Identity, Social
Networking &
Digital Tools
Laura Morrison &
Dr. Janette M. Hughes
OVERVIEW
• Our latest digital literacies research
explored the creation and
development of online and offline
identities through a unit on poetry,
a classroom social networking site
called the Ning and various digital
tools.
• The five poetry types upon which
the lessons were based include:
acrostic, six-rooms of a poem,
postcard, spoken word, and found
poetry.
PROJECT FOCUS
• To explore how adolescents’
identities are shaped and performed
as they use a social networking
platform to present themselves to
the world
• We also examined how online and
offline identities correspond and
differ in the context of adolescents’
out-of-school lives and their school
lives
• Finally we observed how digital tools
and a multimodal pedagogy
engaged students and influenced
their literary practices
Theoretical Framework
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Communities of Practice (Wenger,
1998, 2000, 2007; Rourke et al.,
2001; Salmon, 2005)
 New Literacies
(Lankshear & Knobel,
2006; Coiro, 2004)
Affinity Spaces (Gee, 2004)
SNS in Education (Boyd, 2006; Brady,
Holcomb & Smith, 2010; Kear, 2011;
Picciano, 2002)
Social Presence in Online Learning
(Bai, 2003; Cobb, 2009; DeSchryver
et al., 2009)
Adolescent Identities (Buckingham;
Ke, Chavez & Causarano, 2011)
 Multiliteracies (NLG,
1996; Selber, 2004)
 Digital Literacies
(Lankshear & Knobel,
2008; Frey, Fisher,
Gonzalez, 2010)
Context
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Three grade six classes
78 students
90% of students
immigrants
 21% From war-torn
countries
 12% ESL students
 10% Resource students
Context
 Macbook laptops
 Ubiquitous wifi access
 Websites: readwritethink.org;
writeordie.com; Wordle.net;
YouTube; Glogster
 Computer software: Microsoft
Word; PPT; iMovie
 Thematic focus on identity
development and dual identity
(both online/offline dual identity
and two nationalities dual
identity)
Context
 Ning network – social networking
site where students could:
-
personalize their profile pages
‘friend’ other Ning members
post photos, videos
post status updates
post comments and discussions
‘Like’ photos, comments and
videos posted by other
members
create groups
 http://digitalliteracies.ning.com/pr
ofile/LauraMorrison
The Poetry – Acrostic
Created a digital ‘About Me’ poster that included:
- An Acrostic Poem using their names and the online
Acrostic Poetry tool on the www.readwritethink.org
website
- A personalized barcode created in Word using line
shapes
and significant/meaningful numbers that represent
them as individuals
- A ‘profile’ pic taken with the Photo Booth tool
The Poetry – Acrostic
The Poetry – Six-Rooms
Created a six-room poem:
- First in a brainstorming table in Word with the
following headings as writing prompts: Image, Light,
Sound, Question, Feeling, Repetition
- Then, in a formal poem using the online quickwriting website www.writeordie.com
- Students then shared & commented on each others’
poems on the Ning
The Poetry – Six-Rooms
The Poetry – Postcard
Created a Postcard poem:
- First shown examples & deconstructed their elements
- Created their own postcard poem visuals using
www.Glogster.com answering the prompt: “Who I want to be
in middle school”
- Wrote a poem in response to the collage and included it on
their posters
- Students then shared & commented on each others’ poems
on the Ning
The Poetry – Postcard
• http://michaeljordan1029.edu.glogster.com/j
ohn/
The Poetry – Spoken
Word
Created a Spoken Word poem:
- First shown an example on YouTube
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQbQGn_rqTw] &
deconstructed their elements
- Created their own Spoken Word poem using iMovie
answering the prompt: “Who I Am” discussing their dual
national identities
- Students then uploaded their movies to YouTube, shared
the links on Ning & commented on each others’ poems
The Poetry – Spoken
Word
The Poetry – Found
Created a Found poem:
-
First shown an example of a Found poem with words taken from magazine
and TV advertisements
-
Created their own Found poems using the words and phrases found in
their classrooms
-
Class discussion re: how one’s environment can shape or influence their
personalities/identities
-
Students then wrote another Found poem using their status updates,
comments and discussions etc. from the Ning and reflected on the
personalities they portray on Ning based on what they publish.
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Larger class discussion then on how many ‘hats’ they wear or identities
they have in their daily lives depending on the situations.
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Uploaded their poems to Ning & commented on each others’ poems
The Poetry – Found
Discussion – Turning it over to you!
• Time Frame: 15 minutes
• Feel free to…
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Ask questions
Make connections to your own work
Discuss concerns
Discuss/consider the utility of the
ideas presented for your own
projects (during this week or in the
future)