A8.6: Week 8 Participation Memo

Linsey Cushing
October 12, 2007

Week 8 Participation Memo

Aims and Objectives:
This week, my goal was simply to get everything done by the due date. I did not have the Internet for several days, so I did not reach my previous goal of getting everything done before today (Friday). I wanted to complete everything in this class so that I could enjoy my weekend because I’m going to the So You Think You Can Dance concert on Saturday…woohoo!! Another goal for this week was to get a better idea about my research project.

Declarative Knowledge:
This week, I learned about several different things. I broadened my knowledge about copyrighting through my online discussion with my group. I also continued to learn about digital literacy by reading an article for the second time. From this article, I learned that there are five different categories that make up digital literacy: photo-visual literacy, reproduction literacy, information literacy, branching literacy, and socio -emotional literacy. The study in this article proved that adults are stronger in some of these areas (reproduction literacy and information literacy) than high school and college students. I learned that even though younger generations have more experience with computers does not necessarily mean they have the skills to go with it. During the APA Review assignment, I learned a lot about citations in APA format. I did not realize the difference between ED and EJ for ERIC sources. ED stands for documents that are not found in journals and EJ stands for documents that can be found in journals. The way you cite an ERIC source depends on whether it is ED or EJ. I also learned that whenever you are citing a database, you need to put “the ____ database” at the end instead of just the database’s name. I also learned that a project prospectus was a tentative plan for a project (my research project).

Procedural Knowledge:
This week, I learned how to create a project prospectus. First, I recorded my research question and foundation questions. Next, I wrote my tentative point (what point I plan to make through my research). Then I wrote a 400-500 word discussion about my topic regarding what I already know, what am I learning about it, and what challenges do I predict in the future when answering my questions. Finally, I recorded all of my resources in APA format. I also learned how to correctly cite all of my sources in APA format. In our TappedIn class, I learned how to make myself an office.

Conditional Knowledge:
The skills I acquired this week will be of great help in the future. Most of my work centered around my research project, such as the APA format assignment and the project prospectus. Both of these assignments will help me in my research about cochlear implants and literacy. Rereading the article about digital literacy helped me to realize that I actually am becoming digitally literate (gasp!) as the semester goes on. Although I am definitely weaker in some areas, I believe that by the end of the semester, I will be able to classify myself as digitally literate. My group discussion on copyrighting really opened my eyes to how easy it is to infringe upon other’s copyrighting without even realizing it. This discussion made me more aware of copyrighting and will make me a more conscious person in the future. As a student, this information was beneficial because I will continue to write papers in APA format for the rest of my college career. Now that I know exactly how to cite, I will be able to do this with ease in the future. Also, I now understand how to do a project prospectus, so I can create one for future research projects. As a pre-professional, this information is helpful because I am now aware of copyrighting laws so that I do not infringe upon them. Also, I will probably use the research information in the future as I do research. Finally, as a citizen, the copyrighting information I’ve learned this week is of utmost importance because I need to be a model citizen for those around me so we can give people the credit (and money) they deserve for coming up with music, art, books, movies, etc.

A8.2: Project Prospectus

Linsey Cushing
October 12, 2007

Project Prospectus

1. Research Question / Foundation Questions:

Research Question:
How do cochlear implants affect a child’s literacy?

Foundation Questions:
1. What kinds of literacy problems do children with cochlear implants tend to have?

2. How do literacy skills of these children compare before and after the cochlear implant?

3. What methods or procedures exist for improving literacy with cochlear implant children?

4. What is the predicted literacy outcome for children with cochlear implants when helped by speech-language pathologists, educators, and family members?

2. Tentative Point:

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

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. I also plan to talk with our speech-language pathologists who work in the “L” because they could give me information about how literacy has personally affected the children with cochlear implants in the “L.” 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.

A8.1: APA Review

Linsey Cushing
October 9, 2007

APA Review

After checking over my resources and comparing them to the APA manual, I realized that I had made some mistakes. I found the basic form for online periodicals on page 223 under 4.07 General Forms. For every database, I did not know to put “the” ____ “database.” Originally, I only wrote the name of the database. I discovered this in 4.15 Retrieval Information: Electronic Sources on page 231 of the manual. I also discovered that I needed to change the format for one of my sources from a database to an ERIC format. I learned that when you find an article on the ERIC database, if it is listed as ED followed by numbers, you have to cite it as an ERIC document because this source does not appear in journals. However, if it says EJ, you can site it as a database just as you would other database sources. I found the information for the ED citation on page 257, titled 43. Report Available from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). As I discovered, APA is a very specific citation system and you must be very careful when citing information to ensure that you are putting the right information into the citation. The best method to ensure success is by looking in the APA Publication Manual.

A8.3: Response to Eshet-Alkali & Amichai-Hamburger

Linsey Cushing

October 11, 2007

Eshet-Alkali, Y., & Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2004, August). Experiments in digital

literacy. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(4), 421-429.

 

This is the second time I’ve read this article, but after experiencing digital literacy for the past eight weeks, I have a different outlook on it. Because we were assigned this article during our first week in the class, I had no clue what digital literacy was. In fact, I remember doing a prompt on literacy in general and not really knowing what that meant. Now that I have read numerous articles, written multiple responses, and discussed this information with my classmates, I feel like I have a better grasp on digital literacy.

In the article, an experiment is conducted to determine who has better digital literacy skills: high school students, college students, or adults with a college education. The hypothesis is based on the idea that the younger generations have better computer skills and therefore are more digitally literate. The experiment covered five areas of digital literacy: photo-visual literacy, reproduction literacy, information literacy, branching literacy, and socio-emotional literacy. The participants were required to complete a task in each category. The results showed that the adults scored highest in reproduction literacy and information literacy. Therefore, adults are actually stronger than younger generations in some types of digital literacy.

I now see that the purpose of this article is to point out that there is a lot more to digital literacy than simply being able to work a computer. I can personally testify that even when I’ve figured out how to work something like a blog, wiki, RSS, or social bookmarking, that does not mean that I can successfully produce information on it. You have to have both the procedural knowledge and the cognitive ability to possess digital literacy. Once you find information on the Web, you have to have the skills to analyze it and determine whether the information is valid or a hoax before you use that information. Overall, after re-reading this study, I realize that you truly do need to be strong in all five of these areas to be completely digitally literate. If you are lacking in one, your overall performance will be hindered.

A8.4: Reflection on Discussion of 10/8/07

Linsey Cushing
October 9, 2007

Reflection on Discussion of 10/8/07

I really enjoyed meeting this week in small groups at Tapped In. It was a completely different experience than the week before. Overall, it was much less chaotic and the conversation was more in depth. This week, my primary contribution to the discussion was reporter. I was responsible for summing up our conversation and presenting it to the class at the end of the meeting. I also contributed to the conversations we had about this week’s topic: copyrighting. Because copyrighting is such a complicated topic, my group had many questions. We started out by discussing major copyrighting issues, which included a discussion about what copyrighting actually is and how it impacts us. We concluded that copyrighting involves giving ownership to the person who creates something so that they can receive credit for it and infringing on this would involve causing that owner to lose money or credit. This lead to a discussion about copyrighting of music, dance, and therapy techniques. We decided that as long as something is recorded or reported, it can have a copyright on it. In other words, err on the side of caution and always ask for someone’s permission before using anything that is not yours. As students, the major copyrighting issues involve research and music. As clinicians, it involves research and possibly therapy techniques. Although we had many questions about what would qualify as copyrighting and infringing on copyrighting, we were able to answer a lot of these questions through our conclusions as I discussed above. I will apply this week’s discussion to my own work by being much more cautious when doing anything involving someone else’s work. For example, we discussed how many times we’ve burnt Cd’s off of our friends. If you think about it, this is illegal. We realized that things we’ve taken for granted were actually illegal acts that we need to take notice of. Next time I go to download a song, write a research paper, or use a graphic in my work, I will credit the creator and try to contact that person to get his or her permission, if possible.