Week 6 Assignment # 2.1 Response to Articles

Assignment 2.1 Read the two articles Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practices of New Literacies and Using Social Networking Sites to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Science Classroom and share your Reader Response. 

    The two articles; Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practices of New Literacies and Using Social Networking Sites to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Science Classroom were very eye opening to me. Prior to reading these articles new literacies seemed to be geared at English Language Arts but I was astonished to see that they can actually be used to enhance or facilitate inquiry learning on many levels, as well as they can provide new strategies for presenting the nature of science in the classrooms. As a science teacher in the elementary classroom I am excited with the idea of learning strategies and techniques that will enhance my students inquiry skills. I believe that when teachers engage students in the scientific inquiry process, they can actively develop their understanding of science but when they incorporate new literacies in the classroom the Science lesson takes on a new meaning and come to life like the example unit on Humans Impact on the living environment. 

     The other thing that really stood out to me was the teachers ability to use new literacies in the science classroom. I usually like to incorporate videos, Powerpoints etc into my science lesson but to me I feel limited in what I can and cannot do. However, I believe that school administrators and curriculum directors needs see the interconnectedness of new literacies and scientific literacy. Moreover, they need to increase teacher and student access to technology, provide professional development opportunities to enhance teachers’ ICTs integration skills and design a way to connect teachers’ strong ICTs skills to their classroom practices.

    I totally agree with the article; Using Social Networking Sites to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Science Classroom. To me, the integration of social networking sites and ICTs provides meaningful ways for teachers to enrich students’ learning experiences and cultivate their new-literacy skills. In our fast paced world students need immediate feedback and motivation, thus enabling social communication and integrating ICTs motivate them in the learning process. Moreover, their opinions and thoughts are valued by their peers in the collaborative discourse and argumentation process within a scientific context.