Category: Linguistics

Curating Resources
So – we have covered a lot of ground in this content. We look

Curating Resources
So – we have covered a lot of ground in this content. We looked at the dynamic power of social media as a tool for professional learning, instruction, and student voice and identity. We also learned that social media and the internet are a double-edged sword. They are a space that requires care, critical thinking, and caution. Educators need to be informed on how to leverage these tools while simultaneously protecting their students. We need to empower students and their families to exercise similar care and apply a similar level of informed responsibility.
To help you make sense of this content, you are being asked to explore in more depth one theme or thread that piqued your interest in this week’s exploration. Your assignment is to pull on that thread and research, organize, and curate a collection of resources. This collection can be part of a lesson for your students or a suite of resources to share with parents or the beginning of a collection to help support your professional practice. You can choose the “just right” number of resources, but it must be at least 5 resources above and beyond the resources shared through this course.
Overview
Your final product will include the following:
The selection of a curation tool from the list below
A topic of your own choosing
Identification of a minimum of 5 resources
A brief description of the purpose of your collection
More on Curation
Here are two articles to provide you with a little more context about “What is curation?” “And why might it be a useful instructional strategy (for you and your students)?”
Gonzalez, J. (February 2018). Are you a Curator or a Dumper? Cult of Pedagogy https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/curator-or-dumper/
N.A. (2021). Step 6: Using Curation Tools As A Connected Educator https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-curation/comment-page-4/The Teacher Challenge. [This article is lengthy – so feel free to skim, but much of its length is due to the way it profiles a suite of individual curation tools. You may want to see how they handle a few of the tools on our list — Wakelet, Twitter, and Pinterest.]
Curation Tools to Consider
Wakelet
[Video Tutorial] How to Create a Collection in Wakelet
Pinterest
[Article] Pinterest Help Center: https://help.pinterest.com/en/guide/all-about-pinterest
Twitter / X
[Article] N.A. (2020) How to create a Twitter List (and join others). The Verge
Symbaloo
[Video Tutorial] Creating a Webmix – Symbaloo Tutorial (2023) and Embedding a Symbaloo Webmix on your own Website or Blog (2022) **This cool tool is available for free — but as you will notice in the tutorial, nothing is ever 100% free. You will need to decide if the ads are a deal breaker or if you like it so much that you want to pay to remove them. I think the base cost is $59/a year.

Assignment Prompt: For this exercise, you will be picking a news article discuss

Assignment Prompt: For this exercise, you will be picking a news article discussing a debate relating to language, gender, and sexuality and provide an analysis of approximately 2-3 pages. Your analysis will be focused on comparing what is said about language and gender to a lay audience with what linguists have to say on the matter. Using the course material, you will come up with your own perspective or argument regarding the topic of the article.
Article to reference/draw from:

the singular “they” and/or neopronouns
language referring to transgender individuals
attempts to put forward more gender-neutral language (including outside of English!)
reports on the ways that men vs. women speak
Your analysis will consist firstly of a summary of the article and what it is saying, and then a description of what the linguistic research says in relation to this topic. Some questions to ask yourself include: Are there multiple sides being presented? Do they seem accurate to what linguists say about language and gender? Are there linguists cited in the article? What language and/or gender ideologies are being presented? Is language even the central point, or are people bringing up other topics in their discussion on language? Ultimately, who do you agree with?
Requirements:
You will need to engage deeply with course concepts, including at least two citations from a course reading thus far. Don’t forget to include a link to the news article you’re analyzing as well! Additionally, the exercise should be at least two pages, double-spaced and in Times New Roman 12pt font. See also the associated rubric for how this exercise will be graded.