"New Media & New Literacies"

Leveraging Tools, Texts, and Talk in My Teaching: After reading these articles I have concluded that designing classroom activities across spaces creates interaction, communication and critical thinking. These spaces create an opportunity for hands-on real-world learning. Through play-based film making, reading, real world conversations and much more, students can learn.  “The context, not the tool, is what is important when making decisions about utilizing new technology within learning environments.” (Philip & Garcia, 2013) According to Aguilera (2017) more than bits and bytes digital technologies are made by people, organizations, and institutions that can shape our experience of the world in powerful (and sometimes hidden) ways. Not everything we see on the internet is true. Our youth are greatly impacted by what they see not only on the internet but in commercials and even on video games. We have to teach our students that there is much more to life and in the world than w...

 How New Literacies are Relevant to Us: For this assignment the two articles I chose to read were Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning and Justice: More than Just Tools and Digital Literacy. Both articles mentioned the importance of having proficient skills not just technically but critically and responsibly. Digital literacy is much more than knowing how to use a computer. As defined in the article "Digital Literacy" Digital Literacy is Critical thinking, communication, processing and analyzing information, self-awareness, problem solving, and navigating systems are all deeply necessary skills in the pursuit of achieving proficiency in digital literacy (Vanek, 2019). According to the International Literacy Association (2018) Instead of placing trust in the latest gadget, faith must be placed in the expertise of teachers to sustain classrooms that reflect the contexts of learning that are encountered outside of schools and in the real world (ILA, 2018). ...

Defining New Literacies and Why They Matter: As I have stated in my last blog, my teenage daughter keeps me up to date on the latest technology and ever evolving new literacy. I grew up in a time where books were our main source of literacy. Maybe google had just started to come around, but we did not rely on the internet like we do in today's world. Meetings that were once in person are now on Zoom. Data on paper is now on an app and taken on Ipads. Playing outside has been traded in for phones, tablets and computers. Video games are the new way of making friends all over the world. What was once so simple and personable has been changed into something way larger, opening up endless possibilities.  As a teacher to preschoolers with special needs, learning is a lot different. Many of them have not found their voice yet and reading is not even an option. We rely on many digital literacies. Most of them involving music and song.  By incorporating this into our everyday routines ...

  Hi, my name is Jennifer Mathous. I graduated in 2021 with a bachelor's in early childhood/childhood education. I live in a small town in upstate NY called Saugerties.  Ever since I was in second grade my dream was to become a second-grade teacher. That dream came true 2 years ago.  I taught at an inner-city school in Albany, NY. Unfortunately, with the commute, long hours and many behaviors I left the school and currently teach Special ed preschool in my hometown. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the smiles on their faces.  I have a 13-year-old daughter who keeps me young and focused on always striving to be better. I also work per diem as a CNA at a nursing home and have been doing this for 14 years.  I have been out of the college scene for a few years and hoping the transition back will be smooth. I am pursuing my Master's degree to obtain my professional licensure and to be able to continue teaching in NY. I hope this course will help me incorpo...