Tuesday, January 01, 2008

A new start


country literacy
After seeing the new year in it feels like I need to re-boot my brain. Starting with some exploratory writing, I’ve come to the conclusion that teachers involved in innovative new literacies work are confronted with a set of key questions:
1. How easy is it to leave the comfort zone of conventional, classroom-based pupil-teacher relationships and experiment with new and fluid online interactions?
2. What are the implications of working in an environment in which some pupils are more experienced or confident than the teacher?
3. How can this sort of work be justified and defended in an educational environment which regularly lurches back to a pre-occupation with ‘the basics’ and traditional print literacy skills?
4. How can the level of immersion and flexible online access required be operationalised within the constraints of current resource and timetable structures?
5. What additional planning and co-ordination work is necessary to make the most of online work, to facilitate exchange between year groups and interactions between schools?
6. What real or perceived risks may be faced by engaging in virtual world gameplay (eg: child protection; parental censure)?
I’m sure you could add to this list. Have I missed anything? I’ll be working on this over the next few days, suggestions are welcome!

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