A10.4: Week 10 Participation Memo

Linsey Cushing
October 24, 2007

Week 10 Reflection

Aims and Objectives:
This week, my goal was to revise my project prospectus and get started on researching. I also wanted to get the week’s assignments posted before the weekend because it is Homecoming!! =)

Declarative Knowledge:
This week, I learned more in depth about reproduction literacy skills. Reproduction literacy skills involve taking information, such as text or visuals, that already exists and rearranging it into something new and creative. This type of literacy skill is basically a complicated form of copying and pasting. When using reproduction literacy skills with text, you must take something, such as a paragraph, that already exists. You then rearrange the words so that the paragraph brings about an entirely different meaning. When using visuals, you combine photographs, videos, or clip art so that a new visual emerges. A great example of visual reproduction literacy skills are the works done by Pop Art artist Andy Warhol. The other information I learned about involved my research on cochlear implants and how they facilitate learning literacy skills through the auditory channel.

Procedural Knowledge:
This week, I did not necessarily learn how to do anything I’ve never done before. However, I continued to use the researching processes I’ve learned in the past weeks while searching online for more sources. Overall, I am learning how to do a research project in small sections over a semester.

Conditional Knowledge:
This week, the majority of my focus has shifted from weekly assignments to my research project. I’ve had to adjust to this shift because it went from a list of readings and reflections that are due at a certain time to a more self-directed, research on your own time outlook. I’ve learned this week that I really have to make myself do research when I have some free time. I work better when I’m on a set schedule and have deadlines, so researching on my free time is not easy for me. However, the deadline for the rough draft is approaching way too quickly, so I am applying myself as best as I can.
By reading about reproduction literacy skills, I was once again reminded of the importance of digital literacy and the impact that technology is going to have on our future. As a student, I have never learned about reproduction literacy skills. However, in the future, this will be an essential skill that will be taught in schools. As I said in my post about reproduction literacy, ‘creative writing’ will take on an entirely new meaning as children are assigned to rearrange an existing passage into a completely different story rather than creating a story as we did in the past. Computer skills, both technical and conceptual, are changing our lives and will determine success in the future.
As a student, the information I’ve learned this week is already having an effect on me as far as my research for this project. The information about reproduction literacy skills opened my eyes to a new type of skill that I should become acquainted with. I suspect that at some point in my future as a student, I will have to apply reproduction literacy skills to some type of assignment. As a pre-professional, this information is useful because my profession is built upon evidence-based practice, so research is essential. I will use the skills I am learning today in the future when doing research. Also, the information I’ve learned about reproduction literacy may apply because I may have to teach a client how to utilize these skills within a classroom. Finally, as a citizen, this information is useful because it makes me more aware of what generations after me will be learning in schools so that I can be educated on the same information they will be. This will facilitate better communication between us and also allow me to keep up in the fast-paced technological world.

A10.3: Revised Prospectus

Linsey Cushing
October 23, 2007

Project Prospectus

1. Research Question / Foundation Questions:

Research Question:
In what ways do cochlear implants facilitate the development of literacy skills through the auditory channel?

Foundation Questions:
1. What literacy skills are learned through the auditory channel?

2. What do cochlear implants do?

3. What deficits exist in literacy skills?

2. Tentative Point:

I plan to prove that cochlear implants have a significant impact on improving deaf children’s literacy skills learned through the auditory channel.

3. Discussion:
I decided to research a topic concerning cochlear implants and literacy because I am very fascinated by cochlear implants and the literacy aspect is something I am unfamiliar with. Currently, I am learning about cochlear implants in my Aural Rehabilitation class. However, we are learning more of the technical aspects about how cochlear implants work and the parts on an implant. We also have looked at case histories of children who have cochlear implants and at the auditory-oral approach to therapy. This semester, I have also had the opportunity to watch several therapy sessions involving cochlear implanted children. I’ve discovered that I am very drawn to this type of therapy and find it very interesting and exciting. The fact that we, as speech-language pathologists, can take part in the process of helping a deaf child hear for the first time and make meaning out of those sounds truly astounds me. We have a cochlear implant preschool at Marshall called the Luke Lee Listening Language and Learning Lab, better known as the “L.” By observing this, I’ve realized that the impact cochlear implants have on these children’s abilities to communicate and understand language is amazing. I chose this topic in hopes that I will possibly discover my “niche.” I figure that there’s no better way to discover what type of clients I want to work with in the future than by observing them through classes and researching them.

I think that it will be a challenge to answer this question because cochlear implants are still a fairly new concept. Therefore, research is just starting to take off in this field. Although I thought that there would be more information out there about cochlear implants and literacy, I have discovered that a lot of the results that came up in my initial search do not pertain to my research. However, I have found quite a few articles that appear to be great sources for the questions I am asking. Basically, I think that the lack of research will be my biggest challenge, but this also could actually come to my benefit because I will not have to sift through a lot of information as I might have had to with other topics.

I am excited to see where this project will lead me in terms of my future interests. I hope that after completing this research, I will have a better idea about whether I would like to work with this population. Because of the lack of research in this field, I hope that through this project I will be able to contribute valuable information that will be useful to others who are wondering the same questions as I am.

4. Resources:

References

Boothroyd, A. (2002). Postimplantation audition and educational attainment in children with prelingually acquired profound deafness. The Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology. Supplement, 189, 79-84. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from the MEDLINE database.

Connor, C. M., & Zwolan, T. A. (2004). Examining multiple sources of influence on the reading comprehension skills of children who use cochlear implants. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 47, 509-526. Retrieved September 19, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Easterbrooks, S. R. (1998). Association of college educators of the deaf and hard of hearing annual conference: Collected papers. Lexington, KY: Association of College Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 460444)

Fiori, A. (2006). Model oriented assessment of literacy performance in children with cochlear implants. Laryngo-Rhino-Otologie, 85, 489-495. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from the MEDLINE database.

Geers, A. E. (2002). Factors affecting the development of speech, language, and literacy in children with early cochlear implantation. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 33, 172-183. Retrieved September 19, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.
Geers, A.E. (2003). Predictors of reading skill development in children with early cochlear implantation. Ear and Hearing, 24, 59S-68S. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from the MEDLINE database.

MacDougall, J. C. (1991). Current issues in deafness: A psychological perspective. Canadian Psychology, 32, 612-627. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from the PsycINFO database.

Marschark, M., Rohten, C., & Fabich, M. (2007). Effects of cochlear implants on children’s reading and academic achievement. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 12, 269-282. Retrieved September 19, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Spencer, L.J., Barker, B.A., & Tomblin, J.B. (2003). Exploring the language and literacy outcomes of pediatric cochlear implant users. Ear and Hearing, 24, 236-247. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from the MEDLINE database.

Vermeulen, A. M., van Bon, W., & Schreuder, R. (2007). Reading comprehension of deaf children with cochlear implants. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 12, 283-302. Retrieved September 19, 2007, from the ERIC database.

 

 

A10.1: Reproduction Literacy

Linsey Cushing
October 22, 2007

Reproduction Literacy

Reproduction literacy skills involve taking information that already exists and rearranging it to come up with something new and creative. Reproduction literacy skills are utilized mainly with text and visuals. With text, you use reproduction literacy skills to take existing text and manipulate it so that an entirely different story is told from the same words. Basically, you copy and paste the words until a different idea exists even though you are using the same words as the original. In regards to visuals such as art, reproduction literacy can be used to combine different pieces into a new piece, such as Pop Art artist Andy Warhol did. With the current digitalization of society, reproduction literacy is becoming an essential skill because everything is computerized. Although some original work still emerges, the majority of things out there are replications and transformations of previous works, all done through reproduction literacy.
Although I had never heard the term ‘reproduction literacy’ before, I have used this skill many times when writing papers. When I see information that I consider pertinent to my research, I paraphrase what the author says unless I want to have a direct quote in my paper. Therefore, I take the words, paraphrase it so that it is not plagiarism, and give credit to the author for the information I’ve written about. Even though I haven’t used every single word, I still used a form of reproduction literacy to maneuver, manipulate, and create my paper. Therefore, I believe that reproduction literacy skills exist and that they are essential for success in the future.
Reproduction literacy will have an impact on the curriculum involving computers in schools. Students need to be taught not only basic ‘copy and paste’ techniques, but also how to create and fine tune texts and visuals through reproduction literacy. For example, in the future, advertising agencies will need employees that can find existing photographs, clip art, or movies and manipulate them so that something unique arises for that specific company that will be memorable. Teachers must understand that computer skills not only involve the basics of how to operate and type on a computer, but also how to use creativity to produce new ideas using the computer as the tool. Creative writing could take on an entirely different meaning in this new era by using reproduction literacy to transform an existing piece into an incredibly different one.

Overall, I think that reproduction literacy has existed for quite some time, but not to this extreme. The digitalization of society has opened up millions of new doors for reproduction literacy to be used by people that exist around the world. Whenever something is published online, it is up for viewing and possibly using by others. Reproduction literacy offers a promising future for students because this gives these young artists a global canvas to begin their work on.

References

Aphek, E. (2007). Digital, highly connected children: Implications for education. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from http://www.creativityatwork.com/articlesContent/aphek/digital-literacy.html

Eshet, Y. (2002, June). Digital literacy: A new terminology framework and its application to the design of meaningful technology-based learning environments. ED-MEDIA 2002 World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, 1-7. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Eshet-Alkalai, Y., & Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2004, August). Experiments in digital literacy. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7(4), 421-429.