My blogging experience

Using the 5-A model by Ian Jukes (ask, access, analyze, apply, and assess) can be very helpful when determining if information is the right choice for the task. While looking through articles about literacy and technology, I saw that several were from the early 2000's, which is much too old to use as a reference for today. That would be considered to be analyzing the information from the 5-As. I asked questions about what I really wanted to know, I accessed and analyzed the information I had available to me, I applied it to what I was trying to learn, and I assessed that the information was useful to my topic.

How does this help me?

 

 

It is very obvious that there are many different types of learners. This article at About.com gives a quick overview of the basic styles of learning. Can't quite figure out what type you are? Try this quiz to see!

I am personally a mix of auditory, kinesthetic and visual. I work best when I can see, hear, and practice what I am trying to learn. I believe this is in part one of the most valid reasons why educators should strive to integrate technology into literacy: because they will reach all different types of learners more easily. 

The child who cannot sit still for a lecture on rhyming words may learn them quickly while playing a rhyming game on a tablet. Another child may need to practice sorting words into families using a powerpoint page. 

By integrating technology and using it to differentiate our planning and teaching, we can be sure to reach many more students in ways they can use their information.

 

Thoughts on the research findings

There is a plethora of information out there pertaining to literacy and technology because it has been such a hot topic for the past decade or so. It is very easy to find information about the subject because the web is nearly saturated with information. There are videos on YouTube, scholarly articles, web pages by specialists, and blog posting by normal teachers and their experiences.

• The Journal of Literacy and Technology
• Where We've Been and Where We're Headed
• Sesame Workshop Tackles Literacy with Technology
• Pinterest boards for literacy and technology

The above links are all excellent examples of different types of information about literacy and technology.

Journey through the inquiry stages

Journeying through the inquiry stages to understand more about literacy and technology is very easy when it is broken down into sections: ask, access, analyze, apply, and assess.

Ask: Why is technology so important to literacy in the 21st century?  How can it help our students succeed?

Access: Relevant information to the topic should come from trusted sites, such as Scholastic.com, Reading.org, American Library Association, and others.

Analysis: Review you information. Scholastic, Reading.org, and the ALA all have great information on their sites.

Applying: using the information you have learned, you could easily apply it see how it works with your students. Allow a small group of kids to use a reading app on a tablet during their free time and see if you can notice any difference in their attention span and/or interest level in the subject matter.

Assess: Did the students learn just as well using technology as the "traditional" way? Did they do better? Did they do worse? How can I chance this activity to suit the needs of my students?

The 5-As inquiry model

 

After looking into various inquiry models, I felt that Ian Jukes' 5-As model was the most useful for my needs. His model focuses on the different aspects of information processing, which are:

• Asking: questions to be answered
• Accessing: relevant information
• Analyzing: the acquired information
• Applying: connect the information to a task
• Assessing: the end result and the process. 

Ian Jukes has been a teacher, an administrator, writer, consultant, and university instructor. He is the Director of the InfoSavvy Group, an international consulting group that provides leadership and program development. Over the course of the past ten years, Ian Jukes has worked with clients in more than 40 countries and made more than 9,000 presentations. He typically speaks to between 300,000 and 400,000 people a year. Consulting Magazine Online named him one of the top ten educational speakers in America.
-SchoolBriefing.com

Mr. Jukes believes that students now are wired differently than previous generations, but that teachers are being trained to teach as if the students themselves are the same as before. His 5-A model gives both teachers and learners a clear way to understand the steps to process information.

Introduction

On this blog, I will be focusing on two of my favorite topics: literacy and technology. I have a strong interest in both of the subjects and I feel that today's media specialists must be working at a high level of understanding with both of the topics. Media specialists need to seamlessly blend the two together in order to reach more students and to help everyone reach their personal best.This video has a good message about technology and literacy.