Literacy in technologyTo raise student achievement

Malcolm HowardRegional Technology FacilitatorCentral North RegionTeam Solutions – The University of Auckland

November 2012

Aims for this session

• Explore literacy strategies that could help raise student achievement in technology.

• Explore ways to include literacy data in your wider data analysis, and how to make decisions informed by data.

For each area, students need specific help from their teachers as they learn:•the specialist vocabulary associated with that area;•how to read and understand its texts;•how to communicate knowledge and ideas in appropriate ways;•how to listen and read critically, assessing the value of what they hear and read.

From p16 of the NZC

Literacy in the Learning Areas

PISA - reading literacy results

Country/ Group

Mean Ranking

NZ 521 7th

OECDaverage

493

Maori 478 34th=

Pacifica 448 44th

Literacy and language support

• Vocabulary• Pre-writing• Writing reports• The importance of the four modes (reading,

writing, speaking, and listening)• Use of literacy data

Vocabulary strategies

• My definition (specialist technology words)• My definition (assessment words)• ‘I think’ speaking frame• Mix and match - matching word and definition

My definition – ‘technical’ words

My definition – ‘assessment’ words

‘I think’ Speaking frame

I think …… (word) means ….. because ….  

Possible meanings for the ….. (word) include …….

The evidence / clues that I used to arrive at these meanings are: (firstly, secondly, thirdly etc)

In this context, I think ….. (word) refers to ...

My sentence is:

Mix and match

Vocabulary activity 1

Try some of the vocabulary strategies and discuss others you have used.

Vocabulary activity 2

Choose a particular standard and complete the vocabulary worksheet for that standard.

(Remember to think about the four modes when deciding on a strategy).

Pre-writing

Pre-writing using a spider diagram

Pre-writing using a table

Pre-writing activity

Explore the writing frames provided (spider diagram and table layout) in relation to the demands of the standard.

Writing

From Effective Literacy Strategies in Years 9 to 13

Writing – describe, explain, discuss

From Effective Literacy Strategies in Years 9 to 13

A writing strategy – use of acronyms

Explanation SEX or SEE(D)•Statement•Explain•Example (diagram)

From Effective Literacy Strategies in Years 9 to 13

Writing a report for externals

• Complying with assessment specifications• Correct referencing• Authenticity• Headings and sub-headings• Diagrams, screenshots, photos• Layout and readability• Proofreading

Authenticity

Information from external sources can become authentic evidence of understanding only where the candidate does one or more of the following:• interprets the information• paraphrases the information• uses the information• relates the information• comments meaningfully on the information.

How to get good at writing

Practice writing!

So… what opportunities are there in your programme for students to practice writing prior to writing a report for external assessment?(think current year plus junior programmes)

Writing activity

In groups discuss these ideas about writing and share your experiences.

The importance of the four modes

• Reading• Writing• Speaking• Listening

The four modes - Activity

Take one of the scenarios and discuss how you can provide students opportunities to use all four modes within that scenario.

Using data

• Including literacy data in your data analysis• Making asTTle literacy data available to

teachers• Using a pivot table to sort and summarise data• Making decisions informed by data

Some raw data in an Excel spreadsheet

Example – a summary of internal 2

Maori boys who didn’t achieve Int2

Creating a pivot table

Tutorial – create a pivot table

Use the tutorial to create a pivot table using either the sample data (or your own data if you have some with you)

Data activity

In groups discuss how you currently do or could use literacy data to assist in decision making in your faculty.

Further information

Secondary Literacy online on TKIhttp://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/Secondary-Literacy

Team Solutions literacy wikihttp://leadingliteracynz.wikispaces.com/Literacy+in+Technology+Clusters

Were the aims for this session met?

• Explore literacy strategies that could help raise student achievement in technology.

• Explore ways to include literacy data in your wider data analysis, and how to make decisions informed by data.