New+literacy+practice

 Table 1 is a summary of the technology use of the five students surveyed for their funds of knowledge.

It is interesting to note that of the five students, Nathan is the biggest consumer of technology. He is also the only student not attending a Geelong based school. Another point of interest is that the least interaction with technology appears to be by the only girl, Sara, but this may be attributed to a lack of knowledge pertaining to technology available to her at school. However, Sara is of interest as she is proactive in her creativity through the use of technology. The other students are all boys, who use technology for gaming, which they undertake for fun, and acknowledge little educational benefit at all.

The data is extrapelated as follows:
The computer, DS and Wii are the technologies Sam enjoys playing on at home; particularly playing against zombies. He believes playing the games has improved his Maths; counting dead zombies helps with his numbers. Like most children, Sam also watches television at home. At school there is an Interactive White Board, digital cameras and a CD player.

Harry has little interest or use in/for technology. At home he watches television, occasionally he plays games on his Dad’s mobile phone, he listens to music on the radio, and he has no interest in the Internet. If he wants to research anything, he asks his father to check on the Internet or he goes to the library. He has infrequent use of the desktop computer at school, however, there is also an Interactive White Board, digital cameras and CD players available, but these too are infrequently used. The only other technological interaction he has is via the electronic loan-out service provided by both his school and community libraries.

 Nathan uses computers (desktop, laptop), DS, Wii, PS2, television, DVD player, cordless phones and an MP3 player at home; he loves gaming; he does not think he learns anything because it is 'too fun to learn'. At school he has computers, CD players, ‘flip cameras’, and an Interactive White Board. His library uses bar codes to loan books.

Sara likes technology as a form of entertainment. She watches the television, and uses the computer, DS and iPod. Sara’s use of her iPod, combined with her understanding of the computer has given her skills that allow her to download and create music, and make her own podcasts. She also plays Moshi Monsters on her iPod; an interactive digital pet game. she enjoys this game because it teaches her responsibilities associated with a pet. Unfortunately there are no records of available technology for her at school.

Charlie’s dealings with technology at home include the television, PlayStation, DS and computer games. He does not believe that he is learning anything from his gaming, he 'just plays it'. At school he has digital cameras, CD and DVD players, and an Interactive White Board.

Table 2 indicates the use of technology at the five schools where onservation sessions were undertaken.

The table indicates the differences of technologies seen, used and indicated within the schools visited. Unfortunately there was no technology observed at School D and Mrs Mauve was not forthcoming with information. At the other four schools there was a reasonable array of technology with no school being disadvantaged compared to others.

//The teachers' use of the technologies is further discussed below. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately, at School A there was no technology used. However, Mrs Black usually uses the Interactive White Board for modelled and shared reading. She has attempted more interactive learning through the use of netbooks and the Interactive White Board. However, due to setup time and added distractions has found it too troublesome.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">At School B, Mrs Brown used an Interactive White Board and a laptop computer during her literacy block. She projected images produced by a digital camera of a recent excursion via the Interactive White Board, to aid in stimulating the students for their independant writing. She also used laptops as a listening post resource during the reading session.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">At School C, Mrs Green used the Interactive White board to display the day's timetable, enabling the students to begin organising themselves. Other technologies included a CD player, and desktop computers. Mrs Green also used a microphone/speaker system to project her voice around the classroom, making instruction clear.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately at School D, Mrs Mauve did not use any technology during the observed literacy session.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The technologies observed at School E included Mrs Purple's laptop, an Interactive White Board and desktop computers. During the reading session, the laptop and Interactive White Board were used to enable students to view a DVD. The Interactive White Board was also used to display the worksheet activity.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">During the writing session, the laptop and Interactive White Board were used to show the purpose of the activity and its description. The laptop and Interactive White Board were further used to model writing a letter using a web based activity. Some students used the desktop computers to reinforce﻿ their letter writing knowledge.



<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are masses of technology commercial available which is finding its way into schools, with little or no educational value. When deciding on technology to assist in the classroom, there is an absolute need to consider how the technology will assist learning; if it cannot, then a more traditional form of assistance should be considered.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available technologies for the educational setting include blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, podcasting, RSS feeds, gaming, computers (desktop, laptop, netbooks), eBooks, eReaders, Apps, CD/DVDs, Interactive Whiteboards, Data Projectors, MP3/4 players and many more. The environment they are used in will depend on the reason, age-appropriateness and the learning outcome.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">﻿<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A [|blog]is a ‘website on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis’ (Google Dictionary). And a wiki is a ‘website that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure by its users’ (Google Dictionary). Blogs can be used for individuals or mall or large groups, they can be just for the teacher, class members or between multiple classes or schools communities. Black (2008) states that whatever can be achieved with pen and paper can also be completed in a blog; she believes blogs are limitless. Blog uses include; communication between students, teacher/students or teacher/parent; displaying class projects; skills or learning aids (such as the QAR information/bookmark); results; narrowing research material; sharing; brainstorming with blanket contributions; recounting/reflecting; and/or fostering creativity through technology (directly into a blog or via scanning).

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wikis are similar to blogs, yet quite different. Students can contribute and comment on the information within the wiki depending on their access. Their contributions can be monitored and used as a form of assessment. Wikis hold a similar potential to blogs, and come with many of the same issues.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Teaching approaches would remain as Hill (2008) has described, because blogs and wikis are tools to assist learning, they are not a form of literacy. The input and guidance of the teacher would still be the most valuable learning aid for the student. Concerns for teachers include the potential for abuse and the issue of cyber safety associated with both blogs and wikis; these issues will detract from potential learning outcomes.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another technology has long been a part of learning, as long as education has allowed students to have enjoyment within the learning environment; [|gaming]. Play is an important aspect of any child’s leaning, however, today it has become technologically based. ‘Most people see the term “game-based learning” and think of students playing some sort of educational computer game. But, there’s more to it than just that’ (Fujimoto, 2011).

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fujimoto (2011) compares gaming and pedagogy, in doing so he is able to distinguish where gaming is beneficial, and where it is limited. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Games can be played digitally or traditionally (non-digital) in different formats by varying numbers of participants. However, what they are played on varies; digital games are on electronic devices (consoles, computers), while traditional games are generally boards/card, drawn on paper or surfaces. While the environments that the different forms take can overlap, many traditional games have now been adapted to be played electronically.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When looking at the benefits of gaming from a pedagogical standpoint, a consideration is which form teaches the student best. The digital form may be attractive and modern, but it is vital that it be determined which form allows the information to be learnt best. Another aspect of gaming is the language used; Fujimoto (2011) questions tradition and enquires about the use of levels as opposed to grades. While using gaming for entertainment, students are motivated to ‘get to the next level’. Using gaming language may be more beneficial to learning than the more tradition language used today. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After taking this information into account, it needs to be determined how gaming influences leaning outcomes. It needs to be validated that the learning goals are being met, that the rules of the games aid in learning, and that there is a method of assessment to determine learning. An important acknowledgement about learning is that it will be optimised when the student willingly participates. Another consideration is the part played in a game by ‘adversity’, the ‘adversity’ needs to benefit any learning.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In a study by the Wesley College Library team (Kurvick et al, 2008), eReaders were found to be unappealing to young readers, and unlikely to replace text books. With the advent of the iPad, eBooks and eReaders appear to have been forced out of any potential market (Clemons, 2010).