This book introduces the design and implementation of an assessment model for a new university-level English curriculum in China that aims at developing digital literacy skills. The assessment approach, embedded in the curriculum of an online modular course at Peking University, requires the students to conduct semester-long digital research projects in English in their major fields of study. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, evaluation rubrics built around Content, Clarity, and Creative/Critical Thinking were developed, evaluated, and refined over three implementation cycles (eight semesters). The book presents a systematic assessment design framework, a set of effective rubrics for evaluating the digital research project, and authentic examples of written and multimedia presentations by Chinese students. Integrating assessment with instruction and technology, the book provides a valuable practical guide to digital literacy assessment for English education in the Outer and Expanding Circle contexts.

Finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction: “Nicholas Carr has written a Silent Spring for the literary mind.”—Michael Agger, Slate “Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”—from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer—Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways. Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic—a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption—and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection. Part intellectual history, part popular science, and part cultural criticism, The Shallows sparkles with memorable vignettes—Friedrich Nietzsche wrestling with a typewriter, Sigmund Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplating the thunderous approach of a steam locomotive—even as it plumbs profound questions about the state of our modern psyche. This is a book that will forever alter the way we think about media and our minds.

This clear, no-nonsense book guides current and future teachers through the concepts, tools, methods, and goals of classroom literacy assessment. The expert authors examine the roles of formative, summative, and benchmark assessments; demystify state and national tests and standards; and show how assessment can seamlessly inform instruction. Strategies for evaluating, choosing, and interpreting assessments are discussed, as are ways to communicate data to parents and administrators. User-friendly resources include boxed vignettes from teachers and researchers, practical assessment tips (and traps to avoid), and 12 reproducible planning forms and handouts. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

"Readers leery of ramping onto the information highway and surfers suffering Internet overload will value the solid advice supplied by Gilster." --Booklist. "Paul Gilster's intelligent, sobering look at the Internet is a breath of fresh air." --Amazon.com "This book sheds light on the skills that Web surfers need to separate the digital garbage from the golden nuggets of good data. It's a good place to start for adult newcomers to the information highway." --Courant Now in paper! Digital Literacy provides Internet novices with the basic thinking skills and core competencies they'll need to thrive in an interactive environment so fundamentally different from passive media. PAUL GILSTER (Raleigh, North Carolina) is the author of The Web Navigator and Finding It on the Internet which have sold over 200,000 copies.

Assessment is messy. Day-to-day, in-the-moment assessments not only reveal information that drives future instruction but also offer a comprehensive picture of students’ abilities and dispositions toward learning. As teachers, we might know what this looks and feels like, yet it can be hard to put into action—hence the messiness. Say hello to digital student portfolios—dynamic, digital collections of authentic information from different media, in many forms, and with multiple purposes. Using digital portfolios to capture student thinking and progress allows us to better see our students as readers, writers, and learners—and help students see themselves in the same way! Matt Renwick’s Digital Portfolios in the Classroom is a guide to help teachers sort through, capture, and make sense of the messiness associated with assessment. By shining a spotlight on three types of student portfolios—performance, process, and progress—and how they can be used to assess student work, Renwick helps educators navigate the maze of digital tools and implement the results to drive instruction.

"Digital literacy has become the vital competency that students need to master before graduating. This book provides rich examples of how to integrate it in disciplinary courses"--

Digital Literacy: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications presents a vital compendium of research detailing the latest case studies, architectures, frameworks, methodologies, and research on Digital Democracy. With contributions from authors around the world, this three-volume collection presents the most sophisticated research and developments from the field, relevant to researchers, academics, and practitioners alike. In order to stay abreast of the latest research, this book affords a vital look into Digital Literacy research.

Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age addresses the complex and diverse experiences of learners in a world embedded with digital technologies. The text combines first-hand accounts from learners with extensive research and analysis, including a developmental model for effective e-learning, and a wide range of strategies that digitally-connected learners are using to fit learning into their lives. A companion to Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age (2007), this book focuses on how learners’ experiences of learning are changing and raises important challenges to the educational status quo. Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age: moves beyond stereotypes of the "net generation" to explore the diversity of e-learning experiences today analyses learners' experiences holistically, across the many technologies and learning opportunities they encounter reveals digital-age learners as creative actors and networkers in their own right, who make strategic choices about their use of digital applications and learning approaches. Today’s learners are active participants in their learning experiences and are shaping their own educational environments. Professors, learning practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers will find Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age invaluable for understanding the learning experience, and shaping their own responses.

9 grade levels. 17 topics. 46 lessons. 46 projects. A year-long curriculum that covers everything you need to discuss on internet safety and efficiency. Digital Citizenship–probably one of the most important topics students will learn between kindergarten and 8th and too often, teachers are thrown into it without a roadmap. Well, here it is–your guide to what our children must know at what age to thrive in the community called the internet. It’s a roadmap for blending all pieces into a cohesive, effective student-directed cyber-learning experience that accomplishes ISTE’s general goals

Provides K-12 classroom teachers with strategies for measuring student mastery beyond paper and pencil tests and suggests ways to diagnose learning and inform interventions in an accountable and reliable way. Included are vignettes and visual elements to help illustrate and apply the concepts.