A9.5: Week 9 Reflection October 23, 2006

Aims & Objectives: This week, my main goal was to develop another genre for my MPG.  I had to think about what I wanted to do and the goals that I had for this new document.  I also wanted to focus really hard on the revision of my project prospectus after my meeting with Mrs. McComas.  I wanted to work hard to get the most time consuming tasks of the weekly assigments completed before Tuesday so that I could have a night of break from the assignments ;o)

Declarative Knowledge:

This week, I first had to think about what I wanted to do in terms of my fourth genre of my MGP.  I chose to do a simulated journal entry.  I decided that it would be most influential to do it from the perspective of the child’s mother who was also involved in the difficult process of the evaluations and treatment of pediatric dysphagia.  I learned that simulated journal entries are in the style of a letter to a “fake” personal and include the date and details of emotions/feelings of a specific time period, but this is a genre that you can do it the way you want to.  When completing the peer responses, I had to learn who I was supposed to be evaluating and what sorts of genres they did last week.  I learned that “Branching Literacy” is a various amount of skills that you collect without really thinking about it that help to enhance your concepts of how you research and navigate your way around the world wide web and other tecnological sources.

Procedural Knowledge: To complete my fourth genre, a simulated journal entry, I looked back on resources that I have found previously such as symptoms and evaluation procedures to write a fake letter or sort of diary as a mother of a child suffering from pediatric dysphagia.  I thought critically about how it would feel for your child to be experiencing these difficulties and the sort of outcome that she would wish to happen from the problems.  I pieced it together from two different time frames (after the referral letter to a speech language pathologist) and then after a team meeting with the swallowing team.  Additional times may be added at a later date with more information.  To do peer responses to work that my classmates have done last week (Holly & Emma) I first went to their weblogs and looked at their work.  I thought very hard about what I really liked about their work and things that I would like to know more about or wished that they would have written about differently.  I answered the following questions about their work: the voice the document was written in, the audience it was written for, what you thought they were trying to say through the piece, what you bless (really liked about the document) and what I would address (thought they should do differently).  To complete the work on “Branching Literacy” I went to gooogle.com and looked up what it was and thought about it critically so that I was able to undertand it clearly, in my own way.  I then answered the following questions about the readings : What I could find out about the topic, my reactions to it, how I believe it will change education/schooling, and examples of my previous encounters with “branching literacy.”  I then wrote approximately about 400 words on the topic and my feelings about it.  I then revised my project prospectus by looking at my notes from my meeting with Mrs. McComas.  I revised my foundation questions and essential question to narrow down my topic and how it should flow.  I narrowed down the topic to more about evaluation and treatment than diet modification and other subjects.  I then reworked my genres to re-word them if they now didn’t make very much sense and added more resources to my APA listing of sources I may or may not use.

Conditional Knowledge: I hope that myself and others will be able to learn from my fourth genre that was written for others that are extremely close to someone suffering from pediatric dysphagia.  I also “hope” that others that I reviewed their work in the peer response will be able to get some help and comments that I made on their work to help develop their own work.  By using this, I think that it has helped me prepare myself for the times when I start working on these genres myself.  I hope to use the “branching literacy” information that I have heard and learned about to remind myself from time to time of the skills that I have been developing for a long time and not take for granted the ones that I use all the time.  I have learned a lot this week & hope that others learn from my hard work as well.

A9.3: Branching Literacy October 23, 2006

What do you know [can you find out] about Branching Literacy?

Branching literacy is a new concept developed my media developers that entails the use of having many multimedia skills when using to research online, digital technology.  It is called “branching” because you must integrate a large amount of skills, resources, and tecniques to “navigate” your way through the online community to avoid getting lost or sidetracked when looking for specific information.  In the journal article from Eurodl, Aviram refers to Branching Literacy users or scholars to be able to have many multi-dimensional skills and must use the ability to develop concept maps, mental models, and other sources of methodical thinking when researching various environments online. 

What is your reaction to learning that there are various Branching Skills?

I was very surprised to find out that there are “branching skills”.  When researching information online, you never seek to imagine that you are making mental maps about where you have been and where you are going by jumping from website to website or online journal and back.  These are skills that you must develop subconsciously and do not take into consideration that you are making various pathways to you research destination. 

How do you think these new skills will change education/schooling?

I do not believe that this new plethora of skills will change schooling or education skills to a big extent.  This is something that I believe you learn without noting it or memorizing skills or details about it.  When teachers may be able to stress to students the abilities and tools that you are using to create these paths unintentionally, but I do not believe that it is something that you can teach to others – you learn it on your own. 

Examples of my own use of Branching Literacy.

I think that each of us that are online or do research through the digital world have many “branching literacy” skills that we are unaware about.  It is very seldom that we get onlilne and while searching the web only visit one site without it linking us to another.  We never write down where we have been or the concept maps that we are developing in our minds to retrack the steps that we have taken to return to that spot if need would be.  I believe that these “branching skills” are tecniques that are each unique and inate to our own online learning.  Everyday that we are online; researching the web or any other digital form of work – we are “branching our own literacy”.

Aviram, A. (2004). Towards a Theory of Digital Literacy: Three Scenarios for the Next Steps. Eurodl: The European

Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning. Retrieved October 22, 2006, from

http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2006/Aharon_Aviram.htm

A9.4: Revised Project Prospectus October 23, 2006

Research/Essential Questions and Foundation Questions:

What theraputic tecniques do Speech Language Pathologists employ to manage cases of Pediatric Dysphagia?

Foundation Questions:

1. What is dysphagia?

2. What are the symptoms of dysphagia in the Pediatric Population?

3. What are the goals of therapy?

Tentative Point trying to be made about Pediatric Dysphagia

Pediatric Dysphagia is a disorder of swallowing that through extensive evaluation and assessment can be managed and accomodation may be attempted and treated by physicians, therapists, and diagnosticians.

Genres to be Included:

• Webliography – Clinician’s Voice – This portion of this assignment was to tell those looking at my page something about me.  By looking at this, which can be any audience will tell them something about myself, my topic, things I like to do, and where I am looking at some information as my focus. I think that this was fun to create and new for me, so I learned from it. I chose this because we had to do it, but I’m glad that I did.
• PowerPoint Presentation – Clinician’s Voice – This genre was also chosen because it was one that were required to choose. I think that it will be great voice as the clinican telling about the disorder in a creative, helpful manner hoping the audience is anyone hoping to learn about pediatric dysphagia in a fun, interactive manner, especially about the topic of theraputic goals.
• Podcast - Clinician’s Voice – To be honest, I do not know anything about podcasts.  I chose this genre as it was required.  I think that it will be informative to anyone looking at this site to be informed about pediatric dysphagia; parents, students, and professionals.  Like a powerpoint, this will be interactive and a fun way to learn and be informed about pediatric dysphagia, especially the realization of what pediatric dysphagia truly is.
• Poem – Client’s Voice – I am very excited to write this poem about pediatric dysphagia.  I think that it is a great way to inform those; parents, clinicians, and those studying speech language pathology and learning to put themselves in the client’s shoes as these children can not tell you themselves. I think that this will be very fun to create, even though it was also a requirement, and will help me to learn a lot about the emotions and feelings of those suffering from these disorders.
• Referral Letter – Physician’s Voice – This section of the MGP is very important because it could show symptoms and reasons describing why and when this disorder is occurant.  Even though Dysphagia is a disorder that is primarily seen to be treated by Speech Language Pathologists, it is also a team work problem as it is very hazardous and dangerous to a person, especially child’s, health.  By writing/reading this portion of the project, it is a way to gain even more information about this disorder, while also, seeing it from a other perspective, which is medical health care.
• “Simulated” Journal Entry - “Parent’s Voice” – By adding this portion of the MGP, I feel as the mother of the client (small child) would be able to be seen as having their point of view seen, too. When working with a population such as small children, I feel as people forget that they have emotions and feelings, too that are unable to be expressed vocally.  It is also very difficult for the parents and loved ones who suffer to experience as well.  This is a creative way to express the way that those could be feeling and why. This could be beneficial for parents, students, and clinicians to read.
• Letter to Politician - Parent’s Voice – I felt as though this portion of the project would be very helpful to be read by parents and clinicians to show another parents’ point of view in terms of what needs improvement and the way you feel when your child is suffering from a problem such as this.  By informing politicians about the problems at hand, information may be release, informing them of this disorder, and also requesting additional health care services in this category of disabilities. The parent could discuss insurance help and even additional medical services they feel should be offered and why.

To make the MGP run together cohesively:

To make my project run together as a whole, I feel it would be creative to piece it together like we have done other projects in the past; as one client.  Showing various aspects of a client’s way through a disorder (the feelings of the parents, client, and clinician) and the way that different areas are approached.  By piecing it together as one case, those reading will be able to follow the projects easier and more effectively.  I will use my journal entry as a cohesive piece that includes all of the genres linked into it.

Tentative Sources to be Used (Will change throughout the Completion) :  

Newman, L.A., Keckley, C., Petersen, M.C., & Hamner, A. (2001). Swallowing function and medical diagnosis in

infants suspected of dysphagia.  Pediatrics, 108(6), 1358. Retrieved September 24, 2006 from

EbscoHost database.

Schwarz, S.M., Corredor, J., Cohen, J., & Rabinowitz, S. (2001). Diagnosis and treatment of feeding disorders in

 children with developmental disabilities.  Pediatrics. 108(3), 671. Retrieved September 24, 2006 from

EbscoHost database. 

Ward, E., R.S., (2005). The epidemiology of dysphagia. Describing the problem – are we too late? Advances in

Speech Language Pathology, 7(1), 14-21. Retrieved September 24, 2006 from ProQuest database.

Miller, C.K. (2003). Advances in the evaluation and management of pediatric dysphagia. Current Opinion of

Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery. 11(6), 442-446. Retrieved September 24, 2006 from Academic

Search Premiere database.

Lefton-Grief, M.A., & Lauglin, G.M. (1996). Specialized studies in pediatric dysphagia. Seminars in Speech and

Language, 17(4), 311-329. Retrieved September 24, 2006 from MEDLINE database.

Brown, Janet (2005). Conference explored vocal pathologies, dementia, and pediatric dysphagia. ASHA Leader. 10

(5), 8. Retrieved September 26, 2006 from EbscoHost database.

Munro, Frasier D. (2003). Dysphagia in children ; a pediatric surgical perspective. International Journal of

Pediatric Otolaryngology. 67, S103. Retrieved September 26, 2006 from EbscoHost database.

Hearing Assoc, T. (2005). What is Dysphagia? . Retrieved October 14, 2006, from

http://www.txsha.org/_pdf/Brochures/dysphagia.pdf

 

 

 

Pediatric Speech Pathology – Dysphagia Swallowing Disorders (n.d.). Retrieved

October 21, 2006, from

http://www.stronghealth.com/services/childrens/conditions/dysphasia.cfm#diagnosing.