• What are 3 of your fundamental beliefs about learning literacy?

1. We believe that learning literacy should be based on students’ age, interest, and background.
2. We believe that learning literacy should motivate students to learn more.
3. We believe that learning literacy should be multimodal.

What are 3 of your fundamental beliefs about teaching literacy?

1. We believe that teaching literacy should be placed in a context.
2. We believe that teachers’ role in teaching literacy should be facilitating rather than being teachers-centered process.
3. We believe that teaching literacy should take in consideration students’ individual differences, abilities, skills, and background.

• What should be 3 key goals for literacy education in a digital age?

1. We believe that literacy education should help students be familiar with principles of certain literacy.
2. We believe that literacy education should aim at creating autonomous and independent learners.
3. We believe that literacy education should enable students to utilize digital technology effectively to promote their creativity and enhancing their literacy knowledge and skills.

• What should be your basic approach to teaching literacy? What role should technology have in that teaching approach?

We believe that teaching literacy approach will be based on combining theory and practice. Technology will be essential in the teaching approach for supporting students to learn and practice.

• How should literacy pedagogy respond to today’s technological world and to today’s digital learners?

Today’s pedagogy should use technology as indispensable part in today’s digital world. Further, to link the students with outside world to interact and exchange knowledge.

• Discuss how your vision for teaching literacy would address the needs of World English speakers.

Our vision of teaching literacy will address the needs of world’s English speakers by promoting English literacy through connecting both learning and teaching approaches to technology.

• Discuss how your vision responds to the challenge of the “digital divide,” a challenge that says we must worry about providing equal access to technology and information.

Our vison responds to the challenge of the digital divide to provide access to technology for all learners and teachers through recommending to governments to provide as much as possible of devices in their schools.

• Should your approach to teaching literacy be the same as your approach to teaching other areas of English today? Why or why not?We believe teaching literacy is a general issue that can take in account the vision suggested above. However, it is possible that teaching each skill of English language may differ in approach and the use of technology. For instance, teaching writing will be different from teaching speaking or listening.

The first technology piece I worked with was pager. That was in the 1994. Later I got my cell phone which was the beginning of using the web browser. I still remember that the first laptop I purchased was bought to me was from the USA by my friend who was doing his PhD in Pittsburgh.

My uses of computer were not more than to write on the Microsoft word and browsing the Internet. I didn’t depend a lot on the computer a lot because most my work with students in the class was based on prepared materials and the whiteboard. Another point is that, I still prefer to read different types of literary texts from books rather than screen. I feel myself living the event and passion with the author and concentrate more than using technology. For that, I have my own small library at home to read from time to time. I try to add new books from bookstore and from some book fairs.

I started using Google more when I started my higher studies and looking for unavailable resources such as journal and books. I have found uncle google is always helpful even for locating free journals that needs to register into some websites to purchase or reading them. Later, as a teacher of English I worked download some materials from the internet and use them in my classes to motivate students to learn English.

Computers and cell phones and the most important devices from me for more than a reason. For my studies, working environment, the computer is the best to get my resources. Cell phones have become an effective device to use to find for information when there is not internet connection for my computers to find e-sources. In addition, as staying in a country as the USA or visiting another country, the GPS has become a close friend. For that, going away without technology has become difficult from various reasons. For instance, keeping interaction with others, finding my way to a new place, checking my emails, …etc. in spite of this relation with technology, I try to leave it a way and live without it when I can even if that for few hours.

Tech Free report

Everyday morning, I look at some websites on my laptop or my cell phone to follow the news in the Middle East. In addition to that, I look at the Whatsup messages to know the news of my daughter who has been finalizing her documents to travel to Scotland to study dentistry. However, on Saturday, 24th September, I decided to stop using technology as a respond to Dr. Pagnucci’s class.

At the beginning, I asked myself, will I be able to stop using these devices for a whole day? I had to find a way to release myself from the technology for one day as a break. Therefore, we planned to go for a barbeque somewhere out the apartment.

I woke up at 9 am and I didn’t open both devices and engaged myself in preparing things for going out. Even for the watch, I looked at the clock that is available in the microwave to ignore the devices. This is how I spent the first ours of my morning.

At 11 am I was curious to look at the news and for any Whatsup messages as usual. But, I kept reminding myself that this is a free tech day. I told my wife about the homework that was given to us by Dr. Pagnucci; and as I expected she said that was a good homework. At least, I could relieve my eyes from screens and technology. She was happier when she heard that today I am not going to read anything for my school. She thought it was an interesting idea to leave things for one day to start again with clear mind and to be with the family.

At 12 pm, we loaded things in the car except my laptop and left to Yellow Creek State Park. Though the place was wonderful, I asked my wife to use my cell

phone to take photos. Fortunately, we have a Whatsup group for our family that I didn’t have to look at my device to follow my daughter’s issues of her preparation to travel and other issues. Her mother told me all the news. To be honest, it was difficult to not look at the news that morning and to communicate with my daughter and to know the last news as usual. However, it was nice to feel free for a whole day.

At 2 pm I was with my children in the lake having barbeque and playing. I felt I would like to thank Dr. Pagnucci for this homework, which assist me to look at the nature without and run and laugh.

At about 3:30 pm I got a call from a friend to ask me about an issue. To be frank, in such cases I found it was difficult to not pick the phone to talk to him. Sometimes the call is important and I had to answer. I continued playing and enjoying my time with my children and I felt like I haven’t laugh and run with them for years.

At 4:30 we left the lake and headed to our home and spend that evening with my family chatting and looking at the boys playing with their Xbox. It was not difficult to leave devices and live a day free tech for one reason. I mostly use my cell phone to call and receive call or messages or contact my few people through the Whatsup apps. Since I came to the USA and changed my phone number, many of the contacts didn’t have my contact number. That reduced the amount of messages I receive which is positive for me. I don’t use other social communication app more than the Facebook from time to another. My hardest part was to stop using the laptop because I have to do readings and look for some Youtubes for listening to some lectures and identifying some concepts. Even for reading, I mostly print out the article I want to read. That evening I slept earlier so that I can wake up early morning to do some readings and return to the look at the news.

A short term of the free tech was that I found myself isolated from the world and knowledge, which was reading for the courses. The long term effect of the activity was an appropriate way to take break from school and live and play with my children. It was good to return to the nature and move free. I thought I need to repeat this Saturday every two weeks to refresh myself and my brain from busy days. I found that leaving technology and engaging in doing other things makes me feel of the time. I found that technology thieving our time and pleasure minutes with our beloved ones whether our families or friends. I felt happy that this experiment demonstrated to me that I am not addicted to technology. It is to say that though I was not reading or looking at devices, the thoughts of the assignment and other issues were going on. That is the thing which I was not able to stop because it obligated me to think about them. We can free ourselves from reading and using technology for some time, but, we cannot shun spontaneous pouring thoughts and ideas, which I suggest it is a health phenomenon.

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This is Saeed AL Harthy, a PhD student. Hello big world.

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• Primary Blog Question
  • When compared, the two film clips help illuminate a key question for this course: How has our relationship to technology changed over time? Our relationship with technology has changed with every new changes in the use of technology in presenting literacy and other types of information to audience.
• Secondary Blog Questions
  • How has film technology changed?  With the new technology and new ideas in film production field, there has been a dramatically changed in the imagination and creativity of the directors of each film or visual productions. the new technology has enabled the film makers to represent us the viewers the past, present the present and moved us forward to the future expectations.  As we saw in the two films, there is a huge difference in clarity, voice, imagination, in presenting the new film.
  • How have we changed as film viewers? As film viewers, our emotions and interests to types of films has been touched by the new films’ animations. It becomes an easy to find the type of films that interest us easily. in addition, with technology it becomes easy to specify which movies is suitable for viewers based on their ages and to control what our children watch.
  • How has our understanding of time evolved? With the new technology in film production, we understand that the production of this film needs time and efforts to present them to us in such interesting way.
  • How does fiction/science fiction impact our relationship to technology? The production of films during and other types of technology the recent years has brought us closely to learn bout this knowledge of technology. Moreover, to use this type of knowledge to learn about how to use it in our life and use it for teaching our students.