The second chapter of “New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning” by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel further defines “literacy” as “socially-recognized practices making use of a symbol system and technology to disseminate it,” and the authors break down the idea of various “literacies” (which they stress are not tools, but instead are activities) into the […]

Diane’s Reflection using her DIY visual + several links   ;) NO, really, OK, yes probably. I JUST did the Feedly tonight, and I DID the correct assignments, and I am thankful. I am thankful that I understand that all of the learning I am undergoing is not impossible. The learning curve seems steep, as […]

  It would be impossible for me to reflect on this week and not talk about snow days. Snow days bring the kind of joy you only experienced as a child. I immediately remembered the best snow days I had as a child, my father woke me and told me I was late for school. I started scrambling all over the room trying to get ready but then he pulled up the blinds and there it was in all it's glory: snow, there was so much. We didn't get a whole lot of snow where I grew up on the southern NJ coast. It's

  It would be impossible for me to reflect on this week and not talk about snow days. Snow days bring the kind of joy you only experienced as a child. I immediately remembered the best snow days I had as a child, my father woke me and told me I was late for school. I started scrambling all over the room trying to get ready but then he pulled up the blinds and there it was in all it's glory: snow, there was so much. We didn't get a whole lot of snow where I grew up on the southern NJ coast. It's

Practices, that was a big takeaway for me this week from the L&K chapter. It all tied back into the idea of the sum of the parts is greater that one single whole… Ya, I don’t think that analogy is…

“I love you so much, from the earth to the moon, and back. I want you to be yourself and blossom in every way. The world is imperfect, but I’m here to protect you as best I can.” The short film “My Little Niece” has a fairly attention-grabbing presence on the StoryCenter stories page because […]

“Ways of Being in the World” I am really enjoying New Literacies so far. This second chapter goes into more depth about how research has come to conceptualize multiple literacies based on interdisciplinary studies in fields such as social linguistics, anthropology, social cognition, cultural psychology, history, and cultural studies – due again in large part to the … Continue reading New Literacies, Chapter 2

Since we didn’t do these last week, I’m guessing that this is a reflection for the past two weeks and will treat it as such.  These past two weeks I’ve been thinking about the things I have learned so far in this program.  After completing this class, I only have two electives left and then I’m […]

I watched this digital story, because I do have a lot of issues with GMOs.  However, I am a proponent for learning all sides of a debate and wanted to learn her stance.  The topic here though, is the effectiveness of this digital story.  The three assessment traits I chose were: content understanding Presentation and […]

“Literacy” in context…What does it mean now? What about now? The opening chapter of “New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning” by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel concentrates mainly on this question as the authors explore the changing use of the term “literacy” over the past 50 or so years. The authors describe the move in […]

Storytelling genius and literary icon, Kurt Vonnegut tackles some heavy topics with light-hearted humor in this fast-paced story about his life, his parents, and the mindset of a writer/storyteller.     In typical Vonnegut storytelling style he delivers the punch lines with perfect timing and an unconventional way that works. He switches topics artfully bringing the tale together.    I assessed this story on originality, voice, creativity, flow, organization and pacing, and story.     Kurt

For days I carried around my camera tasked with finding a good shot for the ds106 Daily Create “Take a picture of something ordinary you thought is super beautiful.” The possibilities were endless and I was pumped to find that perfect picture of something drab, homely or mundane, which – with the right romantic lighting […]

Storytelling genius and literary icon, Kurt Vonnegut tackles some heavy topics with light-hearted humor in this fast-paced story about his life, his parents, and the mindset of a writer/storyteller.     In typical Vonnegut storytelling style he delivers the punch lines with perfect timing and an unconventional way that works. He switches topics artfully bringing the tale together.    I assessed this story on originality, voice, creativity, flow, organization and pacing, and story.     Kurt

@ds106dc  #tdc1488 My kids used to play this, or I would be unfamiliar…except of course the dry textbooks excerpts! Living in CO…I had to add our friend. Buahahahaha! 

OK, now I’m in tears writing this post. Now I understand the artwork of 4th grade students I’ve been walking by for some weeks now. I just thought, “what a great idea…have a non-face persons” and let students create the character. My mother gave my own girls an Amish doll with no facial features, so my mind […]

@ds106dc #ds106 #dailycreate #tdc1486 Daily choice between which homework to do pic.twitter.com/3iWOnySfJ0 — Susan Laws (@ennasuite) February 4, 2016

Trudging through Chapter 2 I really had to focus.  Lankshear and Knobel do a painstaking job of explaining each concept.  I am not an academic, nor do I really need that level of detail to understand that as humans we want to belong and we create our sense of belonging through communication.  So, for the sake of argument lets call this communication literacy practice.    Lankshear and Knobel make the very salient point about diversity, variation, and the dynamic nature of these practices we

Trudging through Chapter 2 I really had to focus.  Lankshear and Knobel do a painstaking job of explaining each concept.  I am not an academic, nor do I really need that level of detail to understand that as humans we want to belong and we create our sense of belonging through communication.  So, for the sake of argument lets call this communication literacy practice.    Lankshear and Knobel make the very salient point about diversity, variation, and the dynamic nature of these practices we

Snow cappedSnow capped mountains, barns, buffalo, and Buffalo Bills; the history of the West is a adventure story of wild frontiers and frontiersmen. These legendary tales of triumph over adversity are prominent threads in the American tapestry.   As much as I love the terrain of the West and a good Bonnie and Clyde or Doc Holliday story I can’t think of cowboys and buffalo without thinking of Native Americans and the lust for their land. I have to leave the romanticizing of the West in the rear

Chapter Two I work with kindergarten through first grade students in my school. I have an eye on our English Language Learners, but really I have an eye on all learners. I collaborate with classroom teachers on ways and ideas to make content meaningful. The idea is to bring the page, the book, the experience to life, […]

Snow cappedSnow capped mountains, barns, buffalo, and Buffalo Bills; the history of the West is a adventure story of wild frontiers and frontiersmen. These legendary tales of triumph over adversity are prominent threads in the American tapestry.   As much as I love the terrain of the West and a good Bonnie and Clyde or Doc Holliday story I can’t think of cowboys and buffalo without thinking of Native Americans and the lust for their land. I have to leave the romanticizing of the West in the rear

#tdc1487 Fork in the Road Decisions, Decisions  

Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking. I agree with this quote 100% and it is hard to find ways that I do not agree with it. First of all, technology today…

Phew. Made it through another acedmic chapter – I think? The word litercy drives me crazy sometimes while reading this text. In the first chapter, literacy was used over and over again in relation to the evolution of what “literacy”…

Chapter two is pretty straight forward in New Literacies.  Having an anthropology degree myself, I have a thorough understanding of subcultures and their institutions and practices.  I explain it to students everyday as an academic advisor that the major you choose will define you.  It is one of the few parts of your identity that […]

This week, I stumbled upon a presentation from Greg Koch, the founder of Stone Brewing Company. Greg was giving a speech about “Entrepreneurship” at the Tech Open Air conference. Greg’s premise mainly revolved around the idea that if you have…

This week’s Daily Create took a little creativity: Turn a William Shakespeare quote and use an Old West Speak Generator to create the cowboy version.  I chose the following from Julius Caesar: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.” Here’s the Old West Speak Version.  Interesting.

#ds106 Daily Create: #tdc1486 “y’all bein’ or y’all not being’, that’s my ask” *I am currently working my way through my fourth semester of the Information and Learning Technologies master’s program at University of Colorado, Denver.  This is the third post within a series of Daily Creates that I’ve been assigned to complete for a course titled Digital Storytelling. Today’s Daily Create was […]

#tdc1486 Macbeth’s Witch goes Southern My goodness…who knew that doing the daily create would take.so.long. b/c my computer was being stupid (as my 18 and 22 yr olds would say); so Misha helped me get my settings to accept SoundCloud settings so’s I could be recordin’ that thare witch like a southern hag. When I […]