create coherent narrative identities that help them creatively respond to problems of practice and contextual constraints.