Jacquelyn Martinez - New Media & New Literacies

          In this module's readings, I have learned the importance of using blended learning to enhance literacy, student engagement, and creativity. While there are both possibilities and tensions in using technology to improve literacy, a key focus was also on digital literacy itself. The emphasis wasn't just on whether students understood the content of the lesson, but rather on whether they grasped the essence of the learning experience, with a focus on the learning process. As a social studies teacher, I'm always teaching my students how to analyze primary and secondary sources using different methods. Blended learning is a great way to help with this. By mixing digital tools with traditional activities, I can give my students a richer experience. It helps them engage more deeply with the material, think critically about history, and build stronger literacy skills. The combination of both online and offline learning lets them explore history in more wa...

Upon reflecting on Vanek (2019), I was impressed by the helpful suggestions for teaching students digital literacy. For example, Vanek (2019) states, "if teaching Microsoft Word, it would be important to not only teach basic formatting, but also how to search for and select templates for different communication purposes." I find this particularly useful because, while educators often give students computers to read digital texts and type their responses, students can also demonstrate their understanding by using creative digital tools to express what they've learned. Additionally, reflecting on Sang (2017), I find the use of multiple multimedia outlets challenging. While I recognize their benefits in enhancing learning and engagement, teaching students how to effectively use these platforms can be very time-consuming. With only 45 minutes once a week for social studies, it doesn’t give me enough time to teach students how to properly use digital platforms and ensure they’...

As a middle school teacher, new literacy practices are highly relevant to my professional life, especially since I teach social studies to 7th-grade English Language Learners. In addition to my ENL classroom, I also work with two students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE). Given the wide range of language proficiencies, ranging from Entering, Emerging, Transitioning, and Commanding students require diverse supports to strengthen their literacy skills. According to Sang (2017), "while 'old technologies' mainly involved simple forms of production, the new 'technical stuff' refers to a "hybridization of multimodal media" that includes texts, images, music, and videos, all of which combine to create interactive and interconnected forms of production that can be conveniently accessed”(p.16). Since the height of the pandemic, multimedia outlets have become essential to learning. Platforms such as Padlet, Edpuzzle, and Nearpod provide students with self-p...