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MAY ISSUE

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In February 2008, the National Council of Teachers of English adopted a new definition of 21st-century literacies. According to the NCTE Executive Committee, "The 21st century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable.

"More specifically, NCTE believes that 21st-century readers and writers need to:

• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
• Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
• Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts
• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments.

  SOURCE: www.ncte.org/about/gov/129117.htm

Proficiency Using the Tools of Technology

So...What are the tools ot technology in the educational realm? These are some of the hardware tools that came to mind...

• SMARTboard technologies (specifically....interactivepanels, interactive whiteboards)
• Interactive response devices (Senteo, iRespond, einstruction)
• Handheld technologies (specifically...iPhones, Blackberries, etc.)
• iPods and MP3 players (downloadable books, as well as music)
• Elmos
• Digital technologies (webcams, cameras, camcorders)

Technology that Helps Students Build Relationships with Others

• Skype
• Instant Messaging
• E-mail

Technologies that can be Used to Share information for Global Communities

• Shared Docs (Google docs, Zoho)
• Wikis (pbWiki, WikiSpaces)
• Blogs (Edublogs, Blogger)
• Web Conferencing (Yugma)

• Zoho Databases and Reports
• Social Bookmarks (Del.icio.us, Digg, diigo, Furl, Stumbleupon)
• Mindmapping Products (Bubbl.us, Flowchart.com, Gliffy)
• Web operating systems (youOS)
• Bibliography generators (Ottobib)
• Tracking tools (Tada List)
  

Technology Strategies that Help Students Create, Critique, Analyze, and Evaluate Multimedia Texts

• Video postings (YouTube, TeacherTube, UStream)
• RSS Feeds (Google Reader, Feedraider)
• Media Sharing (Empressr)
• Photo Sharing (Flickr, PhotoBucket)
• Sharing Slideshows (Slideshare, Zoho Show, Google Show)

Attending to ethical responsibilities that Exist in Our More Complex Environments

And so we reach the true challenge! How do we teach ethical responsibilities and determine best practice AND keep our students safe as we allow more open access to these complex environments? The following resources may provide some insight as you begin to consider the measurese we need to take as educators:

• AUPs in a Web 2.0 World
• Global Teacher: Web 2.0 - Safe Publishing

Customize your Browser Toolbar - Did you know you can customize your browser toolbar by right-clicking on an empty area of the toolbar? Right-click and select the "Customize" option. Follow the directions that appear in the customize window to select the options that best suit your browsing needs.

Change font sizes/colors when Browsing - If you are visiting a website or having trouble reading an e-mail due to color of the page or the font size, you can change the font and color to improve visability. Use the tips below for easier visability:

• Select the Tools option from the top of your Explorer window and go to the Internet options. Select the General option tab and then click on the Accessibility button on right lower of the dialog box. Change the status of checkboxes marked "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages" and "Ignore Colors specified on Web pages." Click OK.
  
  
• To change the font size in Explorer select the View option from the top menu and go to Text size option to change it.

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