User:Owl Jr. Project

Welcome to our class counterpart of the Sugar Labs wiki.

The Owl Jr. Project is modeled after the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL), which provides literacy help guides for college students. However, the Owl Jr. is aimed at a younger audience and will provide command of language materials for K-12 students. It was initiated by faculty and students from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, under the guidance and direction of John Tierney.

As part of the service learning coursework in a Literacy, Technology and Civic Engagement course, our class divided into teams and completed multiple projects over one semester. Our objective was to investigate Sugar strategies and challenges to classroom use, while also finding creative ways to circumvent common problems. In doing so, our goal was to expand SugarLabs' efforts by providing additional literacy resources.

This project was conducted in two parts. The first half of the semester, five teams conducted preliminary research and background investigations.

A link to the first half of the project can be found here: User:Owl Jr. Project/semesterproject1

During the second half, the class was reconfigured into seven teams who produced reports, multi-media presentations, educational materials, a petition and game ideas. Links to each of these materials can be found in the following sections of this page.

Our website is: http://owljrproject.weebly.com/

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Sugar / Literacy Connection - Peer Review

(Focus: Software / User / User Needs Assessment)

The goals of this group were as follows:

• Walter Bender said he would love to see more peer review materials for writing in Sugar, and this is something that clearly aligns with best practices in our field

• Investigate existing tools in sugar for peer review (if any)

• Then, propose how we can integrate peer review into sugar

• All suggestions should be rooted in current best practices for literacy education and be supported with research

The following link takes you to this team's recommendation report.

File:Literacy-Peer Review Proposal.pdf

Teacher Needs and Sugar

(Focus: Education, Ethnographic Research, User Needs Assessment)

The goals of this project were to:

• Investigate what teachers need to better use Sugar and come up with a list of recommendations and/or materials

• As per Walter Bender's suggestion, determine what/how lesson plans for teachers could help with classroom integration of Sugar resources

• Utilize Group 4's investigation of Sugar usage in Title 1 schools

• Root all suggestions in current best practices for literacy education and be supported with research

The following is the end-of-semester report for Fall 2011.

File:Teacher Needs & Sugar-Usability Report.pdf

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Sugar / Literacy connection - Journaling / Diary activity and Writing to Learn

This group was instructed to:

• Investigate ways that we might take already existing sugar activities and encourage more literacy activities-based on our discussion with Walter Bender (This might include revamping the journal, writing lesson plans for teachers, etc.)

• Think of how we might encourage developers to implement peer review/reflection into the Journal activity by conveying 1) their importance and 2) teacher demand for these capabilities

• Root all suggestions in current best practices for literacy education and be supported with research

The following two documents contain 1) a report on the value of writing to learn and 2) a petition for Journal revision to be signed by teachers.

File:Journal Revision Report.pdf

File:Petition for Journal Revision.pdf

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Resources for Teachers-OWL Jr. Materials (grammar, writing to learn, journaling, etc.)

(Focus: Research, Educational Content Development)

The goals of this group were as follows:

• Create a list of materials that would go into a writing resource targeted at the 3rd-4th grade level (This resource will be available online and possibly through sugar)

• Once you've gotten the list (which already partially exists from previous group 3), begin to create some resources

• All resources should be rooted in current best practices for literacy education

The following are the end-of-semester literacy materials developed for Fall 2011.

File:OWL Jr. Materials.pdf

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Face of the Project (Web)

(Focus: Web Development, Graphic Design, Multimedia)

The goals of this group were as follows:

• Put all revised materials from original groups online; continue to investigate ways of publicizing our project

• All suggestions should be rooted in current best practices for digital communication and be supported with research

• Remember to focus on user-centered practices

The following is a report discussing options for creating an online presence for Owl Jr.

File:Face of the Project Report.pdf

Face of the Project (Video / Multimedia)

(Focus: Graphic Design, Multimedia)

The goals of this group were as follows:

• Continue to work on materials that promote our OWL Jr. Initiative online

• This will include making revisions to the original video and prezi, as well as material from other groups as necessary

• Create one more multimedia/interactive piece to accompany the original two for publicizing purposes

• Work closely with Face of the Project Group

The following contains links to the end-of-semester multimedia projects for Fall 2011.

File:Face of the Project II.pdf

The Gaming Group

(Focus: Graphic Design, Multimedia)

The goals of this group were as follows:

• Continue Group 3's investigations into games as a possible sugar activity

• Design a literacy game that could be added to sugar

• The game needs to have clear goals, be clearly rooted in current research and pedagogy on learning, etc.

The following contains screen shots of a proposed Sugar literacy activity, created Fall 2011.

File:Gaming Group-Screens.pdf