0:00:09.584,0:00:10.138 Hi there. 0:00:10.138,0:00:11.218 My name is Don Leu. 0:00:11.218,0:00:15.441 I hold the Neag Endowed Chair in[br]Literacy and Technology here at 0:00:15.441,0:00:20.550 the University of Connecticut and[br]direct the New Literacies Research Lab. 0:00:21.880,0:00:26.952 We do work in new literacies[br]in school classrooms K-12 here 0:00:26.952,0:00:32.424 in the US anyway from about ages[br]5 through 18 internationally. 0:00:32.424,0:00:36.708 And so the issue then is what[br]are these new literacies, 0:00:36.708,0:00:39.141 and why are they so important? 0:00:39.141,0:00:43.798 Well, I guess the take we make on[br]this is that the Internet is really 0:00:43.798,0:00:48.288 a literacy issue, using information,[br]reading and writing and 0:00:48.288,0:00:52.546 communicating, and so forth,[br]is really a literacy issue. 0:00:52.546,0:00:57.193 And we see these as new literacies that[br]are somewhat different from traditional 0:00:57.193,0:00:58.939 reading and writing skills. 0:01:00.680,0:01:06.230 Because new tools, new technologies, new[br]social practices are all involved in them. 0:01:06.230,0:01:09.740 And in addition to that,[br]it's not just that they're new today. 0:01:09.740,0:01:13.740 They're new every single day of our[br]lives because things keep changing on 0:01:13.740,0:01:15.180 the Internet. 0:01:15.180,0:01:18.040 And this notion of change[br]is central to our work, 0:01:18.040,0:01:21.800 both in the theories we've been[br]developing, as well as in the research and 0:01:21.800,0:01:24.010 in the instructional[br]practices that we have. 0:01:24.010,0:01:28.536 It's a real challenge from a theoretical[br]and research point of view, for example, 0:01:28.536,0:01:32.220 that the thing that we[br]study keeps changing on us. 0:01:32.220,0:01:35.240 That is literacy today is different from 0:01:35.240,0:01:37.450 what it's gonna be tomorrow[br]because there'll be a new tool, 0:01:37.450,0:01:40.250 a new technology that will be available[br]for us for reading and writing. 0:01:41.970,0:01:44.220 So what are these new literacies? 0:01:44.220,0:01:47.700 Well to us,[br]these new literacies are the skills, 0:01:47.700,0:01:50.620 the strategies, the social practices, 0:01:50.620,0:01:57.110 the dispositions that are required to use[br]online information effectively to learn. 0:01:57.110,0:02:00.612 Now there are many different definitions[br]of what new literacies are, but to us, 0:02:00.612,0:02:02.182 we're concerned about learning. 0:02:02.182,0:02:07.120 And we're concerned about preparing our[br]youngsters for these skills, strategies, 0:02:07.120,0:02:11.150 social practices, and dispositions that[br]will enable them to use online information 0:02:11.150,0:02:12.930 to learn new things about[br]the world around them. 0:02:15.270,0:02:18.750 We focus on one particular[br]aspect of new literacies, 0:02:18.750,0:02:21.780 in what we refer to as online research and[br]comprehension. 0:02:21.780,0:02:26.230 And what we mean by that is students'[br]ability to conduct independent and 0:02:26.230,0:02:31.110 collaborative research to learn[br]new things on the Internet. 0:02:31.110,0:02:35.860 We see it as comprised of several[br]different elements, locating skills, 0:02:35.860,0:02:37.240 evaluating skills, 0:02:37.240,0:02:42.080 evaluating the reliability of information[br]that you find on the Internet. 0:02:43.610,0:02:48.900 Synthesizing skills or putting together[br]information from multiple sources, and 0:02:48.900,0:02:53.811 then communication skills which includes[br]all kinds of new technologies that 0:02:53.811,0:02:58.740 are required to pick people's brains,[br]see what they know, look for ideas. 0:02:58.740,0:03:01.720 And then, also finally to communicate[br]what you've learned with other people. 0:03:01.720,0:03:06.065 So we've been spending the last five[br]years developing a performance-based 0:03:06.065,0:03:10.620 assessment on a large federal research[br]grant called The Online Research and 0:03:10.620,0:03:13.090 Comprehension Assessment or ORCAs. 0:03:13.090,0:03:16.186 And so[br]we've developed about 24 different ORCAs, 0:03:16.186,0:03:21.020 performance-based assessments, that[br]give students a problem to solve online. 0:03:21.020,0:03:27.220 And then we evaluate their ability at[br]every step of the way, takes place in 0:03:27.220,0:03:33.110 a simulation the Internet with a search[br]engine and web pages and wikis and emails. 0:03:33.110,0:03:37.080 And it's driven by an avatar that[br]text messages into the student to 0:03:37.080,0:03:40.070 sort of direct them and[br]ask them different questions and 0:03:40.070,0:03:42.930 engage them in the research project and[br]so forth. 0:03:42.930,0:03:46.050 So anyway, we've developed these[br]assessments that are highly reliable and 0:03:46.050,0:03:48.490 valid, but they're also performance-based. 0:03:48.490,0:03:49.470 They're not multiple choice. 0:03:49.470,0:03:53.760 And so they actually ask students to do a[br]research project, and now we're looking at 0:03:53.760,0:03:58.260 a lot of the data we've collected in[br]two states, a laptop state main, and 0:03:58.260,0:04:03.560 a non laptop state and evaluating[br]students abilities in this area. 0:04:04.800,0:04:07.070 So what have we found in[br]the work that we've been doing? 0:04:07.070,0:04:09.860 Well, a number of things, one 0:04:11.750,0:04:16.020 important concern that we have in one[br]of our studies between a wealthy and 0:04:16.020,0:04:19.840 an economically challenged school[br]districts is that kids in the two 0:04:19.840,0:04:25.310 districts appear to[br]manifest a separate and 0:04:25.310,0:04:28.490 independent achievement gap in[br]the ability to conduct online research. 0:04:28.490,0:04:32.050 Separate and independent from reading and[br]writing skills, traditional reading and 0:04:32.050,0:04:35.780 writing skills which we've controlled, and 0:04:35.780,0:04:39.860 found a separate achievement gap on[br]the ability to conduct online research. 0:04:41.040,0:04:46.300 Largely because the schools in the poor[br]school districts are so constrained 0:04:46.300,0:04:50.800 by state assessments, assessments that[br]have none of these skills on them. 0:04:50.800,0:04:53.500 So those schools are under great[br]pressure to raise test scores, and 0:04:53.500,0:04:54.380 that's what they teach. 0:04:54.380,0:04:57.800 They teach none of these new[br]online reading and writing skills. 0:04:57.800,0:05:02.560 Whereas in wealthier districts,[br]they have many more degrees of freedom and 0:05:02.560,0:05:04.530 flexibility about what[br]they're going to teach. 0:05:04.530,0:05:07.900 They certainly feel the press of[br]state assessment and test scores, 0:05:07.900,0:05:12.570 but they experiment and include[br]a lot more innovative practices, and 0:05:12.570,0:05:14.970 as a result, their kids get opportunities. 0:05:14.970,0:05:18.930 Kids get opportunities also differently[br]at home, of course, but in schools, 0:05:18.930,0:05:21.960 it's a very clear[br]difference between the two. 0:05:21.960,0:05:23.920 We've also found that students, and 0:05:23.920,0:05:27.050 we tend to look at seventh graders,[br]middle school students. 0:05:27.050,0:05:30.030 The weakest area for[br]them is critical evaluation. 0:05:30.030,0:05:34.590 They don't think very critically[br]about the information they read. 0:05:34.590,0:05:36.970 And as a result, they tend to[br]believe much of what they read. 0:05:36.970,0:05:40.920 They tend to only go to a single[br]source and not question the author. 0:05:40.920,0:05:45.077 And they don't have skills that would[br]allow them to carefully evaluate 0:05:45.077,0:05:47.720 the reliability and[br]expertise of an author. 0:05:49.590,0:05:52.770 Communication is also[br]a problem at this level. 0:05:52.770,0:05:57.922 That is skills such as writing in a wiki,[br]writing in a blog, 0:05:57.922,0:06:04.110 writing a summary of what they found[br]in an email message and so forth. 0:06:04.110,0:06:08.910 Those kinds of skills are second[br]most difficult for our students. 0:06:08.910,0:06:13.310 They tend to do better in synthesis which[br]is really related to their offline skills 0:06:13.310,0:06:14.900 of summarizing that they've learned. 0:06:16.030,0:06:19.500 And then finally,[br]they do reasonably well on locating, 0:06:19.500,0:06:22.620 but a lot of them are clickers and[br]lookers. 0:06:22.620,0:06:26.320 And what we mean by that is that when[br]they get a set of search engine results, 0:06:26.320,0:06:29.680 they start at the top, click and[br]look to see what it appears like. 0:06:29.680,0:06:33.420 And then they work their way down the list[br]rather than reading search engine results 0:06:33.420,0:06:37.740 critically and picking on the first click,[br]the best choice for them. 0:06:37.740,0:06:40.721 We've done other research as well[br]in terms of instructional models. 0:06:40.721,0:06:45.488 And so previously, we worked and[br]developed an instructional model in 0:06:45.488,0:06:50.925 one-to-one laptop classrooms called IRT,[br]Internet Reciprocal Teaching. 0:06:50.925,0:06:55.103 There's a really interesting problem that[br]you face when you're trying to teach in 0:06:55.103,0:06:56.900 one-to-one laptop classrooms. 0:06:56.900,0:07:01.644 And that is that you have about 15[br]seconds of attention, and after that, 0:07:01.644,0:07:03.541 the kids are off on their own. 0:07:03.541,0:07:07.141 And so we tried to figure out how are we[br]gonna teach some of these critical 0:07:07.141,0:07:10.321 evaluation, these locating skills,[br]the synthesis skills, 0:07:10.321,0:07:13.864 these communication skills in[br]a classroom when we have 15 seconds? 0:07:13.864,0:07:18.560 And the answer we came up with that works[br]pretty well is that instead of teaching, 0:07:18.560,0:07:22.013 you give students a problem to solve,[br]and in that problem, 0:07:22.013,0:07:24.750 you embed the skill you want to teach. 0:07:24.750,0:07:28.148 And then when you see a student[br]manifesting that skill, 0:07:28.148,0:07:30.833 that student teaches[br]the rest of the class. 0:07:30.833,0:07:35.030 And if you don't see a student manifesting[br]that skill that you've embedded in 0:07:35.030,0:07:37.383 the problem that's important to solve it, 0:07:37.383,0:07:40.574 then you work with one of your[br]weaker performing students. 0:07:40.574,0:07:44.054 And you sort of scaffold their[br]learning until they get the idea, 0:07:44.054,0:07:46.250 and then they teach the class to do this. 0:07:46.250,0:07:51.089 So an example would be, if you're trying[br]to teach critical evaluation a source, 0:07:51.089,0:07:55.944 you give the students a problem like[br]here's a three-part problem for you today. 0:07:55.944,0:08:01.450 I want you to find the height of Mount[br]Fuji, we've been reading about Japan. 0:08:01.450,0:08:04.510 After you do that, that's an easy one, 0:08:04.510,0:08:07.430 then find a different answer[br]to the same question. 0:08:07.430,0:08:10.529 So find somebody else who says,[br]no, it's a different height. 0:08:11.640,0:08:13.940 Then the third part of the question[br]is who's right and why? 0:08:14.990,0:08:20.250 And so we give students that problem to[br]work collaboratively in small groups. 0:08:20.250,0:08:25.228 And then we monitor them in[br]a little software tool which 0:08:25.228,0:08:30.460 puts thumbnails of every[br]student's laptop on your laptop. 0:08:30.460,0:08:35.400 So you can watch what they're doing, and[br]when you see somebody evaluating source, 0:08:35.400,0:08:40.850 that is clicking on a link that says[br]who we are, or doing a search for 0:08:40.850,0:08:45.610 the site, the name of the site to[br]see what people are saying about it. 0:08:45.610,0:08:47.944 Then we ask that student to take over, and 0:08:47.944,0:08:50.954 we project their laptop[br]screen up on the smart board. 0:08:50.954,0:08:54.509 And then have them tell everybody else[br]what they were doing as they solved 0:08:54.509,0:08:57.846 the really key part of that problem,[br]which is who's right and why. 0:09:00.779,0:09:05.640 So Internet Reciprocal Teaching, or[br]IRT, is really a three-phase model. 0:09:05.640,0:09:09.680 And I described the second[br]phase of developing these 0:09:09.680,0:09:12.300 strategies that are important for[br]online research and comprehension. 0:09:12.300,0:09:13.450 The first phase is a nuts and 0:09:13.450,0:09:18.360 bolts phase, where you just go[br]through some of the mechanical things. 0:09:18.360,0:09:24.070 What's a wiki, what's a blog, how those[br]work, how different search engines work, 0:09:24.070,0:09:25.950 locating skills,[br]if your students need them? 0:09:25.950,0:09:28.600 Only the skills that are really[br]required in your classroom, of course. 0:09:28.600,0:09:33.221 And then the third phase, once the kids[br]have developed a pretty sophisticated 0:09:33.221,0:09:36.162 understanding of the skills[br]that are required for 0:09:36.162,0:09:38.414 online research and comprehension. 0:09:38.414,0:09:41.203 Then we take them into the final phase, 0:09:41.203,0:09:46.192 which is conducting an online[br]collaborative project with at least one 0:09:46.192,0:09:51.095 other student in another part of[br]the world, related to the problem, 0:09:51.095,0:09:55.597 related to the curriculum that[br]makes the world a better place. 0:09:55.597,0:09:57.526 Those are the criteria we have. 0:09:57.526,0:10:03.044 We build these up to this point,[br]by the way, by having collaborative 0:10:03.044,0:10:08.340 classroom projects throughout[br]the phase one and phase two. 0:10:08.340,0:10:10.620 We tend to use ePals, 0:10:10.620,0:10:13.950 a wonderful tool for connecting[br]classrooms from around the world. 0:10:13.950,0:10:17.102 You can quickly find teachers in many[br]parts of the world that are interested 0:10:17.102,0:10:18.311 in collaborating with you. 0:10:18.311,0:10:20.450 But there are other tools as well. 0:10:20.450,0:10:25.035 And so they practice this[br]collaboration as a whole class. 0:10:25.035,0:10:28.420 So then when we get to phase three,[br]when they're ready to do online research, 0:10:28.420,0:10:31.590 they've developed a network of[br]friends in other parts of the world. 0:10:31.590,0:10:36.415 And so they have to come up with a project[br]and get it approved by the teacher, 0:10:36.415,0:10:38.420 but here's an example of one. 0:10:38.420,0:10:43.460 So these students in Connecticut[br]shared the problem they had with other 0:10:43.460,0:10:48.248 kids around the world on their list[br]of friends in an email message and 0:10:48.248,0:10:51.460 said, look, we've got to do this project. 0:10:51.460,0:10:52.476 Do you have any ideas? 0:10:52.476,0:10:55.946 And a student of South Africa[br]actually popped up and said, yeah, 0:10:55.946,0:10:58.760 why don't you create a web[br]page about Gary Paulsen? 0:10:58.760,0:11:03.900 We're reading about Gary Paulsen,[br]author at that age, and 0:11:03.900,0:11:08.428 put a web page together with links to all[br]of the resources you can find online. 0:11:08.428,0:11:10.834 And then you'll have a research site for 0:11:10.834,0:11:14.456 kids who want to do research on[br]Gary Paulsen in their school. 0:11:14.456,0:11:18.910 And that'll make the world a better place,[br]and that's related to the English language 0:11:18.910,0:11:21.390 arts, the class that[br]you're taking right now. 0:11:21.390,0:11:23.120 So why don't we do that? 0:11:23.120,0:11:26.306 And then a bunch of other kids chimed[br]in and said, yeah, yeah, let's do that, 0:11:26.306,0:11:26.986 let's do that. 0:11:26.986,0:11:29.506 And said, I can help,[br]we'll send you the links. 0:11:29.506,0:11:33.133 And these two students in Connecticut[br]said, okay, we know how to make a web 0:11:33.133,0:11:36.330 page, our teacher showed us how[br]to do that, so send us the links. 0:11:36.330,0:11:41.200 And so they built a web page[br]about Gary Paulsen, and so 0:11:41.200,0:11:43.580 that's an example of an online[br]collaborative project. 0:11:43.580,0:11:46.650 But there are many,[br]many different types of projects. 0:11:46.650,0:11:50.656 We just think that it should be something[br]that connects the skills that students 0:11:50.656,0:11:54.484 have been learning into a global context[br]because that's exactly where kids 0:11:54.484,0:11:56.846 are going to be working[br]when they're adults. 0:11:56.846,0:12:01.332 They'll be working in environments[br]where they'll have to collaborate and 0:12:01.332,0:12:06.026 problem solve and work with many other[br]people from other cultural contexts from 0:12:06.026,0:12:11.520 other countries and to solve whatever[br]problem they face in their work place. 0:12:11.520,0:12:14.400 So let me talk a little bit about[br]school leadership in this area. 0:12:14.400,0:12:18.960 It's probably one of[br]the most important areas 0:12:18.960,0:12:21.430 as we think about the changing[br]nature of literacy and 0:12:21.430,0:12:25.170 learning in the school classrooms with[br]the Internet for several reasons. 0:12:25.170,0:12:29.410 First of all, everything we know about[br]the research on school leadership is that 0:12:29.410,0:12:30.910 school leaders drive change. 0:12:30.910,0:12:36.110 That is, change doesn't happen unless[br]there's a school leader with a vision for 0:12:36.110,0:12:39.780 the change that's needed. 0:12:41.770,0:12:43.470 So school leaders have[br]to have this vision, 0:12:43.470,0:12:47.740 they have to understand what's going[br]on in the changing nature of things. 0:12:47.740,0:12:51.240 But it's also constrained right[br]now at least in the US by 0:12:51.240,0:12:52.610 Common Core State Standards. 0:12:54.190,0:12:59.307 Because you can look at those[br]Common Core State Standards with the lens 0:12:59.307,0:13:04.162 to the past that most of us have and[br]only see what we've been doing in 0:13:04.162,0:13:09.208 school classrooms, or you can look[br]at Common Core State Standards. 0:13:09.208,0:13:11.810 A few people are starting to look[br]at it with a lens to the future. 0:13:11.810,0:13:15.440 And understanding each of those standards[br]in terms of what it really means to learn 0:13:15.440,0:13:18.310 and communicate, read and[br]write in online context. 0:13:18.310,0:13:21.330 So let me give you an example of what[br]I mean by a lens to the past and 0:13:21.330,0:13:22.670 a lens to the future. 0:13:22.670,0:13:26.510 So the first anchor standard, it's close[br]reading, that is we want our kids, 0:13:26.510,0:13:27.780 I'm going to summarize it here. 0:13:27.780,0:13:33.250 We want our kids to be able to read[br]carefully, closely, with the information 0:13:33.250,0:13:37.460 but also to make inferences about[br]the information that they encounter. 0:13:38.490,0:13:42.010 So traditionally, we've taught[br]that in reading comprehension, 0:13:42.010,0:13:47.180 through discussion, through levels of[br]comprehension questions, and so forth. 0:13:47.180,0:13:51.600 And that's one way of implementing close[br]reading but with a lens to the past. 0:13:51.600,0:13:54.540 But if you take a lens to the future,[br]you would see that 0:13:54.540,0:13:59.470 reading search engine results is really[br]one of the best examples of close reading. 0:13:59.470,0:14:03.430 Because there, kids have to read,[br]very carefully, 0:14:03.430,0:14:07.870 make inferences about what those short[br]little segments are telling them 0:14:07.870,0:14:10.760 about the information they're[br]gonna find behind that link. 0:14:10.760,0:14:14.060 And make an inference about whether or[br]not that source is the best source for 0:14:14.060,0:14:16.380 them given their particular needs. 0:14:16.380,0:14:22.200 So to me, close reading really involves[br]helping students read carefully and 0:14:22.200,0:14:25.720 make inferences about[br]search engine results. 0:14:25.720,0:14:29.250 So that they can be more efficient when[br]they're trying to locate information. 0:14:31.030,0:14:34.270 And that's what we have to do is we look[br]at these Common Core State Standards. 0:14:34.270,0:14:38.360 Each one of them can be looked at with a[br]lens to the past and a lens to the future. 0:14:38.360,0:14:41.700 And it's really important that all of[br]us look at those standards with a lens 0:14:41.700,0:14:42.250 to the future. 0:14:42.250,0:14:45.890 And think about how does this[br]Common Core State Standards 0:14:45.890,0:14:50.780 really play itself out when we're reading[br]and learning and communicating online. 0:14:52.070,0:14:55.770 And that's a real key as[br]we think about leadership. 0:14:55.770,0:14:59.482 If you can see that, then you're in a[br]position to really help your teachers and 0:14:59.482,0:15:01.689 help your students prepare for[br]their future.