Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. To me transliteracy is the essence of what the Innovative Learning Program is about. When I think about transliteracy I think about both the TPACK model and the SAMR model. How are we integrating technology into the content and the pedagogy while also using the technology to allow students to do things that they could not do before. In the 21st Century we want our students to think outside of the box, to be creative, communicate in different ways and with different people as well as be flexible and adaptable. The idea of transliteracy embodies these qualities.
When I began this journey focused on blogging in a math class, my idea of what a blog is was limited. Thinking about transliteracy has broadened how I look at a blog. Students can use blogging and incorporate a variety of other digital tools. They can upload videos, screencasts, flipgrids, images, pictures, etc. Blogging gives them a platform to collaborate in a different way, to be creative, and to make it their own. Not only did this shape my capstone project but it shaped what I do in my classroom. It made me open to exploring and sharing more digital tools, even before I became and "expert" on them. I am excited to continue on my journey to be more transliterate as well as supporting my students develop the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms.
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I am not sure what else to say after blogging about the same thing several times in a row. One new struggle was getting the time to incorporate other people into my video. Being in Finland for a week set me back as far as having time to get things done. I also feel that creating my poster gave me the opportunity to clearly see my big picture, that helped me really figure out what content I wanted to include. Overall I feel excited to see all the pieces coming together. I look forward to seeing the final products of all my C-15 fam. It has been fun to watch their journey along the way.
To be honest, I have not had much time to finalize my video. I gathered more data from my students around blogging and got some great feedback. I plan to use some of this information in my video. There were several places where I plan to insert videos. I am unable to film this week because I am at the HundrED Innovators summit in Finland. I know that as soon as I get back I will be focused on setting aside time to work on my capstone project, including my video. I appreciated getting feedback from the last class that I will be able to incorporate into my final product.
As I take the next steps in creating my capstone video, I appreciate reading the resources and seeing examples. I enjoyed 9 Insider Tips for Creating a Killer Explainer Video and Learning Through Visuals. I have struggled with video length a bit and have heard about the same struggle from others. How is it that I say all the things I need to say and have it be humorous, professional and engaging while keeping it under 90 seconds. I found this graph made an impact on me as I was struggling with the length of my script: No video length will ever insure that your viewer will remember everything; however, the shorter it is the more the audience will actually watch. Keeping it within 90 seconds also really helped me to focus on what it important as I lay out my website. The other element that I struggled with a bit is how to balance some things such as humor and professionalism and information with intrigue. I am not sure I am there yet, but as I edit and get feedback I would like that to be something that I focus on. The last comment I have is how do we make sure that when people go to our website that this video is seen as the introduction to our site? How can we be creative in getting people to watch the video? I am looking forward to receiving feedback and refining my work as I move forward in creating my video. For my capstone video I decided to use Adobe Spark. I have only used this once in the past and I enjoyed it. I feel like it has a very clean look, it is user friendly and professional. I would like to explore more of the options with adobe spark as I create my video.
I found several of the tools very helpful as I sat down to create my video script. The first that really helped me was the article on structure. I liked how it gave descriptions of the beginning, middle and end. The beginning is describing life as the audience knows it. The middle is a contrast of what could be and what is. Finally the end is a call to action and new bliss. As I read these descriptions, ideas kept popping up in my head. The second resource that I found useful was Digital Writing 101. This gave me a checklist for the elements that I need to make sure I am aware of as I create my video. My biggest hurdle in creating my video is one that really goes beyond the video to the logo, the website and the entire capstone. I am feeling unsure about what my message is to my audience. I know my focus is on blogging. My first round of research was on how blogging could support math content mastery. After my research I decided to adjust my focus to really how blogging can build reflective learners and make connections. I have not done any research with my new focus so I don't feel like I have a clear message to share with others. I am not sure how I will solve this problem. At this point my plan is to move forward with my own round of unofficial research. I decided to do this to not only support my masters work but really to support the work of my school and to engage in the opportunity I have to go to Finland to present about blogging. Once I have more clarity on what I want to share, I will feel much better about all aspects of my capstone project. I began my logo making process by just clicking the first link provided. I ended up at logomaker, not to be confused with logomakr. I played around with things for a bit and ended up finding some things I liked. There are a lot of options and it is fairly easy to use. You are limited by some things, for example, I could not change the thickness of shape borders. I had to be creative with making my vision come to life. As I finished it prompted me for payment, this is frustrating. I took a screenshot of my logo and am looking forward to hearing feedback on it. I think at that point I will decide how to proceed. The first draft of my logo is shown to the right. One thing I really struggled with during this process is knowing what my capstone project is really saying. I started out with one driving question and it has evolved. We have not done any research or exploration of our revised driving question. I feel like this logo represents my new DQ but the content of my capstone does not really align to that. If we were not going to have the opportunity to explore our new DQ, I am confused about why we were allowed to modify it. I feel like our logo should symbolically represent our capstone content and at this point I am unclear about what that is; this made my logo creating process a huge challenge. I am hoping to be able to talk through this struggle with my cohort. Transliteracy is ‘the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks’ (Thomas et al, 2007). As the 9th grade team we are embarking on new territory; we are hoping to create an experience for students that allows them to be creative, learn about and address real world problems, interact with community partners, and apply their thinking around all content areas as it applies to the project. I think this design support the idea of transliteracty very well. As I think of the idea of transliteracy, the Surface, Deep, Transfer levels of learning comes to mind. In the surface level, students are directed to use specific technology tools that aid in their learning. At the deep level, students have the ability to use voice and choice when deciding which tech tools will best support their work. In the transfer level, students will use information about their audience, the community, and aspects of what they are trying to communicate in order to decide the best way or even a variety of ways to communicate with their message, idea, or product. In order for students to get to either the deep or transfer level, they must be introduced to different forms of tools and have the ability to "master" them. As I deliver content, I need to model what it looks like to be transliterate. I think my content still stays the same; it is the form and context through which it is delivered that changes. As we design projects that are authentic and rigorous the idea is that student engagement will increase. I look at transliteracy as being a component of both authenticity and rigor. Being able to use a variety of methods and tools to communicate appropriately is very applicable to the real world and to do it at the transfer level is very rigorous. Allowing choice and providing context to the project that gives it purpose and meaning allows for all students to engage at their level and interact with tools, skills and content. As technology advances and times change it is important that we empower our students. It is important that they learn content through meaningful context and that they are allowed choice, creativity, and a variety of communication methods and tools in order to become positive members of society. |
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November 2018
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