Digital Note Taking

Beth Holland’s recent blog piece Digital Note Taking Strategies that Deepen Student Thinking, written for Mind/Shift, includes some helpful suggestions for how technology can support student note taking. I wrote a post in October, 2016 that referred to earlier pieces written by Holland on a similar topic, Note Taking Technology. Her current suggestions are so good that I had to revisit this topic again.
Joan Sedita | September 18, 2017 | 0 Comments
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Resource: Adaptive Technology for Literacy

I’m devoting this blog post to highlight Bridges, a Canadian company that specializes in adaptive technology. I had the wonderful opportunity several years back to collaborate with some folks at Bridges on a professional development project that combined Keys to Literacy’s expertise around teaching literacy, and Bridges’ expertise around how to use adaptive technology to support literacy teaching and learning. They have recently launched several online professional development courses that I want to recommend.
Joan Sedita | May 4, 2017 | 0 Comments
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Online Reading Comprehension Redux

In September, 2014 I wrote a blog entry titled Online Reading Comprehension in which I cited several research pieces written by Julie Coiro. I recently read two more interesting articles written by Julie and some of her colleagues, so I decided to update that post. Both pieces address the fact that the Internet represents an important source of information for many students, yet most lack proficiency in the requisite comprehension skills for efficient and effective Internet research...
Joan Sedita | April 12, 2016 | 0 Comments
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The Advantage of Taking Notes by Hand

Research shows that taking notes by hand is more effective for remembering conceptual information over the long term than taking notes on a computer or laptop.

I recently read two pieces about research conducted by Mueller and Oppenheimer demonstrating that students who write out their notes on paper learn more than students who type notes on laptops. The first was in Scientific American and the second was in KQED Public Radio News.

Because students can type significantly faster than they can write, those who use laptops in the classroom tend to take more notes than those who write them out. At first, this may seem like an advantage....
Joan Sedita | December 1, 2015 | 1 Comment
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Great Apps for Struggling Readers/Writers

I ran across an interesting piece by Jamie Martin at the Forbes online site titled “Apple vs. Google: The Real Winners are Students with Dyslexia.” Martin makes the point that the competition between Apple and Google has resulted in great benefits for people who struggle with reading and writing skills. Both companies, in order to keep the competitive edge as they rolled out new devices (e.g., Apple’s Apple Watch and updated versions of iPhone and iPad; Google’s updates to Android and Chromeboook) have made a significant number of features, tools, and software applications available on their products related to assistive technology (AT)....
Joan Sedita | November 24, 2015 | 2 Comments
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Technology Quest: Let the Games Begin

Okay, I have a confession to make before we actually let the games begin. I am not a gamer. I smile politely and fain unwavering interest when my son Nathan shares the intricacies of characters, plots, and imaginary worlds that wink and blink from his computer. I try, a little, to keep up with the open world survival game conversation of Minecraft, and express joy (which is real, I swear!) when successes such as upgrades from huts to castles are accomplished. I am a mom, what can I say. I am a teacher, too, and it is through this lens, more specifically a literacy lens, that technology and gaming has actually become meaningful to me. So, with admissions behind me, let’s try this again: Let the Games Begin....
Sande Dawes | August 25, 2015 | 0 Comments
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A “Literacy Map” for the Internet

I am fascinated about how literacy skills are applied when using the Internet; one of my earlier posts (September 15, 2014: Online Reading Comprehension) addressed the similarities and differences between traditional reading comprehension text and online reading comprehension. So my interest was piqued when I read in the May, 2015 Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy about a “Web Literacy Map” that folks at the Mozilla Foundation have been working on (McVerry, Belshaw, O’Byrne, 2015)....
Joan Sedita | July 7, 2015 | 0 Comments
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Evolving Platforms

Recently I read two different articles that have me thinking about how my own children (twins aged 10 and a 3 year old) learn, the trainings we do at Keys to Literacy, and the evolving platforms of how instruction is delivered.

The first article "The Future of College?" by Graeme Wood comes from The Atlantic. In it, Wood researches and participates in a new format of an online course. Initially, he uses words like “impersonal and far-removed”, but later goes on to highlight several strong strategies the instructor is able to utilize to reach students because of the flexibility the unique format offers...
Lisa Klein | May 19, 2015 | 0 Comments
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Technology and Early Reading

I recently visited this web resource that was started in 2014: Seeding Reading: Investing in Children’s Literacy in a Digital Age.

Seeding Reading offers a series of articles and analysis aimed at answering this question: Given that today’s children are surrounded by digital media of all kinds, how will they learn to read?

Here are two of the articles posted on the site which is hosted by New America’s Education Policy Program and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop...
Joan Sedita | February 24, 2015 | 1 Comment
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Lessons Learned About Blended Online PD

Are you considering the benefits of a blended online professional development (PD) model? Should your school offer a hybrid combination of face-to-face and online training? Many schools are deciding that, in addition to cost benefits and flexibility, blended PD can be an effective way to improve teachers’ instructional practice. For many educators, blended online PD is new, so careful planning and communication with teachers is essential for an effective experience with this model of PD.

Keys to Literacy began developing online PD courses in 2009. Since then, nearly 3,000 teachers across 54 districts have participated in blended online PD for our comprehension and vocabulary training. Through this experience, I have learned a great deal about what it takes to implement hybrid training......
Brad Neuenhaus | November 12, 2014 | 0 Comments
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ACCESSING KEYS TO LITERACY PD DURING SCHOOL CLOSURES

We are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and the impact on our employees and the schools where we provide professional development.

During this time period when onsite, face-to-face training and coaching is not possible, we offer multiple options for accessing our literacy PD content and instructional practices.

If you are a current or new partner, explore our website or contact us to learn more about:

info@keystoliteracy.com
978-948-8511