Character Journaling Through Social Networks

Abstract

Countering reactionary attempts to ban social media from schools is a strong research based rationale for bringing social media into the literacy classroom. When used as a medium to explore literature—or more specifically for interactive character journaling—this medium exemplifies how meaning is created by individuals' interactions with texts, by the prior knowledge they bring to their reading, and by the negotiation of meaning by participants in this digital “third space.” Used this way, social media can scaffold reading, promote critical discussions about texts, prompt basic sociohistorical research, and engage students in examining discourse, and provide an authentic venue for students to practice code‐switching. This study highlights that social media is anything but an educational distraction; rather, when used appropriately it can serve as an engaging and interactive foray into socially‐mediated literacy and constructivist learning.

A Figment of Their Imagination

“…Reciprocal Nature of Interaction Community interaction on Figment is inherently reciprocal and collaborative. Social engagement was one key reason why the participants continued to share in the space, in alignment with the research by White and Hungerford-Kresser (2014), who found that lasting ideas usually arise from social interaction. Reciprocity was evident in the swap system, in which members trade reviews, posting comments such as "I'll read and review your poem if you do the same for mine."…”

“…Notably, it provides youths with the opportunity to swap poetry and reviews with others, which has the potential to create meaningful ideas through reciprocal interactions. Furthermore, Figment has features of three key areas of literacy research: adolescent poetry engagement, digitalization of literacy, and poetry in the digital world (Jocson, 2008b;White & Hungerford-Kresser, 2014). This article explores the kinds of literacy practices adopted by users of Figment and analyzes the ways adolescents create, review, and refine poetry within the space.…”

“…2013) and is a new tool partnering with our new sociocultural understanding of literacy (Curwood & Cowell, 2011). Digital media has numerous manifestations, including social networking sites such as Facebook and Tumblr, which are new spheres in which adolescents can learn; these are increasingly seen as essential in adolescents' daily lives (Booth, 2009;Kajder, 2010;White & Hungerford-Kresser, 2014).…”

Peer Reading Promotion in University Libraries

“…27 White et al explored how social networks promote reading and studying and found that social media can promote users' selection, critiques, and discussions in the reading context, which are part of the process of constructive studying. 28 Similarly, Asteman et al investigated the impact of users' discussions on reading participation and reading promotion by using Facebook as a research target, and they proved that users' discussions on social reading were beneficial to reading, studying, and understanding complex scientific topics. 29 Some researchers have explored the resources recommending methods and algorithms for social reading.…”

The Nature of Selected English Teachers' Online Participation

“…Scholars have documented blogging and the reading of blogs written by published authors as means to promote participation, collaboration, and distributed knowledge among students (Johnson, 2010 ). Scholars have revealed microblogging as collaborative writing that fosters a supportive virtual community (Mills & Chandra, 2011 ), and they have presented participation on social networking sites as a culturally relevant approach to reading literature (White & Hungerford-Kresser, 2014 ). Although such scholarship holds implications for how English teachers and teacher educators approach instruction, the practice of teachers participating online and leveraging Web-based technologies for their own benefit holds implications for the preparation and continuing education of English teachers and, thus, must be considered.…”