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Why Should We Write With a Wiki?

Professional Development and Community on the Read/Write

Web

Troy Hicks, PhDCentral Michigan University

NCTE 2008

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Today’s Talk

• Framing the Project– Writing Instruction, Adolescent Literacy, and Digital Literacy

– Teacher Professional Development

• Examining the Work on the Wiki• Implications of Current Work and Next Directions for Project

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The State of English Education

Implications of CEE Summit - May 2005

Today, new technologies are changing the types of texts we and our students create and interpret even as they are influencing the social, political, and cultural contexts in which our texts are composed and shared. Since these technologies are influencing the development of individuals, institutions, and communities (and since individuals, institutions, and communities are shaping these technologies and their uses), it is essential for English educators to turn a critical eye toward the benefits and affordances; the limitations and liabilities of integrating these newer technologies into our teaching.

- Swenson et al. (2005)

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Writing Inst.

“Grammar of Schooling”AssessmentAttitudesGenres

Adol. Lit.

Literacy “Crisis”Curriculum

RelationshipsRelevanceRigor

Digital Lit.

Changing Technologies

Newer LiteraciesAccess and

Infrastructure

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The Pedagogy of Multiliteracies

In this book, we attempt to broaden this understanding of literacy and literacy teaching and learning to include negotiating a multiplicity of discourses... We argue that literacy pedagogy now must account for the burgeoning variety of text forms associated with information and multimedia technologies.

New London Group, p. 9

Project WRITE: Pedagogy of Multiliteracies Model

Situated PracticeCreating a community of learners with a shared understanding of content area

literacy and digital literacy

Overt InstructionModeling content area literacy strategies and uses of technologies such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and digital stories while explicitly

teaching skills to support teacher

learning

Critical FramingReflecting on current practices and how

our understanding and teaching of content area literacy and digital literacy is

enacted

Transformed PracticeMoving towards a

complex and creative understanding of

literacy practices and how they are fully

enacted within and across classrooms by

engaging in collaborative work

Core Goals

Identify classroom literacy practices and

implement new practices

Develop thematic units of study that utilize

technology

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Effective Professional Development

• Engaging in pertinent literacy practices that will be used in their classrooms

• Observing teacher leaders demonstrate these literacy practices

• Focusing on students’ needs and achievements

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Project WRITE Shared Readings

Images from amazon.com, lulu.com, and stenhouse.com

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Project WRITE PD Calendar• Two full days of PD - Oct and Nov 2007

• One full day of PD - Dec 2007• Monthly night sessions - Jan - Apr 2008

• One full day of PD - May 2008• One week of PD - August 2008• One night and two days of PD in fall 2008 (Sept, Oct, and Nov)

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Changes Over Time

“It is very comforting that a year ago the technology for wikis was confusing and today it is easy but today Jing is confusing but we'll get there and be successful.” – posted by a participant in chat room during hybrid session, Sept. 2008

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projectwritemsu.wikispaces.com

• Teachers as Writers• Reading and Discussion of Books

• Developing Own Web-Based Curriculum

• Collaborating with Others

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http://projectwritemsu.wikispaces.com/

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Teachers as Writers

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Reading and Discussion of Books

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Developing Own Web-Based Curriculum

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Collaborating with Others

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Implications of a Multiliteracies Approach

The metalanguage of Multiliteracies describes the elements of Design, not as rules, but as an heuristic that accounts for the infinite variability of different forms of meaning-making in relation to the cultures, the subcultures, or the layers of an individual’s identity that these forms serve.

- New London Group, p. 36

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So, Why Should We Write With a Wiki?

• Teacher Professional Development– Professional Learning Communities, as Enabled by Virtual and Face-to-Face Work

• Purpose of English Education– Engaging in Multiliteracies Work– Teacher Education and Professional Development

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ReferencesNew London Group. (2000). A pedagogy of

multiliteracies: Designing social futures. In B. Cope & M. Kalantzis (Eds.), Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 9-37). London ; New York: Routledge.

Swenson, J., Rozema, R., Young, C. A., McGrail, E., & Whitin, P. (2005). Beliefs about technology and the preparation of English teachers: Beginning the conversation. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial] Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol5/iss3/languagearts/article1.cfm, 5(3/4).

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Photo Credits• In the Middle from

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/9870000/9878306.jpg

• Warriner’s from http://www.setonbooks.com/viewone.php?ToView=P-EN10-11

• Logos from Wikipedia, Edublogs, del.icio.us, YouTube, Wikispaces, and MySpace are screenshots from the respective sites and copyrighted by those sites.

• All other images: Troy Hicks or Red Cedar Writing Project, Michigan State University

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Produced by Troy Hickshickstro@gmail.com

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.