Remote Learning and Remote working has shoved and pushed us into learning and working online. That means that reading, writing, thinking, and creating often occurs online.
How does digital activity inform the affordance of Digital Reading and eBooks?
“Digital will continue to grow for a while at least, and continue to exist, because it is becoming part of the world we inhabit at a level below our notice, no more remarkable than roads or supermarkets. E-books are here to stay because digital is, and quite shortly we’ll stop having this debate about paper vs. eBooks because it will no longer make a lot of sense.” (Harkaway, 2014).
Learning Technologies Podcast – April 10- Primary Sources and their Use in Digital Reading
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Podcast Transcript:
Welcome to the Learning Technologies Podcast. Today’s topic is … Primary Resources and their Use in Online Courses. This podcast occurs in conjunction with my facilitation of PBS TeacherLine’s Online Course in Digital Reading. Primary sources are the raw materials of history — they are the original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without experience. Examining primary sources gives students a powerful sense of history and the complexity of the past. Helping students analyze primary sources can also guide them toward higher-order thinking and better critical thinking and analysis skills.
Resources matter. How we reflect on them matters too. Sometimes our students get caught up in their impression of what is said and who is saying it. They mix their opinion of the source with what the person may or may not be trying to communicate. But students of Historiographytell us this does not change the efficacy of the resource itself.
For example, last year, there was a renewed interest in Ireland on the events of the 1916 Easter Rising, also referred to as the Rising. Researchers are returning to primary sources such as journals, diaries, death records, and cemetery listings to discover that many more people died than previously thought in the uprising for Irish Independence from Britain. One historian, Ray Bateson continues to search for a comprehensive listing of the previously unrecognized heroes of the Rising. Although records of the Irish Easter Rising are scant in the United States’ Library of Congress, they are included and it is significant to note that the importance of Primary Resources is part of global endeavors.
Perhaps the best benefit of online courses is the time given (and even encouraged) for reflection and consideration. So, consider with me- Is there a place for primary sources in courses delivered online and, if so, what does this mean for citing sources and pointing students to primary sources?
Thank you for considering these questions with me. I enjoy learning from you! Please leave a comment in our Week 3 discussion board to keep the discussion going.
Extremely thankful for teachers, this weekend! This weekend’s quote shared by a teacher in the online course I facilitate (Thank you, E.M.!)
“The literacy-rich environment also provides students with opportunities to engage with and see adults interact with print allowing students to build their skills in understanding the conventions, purposes, and functions of print. “Children learn how to attend to language and apply this knowledge to literacy situations by interacting with others who model language functions” (Gunn, Simmons, & Kameenui, 1995, 11).
Source: Gunn, B., Simmons, D., Kameenui, E. (1995). Emergent literacy: Synthesis of the research (Technical Report No. 19). University of Oregon: National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators.
Those who read on their own are more academically successful (NEA, 2002-2015). It’s back to school at PBS TeacherLine! PBS TeacherLine is offering several new courses for the next six weeks and throughout the Fall. One of the new courses focuses on Digital Reading. This timely topic will be addressed through current research-based articles and learner-hosted activities. those who read on their own are more academically successful (NEA, 2002-2015.) I’m grateful and excited to teach the course begins Wednesday, August 14 and concludes on September 27, 2016. Please visit PBS TeacherLine to learn more and enroll.
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Sources:
National Education Association (2002-2015). Facts About Children’s Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.nea.org/grants/facts-about-childrens-literacy.html
