Pausing to Assess My New Literacy Knowledge

Image Courtesy: http://thetrc.org/trc/images/forum.jpg

So far, the results of my new literacies approach has been mixed in my classroom, but I'm optimistic overall. Since debuting the ‘Friday Chats’ threaded discussion groups in my class, I’ve heard an assortment of opinions from students. To begin with, this project replaced another ongoing writing project that I thought students were losing interest in and I was getting frustrated with. I had started a Friday project where students had the choice to either silently read a book of their choice or write in a personal blog about whatever they wanted. I got the idea from Devon Stokes-Bennett, who spoke about her “Passion Project” last summer during her project presentation. The students started off strong in the fall but then I noticed that many students were not participating. They were pretending to blog when they were really playing online games or chatting with one another online. I thought that if they began engaging with one another in a forum that they build for class, they would be excited for this new project and I also hoped, as Baker asserts, that "Technology can be harnessed to help children practice traditional reading and writing skills" (Baker, p. 287). Some are certainly excited for the change, however a handful of students told me that they “missed” blogging; even the ones who I knew had fallen behind so I’m a bit confused. Three very strong students have asked if they can continue to blog anyway so I have decided to run the blogging project as an enrichment project for those who are interested.

The first result that I am excited to see happening with the TDGs is that students are participating in the chat groups outside of class time even though it is not required. I noticed this was occurring a bit in the first two weeks, but this weekend I have received about a dozen notifications from Google Groups that alert me that students are continuing to chat past the required ‘chat time’ of Friday class. I find this really exciting, and in particular, I was happy to see a more reluctant student post a few replies late Friday night when I had noticed that he hadn’t written much during class. Many of them are also accessing 'older' conversations from weeks past, and updating their responses or catching up if they had fallen behind. I’m learning that some students just need much more time to think before they respond or perhaps even feel more confident replying when they’re outside of the classroom space. This understanding is something that Lee and Lee (2006) discuss in their article about personality types and threaded discussion groups in which they argue that "[reflective thinkers] may actively participate in asynchronous environments such as Web-based threaded discussions because they have enough time to think" (Lee & Lee, p. 84). Also, whenever one student posts, everyone in the group is alerted, so they are encouraging one another to continue classroom discussions beyond the class.

The next thing I’m noticing is that students are really starting to critically think about choosing who they want to engage with. The groups have shifted a few times since they originally signed up, with students asking to switch or break up into even smaller groups. A few female students have said that they would feel more comfortable in a female-only group, even though they initially wanted to work with a mixed group. I was especially interested when a girl asked to switch into an all-female group after initially signing up in the same group as her boyfriend and some of his friends. She said that she would be far more comfortable chatting online with a smaller group of girls she knows well. Since switching, I’ve noticed that she’s writing a lot more than she did in the first couple of posts. Because we’ve been implementing Project Based Learning into our practices at our school, navigating group work and group dynamics is something that we’re talked about a lot as a class and I’ve spoken to several parents about it as well. I’m thrilled to see students stop and think about whom they work best with and who will support them in their learning instead of just working with their friends.

I’m also thrilled that students have been providing me with ideas for the forum posts. The ‘Create a Soundtrack for your Life’ post came from a student’s suggestion, and another asked me to post a creative writing option for this week, as we are currently studying poetry. I provided a template for a poem for the students who feel a little bit ‘lost’ with poetry, but offered the option for students to write any kind of poem they liked. Here is a screenshot of (part of) this post: 

 About halfway through class, I checked in with the student who asked for a creative writing option, and asked her if she was interested in this week’s chat and she looked up at me and replied, “Miss, I’m already on my fourth poem. This is going to be a long response.” This completely made my day.

As Cox and Cox (2008) discuss, what I try to do with my forum posts is provide "an open-ended, thought-provoking question that supports the particular course material under consideration" (Cox & Cox, p. 554) but eventually, I would like to turn over decision making around discussion topics to the students, although I’m not really sure how to do this. I’ve thought about inviting each group to suggest a topic, then put it to a class vote. I’ve also considered having each group determine for themselves what their topic for the week would be, either choosing from a list that I provide them with, or providing examples and then allowing them the freedom to choose. I think my only stipulations would be that the topic has to connect with the outcomes of the course and/or to what we are currently studying otherwise in the class. I plan to investigate further what other teachers have done and see what they say has worked. I’ve also considered running a book club using this platform; I’m just not sure what this would look like yet. I’ll probably start asking the students how they would like to see these groups develop. One suggestion I had from a colleague was to use a website called http://www.polleverywhere.com where I could post a question such as “What should our next ‘Friday Chats’ be about?” and then students can text their answers into the poll. I can project the screen on my white board, and students’ responses will pop up anonymously in real time and we could read them as a group. Here's a visual that shows an example of what can be done and instructions: 

Image Courtesy: https://tmiket.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/polleverywhere-defaultinstructions1.png

I tried using this website a couple of weeks about while teaching Of Mice and Men and my grade eleven students were shocked that I was asking them to use their phones for class. The response was wonderful as their answers popped up at the front of the room and they kept yelling, “That’s mine!” Their responses appeared on the board and looked something like this: 

Image Courtesy: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB6FiF1E3JbhjkX-UEllOSqk81xQCxPElFa4WkmhgGteU-AS2woWb_vP5WHhiMzblZMpgyPseWnAQKa21E1KpYn8WL-1-9KNq3eR5PNGE51pvafZ9HoAmGQgg6GedqTOlm4v4WpnSO0Hk/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-04-24+at+1.04.29+PM.png

Students are also being really kind to one another in the groups and have been offering one another a lot of encouragement. I'm happy to see this because I spent a lot of time outlining expectations for responding to others online at the beginning of the project. As an example, here's some kind words from one of my students: 

One of the technical 'kinks' that I've run into is that every Thursday night when I post the prompt for the Friday class, the Google Group sends a notification email to all the students. The next day, the students see the email from me and instead of going to their Google Group to respond, some have been replying to the email by accident. This means that only I see their response, not their group, and it is not recorded in their group. For the past few weeks, I have had to take the first five minutes to remind them how to go through the steps of accessing their Google Groups and begging them to not reply to the notification email. This is a problem that I did not anticipate; I just assumed that it would work either way. This caused quite a headache because I had to get roughly 140 students in 30 different groups to go back and copy and paste their responses from emails back to their groups. All the students seem to know how to access it properly now, but this snag was very frustrating and I know I'll have to do a lot of digging through my email to ensure I've read everything they've posted for assessment. 

Another struggle that I've encountered in my instruction is exactly what Tarasuik (2010) describes in their article; being "instilled with the mantra 'stay on task'" it similarly took "much effort for me to interfere as little as possible" when I noticed students "leaving those internet windows open in the background... often glancing at several websites as they worked" (Tarasuik, p. 545). Many students are on other websites and devices while they participate in our Friday Chats discussion. I need to remember that they can multitask, and also, that they are often on these other websites gathering ideas for their posts. 

Image Courtesy: http://www.timeslive.co.za/incoming/2013/12/02/teen-girl-on-laptop-and-phone.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/teen+girl+on+laptop+and+phone.jpg

Many students also love to listen to internet radio while they work, or have music videos playing in the background off of YouTube, which I usually have no problem with. However, I struggled in one moment when I noticed that while a student was in the middle of typing in their Google Group, they were simultaneously streaming a TV show online and listening to it in the background. When I asked her how she concentrated, she assured me that she "needs background noise" and to "not worry" because she'd already seen the episode so she really wasn't paying much attention. I asked her why the background noise of the classroom wouldn't work for her and she scrunched her nose and said "well, I'm not interested in what everyone else here is talking about." In this moment I admit I wrestled with what to do because admittedly, my own work habits were influencing what I thought of hers. I would never be able to work effectively the way she is, but since she was making great progress, I just told her that I looked forward to reading her response and let her continue. I'm not sure if this was the 'right' thing to do, but I'm choosing to trust her understanding of her own learning. 

In a similar vein, something that completely perplexes me about many students work process and multitasking abilities is how even while they are writing to one another in their Google Group, they are also continuing to text, Facebook, Snapchat, and "hang out with one another online" (p. 545), outside of our online classroom space. Sometimes it makes me laugh when I see that students sitting even across from one another are texting to each other and when I ask why they don't just talk, they usually respond that it's something they don't feel comfortable saying out loud. Of course I want them to feel safe in communicating with one another and if they're 'on task' otherwise, I don't see this as a problem, but I sometimes worry that they're perhaps texting things they wouldn't say out loud because they know I would shut it down if it was cruel, gossipy, or offensive. I'm learning that there is a balance between trusting and monitoring their digital presence, and I'm still not sure what the ideal classroom looks like. The students know that my only 'rule' in the classroom is that everyone in the room deserves to feel safe and welcome, and if a student is interfering with this, then we have a problem. I am just concerned sometimes that they may be hurting one another via their screens and it is then out of my sight and to some extent, my control. 

The last major hurdle I continue to battle with nearly everyday is trying (often unsuccessfully) to assist students with troubleshooting on their various digital devices. I'm fairly comfortable with Apple products, as I have a Macbook, an iPad, and an iPhone, but when it comes to other laptops, tablets, and phones, I am usually at a loss. I'm comforted by Gainer's (2012) article that assures "teachers need not be experts in technology. In fact, willingness to learn from students may provide opportunities to highlight and honour out-of-school literacies of students" (Hagood in Gainer, p. 15). Students are certainly the best resource to help with this, and we are lucky at my school to have a full time IT person that I can call to my classroom to help students with various technological issues. 

Ultimately, through the successes and snags I've seen so far with experimenting with my new literacy is what Lee and Lee assert;  that "Online learning is a complex process" (Lee & Lee, p. 564). I look forward to continuing to learn about the benefits of TDGs with my students and building these conversations together. 

Reference List: 

Baker, E. (2010). The New Literacies: Multiple Perspectives on Research and Practice. New York, 

NY: Guilford Press.

Cox, B. & Cox, B. (2008). Developing Interpersonal and Group Dynamics through Asynchronous Threaded Discussions: The Use of Discussion Board in Collaborative Learning. Education, 128(4). 552-565.  

Gainer, J. (2012). Critical Thinking: Foundational for Digital Literacies and Democracy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(1). 14-17. 

Lee, J. & Lee, Y. (2006). Personality Types and Learners’ Interaction in Web-Based Threaded Discussion. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 7(1). 83-94. 

Tarasuik, T. (2010). Combining Traditional and Contemporary Texts: Moving my English Classroom to the Computer Lab. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(7). 543-552. 

The Potential of Threaded Discussion Groups: Reflecting on the First 2 Weeks

Image Courtesy: http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/images/articles/main/id_202_608.jpg

After considering multiple perspectives on the usefulness of threaded discussion groups in the English classroom, there appears to be a great deal of potential for this new literacy to enhance the experience of learners in a number of ways. My main goal in exploring threaded discussion groups is to encourage my students to develop into engaged writers who think critically about the literature, topics, and concepts in our curriculum, and to provide a new space for them to authentically respond to the literature and films in our courses. As Cox and Cox (2008) assert, “Discussion is a valuable tool in the teaching process and a discussion board offers students the opportunity to engage in such dialogue” (Cox & Cox, p. 564). In my teaching context, one of the primary obstacles that I encounter in the classroom is a sense of apathy towards learning and education in general, and I believe that many of my students disengage because they don’t find the curriculum meaningful to them or they are intimidated because of past discouraging experiences with school. Many of my students claim to ‘never read’ and ‘never write,’ however, what I am beginning to learn and teach them is that they are reading, writing, and engaging in critical dialogue, just in new literacy contexts, and I am trying to empower them by integrating some of these new literacy practices that they are already using into our curriculum.

I’ve just begun using online threaded discussion groups in my grades nine and eleven classes these past couple of weeks. Here are a few screen shots of the Welcome Page, and the first two discussion topics that students have been working on:

The Welcome Page for English 20-2:  

 Discussion Topic 1: 

Discussion Topic 2: 

When I first started planning for this semester, I thought that I would use TDGs for my grade twelve class, but I’ve decided to only use this new literacy for a portion of the semester, later in the year, because I am concerned about ensuring that these students are prepared for their 50% provincial exams in June. For now, because I feel as though I have no room for ‘error’ with my grade twelves, the experimenting with TDGs will begin in my other classes so I can learn from any hiccups we encounter. A major concern that I have is Knowlton, Knowlton, and Davis’s (2000) assertion that “student interaction is not automatically generated by the use of threaded discussion boards” (Knowlton, Knowlton, & Davis in Cox & Cox, p. 555) and I want to make sure that these discussions are helping to create a meaningful collaborative learning environment. Now that I’ve set up these threaded discussion groups, I need to ensure that I don’t just rely on the students to make it work; I need to strike a balance between facilitating these groups and allowing the students the freedom to make them their own. I believe that if I’m successful in this, these groups can be a space for authentic learning, reflective thinking, risk-taking, experimentation, and collaboration.

The first decision that I made was to have the students choose their own groups before I set them up online for threaded discussions. We’ve been doing Project Based Learning work in class already this year, so we’ve had a few conversations already about the importance of considering the peers they will work most effectively with. At first, I was tempted to create their groups for them because I wanted to pair some of the more reluctant students with students who feel confident in the course. However, Chen and Caropeso (2003) show that “personality has a great impact on the quantity and quality of online discussion and group interactions” (Chen & Caropeso in Lee & Lee, p. 84), and I decided to let go and trust them to organize themselves into groups with people they know that they work well with. Now, I am managing thirty different TDGs across four classes. Here is a screen shot of what my “My Groups” page looks like:

Also, I anticipate that we will sometimes be exploring some more sensitive and intense issues in this next semester including self image, bullying, mental health issues, and self harming, so I wanted to ensure that they were in discussion groups with peers that they trusted because as Bowers-Campbell (2011) asserts, “threaded discussions…allow[] for easier discussions of controversial topics” (p. 558). I’ve already encountered some students deciding to re-arrange the original groups they signed up in because, as one student said, “I think I’m more comfortable opening up to just a couple other people in the class instead of five.” One topic that I think I’m going to work on with my grade nines in the coming weeks is digital citizenship, as our community has experienced something of a ‘social media mess,’ as my principal calls it. Students in our community are using an app called “Ask” and posting very hurtful and inappropriate questions anonymously for one another, and it’s snowballed so much so that there was a news story about it. Our admin team has asked all staff to all make sure that we are integrating digital citizenship discussions into our curriculums and so I hope that using TDGs will help the students feel safer to express their thoughts more freely, as Bowers-Campbell suggests.

Also, as a result of this grouping process, the TDGs are comprised of a mixture of students that are both introverted and extroverted learners, and Lee and Lee (2006) argue that this is a positive group composition, as “extroverted learners are motivated by introverted learners’ analytical and thoughtful discussions, while, conversely, introverted learners are inspired by extroverted learners’ spontaneous feedbacks and new ideas” (Lee & Lee, p. 85). What I noticed on our first day of TDGs was that because they chose their own groups, their knowledge of their peers’ personality types certainly allowed the students to jump right into participation in the groups without hesitation. Their groups were physically spread out all over the classroom, so even though they were in discussion groups online, the room was filled with chatter. Students were calling across the room to one another with comments such as “Jill, did you read my post yet?” “Ha; Dayton, I knew you would write about that movie!” and “I’m going to post a link to that video, okay? Check in a second.” What I realized was that I was asking them to continue doing what they already do with regularity; engage in virtual discussion with one another, only this time I had them focused on an English class topic in a threaded discussion as opposed to their usual everyday interactions via texting, Facebook, Snapchat, and various other social media. They already know how to do this.

I decided against using a Moodle forum or Google Hangout Chat because I found that Google Groups are a happy medium. It is easily accessible, more visually engaging than a Moodle forum, but also not overly complicated, which some students find Google Hangout Chat to be. When I showed a couple of my students a Google Hangout and asked if they’d want to be in one, one responded with, “Miss, there’s just a lot going on here.”  Also, Google Groups seems to be the easiest platform for me to use to facilitate, as I can “save” all of their interactions and I came across a very useful document created by my school board, Rocky View Schools, on how to use Google Groups in the classroom:

http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/home/techsupports/google/best-practices/groups

In deciding on assessment for their TDGs, I’ve chosen to use shared evaluation pedagogy (SHEP), as discussed by Aukerman and Walsh (2009) so that the students feel as though their ideas about their learning are being honored and included in assessment. In their article, they discuss how this practice is “by no means a pedagogical free-for-all” but rather, this approach can help students to “become more accountable to the text and to each other” in virtual discussion groups (Aukerman & Walsh, p. 54). I believe that this strategy will help the students understand that they are an authentic audience for one another, and they will hopefully keep one another on task and engaged. I designed peer and self-assessment rubrics along with a rubric for teacher assessment, using resources that I cited in my previous blog post. Here is a screenshot of the assessment rubric I created for me to assess them:

Teacher, self, and peer assessment, and reflections for this project will be completed at the end of each month. 

Although I have only tried TDGs for two weeks, what I have seen so far has been encouraging. Students seem engaged, and I’ve noticed that many students are working on their discussions outside of class time as well. I’ve set up my Google Groups to email me a notification whenever students make a post, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that many students are accessing the groups at home even though I only require them to work on it during our Friday classes. Returning to Cathie English’s (2007) article discussed in my first blog post, I’m certainly finding that she’s right in her assertion that “Online threaded discussion allows the teacher and students to expand the classroom beyond the school day and beyond the school walls so that more thoughtful exchanges can take place” (English, p. 56). I look forward to seeing if students continue to be engaged in the TDGs and after a few weeks, I’m planning on turning the forum over to them, so that they are generating the inquiry questions for our Friday Chats.

Reference List:

Aukerman, M. & Walsh, H.W. (2009). Getting “Real” in Virtual Talk about Text. Middle School Journal, 40(4). 53-61.

Bowers-Campbell, J. (2011). Taking it Out of Class: Exploring Virtual Literature Circles. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(8). 557-567.

Cox, B. & Cox, B. (2008). Developing Interpersonal and Group Dynamics through Asynchronous Threaded Discussions: The Use of Discussion Board in Collaborative Learning. Education, 128(4). 552-565. 

English, C. (2007). Finding a Voice in a Threaded Discussion Group: Talking about Literature Online. English Journal, 97(1). 56-61.

Lee, J. & Lee, Y. (2006). Personality Types and Learners’ Interaction in Web-Based Threaded Discussion. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 7(1). 83-94.