October 28th, 2013

We have formed a group and decided upon a research topic for our ETEC 540 collaborative research project. We will be investigating the relationship between social media and 21st century changing definitions of literacy. Specifically, we will be discussing how social media is shifting literacy to become a collaborative process, motivating students to become literate, and changing our traditional views of authors and audiences.  In order to fully comprehend the impact of social media, we will be employing some of these tools to complete this project including blogging, Google Documents, Google Hangouts, email, smartphones, YouTube, Prezi etc.

November 2nd, 2013

Our Google Doc is up and running!  Check out our ongoing progress by clicking here!

November 9th, 2013

We are one week into our research and are already fully immersed in how the use of social media is transforming the way we think about reading, writing and viewing!  We have each been reviewing course readings, searching for  scholarly writings to support our claims, as well as professional and multimedia resources to support and enhance our presentation. As we find information, we are adding it to our Google Doc. We are meeting tonight in a Google Hangout to chat about the direction our research has taken us, what we have done so far and what still needs to be accomplished!

November 16th, 2013

Another meeting in Google Hangouts today (including the use of screen sharing) to share our findings and check on the status of our research.  We have decided on showcasing our use of social media to present our research findings!  Our blog is up and running and will serve as our home base for our presentation.

November 23rd, 2013

Our project is complete!  We have begun by discussing what is meant by “social media” and “literacy.”  To view this introduction, click here! Next, we have moved on to highlight how social media turns literacy into a collaborative shared process.  Click here to view this information.  Following this, we have depicted how social media has become a motivational factor for student literacy. To access this page, click here. Finally, we have provided a commentary on the changing nature of authorship and audience, which can be viewed by clicking here.  Please feel free to contribute to our presentation by leaving comments throughout!