New Media & New Literacies

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Module 6: Navigating Networked Communities and Digital Ecologies

Digital platforms and tools in the classroom are new to me. I grew up during a time when technology was beginning to evolve at a rapid pace. In high school I learned to type on an electric typewriter. When I first started college, I used a word processor. My father insisted I had a cell phone when I was commuting to Buffalo State College my junior year. The cell phone plans were for calls only and it was pay by the minute usage. My husband and I had dial-up internet when we were first married.

For over twenty years, I stayed home with my children, and did not step foot in a classroom until fall of 2023. So much has changed over those years. While I am comfortable with digital platforms and tools, I do not have a lot of experience with digital tools used in the classroom. It has been a learning curve, and honestly, I would love to find time to familiarize myself with some digital platforms and tools available to use in the classroom.

There are a few digital platforms and tools I am regularly using in my classroom. The first is ClassDojo. I first started using it when I was co-teaching a class last summer. We mostly used it to communicate with students’ parents or guardians. I loved sending quick messages or a picture to students’ parents or guardians during the day. When you work with students with disabilities, especially nonverbal children, having an instant line of communication makes a huge difference in building relationships with the students’ support system.

ClassDojo is a communication app with interactive games for students. The platform states it is the safest online community for kids to play. While I have not used the game piece, I have used a few of the other features of the platform. Teachers set up an account and add students to their class. Parents can sign up and log into the class using either a QR Codes or a classroom code. A printable invite can be sent home with the student or they can be emailed to the student's parent or guardian. An email account and some type of internet access through smart phones, devices or computers are required to sign up for an account and access the features.

There are a lot more features than I am currently using, however, next school year I plan to incorporate more of ClassDojo's content in my classroom. For now, I chat with parents, send announcements, or mass messages. Under tools, there are options for timers, groups, randomizers, group maker, noise meter, directions think pair share, and music. The randomizer might be one of the best features. It eliminates the arguments and adds a level of anticipation. There are numerous possibilities for use in the classroom.

One of the features is the ability to reward students for positive skills such as helping others, on task, participating, persistence, teamwork, and working hard. There is an option to add skills. By clicking on the student's monster avatar, the teacher is able to reward the student with points for the different skills. These skills can easily be used as a classroom management and reward system. I would love to incorporate it next school year. The students in my class benefit from frequent intentional praise. That can be a challenge when one student is disrupting the class with their behaviors. Using this feature in my class would allow my staff and I to track and monitor the students’ behaviors and offer an alternative reward system, such as so many points to earn a prize or reward.

Another digital tool I have used in my classroom is Google Drive. Our school has a shared drive with for administrators, teachers, and axillary teams access. For privacy reasons, most of the Google Drive information is shared with specific staff members. Staff email and a link to a specific files is needed to access the files. Within the files, there are Google Sheets and Google Docs of class lists, master schedules for each classroom, policies and procedures, various forms, bus departures, and curriculum files. There is a master CSE meeting schedule for all the students, along with the paperwork needed to complete student's IEP drafts. The master schedule is a Google Sheets with tabs on the bottom labeled for each classroom and service provider. Within the class schedule is the days and times for student’s required counseling, speech, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.

This year I utilized a literacy unit study that was a licensed school access purchases from an online teacher resource store. The files were shared with me from another teacher. I was able to download the files and print what I needed for the unit studies. The unit study gave me access to digital anchor charts on google slides for the different units. It was easy to download the google slide and pull them up on the smartboard when we needed them. Students were able to interact with the slides. They enjoyed using the digital anchor chart slides on the smartboard.

Both ClassDojo and Google Drive require internet and a device for access. There are safety and privacy in place with email and password encryption, as well as permissions. Access to both platforms allows users to share information. To locate the needed resources, however, the user needs to know what they are looking for and where to find it. Google Drive can easily become cluttered, and it can be difficult to find the files one needs. Proper labeling is necessary. For example, our school’s Google Drive has two different master schedules for this school year. By December 2024, there were several students that switched classes or left the school. As a new teacher starting in January, it was confusing. I had to ask for clarification on several occasions to understand which file was the current version. The school I worked at previously used Share Drive. It took me some time to navigate the different sections, but once I understood where to find the information I needed, I found it to be more user friendly.

Resources

ClassDojo. (2019). ClassDojo. ClassDojo. https://www.classdojo.com/

Google. (n.d.). Google Drive: Online File Storage for Business | Google Workspace. Workspace.google.com. https://workspace.google.com/products/drive/

Friday, June 13, 2025

Module 5: Conducting Research on New Literacies

As an early childhood special education teacher, I recognize the importance of literacy. I am interested in learning ways to improve my ability to support my students. For this assignment, I searched for research articles about improving literacy for special education students through iPad usage. I have selected five research articles for this annotated bibliography. Four out of five of the articles were published in the last five years. Only one article was ten years old. Two of the articles specifically addressed educators’ professional development to improve literacy in special education. The other three specifically focused on the use of iPad apps and games to help children improve literacy. Two of the articles used the term open apps and closed apps. Closed apps are instructional apps where the player earns coins for completing the game. Open apps allow for more creativity in the players learning. The open apps mentioned in the articles were more appealing for the students and lent themselves to play-based learning. I am more familiar with closed style apps than open apps. I would be interested in learning more about open style apps and finding ways of introducing them to the students in my class.

Annotated Bibliography

Benner, G. J., Strycker, L. A., Pennefather, J., & Smith, J. L. M. (2022). Improving Literacy for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: An Innovative Approach. Teacher Education and Special Education, 45(4), 331-348. https://doi-org.sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/08884064221079813 (Original work published 2022)

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders have significant deficits in reading. This study sets out to answer three questions to determine the feasibility of a professional learning program to address teachers’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and burnout. A 10 week online professional development program, called Integrated Literacy Study Group, was developed to equip elementary teachers to meet the literacy needs of students with or at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders.

Fantozzi, V. B. (2021). “It’s Everyone’s iPad”: Tablet use in a play-based preschool classroom. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 19(2), 115-127. https://doi-org.sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/1476718X20983835 (Original work published 2021)

The study looked at the use of iPads in a play-based preschool classroom over the course of two years. The article defines closed apps as coin earned instructional led apps, while open apps are user directed and support teaching. Open apps more closely align with play-based philosophy and were used in the study. The iPads were used for language building and storytelling activities. In a play-based classroom, the children’s response and initiative are important to encourage the teachers to continue to incorporate the iPads into the day.

Flewitt, R., Messer, D., & Kucirkova, N. (2015). New directions for early literacy in a digital age: The iPad. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(3), 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798414533560

This article explores the use of iPads in learning possibilities, as well as teaching early literacy development to nursery schools, early childhood, and special education classrooms. The study looked at open and closed ios apps and their effects on learning. Closed apps tend to be repetitive, and the students lost interest quickly. Open apps allow creativity in learning. The article listed drawbacks, such as teachers spending extra time outside the classroom finding apps and students frustration over apps. While the study was exploratory in nature, the authors expressed the benefits of using iPads in the classroom.

Vasalou, A., Benton, L., Ibrahim, S., Sumner, E., Joye, N., & Herbert, E. (2021). Do children with reading difficulties benefit from instructional game supports? Exploring children’s attention and understanding of feedback. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(6), 2359–2373. https://doi-org.sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/bjet.13145

The paper studied twenty-six children ages 8-11 with reading difficulties in England to understand how the children respond to literacy learning games. Students played two games per session of a game they had previously played. The screen was recorded, and audio dialogue was recorded. When a student encountered an error, the student was asked a series of questions to determine the reason for the error to determine if the student attend to, understand and act upon different types of feedback within the games.

Zepp, Lauren B., et al. “Preparing Special Educators to Teach Reading Using Multimedia Instruction: A Literature Review.” Journal of Special Education Technology, vol. 39, no. 4, 13 Feb. 2024, pp. 500–512, https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434241232121. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.

The research article delves into multimedia models efficacy for intervention taught in special education preparation. The research specifically reviewed reading instruction from fourteen quantitative studies, excluding any studies that did not include reading instruction. Skills such as phonics, phonological awareness, and phonemic awareness were the most common forms of intervention. The research saw significant gains in pre-service teacher knowledge from technological interventions from multimedia vignettes and Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAP). The podcasts align with Richard Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML). CTML states that the use of text, images, and audio helps individuals learn better. The theory is that multimedia instruction approaches are more effective than traditional approaches.

References

Benner, G. J., Strycker, L. A., Pennefather, J., & Smith, J. L. M. (2022). Improving Literacy for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: An Innovative Approach. Teacher Education and Special Education, 45(4), 331-348. https://doi-org.sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/08884064221079813 (Original work published 2022)

Forzani, E., Leu, D. J., Yujia Li, E., Rhoads, C., Guthrie, J. T., & McCoach, B. (2021). Characteristics and Validity of an Instrument for Assessing Motivations for Online Reading to Learn. Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), 56(4), 761–780. https://doi-org.sunyempire.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/rrq.337

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

M3: Blog Post 3 - Leveraging Tools, Texts, and Talk in My Teaching Context

There is a balance between digital learning and analog learning. While digital learning has its place in the classroom, there is something to be said for hands-on activities, especially in the early education classroom. Students physically manipulating tactile items while learning various concepts broadens the learning experience. “Practically, analog literacies remind us to consider the sensory nature of how we make meaning of our surrounding world.” (Garcia, 2017)

We are living in a time where technology is literally at our fingertips. We can consume information within seconds on any subject matter. My class is made up of students aged five to nine self-directed learners. They want to do what they want to do. The classroom can become chaotic very quickly, especially when one or more of the students are exhibiting high level behaviors. Somedays, my staff and I are mostly managing behaviors. Then there are days like today when the internet is out for most of the day. I have found I need to be able to quickly pivot throughout the day and I try to have a stash of options to quickly shift gears. I tend to use technology as a tool to enhance our current lessons or to provide movement breaks throughout the day to help them transition through our daily schedule. Otherwise, I look to add more tactile, hands-on learning activities.

My class is currently working their way through a worm science kit. Recently we had an activity that looked at where worms prefer to stay. We took clear plastic cups that came with the kit and filled them with moist dirt. The students then laid a worm across the top of the soil and observed the worm. One of my students was mad that his worm did not move fast enough. Eventually all the worms moved down to the bottom of the cup of soil. We then watched a time lapsed video of worms moving through the soil over the course of a month. The activity, involving the worms, was hands-on learning, while the video allowed the students to see the tunnels worms make underground. The combination of hands-on learning and the video enhanced the learning for the students. The students were engaged in both the activity and the video. The students were asking questions and commenting on what they observed.

“We have an opportunity to optimize students' use of digital tools by returning our pedagogical scrutiny to real-time moments of discovery and human interaction.” (Garcia, 2017)

As I finish off this school year, I am already thinking about what I want to prioritize, plan, and implement next school year. My goal this summer is to spend time reflecting and considering what resources and changes I would like to make moving forward. Ideally, I would like to find a more balanced approach to digital and analog learning.

Reference

Garcia, A. (2017). Nondigital skills. Proquest.com. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1966005428/4E1DCD1AA7D54D6EPQ/17?accountid=8067&sourcetype=Trade%20Journals

Thursday, May 22, 2025

M2: Blog Post 2- How New Literacies are Relevant to Us

I chose two articles on digital literacy for this assignment. One discussed digital literacy development for adults, while the other discussed digital practices for literacy, learning and justice in the classroom. Each approached the subject of digital literacy from different perspectives.

“Digital literacy proficiency is needed to fully participate in economic, civic, work, and daily life in the United States.” (Digital Literacy This Brief, n.d.)

Working within elementary education, it is easy to narrowly focus on their current needs. However, when considering their future, it is vital to recognize future demands and expectations they may encounter as adults entering the workplace.

I think sometimes I forget to consider the goals and needs addressed simply by allowing the students opportunities to use technology in their everyday learning. Students are more engaged and motivated to learn when technology is involved. Some of the school specific learning apps, however, are not enough to keep the students engaged. Perhaps the question, when considering educational apps, is what skills do students need and will benefit from learning?

Rather than invest resources, energy, and professional development on individual tools, responsive digital instruction today must focus on the contexts of literacies that are used. To this extent, classroom technology uses should more clearly mirror the kinds of work environments that we expect students to eventually encounter. (LITERACY LEADERSHIP BRIEF Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice More than Just Tools, n.d.)

As a teacher, how does digital literacy affect my workplace experience? What skills are necessary to complete my role as a teacher? The past few years I have had the opportunity to learn or relearn various technologies uses in the classroom. I have learned many skills in the past few years out of necessity, while others I have spent time learning to enhance learning in the classroom. Most recently, I have been learning how to create Google slides for our class's morning meeting. I feel more comfortable and confident the more time I spend learning skills I can implement in the classroom and my everyday life. I feel a sense of accomplishment with each hurdle I am able to accomplish with digital literacy.

References:

Digital Literacy This Brief. (n.d.). https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/TSTMDigitalLiteracyBrief-508.pdf

LITERACY LEADERSHIP BRIEF Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice More Than Just Tools. (n.d.). https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-improving-digital-practices-literacy-learning-justice.pdf ‌

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

M2: Blog Post 1 - Defining New Literacies and Why They Matter

How does one define literacies?

If you are like me, literacy has more to do with reading and books. However, this viewpoint is too narrow and as I research new literacies, I have discovered it is much broader. It encompasses much of our everyday lives. New literacies go beyond reading and books, to include the internet and media.

In 1996, the New London Group coined the term “multiliteracies” or “new literacies” to describe a modern view of literacy that reflected multiple communication forms and contexts of cultural and linguistic diversity within a globalized society. They defined multiliteracies as a combination of multiple ways of communicating and making meaning, including such modes as visual, audio, spatial, behavioral, and gestural (New London Group, 1996).

As a child of the eighties and nineties, I have had the privilege of living through many technological changes, such as the internet and cell phones. I remember the days when there were only a couple of computers in my elementary school.

In high school, I learned to type on a typewriter and by the time I was in college, I was using computers. GPS were paper maps and, as my husband and I often remind our children, our only form of navigation to unfamiliar places required a printed map.

The internet wasn’t readily available until the mid to late nineties, and even then, it was dial-up. When we had a paper or research project, we went to the library to find books using a card catalog. My first job, I worked as at my local library as a library page. My job primarily required shelving books and making sure the books were shelved properly. At that time, the file card system was still in place, but it was quickly morphing into an online catalog. It still amazes me how much has changed in such a short period of time.

How does broadening the definition of literacies help in education?

“When learning experiences are grounded in well-informed teaching practices, the use of technology allows a wider range of voices to be heard, exposing learners to opinions, perspectives, and norms outside of their own.” (NCTE)

As a K-2 special education teacher I utilize a wide variety of multimedia to help my students learn. About half of my students struggle to recognize the letters of the alphabet. Our classroom has used videos with songs, iPad apps and games, puzzles, and tactile activities to expose and immerse them as much as possible. In my classroom, the students' involvement in their literacy learning would be limited based on their disabilities. By broadening their exposure, my students have more opportunities to gain the skills they need to learn and grow.

The language requirements and challenges in current workplaces are no longer restricted to reading and writing paper-based texts in native and other foreign languages, but have extended into recognition, interpretation, comprehension, and appreciation of languages and cultures in different forms and in diverse literacy practices. (Sang, 2017)

The expanded definition of literacies has broadened my viewpoint of ways I can incorporate literacy into my classroom to expose my students to more learning. I am looking forward to learning more about literacies and implementing a larger variety of activities with my students.

References

Beecher, C. (2023). Chapter 1. What is Literacy? Multiple Perspectives on Literacy. Iastate.pressbooks.pub. https://iastate.pressbooks.pub/teachingearlyliteracy/chapter/what-is-literacy-multiple-perspectives-on-literacy/

NCTE Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age - NCTE. (n.d.). Ncte.org. https://ncte.org/statement/nctes-definition-literacy-digital-age/print/

New London Group (1996). A Pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.

Sang, Y. (2017). Expanded Territories of “Literacy”: New Literacies and Multiliteracies. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(8), 16–19. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1139059.pdf

Monday, May 19, 2025

Introduction

Hello! My name is Heidi Dombrowski. I live in a small town in WNY. I graduated from Buffalo State College over 20 years ago, when my oldest two daughters were preschoolers. After graduating, I chose to stay home with my four children. I have never regretted that decision.

Last year, I obtained initial certifications in special education and childhood education. I worked at a private school for children with autism for about 13 months as a classroom aide, teacher assistant, co-teacher, and finally a classroom teacher. Since January I have been a special education teacher through BOCES. I teach K-2 in a 6:1:3 self-contained classroom with students with learning, behavior, emotional disabilities. I am pursuing an M.Ed. for NYS professional certification.

My learning goal for this course is to improve my use of modern communication tools in the classroom. Technology and the classroom environment have changed over the years. It’s an area I have just started focusing on in my classroom.