Digital Literacies


Book Description

This book brings together a group of internationally-reputed authors in the field of digital literacy. Their essays explore a diverse range of the concepts, policies and practices of digital literacy, and discuss how digital literacy is related to similar ideas: information literacy, computer literacy, media literacy, functional literacy and digital competence. It is argued that in light of this diversity and complexity, it is useful to think of digital literacies - the plural as well the singular. The first part of the book presents a rich mix of conceptual and policy perspectives; in the second part contributors explore social practices of digital remixing, blogging, online trading and social networking, and consider some legal issues associated with digital media.




Teaching Literacy in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades K-5


Book Description

Teach with optimum impact to foster deeper expressions of literacy Whether through direct instruction, guided instruction, peer-led and independent learning—every student deserves a great teacher, not by chance, but by design. In this companion to Visible Learning for Literacy, Fisher, Frey, and Hattie show you how to use learning intentions, success criteria, formative assessment and feedback to achieve profound instructional clarity. Chapter by chapter, this acclaimed author team helps put a range of learning strategies into practice, depending upon whether your K–5 students are ready for surface, deep, or transfer levels of understanding.




Successful Educational Actions for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe


Book Description

This monograph analyses and describes successful educational actions with a specific focus on vulnerable groups (i.e. youth, migrants, cultural groups e.g. Roma, women, and people with disabilities). Concrete data that shows success in school performance in subject matters such as math or language will be provided, as well as children, teachers and families accounts of the impact of this success. Alongside, there is an analysis of the relationship between these children’s educational performance with their inclusion or exclusion from different areas of society (i.e. housing, health, employment, and social and political participation). Many studies have already diagnosed and described the causes of educational and social exclusion of these vulnerable groups. This monograph, however, provides solutions, that is, actions for success identified through the INCLUD-ED project, thus providing both, contrasted data and solid theoretical background and development. Some examples of these actions are interactive groups (or heterogeneous grouping in the classroom with reorganisation of human resources), extension of the learning time, homework clubs, tutored libraries, family and community educative participation, family education, or dialogic literary gatherings. All these actions have been defined as successful educational actions, which mean that they lead to both efficiency and equity. Finally, recommendations for policy and practice are included and discussed.







Fostering the Love of Reading


Book Description

Representing current thinking about a wide range of issues related to reading motivation, this book offers a look at how to create classroom cultures that foster in students the love of reading. The book is about teachers and the critical role they play in helping children develop into motivated, active, engaged readers who read both for pleasure and information because they find it to be personally satisfying and rewarding. After an introduction ("Developing Lifelong Readers" by Eugene H. Cramer and Marrietta Castle), chapters in the book are: (1) "Reading and Society: Lessons from the World Out There" (Lloyd W. Kline); (2) "Toward a Model of Reading Attitude Acquisition" (Michael C. McKenna); (3) "The Insatiable Appetite" (Victor Nell); (4) "Who Reads What and When?" (Peter J. L. Fisher); (5) "How Teacher Attitudes Influence Reading Achievement" (Edward J. Dwyer and Evelyn E. Dwyer); (6) "A Portrait of Parents of Successful Readers" (Dixie Lee Spiegel); (7) "Promoting the Reading Habit: Considerations and Strategies" (Jerry L. Johns and Peggy VanLeirsburg); (8) "Literature and the Visual Arts: Natural Motivations for Literacy" (Richard Sinatra); (9) "Instilling a Love of Words in Children" (Nancy Lee Cecil); (10) "Connecting in the Classroom: Ideas from Teachers" (Eugene H. Cramer); (11) "Helping Children Choose Books" (Marietta Castle); (12) "Values, Agendas, and Preferences in Children's and Young Adult Literature" (June D. Knafle); (13) "Response to Literature: Models for New Teachers" (Camille L. Z. Blachowicz and Cathryn A. Wimett); (14) "Affect Versus Skills; Choices for Teachers" (Betty S. Heathington); (15) "Coordinating Teacher Read-Alouds with Content Instruction in Secondary Classrooms" (Judy S. Richardson); (16) "Writing Novels for Discouraged Readers...and Why We Must" (Irene Schultz); and (17) "Educating Teachers Affectively: Client-Centered Staff Development" (Cara L. Garcia). An epilogue ("The Need for Affective Literates" by Larry Mikulecky), concludes the book. Contains 93 references. (RS)




The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change


Book Description

Written by two world-leading academics in the field of attitudes research, is a brand new textbook that gets to the very heart of this fascinating and far-reaching field. Greg Maio and Geoffrey Haddock describe how scientific methods have been used to better understand attitudes and how they change. With the aid of a few helpful metaphors, the text provides readers with a grasp of the fundamental concepts for understanding attitudes and an appreciation of the scientific challenges that lay ahead.




Building Communities of Engaged Readers


Book Description

Reading for pleasure urgently requires a higher profile to raise attainment and increase children’s engagement as self-motivated and socially interactive readers. Building Communities of Engaged Readers highlights the concept of ‘Reading Teachers’ who are not only knowledgeable about texts for children, but are aware of their own reading identities and prepared to share their enthusiasm and understanding of what being a reader means. Sharing the processes of reading with young readers is an innovative approach to developing new generations of readers. Examining the interplay between the ‘will and the skill’ to read, the book distinctively details a reading for pleasure pedagogy and demonstrates that reader engagement is strongly influenced by relationships between children, teachers, families and communities. Importantly it provides compelling evidence that reciprocal reading communities in school encompass: a shared concept of what it means to be a reader in the 21st century; considerable teacher and child knowledge of children’s literature and other texts; pedagogic practices which acknowledge and develop diverse reader identities; spontaneous ‘inside-text talk’ on the part of all members; a shift in the focus of control and new social spaces that encourage choice and children’s rights as readers. Written by experts in the literacy field and illustrated throughout with examples from the project schools, it is essential reading for all those concerned with improving young people’s enjoyment of and attainment in reading.




Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom


Book Description

This comprehensive examination of extensive reading shows how reading large quantities of books and other materials can provide students with essential practice in learning to read and help them develop a positive attitude towards reading, which is sometimes missed in second language classes. The authors first examine the cognitive and affective nature of reading and then offer a wealth of practical advice for implementing extensive reading with second language learners. Suggestions are provided for integrating extensive reading into the curriculum, establishing a library, selecting reading materials, and keeping records for purposes of evaluation. The text also describes a wide variety of classroom activities to supplement individualized silent reading. The information will be useful both for pre-service teachers and for teachers and administrators who want to improve the teaching of reading in their second language programs.




Reading in the mobile era


Book Description

Millions of people do not read for one reason: they do not have access to text. But mobile phones and cellular networks are transforming a scarce resource into an abundant one. Drawing on the analysis of over 4,000 surveys collected in seven developing countries and corresponding qualitative interviews, this report paints a detailed picture of who reads books and stories on mobile devices and why. The findings illuminate, for the first time, the habits, beliefs and profiles of mobile readers in developing countries. This information points to strategies to expand mobile reading and, by extension, the educational and socio-economic benefits associated with increased reading. Mobile technology can advance literacy and learning in underserved communities around the world. This report shows how.