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English 808: Technology & Literacy Unit 10—Teaching Online

Unit 10 Required Materials

Due Week 12 (Nov. 11): Required Reading on Teaching Online

  • Read a good portion of Flower Darby’s Small Teaching Online
    • Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes

Begin Class Part 1 @ 5:30

Unit 10 Class Activities

Part 1. Course Overview (5 minutes)

  • Course Goal: Introduce theoretical ideas about how technology is causing literacy to evolve
  • Course Goal: Expand doctoral students’ technological skills
  • Learning Outcome: Improve understanding of how literacy is impacted by technology
  • Learning Outcome: Gain insight into effective approaches for using technology to teach literacy

Managing Information Overload

  • Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain
    • Technology Skill: Managing Projects
  • David Allen’s Getting Things Done & Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero
    • Technology Skill: Managing Email
  • Articles on Developing Professional Web Presence
    • Technology Skill: Creating a Professional Website

Technology’s Impact on Literacy

  • Walter Ong, James Gee, and Paulo Freire on Literacy (literacy as knowing the world)
  • Mark Prensky on Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants (technology changing the world)
  • Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus (technology lowering our ability to pay attention)
    • Technology Task: Going Tech Free
  • Ryan Holiday’s Trust Me I’m Lying (technology changing the information we get)

Teaching with Technology

  • Flower Darby’s Small Teaching Online
  • Jose Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson’s Teaching with AI

Lesson Overview

  • Lesson Objective: Gain a better understanding of how small teaching ideas can be used to enhance online and in person teaching

Part 2. Flower Darby (10 minutes)

  • “Small Teaching”: Pay attention to the small, everyday decisions we make in teaching
  • We don’t have to change everything about our teaching: Instead, start with small changes you can achieve through trial and error
  • Darby wants us to think carefully about our learning goals and work backward from there; this is called “Backward Design”
    • Higgins and McKay say backward designed means we should build a course by first deciding what is the enduring understanding we want students to take away from it
  • She also talks about framing the course’s beginning and end
  • If the final project is critical, then talk about it on day 1 and keep helping students to think about that task throughout the course
  • She also wants us to make our pedagogical thinking explicit to students, so they will know why we are asking them to do tasks and how doing those tasks will help them achieve the objectives of the course

Part 3. Technology Project Refresher (5 minutes)

Part 4. Individual Reflection on Your Technology Project Progress (20 minutes)

Darby discusses the value of having students regularly reflect on their learning. In that spirit, let’s take some time to have you reflect on your Technology Project work.

  • What project are you working on?
  • Why are you working on this project?
  • What scholars/literature is this project related to?
  • What technology does the project utilize?
  • What do you know/have you learned about this technology?
  • What have you accomplished on the project so far?
  • Create a map of what you need to do over the next month to complete your project.
  • What have you learned so far from this project?

Part 4. Small Group Discussion: Technology Project Sharing (20 minutes)

  • In a smaller group, talk about how your Technology Project is going
  • How is your project helping shape your understanding of managing information overload, understanding literacy’s technologically-based evolution, and teaching with technology

Part 5. Full Class Discussion: Technology Project Sharing (20 minutes)

  • How is your project helping shape your understanding of managing information overload, understanding literacy’s technologically-based evolution, and teaching with technology

Part 6. Break (10 minutes)

Begin Class Part 2 @ 6:45 Media Manipulation

Part 7. UDL Principles

  • Darby talks about the value of Universal Design Learning Principles
  • Helps address barriers of time, connectivity, or disability
  • Make the class accessible for everyone so that students don’t have to ask for accommodations
  • UDL Guidelines
  • The Goal of UDL is Learner Agency
    • Purposeful – internalized self-efficacy, acting in ways that are personally and socially meaningful.
    • Reflective – self-awareness and metacognition to identify internal motivations and external influences that support learning and make adjustments when necessary.
    • Resourceful – understanding and applying assets, strengths, resources, and linguistic and cultural capital.
    • Authentic – increasing comprehension and deepening understanding in ways that are genuine.
    • Strategic – setting goals and monitoring learning with intentionality and planfulness.
    • Action-oriented – self-directed and collective action in pursuit of learning goals.
  •  When planning lessons and activities, consider Access, Support, and Executive Function:
    • Design multiple means of Engagement
    • Design muultiple means of Representation
    • Design ,ultiple means of Action and Expression

Part 7. Freewrite: Applying UDL Principles

  • Take 10 minutes to think about how you can enhance access and support in your classes

Part 8. Small Group Discussion: Applying UDL Principles (10 minutes)

  • Discuss ideas for enhancing access and support in your classes

Part 9. Full Class Discussion: Applying UDL Principles (10 minutes)

  • Discuss ideas for enhancing access and support in your classes

Part 10. Building Community

  • Darby talks about building community through 3 types of presence (pp. 79-80):
    • Cognitive Presence–participants construct meaning through sustained communication
    • Social Presence–participants are able to communicate their individual characteristics
    • Teaching Presence–designing lessons to ensure that cognitive and social presence are achieve

Part 11. Freewrite: 3 Take Aways

Darby talks a lot about the value of regularly accessing student learning. One good method for this is having students verbalize their own take aways from a course.

  • Take 10 minutes to think about 3 main takeaways you have from English 808: Technology & Literacy

Part 12. Small Group Discussion: 3 Take Aways (10 minutes)

  • Discuss takeaways from English 808: Technology & Literacy

Part 13. Full Class Discussion: 3 Take Aways (10 minutes)

  • Discuss takeaways from English 808: Technology & Literacy

Assignments

Due Week 12 (Nov. 11): Required Readings and Materials on Teaching AI Literacy

Required Materials

A Video

4 Short Blog Entries

Optional Readings

A Report from the U.S. Department of Education

A Book on AI