The significant presence of eBooks in education is manifested simply but profoundly in this one experience: Upon beginning to Google "eBooks," the phrase "eBooks in education" appeared as a suggested search before I made it any farther than "eBoo." Clearly, this is a major industry, or, at least, there is a major push for the use of eBooks in education.
The Dr. Scavanaugh education technology webpage says that "it is now possible to have a library in every classroom or even in your pocket." Consider the import of such a capability! Just three years ago, as a senior in high school, I was in classrooms with insufficient textbooks; in some classes I couldn't even take my books home to study. In English class the classroom's several bulky copies of Webster's Dictionary sat in a shelf in the front of the room, available to two or three students at a time, and only if they were willing to make the walk. eBooks, stored on portable devices that are growing increasingly less expensive, can provide stores of knowledge that were previously inaccessible to money-strapped public schools.
There are scholarly sources that discuss the use of eBooks in secondary education, as well. In her article, "eBooks--Ready for School Libraries?" Marjorie Pappas discusses the advantages and limitations to eBooks in education, citing copyright laws as a major hindering force at this time. The advantages, of course, include greater accessibility and greater portability.
The renowned Christine Weber, suggests that eBooks might be used especially with gifted and advanced readers to provide great interaction with the text and a more personalized learning process ("Promoting Reading: Using eBooks with Gifted and Advanced Readers").
The vast majority of scholarly sources I found through the ERIC database regarding eBooks and education indicate that using eBooks in the classroom would be beneficial. Of course, it isn't easy to reform the way education has been handled for hundreds of years (with print resources), but eBooks provide many advantages that can't just be ignored.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Visual Arts and James Joyces' Dubliners
- I'm going to use MLA Bibliography in order to research any visual arts associations with James Joyce's Dubliners to help classmate Ashley Nelson with her research.
- I'm using MLA (Modern Language Association) International Bibliography, a "detailed bibliography of journal articles, books, book chapters and dissertations."
- I did a simple search on the MLA site with the phrase Dubliners AND "visual arts." This search only pulled up two results, but I considered that a good thing.
- Loss, Archie. "Seeing is Believing: Literate Visuals and Visual Literacy." Pennsylvania English 14.2, Spring-Summer 1990. 14-27. Web. 27 May 2011.
- I actually could not access the actual article for this source, but it could be available through interlibrary loan. I am confident in the relevance of this source by the descriptors associated with it. The descriptors for this article that are relevant to my search are "James Joyce, Dubliners, relationship to visual arts, and pedagogical approach."
- Ashley Nelson is diving into Dubliners, hoping to view it from various perspectives. A pedagogical perspective is one interesting way to look at a book, and because visual arts in the classroom is something that has come to interest me, and she helped me find a source for my research, I thought this would be of interest to her.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
"Dreams Can Come True": Why Wilson Rawls Would Believe in Visual Arts in the Classroom
- I am using a database to learn more about Wilson Rawls, hoping to discover how he felt about elementary and secondary education and how he would feel about the use of visual arts in literary instruction.
- Literature Resource Center (LRC). "Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, critical analysis, and web resources of authors from every age and literary discipline."
- I simply typed "Wilson Rawls" into the basic search found on the LRC database website, and the first source I found worked with what I was looking for, so I didn't have to do an advanced search.
- The source is actually just an incredibly short letter from Wilson Rawls to "those who want to be writers," stating that dreams can come true and the way to become a writer is just to keep trying. Though this does not directly address visual arts or even education, per se, it reveals a lot about Wilson Rawls' personality and his attitude toward learning.
- Wilson, Rawls. "Dreams Can Come True: A Special Message from Wilson Rawls." Idaho Falls Public Library (12 Sept. 2001). Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Scot Peacock. Vol. 80. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 May 2011.
- Wilson Rawls wrote a letter to those who want to be writers, encouraging them to write a lot and not worry about making mistakes.
- Because I assert that using visual arts in literary instruction is beneficial for students of language arts, and I further assert that this technique would be especially useful in the study of Where the Red Fern Grows, I wanted to know how the late author, Wilson Rawls, would feel about this. Just based on this letter, I can tell that Wilson Rawls understood that there are many ways to achieve the same end--expression.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
My Forum Post
I just posted this thread on the English Teachers Chatboard. Hopefully someone responds...
"Visual Arts in the Literary Study of Where the Red Fern Grows"
I am a senior English Teaching student at Brigham Young University, and I am currently taking a class that focuses on writing about literature in the digital age. This class have given me the opportunity to research aspects of an independently chosen novel that are relevant to me. As a future teacher of language arts, I wanted to focus on an old childhood favorite, Where the Red Fern Grows.
Through my research I have become highly interested in visual interactions with the text; that is, I have come to believe that a language-only reaction to Where the Red Fern Grows (a written or oral response) falls flat when compared with visual arts reactions. Written responses (including Facebook and Twitter feeds) are often, "It is such a sad book." Visual responses, I have found, are much richer. (See http://picturebookreport.com/category/where-the-red-fern-grows/).
Now, here is what I would like to know. Have any of you had any experience with teaching Where the Red Fern Grows in your English or language arts classroom? Did you incorporate any visual arts into the lesson plan (including pictures (painted, taken by a camera, whatever), sculptures, videos, etc.)? Was it beneficial in the students' interaction with the story? Any thoughts, ideas, or experiences will be greatly appreciated.
"Visual Arts in the Literary Study of Where the Red Fern Grows"
I am a senior English Teaching student at Brigham Young University, and I am currently taking a class that focuses on writing about literature in the digital age. This class have given me the opportunity to research aspects of an independently chosen novel that are relevant to me. As a future teacher of language arts, I wanted to focus on an old childhood favorite, Where the Red Fern Grows.
Through my research I have become highly interested in visual interactions with the text; that is, I have come to believe that a language-only reaction to Where the Red Fern Grows (a written or oral response) falls flat when compared with visual arts reactions. Written responses (including Facebook and Twitter feeds) are often, "It is such a sad book." Visual responses, I have found, are much richer. (See http://picturebookreport.com/category/where-the-red-fern-grows/).
Now, here is what I would like to know. Have any of you had any experience with teaching Where the Red Fern Grows in your English or language arts classroom? Did you incorporate any visual arts into the lesson plan (including pictures (painted, taken by a camera, whatever), sculptures, videos, etc.)? Was it beneficial in the students' interaction with the story? Any thoughts, ideas, or experiences will be greatly appreciated.
The Legitimacy of the Importance of Visual Arts in Reading Instruction
- My purpose is to search the WorldCat database to find articles linking visual arts in reading instruction to literacy in order to legitimize my claim that, sometimes, particularly within the context of a book such as Where the Red Fern Grows, visual arts are a necessary component of a language arts classroom.
- WorldCat. This is "a unified catalog of research libraries and public libraries throughout the world." It is "updated daily."
- In the WorldCat search box I entered the phrases "visual arts" AND "reading" AND "literacy." This search resulted in 68 sources found. Scanning through them, I discovered many valid sources, but I was most interested in the Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research. I could not get full digital text directly through the BYU website, but I was directed to Google Books, where I was able to get a full-text preview. Once here, I scanned through the index until I found a chapter that seemed especially relevant to my interests. Chapter 13, "Visual Arts and Literacy," was such a chapter.
- Zoss, Michelle. "Visual Arts and Literacy." Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research. NYC: Guilford Press, 2009. Web. 25 May 2011.
- This article is about the integration of visual arts and language arts into one communicative curriculum within classrooms. The article mentions that visual arts is common in elementary instruction, but it could also be beneficial in secondary instruction because it is a natural means of communication that coincides with written communication.
- The article is extremely relevant to my research because a) I am interested in the use of visual arts in secondary education and b) Where the Red Fern Grows is a novel that I believe is best explored using, as Zoss puts it, "multiple means for communication," which technique is legitimized in this article.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
A New Pedagogical Passion
I decided to major in English Teaching because I love to write, I love to read, and I love to teach. Frankly, it is a major perfectly suited to my interests (besides my interest in money). I did not go into English Teaching because I felt strongly, at the time I determined my course of study, that visual arts is underrepresented in secondary education core classrooms and should be a serious part of language arts study. My research on Where the Red Fern Grows, strangely enough, has converted me into a visual arts advocate.
While searching ERIC, "the world's largest digital library of education literature," through the Harold B. Lee Library's website, using the boolean phrase "visual arts" AND "language arts," I discovered some highly interesting articles that indicate the importance of incorporating visual arts into a child's learning, even from an early age.
One such article, "Literary Instruction Through Communicative and Visual Arts," by Chia-Hui Lin, suggests that "using visual arts [including dramatic performance, comic books, television viewing, and more] in literacy instruction motivates students to become involved in the communicative arts [reading, writing, and speaking]."
Now, this pertains more to students learning how to read and write than it does the junior high and high school students I will be teaching. Nevertheless, this principle transcends the confines of age: If a student enjoys learning, more learning will take place. I have been blogging recently about how visual arts is an excellent way for readers to express their interaction with a text, especially with a book as emotional as Where the Red Fern Grows. Clearly, though, visual arts can do more than that. They can inspire students who aren't naturally into communicative arts to become interested in written expression because that written expression is interwoven with visual expression. Why make learning, even learning literature, one-dimensional!? Not only is that beneficial, it is disadvantageous for our students.
Yes, I believe that using visual arts in literary instruction can benefit students of secondary education in ways that have not been fully explored. I am going to continue to research the topic while exploring ways that teachers have done just this in their units of study around Where the Red Fern Grows.
While searching ERIC, "the world's largest digital library of education literature," through the Harold B. Lee Library's website, using the boolean phrase "visual arts" AND "language arts," I discovered some highly interesting articles that indicate the importance of incorporating visual arts into a child's learning, even from an early age.
One such article, "Literary Instruction Through Communicative and Visual Arts," by Chia-Hui Lin, suggests that "using visual arts [including dramatic performance, comic books, television viewing, and more] in literacy instruction motivates students to become involved in the communicative arts [reading, writing, and speaking]."
Now, this pertains more to students learning how to read and write than it does the junior high and high school students I will be teaching. Nevertheless, this principle transcends the confines of age: If a student enjoys learning, more learning will take place. I have been blogging recently about how visual arts is an excellent way for readers to express their interaction with a text, especially with a book as emotional as Where the Red Fern Grows. Clearly, though, visual arts can do more than that. They can inspire students who aren't naturally into communicative arts to become interested in written expression because that written expression is interwoven with visual expression. Why make learning, even learning literature, one-dimensional!? Not only is that beneficial, it is disadvantageous for our students.
Yes, I believe that using visual arts in literary instruction can benefit students of secondary education in ways that have not been fully explored. I am going to continue to research the topic while exploring ways that teachers have done just this in their units of study around Where the Red Fern Grows.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Reading Aloud with a Knot in My Throat
When I'm an English teacher, I will probably have many opportunities to read literature out loud to my students. In my daily reading practices, though, the vast majority of my reading is silent. So, as I finished up reading Where the Red Fern Grows, I decided to challenge myself (emotionally) and read the second-to-last chapter--the tear jerker--audibly with a reading buddy.
For the record, I didn't cry. But my voice did get a bit strained when I read how Old Dan took his final breath with one last thump of his tail and a longing look at Billy. It wasn't easy to voice aloud Little Anne's devotion even unto death to her buddy, Old Dan, and Billy's heart-wrenching reaction to the deaths of his dogs.
Interestingly, reading the chapter out loud did more than expose my soft spot for a couple of good, loyal dogs. The text, which I have frequently admitted isn't masterfully written, sounds much more beautiful when spoken than when sounded only in my head. I'm not saying Where the Red Fern Grows is poetry, but it is written precisely as it would be spoken by a man who spent his childhood in the backwoods of the Ozarks, a man with a beautiful story that is perfect in its simplicity.
Creating visual art to represent interaction with the book is kind of like reading it out loud. It takes on a new, third dimension. Art is like the intonations in the reader's voice. Art is like the knot in my throat, a near-tangible demonstration of how the novel moves us.
For the record, I didn't cry. But my voice did get a bit strained when I read how Old Dan took his final breath with one last thump of his tail and a longing look at Billy. It wasn't easy to voice aloud Little Anne's devotion even unto death to her buddy, Old Dan, and Billy's heart-wrenching reaction to the deaths of his dogs.
Interestingly, reading the chapter out loud did more than expose my soft spot for a couple of good, loyal dogs. The text, which I have frequently admitted isn't masterfully written, sounds much more beautiful when spoken than when sounded only in my head. I'm not saying Where the Red Fern Grows is poetry, but it is written precisely as it would be spoken by a man who spent his childhood in the backwoods of the Ozarks, a man with a beautiful story that is perfect in its simplicity.
Creating visual art to represent interaction with the book is kind of like reading it out loud. It takes on a new, third dimension. Art is like the intonations in the reader's voice. Art is like the knot in my throat, a near-tangible demonstration of how the novel moves us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)